Action/Thriller series following a family torn apart by war and espionage in the Alaska wild. Books, Audiobooks, and Documentary Film.

I am an Alaskan and an indie writer with a passion for getting the details right about the land I love. Survival in desperate situations is always difficult, but in an Arctic environment there are factors that take that difficulty closer to impossible. People have lived in Alaska for thousands of years before modern technology, so it is obviously possible.

So much of what people know about Alaska comes from Hollywood which usually gets it very wrong, wrong to the point that if someone followed the advice even of some of the "reality shows" they could end up dead very fast. While my books are fiction, I strive to show my home state as it really is in all its harsh beautiful reality, and to provide real tools that a reader could employ if they found themselves in the unthinkable situation of trying to survive in an extreme climate. And that's where ICE HAMMER comes in.

The Story: 

• Ice Hammer is a three book fiction series seen through the eyes of a family ripped apart by invasion and the ensuing war that consumes the North American continent, including their home state of Alaska. It is not about the bigger political game that stands behind all war, but it is about the lives, the loves and the bitter struggles of those trying to survive to see another day. 

The Set Up

• 2013: NSA spy scandal lost the US many of its friends.

• 2016: The US government defaults on its debts. With the collapse of the American Empire the few remaining US allies turn their backs as well.

  2017: Massive drought and crop failures spread across Eurasia threatening both China and the former Soviet states with starvation.

  2018: The decision is made. America will pay its debts.

  In a sweeping measure to collect what they are owed, guarantee ample food supplies and take fertile land for their own people, China and the newly re-Sovietized Russia combine forces and invade North America. 

  As limited nuclear strikes devastate major cities and population centers Chi-Sov forces rush to take and hold tactically significant segments of the continent paving the way for the transfer of their own populations for re-settlement and conquest.

  Just as it was for settlers in the early days of the American continent it is a bold new world for Chinese and Russian adventurers. In the face of methodical brutality at the hands of the conquerors, the locals don’t intend to give up the land without a fight.

  Brad Stone, IT chief for the VA Hospital in Anchorage Alaska, has dropped his teen sons off at Boy Scout Summer Camp and is heading home for a planned romantic week with his beautiful Korean born wife Youngmi when death rains down from the sky. Rockets and troops cut off the highway forcing Brad to escape into the mountains on foot. He must choose whether to save his sons at scout camp, or find Youngmi first. As the war rages around them Brad, Youngmi and their teen boys, end up in separate but equally deadly situations. Unsure of whether any of the other family members are alive, each of them must survive and bring the fight to the invader. See the partial cast of characters below.

  Status of the series:

  The entire three book series has been outlined and the first draft of book one is complete. Drafts of the next books are under way, and the first book is starting its initial follow-up rewrite, adding the flesh, muscle and sinew to the skeleton until it comes fully alive.

  Barring major craziness like hurricanes in my bathroom, massive snow-storms in the kitchen, or alternate/parallel dimensions opening up in my recording booth and turning it into a portal for an alien species to leap through a time warp and attempt to conquer the earth, ICE HAMMER Book One should be ready for submission by late 2014. With the help of pledges at the Executive level, this could potentially go even faster.

  Cast of Characters:

  A short intro to some of the main characters of ICE HAMMER

  Brad Stone
  Age 46. 
  Spouse: Youngmi (over 25 years)
  Children: Jay, Nathan, Alex
  IT Chief, Sunday School Teacher, Former Marine (88-92)
  Becomes Unintentional Leader of the Rebels

  Youngmi Stone
  Age 46
  Korean born
  Met Brad while she was in college & he was in Marines
  Web Programmer, Homeschool Mom, Active in her church
  Husband believes her dead, but she's held captive by Chinese General

  Nathan Stone
  Age 16
  Soon to be Eagle Scout
  Camp Counsellor at Gorsuch Boy Scout Camp
  Escapes into mountains with group of scouts at start of war
  
  Alex Stone
  Age 13
  1st Class Scout
  Camper with his Scout Troop
  Escapes to mountains with older brother

  Mike Campbell
  Age 45
  Retired Army Special Forces Master Sergeant
  Father of one of the older scouts at camp
  Leads scouts on escape into mountains

  Tommie Dolan
  Age 39
  Private Military Contractor / Mercenary
  Works with Mike training Alaska National Guard soldiers in special warfare skills
  Assists Mike leading scouts in escape

  Kharzai Ghiassi
  Age 40
  Former CIA agent
  Won't say what he's doing living like a hermit in the Alaska backwoods
  Encounters Brad in the forest alone, offers to team up with him
  Has a very odd sense of humor, very good at sneaking... and killing

  Sammi Park
  Age 30
  Korean born, raised in US
  High school ESL language teacher (speaks Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, and English all with native fluency)
  Was Brad's student in church many years ago, had a teen crush on him that she never grew out of
  She and "The Ajummas" are rescued by Brad & Kharzai before Chinese raid

  The Ajummas
  Group of Korean middle aged women picking wild edible plants outside of Anchorage when the war starts. Their knowledge of plants and natural medicine keeps the growing group of refugees alive and mostly healthy.

  General Zhang Ko Bai
  Age 52
  Commander of Chinese Forces Alaska
  Wife died of cancer during the early phase of invasion planning
  Keeps Youngmi prisoner due to her uncanny resemblance to his dead wife

  ...and many more

  Why the Funding Request?

  In writing my books I try to make them as realistic and life-like as possible by way of hands on research. I am an avid outdoors-man who has lived the majority of my life in Alaska. Ranging from Fairbanks to Salcha, Palmer to Anchorage I've experienced temperatures as extreme as +110F and -80F (not in the same day thank God), enjoyed an hours long roller-coaster on a boat in an ocean storm, stood sentry duty in sideways rain and slipped into an ice cave beneath a glacier that made superman's  HQ look positively drab. I've watch my wife's amazing tulip collection bloom all in one day as a technicolor reward for her gardening diligence only to witness a thousand pound momma moose eat the flowers off every last one of them as a mid-morning snack. I've hung tight with the twenty four hour summer sun and watched the Aurora Borealis fill the dark winter sky from horizon to horizon with swirling colors that danced like a supernatural ballet   While I've been around a lot, in such a big place there are innumerable places, objects and experiences I've not seen or done. As a self-published writer there are no royalty advances or support networks to offset costs of researching and producing the work.

  Monies raised in this project will pay for that hands on research including sub-arctic mountain and wilderness survival training (like this guy), indigenous skills such as hide preparation and food gathering, tactical firearms classes by these guys, historical and linguistics research at the University of Alaska Native Studies Dept and the Alaska Native Heritage Center, and gear testing of modern equipment. 

  Part of the funds will be used to purchase up to date video and audio recording equipment for the purpose of creating a documentary titled "The Making of Ice Hammer" that will chronicle the research and experiences I gain in preparing and writing this series of novels, information I expect to be very helpful to writers, new and experienced alike, especially if they attempt to tackle the subject of Alaska.

  Leaping into the mainstream publishing arena challenge

  If ICE HAMMER is not picked up by a major publisher it will be self-published as my previous titles have been. Pledged funds will be spent on professional editing, book formatting and professional cover art.

  If the series is picked up by a major publisher those funds will be spent on marketing and promotion (which the big pubs don’t do much of anymore) by getting out to as many book fairs, conferences and similar events as I can, and hopefully getting to meet some of you who have donated. 

  Risks and challenges

  Being an experienced indie writer with several self-published novels already out there I know some of the pitfalls that may lay ahead for this project. And as the techs and administrators of the Obamacare website became painfully aware of when HealthCare.gov floundered painfully to life a few weeks ago, I also know that there are trips and traps I cannot imagine lurking in the shadows waiting to ambush me. Time management, unexpected illness, day job emergencies, technical issues. Any of the above can toss a pebble into the works. How to overcome them? Persevere! The series is already outlined, the first book already drafted and the rest ready to be fleshed out. I made sure to have that much ready before putting the project into the public eye to ensure that ground work was already laid out and full tilt construction of the series could start from the word 'Go'!