Author Feature Amy Bartelloni

 

Amy’s Story

PFD Story Title: Second Chances
PFD Chapter: Eight
Main Character: Sierra, a teen reunited with her ex when he arrives to drag her out of her self-loathing to bring her to safety

 

Teaser

A lump formed in her throat as she looked up to the TV, where a reporter was standing outside a hospital, ambulances flying back and forth while she interviewed some military official who was trying to remain calm. The same kind of bullshit Jake could see from a mile away. She could almost hear him saying that when the government says things are all right, it’s time to get out of town.

 

Mini-Interview

What is your favorite thing about this project?

I’m amazed at the talent and the level of collaboration on this project.  Blown away, really.  I’ve read compilations before that are just a book of short stories.  This is more than that.  This is a full story told from twenty-one different perspectives from twenty different authors.  I don’t think I realized the talent level of the other authors when I stepped in to this project, and now I’m so thankful to be involved with it.

Has being a part of Prep For Doom changed your outlook on disaster preparation and/or apocalyptic scenarios? 

I would like to say it has, but the truth is I’m too lazy to disaster prep in a meaningful way. I have friends that do it, and I’m in awe of them. I have some things shuffled away in case of emergency, but I’m afraid it wouldn’t last us much longer than a month. Reading this has definitely made me think more about my lack of preparedness!

Tell us a little about your Prep For Doom character(s) and story.

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of real life characters put in extraordinary circumstances. Because the truth is, in any kind of disaster you’re going to have real people that come from real lives and have real problems they can’t just leave behind. I’ve always been interested in how those real problems translate to their post-apocalyptic experience. Do you take your baggage with you? Of course you do. That’s how the character of Sierra was born. I wanted to put her in the middle of a huge emotional crisis that she doesn’t have time to deal with before the world falls apart. So, not only does she have to deal with this virus, she has to deal with the emotional aftermath of a terrible accident (that was her fault), and some behavior toward her ex that she’s not proud of, though it turns out he was right all along. It took a lot of thought to sift through what was important to her, and how she could move forward. I hope it’s relatable, because despite what’s going on in the story, human nature doesn’t change and I want people to understand this character and her struggles.