Finally. It always takes longer than I think it will. Nonetheless, book 5 of my Siege of New Hampshire Series is now available on Amazon. At least, the Kindle version is. The paperback is still working through the review and approval process.
Critical Spring picks up the story shortly after the end of Book 3: Hunger Season. It is still winter and the people of Cheshire are about to take the fight to the hoodlums who attacked their town at the end of Book 3.
The story progresses through Spring. Simply surviving the winter in a world without the power grid is not enough. The people of New Hampshire have the summer growing season to plant, raise and harvest all of the food they will need to get through the next winter. All of this, of course, without the conveniences of electric power and liquid fuels.
As if that weren’t challenging enough, disaster strikes the Simmons home. Martin begins a race against time to find a solution.
Longer Than Expected
Book 5 is big. The proof copies just arrived in the mail. It’s a thick book! At 487 pages, Critical Spring turned out to be the longest of the five books. Book 3 — Hunger Season — had been the longest at 457 pages (paperback version). The length is one explanation for why the process took longer than expected. There was a lot to write! Winter is usually a good time to write, as there are fewer chores (outdoors) around the homestead. Winter ended, however, and I still wasn’t done. Spring chores demanded time.
Tying Loose Threads
One contributing factor to Book 5’s length was my effort to tie up the several plot threads left unresolved in books 3 and 4. Readers asked me what happened to so-and-so, or will the people do X or Y? The most frequent question was “What happens to Susan? Does she stay in Vermont?” While I had all those details put to bed in my mind, that didn’t do my readers much good. Hence, book 5.
Shout Out
I’d like to thank my long-suffering beta-readers and proofreaders (You know who you are) for their help in getting Book 5 cleaned up and tidy. My non-speedy delivery of chapters was taxing on their reader spirits. Sorry about the cliffhanger endings. I will say that having you guys as readers helped keep the pressure on to get the writing done. It’s hard to procrasitnate when people are emailing me, asking if the next chapter is done or not.
I think you’ll like Critical Spring. It has more of people innovating ways around the lack of grid power. It also has more of everyday folks’, determination to survive the troubles you’d find in a world without the power grid.
Thanks for reading!
I absolutely loved your series. I read the first book in just a day, and the other three in about three weeks. They were riveting and very eye-opening. You have done a marvelous job with this series. I can’t wait to read Critical Spring.
Hi April,
Glad you’re enjoying the series. I think you’ll like Critical Spring. Let me know what you think of it when you’re done. Thanks!
— Mic