Beyond the Lost Horizon was nearly a hell of a lot different

I never sat down and wrote an outline for Beyond the Lost Horizon. Early on, anyway. It came to me in a dream when I escaped a Red Dawn-like terrorist attack.

There’s an old lake house we call “the cabin” that’s been in my family since at least 1950. It belonged to my great-grandfather, who passed it to the oldest son who wanted it. That oldest son was my grandfather. He passed it to my uncle, who will pass it to his son-in-law.

Yeah, it fucking sucks, since I’ve often advocated it should stick to the lineage so long as there’s a male involved. The sportsman club where it’s located is old school, and the property goes to the oldest son in the family per the by-laws. If there is no son, it goes to the son-in-law, not the oldest dude in the next lineage.

But whatever. Maybe it means less upkeep for me and I was never meant to have it. Anyway, I’m telling you this because initially, a fictional version of this place was supposed to be Beyond the Lost Horizon’s main setting.

Beyond the Lost Horizon’s original concept

Quinn Cozens escaped a debilitating coordinated terrorist attack on the United States. Think Red Dawn, except these terrorists were already planted on U.S. Soil, not parachuting in from aircraft.

Quinn ran into the nearby woods when he saw his chance and crossed paths with Yui Kikuchi. They fled the scene, found an abandoned vehicle, fired it up, and hightailed out of there. Quinn didn’t stop driving until they reached the lake house, located 30 minutes from the attack. It was so far out in the middle of nowhere, Quinn knew they’d be safe.

From there, Quinn taught Yui how to survive with primitive methods. He noted two ways to get food: the lake and the woods. They could fish or hunt. He also knew the cabin’s power grid wouldn’t last long, given the circumstances.

The overall conflict involved surviving in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, encountering problems in the woods, run-ins with scavengers, and looking for creative ways to try and make contact with others.

There wasn’t enough to the story so I scrapped the idea

The concept seemed okay for a short story, but not a full-length novel. Heck, even after I revised Beyond the Lost Horizon into what it ultimately became, I still didn’t have a word count to turn it into a novel. It instead rests at around 37,000 words.

There also wasn’t enough conflict. Quinn and Yui came from opposite sides of the tracks, but the initial concept didn’t show it. They were too interdependent too early on, and this wasn’t supposed to be a cozy read.

I took what I had and made them as polar opposite as I could. Quinn told institutions to go fuck themselves while Yui believed in them. Quinn threw a middle finger to the world and forged his own path while Yui followed the leader.

Then I injected another setting where they’d hide before venturing to the lake house. And best yet, there wasn’t a single peaceful setting for them. Find out just how far behind the eight-ball they are in the novella. And brace yourself for one disturbing ride. Get the book now.