This Writer’s Life

I like modern technology. It’s what allows me to sit at home, in slippers, and earn a living.

I think everyone who follows my blog or social media knows that I’m an author. That means I sit here and write most of the day, occasionally pausing to stare into space and call it “thinking.” Recently, however, a rainstorm brought flooding and knocked out power to much of the local area. You might assume this meant an unexpected vacation until the electricity was restored.

I certainly did.

That thought lasted less than five minutes.

Every time I complete a manuscript, I need beta readers—and people often ask me, “What is a beta reader?”

In the general sense, a beta reader is a test reader of an unreleased book. They provide feedback to the author from the perspective of an average reader. A good beta reader offers an unbiased opinion on plot, pacing, consistency, and character development. This helps the author identify and fix issues before the work is published. Unlike an editor, who focuses on sentence-level corrections, a beta reader gives feedback on the overall story and its emotional impact.

What would happen if, in an instant, the lights went out—not just in your town, but across the entire world? No phones. No internet. No electricity. That chilling possibility lies at the heart of my Solar Storms Saga books, and it isn’t just fiction. It’s a very real threat. You may have heard such solar events referred to as an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. Such bursts of energy can disable electronics world-wide and they come in two forms.