Hi friends,
First, a big thank you to everyone who clicked the “Helpful” button on Deadly Lockdown’s positive reviews and both Wynona and Hlsabine who gave the book two really nice reviews:
Wynona: “This book is action packed and hard to pause for sleep 🛌. Can’t wait to start the next book in the series.”
and
Hlsabine: “Excellent first book in a series! Strong start, great writing, and hard to put down.”
You guys are the best!
(If you meant to post a review or rating and haven’t had time, here’s the link again)
Review Deadly Lockdown – Thanks!!
With winter on the horizon, at least in my neck of the woods, I thought a few tips on staying warm during an emergency would come in handy. It’s not a comprehensive list, so send me any more ideas that you have, and I’ll add them.
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Staying warm in an Emergency – Be prepared Tip #7
It turns out that maintaining your body temp is an important aspect of survival, just as important as food and water. Hypo- or hyperthermia can kill even faster, ie. too cold or too hot for an extended period of time.
We’ll stick with hypothermia today, which is getting so cold that you can’t maintain your core temperature.
Keeping your body warm:
Dangers:
- Wet clothing either from wet weather, falling into water, or even working too hard out in the cold and dampening your innermost layer of clothing with sweat.
- Exposure to cold wind and weather
Solutions:
- Get to shelter and out of wet clothing immediately to warm up.
- Keep an extra set of dry clothing, especially socks and your innermost layer so you can change into something dry.
- Work at a slow pace when it’s cold outside so you don’t start sweating.
- Waterproof your outside gear with a spray or wear a poncho to keep the wet from penetrating when out in bad weather.
- Choose to do outside activities when the weather is milder and shelter inside when it’s severe.
Keeping your shelter warm:
Dangers:
- Make sure to ventilate if you’re using candles, fire, propane heaters, etc., to warm your living space during an emergency outage. Carbon monoxide kills regularly!
- If building a shelter outside, avoid setting it up in areas that are too exposed and difficult to keep warm and dry.
Solutions:
- Consolidate everyone into a single room you keep warm and shut off the rest of the house.
- Set up a tent inside the room and hang out together there, letting your body heat warm the smaller space (card games come in handy here).
- Use multiple layers of clothing. People can handle pretty low temperatures as long as they have multiple layers of dry clothing. Don’t forget a warm hat!
- If you are able to, install a properly-ventilated cast iron stove along with stores of wood to burn. This will help with heating, boiling water and cooking during an emergency outage.
- If sheltering outside, find an area out of the wind, sheltered by thick trees or the side of a hill to set up a tent or other outdoor shelter. In an area with enough snow, learn the details of building an igloo or snow cave to stay warm and dry.
These are just some ideas I’ve gathered on the subject. Let me know if I got anything wrong and for those of you experienced in ‘high country’ survival, what did I miss?
Brrr. I’m already shivering thinking of our coming winter. Why can’t fall weather last just a month or two longer?
Thanks again for your support!
______________________
Misty’s Writing Update:
Scott, a reader, gave me a great idea for Pax, my new main character, when I asked about giving a disability. I was thinking a physical one, but he mentioned agoraphobia, a fear of public spaces, might be something fun to help a street kid overcome.
That got me thinking of non-physical handicaps or even interesting quirks that would help flesh Pax out into a more complex person instead of one that feels like a cookie-cutter orphan boy with a secret power he doesn’t understand. 🙂
So, here are a few of my ideas. Which do you like . . . or do you have even better ones?
Pax: orphaned street kid with parents that were taken by authorities when he was young and his older brother disappeared years later, leaving him on his own.
Possible fears: Agoraphobia, fear of heights, or fear of a creepy crawly like spiders or snakes?
Favorites: the color green since he rarely sees things growing, fluffy berry scones his mother used to make but too expensive to buy now, small kids or animals that have it rough, and maybe some type of medieval-era sport that he’s too poor to watch in the official seats – feel free to suggest a sport.
Hates: Eating healthy vegetables, but he puts on a good face when he chokes them down for the younger street rats who are watching. Hates bullies and has a hard time not losing his temper when he sees them in action, which lands him in trouble.
Just some ideas I had swirling around and thought you might enjoy seeing the process or jumping in with some fun additions.
Most of all, I need to settle on one of his weaknesses that he will strengthen during the first book – which will be crucial to his triumph in the final battle at the end. Suggest away!!
Enjoy reading this week!
— Misty 🙂
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