Hi all,
This week I'm going to talk about how the lockdowns influenced my YA Post-Apocalyptic series, Celestial Plague. The series starts because a virus starts spreading around the world, infecting people and encouraging them to infect others so they can pass onto Nirvana or Heaven. While I started writing the series before the pandemic, I have gone back and edited some parts to be more realistic to the lockdowns that happened around the world.
Isolation.
The SARJ virus happens very early in the books so we only see the characters at school once. Shannon watches a short news reel on the virus which states that it's spreading, but no procedures have been put in place yet. The characters all still go to school as normal before the virus hits their small town. They hide in Shannon's house, only letting in one person who infects Shannon before leaving. The rest of the girls then keep Shannon in her bedroom until they can determine that she won't infect them. They mainly stay in Shannon's house for the first book until they are forced to leave. The SARJ virus is not a respiratory one, instead it is spread through bites. The virus also shows it's symptoms almost immediately, which means that the infected can be isolated if others are quick enough.
Groceries.
When the girls sneak out to get food, they notice that toilet paper and perishable food has all been taken first. Originally I wrote that canned food would be the first to run out of stock but when lockdown happened that wasn't the case. It was mostly bread, milk, toilet paper and hand sanitiser that ran out first. So I incorporated that into the books.
Misinformation.
The main source of misinformation in Celestial Plague comes from Warren, the leader of a cult. At first he tells people that the virus only takes the sinners and kicks out the infected. But he then has a change of heart down the line and starts accepting the infected as well. He preaches ways people can keep themselves safe from the virus and that it's a punishment from God. He is also able to control some of the 'demons' that appear when people start going to Nirvana and Heaven.
Travel.
Due to most people getting infected and passing on to Nirvana or Heaven, the girls don't come across many people in vehicles. When they do it's usually from people who have looted them from those who have gone. When lockdowns first happened there were very few people on the roads, so I tried to incorporate that into Celestial Plague.
Fear.
The SARJ virus can only be passed on through a bite from a human. So this makes the survivors fear the infected more so than usual. One of the main characters, Jenna, is especially hostile towards the infected and hates them with a passion. There are many groups that will only allow those who are uninfected to stay with them. When the lockdowns happened, people were scared for their lives and tried to stay away from others as much as possible. This is also true in Celestial Plague.
That's it for this week, see you next week!
