A. L. Kaplan

Tag: natural disaster

  • The Day of Reckoning Has Arrived

    View the Star Touched Book Trailer Here

    For those of you who are really into the science in science fiction, here is what happened. If those kinds of details don’t interest you, just skip the rest of this paragraph. The meteor that hit earth in Star Touched was smaller than the nearly six-mile-wide meteor that scientist believe caused the dinosaur’s extinction, but not by much. Hitting in the Atlantic near the conjunction of three tectonic plates, this impact triggered massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Basically, it really shook things up in nearly the worst possible way. All those earthquakes caused numerous tsunamis, one of which smacked into the eastern America. Volcanic eruptions spewed tons of junk into the atmosphere.

    The Day of Reckoning and the days following devastated earth’s population, changed the coastline, and altered the climate. Were it not for clear sky day, it is unlikely life would have continued as we know it. It also created the star-touched, people capable of accessing incredible power.

    https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/dinosaurs-extinction-asteroid-chicxulub-soot-earth-science/

    https://www.psi.edu/epo/ktimpact/ktimpact.html

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater

    https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39922998

    STAR TOUCHED

    Sometimes it’s hard to be who you are meant to be.

    Especially when your powers can get you killed.

    Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.

    Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble.

    Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends…and herself.

    HUMMINGBIRD

    Plagued by memories not her own, a young hummingbird struggles to decipher the visions and powers that set her apart from her fellow birds. But the road to awareness is fraught with danger that could doom her to repeat history.

    One step toward understanding.

    One stride toward survival.

    One leap toward flying free from the past.

    MARK OF THE GODDESS

    Sometimes a blessing can be a curse.

    Young Maya bears the mark of the moon goddess, a sign that would doom her to be sacrificed in her village where the death god is revered. Forced to dye her golden eyes dark, Maya lives in constant fear of discovery. To save her family and the village’s future, she must find the courage to stand up to the high priest before he can bring the death god into this world.

    WOLF DAWN

    A Hidden Past – A Deadly Secret

    Gifted with the ability to wolf-talk, Kara has lived with the wolves since she lost her memories eight years ago. Now at sixteen, snippets of her past send her searching for answers.

    But the warm welcome she receives in the human village hides more danger than life with the pack.

  • TECHNOLOGY FAIL

    A few weeks ago, only two weeks before STAR TOUCHED’s release, my computer had an epic fail. I spent three short days without a reliable computer while I struggled to get the new one set up and running. It felt like a month. Both a blessing and a curse, technology has made our world smaller and brought us together while also highlighting our faults. Our society has become very reliant on it.

    So, what would happen if we didn’t have any modern technology? No phones; no computers; no electricity or refrigeration; limited or no communication with the rest of the world. Ask the people whose homes were flattened by the recent hurricanes what it’s like. They are living that nightmare right now.

    The post cataclysmic world in STAR TOUCHED deals with those same issues. What would you do if all your technology stopped working? Good thing I would still have my trusty pad of paper…and no social media to distract me from writing.

     

    Startouched front cover2

    Eighteen year old Tatiana is running from her past and her Star-touched powers eight years after a meteor devastates earth’s population.

    Her power to heal is sometimes overshadowed by the ability to create ravaging fires. Fleeing the fear induced persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. This civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble. Tatiana is once again left with the choice to flee or to stay and fight for the new life she has built. Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends… and herself.

    “A unique and finely crafted debut novel, the characters touched my heart as I was drawn into their plight and compelled to finish!”

     — New York Times bestselling Author Maria V. Snyder

    “[Star Touched] is fast-paced with well-defined characters and dialog that snaps. The ravaged, post-technological American society is depicted with sure strokes. The story draws one in and keeps one reading. And that’s exactly what one wants from a book.”

     — “A.L. Sirois, author of THE BOHEMIAN MAGICIAN.”

     

    “A great YA dystopian novel exploring the challenges of being different, acceptance, maturity, and friendship. Get Star Touched by A.L. Kaplan as soon as it launches in October.”

    — Steven Southard

  • An Important Job

    Soot billowed up with every step Jim took. He tightened the rag covering his face and trudged on. Nothing could keep the noxious partials from seeping into every crevasse of his clothes. Before he was even halfway to his destination his skin felt gritty and uncomfortable.

    Satellite dishes studded the barren landscape. Most of the huge white structures sported mounds of debris. They were meant to detect incoming enemy missiles so the projectiles could be destroyed before obliterating humanity. Disaster came anyway, but not from an attack.

    He closed his eyes, remembering the day the world ended. Explosions roared across the planet, jettisoning debris from the bowels of the earth into the sky like an unkempt pimple. Earth’s skin contorted with waves. Yellowstone vanished in seconds, along with most of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

    It was only by some strange twist of fate that the satellite dishes survived. Even Jim’s survival was a quirk. A colleague called in sick last minute, putting Jim at the monitoring station when the super volcano erupted. Designed to withstand a nuclear holocaust, the underground bunker was well protected and stocked. Too bad the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the country.

    Jim climbed up into one of the dishes and pulled a shovel from his pack. There was no one left to fire missiles, but it was still his job to maintain these machines. With each shovelful he removed debris, letting bits of his sanity drift in the breeze with the dust.