Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Personality Flaws Anyone?

I started a thread over at http://survivalistboards.com a couple days ago and its already generated  244 replies and has been read by 3,705 people.

Here's the post:
Personality Deal Breakers



If you were assembling a "survival team" to build a BOL, what personality traits would you exclude from the group....

are there any irritating habits that you could just not tolerate for the long haul in a post grid collapse scenario?

are there skills that a person could possess that would override any personality flaws?


Read more at http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=299886#hkocJTHqeXtDuzDO.99




As I wrote the River Survival Series I pondered all the horrible things people would be going through and I knew each individual would be changed dramatically, in ways one could not imagine in a civilized society.

The story begins with a couple living up in the Georgia mountains. When the grid collapses, they are prepared to deal with it. However, the nearby townspeople aren't and eventually organize and decide to take matters into their own hands. Experiencing scarcity and starvation is not a pretty sight.

As the story progresses, we find the neighbor has changed from a sociable, portly gentleman to a greedy, cannibalistic  Trader who searches abandon buildings to ply his trade.

Eventually we make a journey to the big city of Chicago. I took sometime figuring out how political systems would have changed. We meet people on both sides of the law and learn their reasoning for the terrible crimes they commit.

Book One ends in a River community along the Mississippi River. There we meet, follow and learn how I sincerely believe humanity will eventually overcome a world wide collapse of the systems as we know it. I believe the answers lie in the old skills so many have abandoned in our technical age.

As an author, its difficult to proof your own work. I had a friend read and "edit" the first two books. A couple reviews said the story was good, but the editing was not....so, I just finished going over the first three books and I believe the editing is much better.

I put a new cover on Book Three....as a marker if nothing else.
 
A friend took this shot of me holding a rife. In book three we learn what has driven Apache, our dark warrior, to become the man is now is.
 
In Book Four, the Brewmaster changes dramatically. He's always played by the rules, lived a god fearing life, been the pillar of the struggling farming community.
 
I won't spoil the end of Book Four....it's a heart breaker, as are most classics.
 
I have begun Book Five...its called Deliverance.
 
As in all endeavors, the more you do it, the better you become. Re-editing my work has allowed me to improve the work. At present, this series contains over 500,000 words, a lot of detailed survival skills and deep philosophical ideas.

6 comments:

  1. Personality flaws to be avoid are those who cannot work well with others. Someone who must always must be right and thinks they are always right. Those who yell and act childish when they do not get their way. Those who are lazy, backstabbers, liars, molesters, thieves, bullies, and leaders who make popular choices to stay in power instead of the best choices for survival.

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  2. I agree, Flo, and the thread seems to concure, though a great deal of debate is being held over the term alpha male and whether a person must be a Christian or not.

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  3. Wow, you started a thread that has exploded. Pretty much everything that I would have posted has been covered. The 2nd post after your initial post about covers it all. As far as Alpha males, I feel that a group may need a leader or "alpha male" but only if put there by the member or voted in.

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    1. Thank you for your good comments, 041.....You must be a member on the survival board? I was shocked that so many people took an interest in that thread, and appreciate all the great answers, plus the comical ones too.

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  4. I think the term alpha male is over used. There are traits that make a good leader such as a command presence and organized thinking. Religion is really not a factor in this but good church leaders have these qualities. Compassion and discipline also needed to manage others. Following a chain of command for span of control is a must for larger groups.

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  5. I agree that Alpha Male has this strange allure, the mystery of strength and all that. But without compassion and reason, it could get way out of control. Large groups can not be led by consensus, that's very true. Voting, yes, but not everyone is going to agree, all the time...

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