Appalachian Theory

From Bookly:  The sequel to America: the Obliged takes Kentuckian-turned-all-american-hero Derrick Reddon across a globe trotting expedition that dwarfs the fabled caravan to Omaha in the first book. From England to Zurich to Salt Lake City, it's a dizzying tale about how a house of cards can fall in a domino-like effect. But what can be lost in the chaos of a civil war at home? As Derrick is out globe trotting, his son Uriah is at home, manifesting his own destiny to take over the family name in his own right. A protector. A family man. And maybe soon: a warrior.  America: the Obliged Civil War devours where its predecessor merely nibbled. Blood. Gore. Violence wrapped tightly into a sci-fi dystopic that triumphantly returns the beloved cast of characters and finally draws the red lines against their personalities, culminating in a riveting (if not gut wrenching) climax that builds like a finale of an orchestrated opera.  If one was to pick apart Civil War the same way o...

When I was 7, I took to our farm to find a Christmas tree. Too poor to buy our own from the gas station in town, I figured the next best option was one right off our own farm. Cedars grew wild in the Greenbrier Valley, dotting the edges of brush in the margins of our fields. I picked one, that, looking up with my 7-year-old eyes, was what I thought to be about 6 feet tall.      Every day after school, I would take to the fields, walking past the ponds and cattle lots that hugged our farm house and venture into the great beyond of the vastness of our 1,250 acre farm. In the corner of a sink hole and a small hill, my hand-picked cedar tree stood tall and strong, waiting for its final purpose: our Christmas tree.      I fashioned my Swiss Army Knife from my pocket. My paw-paw had given me the contraption the prior Christmas and it had become my survival essential tool. It would protect me from coyotes, bears, bobcats, and those evil chupacabras and lizard huma...

  America: The Obliged has been out since February, and has evoked a flippant-if-not-eerie take on America under twenty years of fascist rule.  Love or hate Trump, or whether you admire or loathe the events of the first six months of his administration, one thing that America: The Obliged was tantamount about was the inescapable similarities of events in today's America with one existent in 2044.  These uncanny similarities led America: The Obliged, also called ATO among fans, to peg a medal for Dystopian Alternate History Award this past Spring at the 2025 Bookfest Awards.  But what's next? Well, as part of an evolving trilogy, ATO now goes on to the next phase in the collapse of American democracy with America The Obliged Civil War.  Taking place a year after [SPOILERS] Alyssa is catapulted to the presidency of the rag-tag makeshift Federated States, the nation finds itself grinding against a reluctant military force across the deep South in Adam Reddon's Ne...

 America: The Obliged has launched. After what was a gnarly six months delay, I am happy to announce that we fixed a copyright issue with the cover artwork, fixed legal issues with the content and then fixed (again) a terrible misprint on the cover.  All told, a 116 day delay.  Not bad. ATO is birthed.  Oh, and? The eBook should be available by March 1, 2025.  The problem now is that I intend to stick to my guns and usher in the feverish release cycle and continue my work on the (massive) sequel, America The Obliged: Civil War.  Civil War will follow the struggles of the Federated States of America and the Reddon brothers as they clash both with familial woes but also political conflicts of principle. The book was slated for a late spring release, and despite the continuous delays on ATO, CW will release on schedule as previously announced.  That means you need to get to reading! 

 It's finally time! ATO Forums ATO WIKI

EM: We are chatting today with Nathan O’Discin, creator of America: The Obliged which has, for better or for worse, been delayed. But it’s coming out within a matter of days, at long last. Nathan, what on earth happened?   Nathan: Em, first, thanks for having me. Yeah. So, it’s kind of crazy what happened, honestly. We were barreling for an October release and then things kind of broke down between myself, my agency, and the various players on the publisher’s side. Everyting was kind of centered around some documentation missing over the creative use of Nathan O’Discin.   EM: Your Pen Name?   Nathan: Yes! So, the publisher was aware that Nathan O’Discin was a publisher author from my endeavors at Balboa Press with Beneath the Whispering Pines. So when it came to America: The Obliged being published in a different publishing house, I was unaware that there was a process to transfer my name for use with another company.   EM: …interesting.  ...