"Was A Time When" - An Honorable Success
Sam Penny's third science fiction novel "Was A Time When," published a year ago, has been awarded an Honorable Mention in the Science Fiction category at the 2012 New England Book Festival in Boston, its fourth such honor this year.
Online, December 20, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Sam Penny published his third science fiction novel "Was A Time When" a year ago, hoping that critics would find the work to be of literary value and that people would respond with enthusiasm. Today, Penny received encouragement and a badge of success when the work was awarded an Honorable Mention honor in the Science Fiction category at the 2012 New England Book Festival in Boston.
This is the fourth Honorable Mention award this novel has received this year, previously being recognized for its merits at the May San Francisco Book Festival, the June New York Book Festival, and the June Beach Book Festival in New York, all in the Science Fiction category.
"I certainly did not expect to be acclaimed as the best SciFi novel of the year, but I hoped to receive some recognition that at least my work contributed to the world of literature," Penny said. "Four out of four gives me confidence that my book does matter. The consistent recognition feels good."
The book is still being considered at the January London Book Festival and the March Southern California Book Festival for 2012 works.
Penny used his scenario building talents to look into the future to better understand the risks our society faces. He describes the plot of his latest novel, "My book "Was A Time When," is based upon the memoirs of my fictional great-grandson, yet to be born in 2015. This is the life he could face."
"Was A Time When" considers a worst case scenario of resource depletion and climate change that make life this century in California unacceptable by today's standards. As populations explode, the cost of energy climbs, and climate change wracks our environment, our surrounding world collapses, and society cannot continue. What might society become? What kind of world will our progeny face? What must those who remain do to survive?
Penny established his reputation with his novels of the 7.9 Scenario, telling of what would happen if the great earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 once again struck the New Madrid Fault Zone underlying the Mississippi River. These books are "Memphis 7.9 (Revised)" and "Broken River." The USGS agrees that the chances of such an occurrence in the next 50 years are approaching 10%, a risk you would not find acceptable when driving your kids to school.
An earthquake is a sudden catastrophe with long-term effects. Changes in climate and resources can be long-term catastrophes with even longer-term effects. As a long-time believer in a sustainable life-style, Penny tells of what the world could be like by the end of this century if we do not take action soon to prepare for the world coming our way.
Penny says, "My book "Was A Time When" can help you understand what could be the future of our land. It is not a definite prediction, but places a bound on the worst case. All the events I describe as happening are well within the realm of probability during the remainder of this century. Catastrophic earthquakes and storms could happen to make our life with climate change and resource depletion much worse. Without considering the possibility of the worst case, we can be blind-sided by reality."
The book is available as a Kindle book and as a printed book on Amazon.com.