Hello to all! Writer of sci-fi, fantasy and literary fiction here.

Hello. I'm new to this forum, though I contribute on a few others. I'm a professional freelance editor, but also an aspiring novelist. I've written a few novel-length works, but none that I've attempted to publish. I am currently working on a novel that I intend to attempt to publish traditionally. I'm a big fan of post-apocalyptic and "disaster" fiction. Especially plagues right now for some reason. I'm currently reading the Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. My last read was Circe by Madeline Miller and I cannot recommend that highly enough. It was spectacular.

Nice to meet everyone.

rainbowsheeps said:

Hey there. I, too, am a writer of literary fiction and a fan of post-apocalyptic stories. My favorite post-apocalyptic story though is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. He writes such beautiful prose for such ugly worlds. I'm working on a apocalyptic short story now - but not "post-" apocalyptic (i.e., the world is ABOUT to end, it hasn't ended yet). They're pretty fun stories to tell. Is your current novel a post-apocalyptic one?

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Actually my novel is not post-apocalyptic, though I have ideas for one when this one is finished. Plague-related, naturally, since that is my current obsession! I agree that they are fun stories to tell! The Road was a tough read, but the writing is just so great. What is yours about specifically? If you want to share

pomegranatetears said:

I love post-apocalyptic stories. It all started with John Christopher and then I moved on from there. I always feel like there aren't enough of them out there! I want to gobble them up.

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I agree! They aren't being made quickly enough for my tastes. The good ones anyway -- there always seems to be tons of zombie virus ones, though I am personally more interested in scenarios that are a little more realistic!

DanielSTJ said:

That would be a dream job to me. A freelance editor would be a great position!

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It's pretty hard to beat getting paid to read novels! Though work can be difficult to come by.

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Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome! When my novel is done, I will be on the hunt for beta readers, so perhaps I'll be able to find some here!

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Lady Fox said:

Hmmm, can't say I've ready any post-apocalyptic books (watched plenty of movies though!). Might have to give one or two a try, I'm always ready to try new genres.

Welcome AnimaEditing, nice to meet you, look forward to seeing you around

LF

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Thank you, nice to meet you too!

Jennie said:

I also like post-apocalyptic writings, but haven't read many books in the genre. The last two were The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi, and right after a friend gave me Into the Forest by Jean Hegeland. I found it interesting how two very different writers tackled with disaster in California.

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I have not read those! I will look into them!

Jennie said:

The very first book I read in this genre was a long time ago, and I loved it. It's "False Dawn" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

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Thank you, Jennie! I will look into that one!

rainbowsheeps said:

I haven't read any plague-related apocalypse stories actually, but I've seen some movies like Contagion, I think it was, that I found interesting (though that movie is far from perfect, if I remember). I also had some interest in the stuff by Max Brooks (e.g., the zombie plague stuff), and plan to try reading that in the relative future. The Road is definitely unsparing in its details sometimes, ahah, but I do love it.

The short I wrote really uses the end of the world as a backdrop for a different story focused on a romantic couple. But, in a sentence, it's about a man journeying through a city in chaos, trying to make it back home to his wife before the world ends. In the story, the entire world knows the end is coming - they had about 2 weeks notice, and the story begins on the last day, when things are really getting intense as a lot of people can't cope.

Can I ask what the novel you're currently writing is about then, if not the end of the world?

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I really liked Contagion, just for how realistic the pandemic scenario was. I've recently read a bunch of historical fiction about bubonic plague, and have an itch to write a very realistic pandemic-type scenario in a futuristic setting, so maybe my next project will be that. Books I've loved were Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, 41 Days by Lou Cadle (which is apocalyptic, but not due to plague) and Pandemic by Daniel Kalla.

Well your story sounds very interesting! I'm a sucker for those "trying to make it back to his wife" disaster stories. It is the collapse of everything that intrigues me most about apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic books, more than the "restarting civilization parts." Have you written many stories?

Mine is... a sort of psychological thriller, but also not. Let's see, I'm trying to figure out a quick synopsis. It starts with a bank robbery, and two people are singled out by a sadistic robber and assaulted together during the process of the robbery, though the assaulter escapes capture. Five months later the two survivors run into each other again--both of them living lives completely upturned from the experience, and in very different places as far as dealing with their trauma and PTSD--and begin an intense relationship that has good intentions but is actually full of enabling/supporting each other's unhealthy coping mechanisms. This results in a downward spiral of paranoia and obsession, ending in a stalking/revenge plot against their assaulter (that goes totally wrong,) after they unexpectedly glimpse him in a crowd at a festival. So that's the basic outline. The female MC has chapters that are sessions with her therapist, and she is aware of the unhealthy dynamic between her and the guy, but since he tried to protect her during the assault, she spent that 5 months apart wondering about him and sort of nursing a little obsession with him, so she finds it difficult to extricate herself from the relationship. She just wants to help him, but ends up in way over her head.

Okay, that wasn't a quick synopsis at all, but this is literally the first time I've tried to describe it to anyone. I'm about halfway through at the moment, though I've got the major events for the rest of the book in outline.