2016-12-08

Lissa Bryan is the author of Dominion (The End of All Things Series)

Obviously, throughout your research for Dominion and The End of All Things Series, you have explored different survival techniques and food sources. Have you ever tried any of these techniques or foods and if so what were the results or consequences? If not, why not, AND which ones would you like to try / experiment with?

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I have to admit, I probably wouldn’t be all that great with the whole “survival” thing myself. I had to confront this when I was at my grandmothers and discovered that the fire in her stove had gone completely out. I thought certainly I wouldn’t have trouble starting a fire, especially with all the kindling and tinder on hand. Well, as it turns out, it’s not as easy as it looks. After it went out the third time, I surrendered and used the firestarter blocks! “Knowing how” to do something and actually being able to do it are two entirely different things.
Last summer, I tried a water evaporation technique I was going to use in the book. You dig a hole in the earth and sit a bowl in the center of it. Then you lay a sheet of clear plastic over the hole and weight it down in the center with a rock, so it makes a point over the bowl. The concept is that the heat of the sunlight causes water to evaporate from the earth, collect on the plastic, and drip into the bowl. The results were somewhat disappointing. I collected maybe half a cup. It would probably work better over a larger area, or if you have multiple evaporators working, but it’s a very slow method. 

As for the foods, I’ve eaten quite a few of them. I live on the edge of the Appalachians, and so many of the plants Taylor encounters in the book are native to my area. My grandmother used to serve some of them. Dandelion greens can be quite tasty, but you have to harvest them in the early spring before they get bitter. I’ve also eaten squirrel and rabbit, and my grandfather insisted I learn how to clean them. He told me at the time that I never knew when I’d need to know this kind of thing. I doubt he ever imagined I’d use it in a book! 

Thank you, Lissa! 

Release Date: December 3rd 2016
Published by: The Writers Coffee Shop
Genre: Fiction, Dystopian


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