Emergency Alert: An Immersive Novel
by O.W. Showe

In December 2018 my husband and I devised a wacky plan to live in southeast Asia for a year or so. Within a three week period, we hurriedly packed each of our worldly possessions into an eight-by-ten storage unit and booked a fourteen hour flight to Seoul, South Korea. Why Seoul, you ask? Well, to make a long story short, we were both stationed at an airbase in the Republic of Korea roughly a decade past and presumed that a reunion would be good for the soul (pun).

It was not.

Imagine receiving an emergency alert on your cell phone in 한글 (Hangul), which is the alphabet utilized to write the Korean language. No amount of Duolingo prepares the brain for those flashing alerts and rising sense of panic. However, the initial warning paled in comparison to burgeoning rumors that a “new influenza bug” had begun to wreak havoc on the local elderly populace. Essentially, the novel coronavirus was running rampant and no one was the wiser, including us.

Needless to say, within days our feet were back on American soil. Yet, perhaps most surprising is the fact that a whopping three months passed before the virus showed face in the United States. A whole three months. Then, you guessed it, emergency alerts were disseminated to cellular devices and I began to ponder the complexities of having a long-term, unwelcome visitor amongst us.

Emergency Alert is a short story about our shared experiences and the extensive life modifications that individuals have been forced to preserve for the preservation of many. The novel will thrust readers into an interactive world where citizens of the Collective Union are terrorized by the emergence of a virulent global pandemic. Clearly marked zones separate regional borders and local “sectors” are brimming with increasingly aggressive militia factions. A dedicated cast of characters eagerly leap from the pages to share their personal journeys while navigating the bizarre environment. Sound familiar?

As the first installment of a two part series, the second volume will release directly to the reader’s e-library via remote update on 04 July 2020. Audience members are encouraged to engage the interactive icons located throughout the novel as the performers connect with fans in real time!