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Just when Areum - daughter of a privileged family in the totalitarian state of Choson (North
Korea) - thought she was free from her personal prison, her world collapses around her as her
family is taken away in the middle of the night to a hell-like camp in the mountains where people
who have strayed from the righteous path are brutally re-educated through blood, sweat, tears,
and starvation.
There she has to fight for survival together with the family she hates and is forced to re-evaluate
every aspect of her life until then: her deep resentment toward her twin sister; her view of her
father in the face of mounting evidence that he is a traitor with the blood of millions of fellow
countrymen on his hands; and even her love and affection for the Great General - the eternal
savior and protector of Choson, whom she had always considered her true father.
Note from the author:
Have you ever wondered what the world looks like when seen through an indoctrinated mind?
This is a topic that has intrigued me for as long as I can remember, so when I came up with the
idea to write a book many years ago, I decided to create it from the viewpoint of a victim of
indoctrination… which in the end became Areum (the protagonist of the story).
What I try to explore in this story is how deep the indoctrination of a 14-year old girl can run and
how much “reality” it can be exposed to before breaking… if it will break at all. As a comparison,
the defectors from North Korea who arrive in South Korea are isolated for three months in a de-
programming facility called Hanawon before they are allowed to join society where they go
through this process in a more controlled (and less brutal) way than Areum.
I hope you will enjoy this slightly different take on the dystopian genre!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Cranes sang songs of joy from the mountain tops.
Double rainbows appeared in the sky.
The aggressors from the west were defeated. The invaders from the east were expunged. The
traitors from the south were put at bay.
The people of Choson were finally free to create their own destiny, and so a hermit kingdom of
people’s rule rose from the ashes, and the doors to the enemies of the outside world were
closed, never to be opened again.
The world around them moved on. Years passed. Decades passed. Peace and prosperity
spread throughout the world, and nothing was heard from the secluded hermit paradise.
Then one day, people started emerging from its closed borders. The stories they brought with
them were, however, not of a paradise on earth. Instead, what they depicted were horrors so
vile and cruel that they almost exceeded human comprehension.
Little had the people of the kingdom known when they closed its doors to the outside world, that
the vilest beast of all was still lurking among their midst, and as soon as the curtains had been
drawn, the beast unleashed its reign of terror upon the people, not stopping until it had crushed
and enslaved every soul within its reach.
The beast now rules the kingdom from a throne of human misery and agony.
No one alive has ever encountered this beast, but everybody knows its name.
Excerpt Two:
My father’s words echo in my head.
“Hamhung”
“Hamhung”
I’m standing in a long wide street. There are tall houses on both sides of me.
Where am I?
I don’t recognize anything, but still, everything looks familiar.
Then I notice there is something on the ground around me. I try to focus, but my vision is blurry.
There is something there. Some kind of objects.
Or…
Now the focus is getting clearer. They are bodies! They are everywhere. I jump in panic. I want
to run away, but my feet are stuck to the ground.
I’m standing in a sea of sun-scorched, dried up corpses - as far as the eye can reach. Then I
feel it. The stench of their decay stings my nose. I feel nauseous. I look down at the corpse
closest to me. A man. He looks so strange. Like all his muscles and fat has been removed, and
his skin tightly wrapped around his bare bones. All the corpses look the same.
All of a sudden, there is a movement in the corner of my eye. I turn my head.
Paralyzed with fear I watch one of the corpses rising until he stands before me a bit further
down the street of death. He doesn’t move, just looks at me with his dead silvery eyes. My blood
is freezing to ice inside my veins. I look closer, squinting against the distant sun. The features of
the man look strangely familiar. Then I suddenly see it. I gasp, and a flash of ice rushes down
my spine.
QUESTION FOR THE AUTHOR:
The hardest part about writing is…
For me, the hardest part of writing is to find the stamina and perseverance to continue trudging away day
after day for months, hanging on to a sliver of hope that the end result will be good enough to publish.
Procrastination and distractions are the constant enemies that lurk around every corner in form of
checking social media, your sales stats, or that now would be a perfect time to vacuum the house.
Sometimes you get into a flow. Then writing is easy. But most days, it’s just hard work… especially when
you get into editing, which for me takes more time than writing the first draft.
But I must also say that it gets easier with time. I have been doing this for 4-5 years now, and even if I
don’t always get into your “flow” or the “zone”, whatever you want to call it, most days I manage to get into
a writing mindset, which is the next best thing. My mind is focused and knows what to do, and I can keep
it focused until I’m done for the day. Usually with the help of several doses of caffein.
Still, distractions and the urge to procrastinate is always present, so for me, the biggest challenge is not to
give into that urge. And it’s the hardest when you’re in the middle of whatever draft you are working on.
When you start with the first chapters, you’re full of energy and I’m usually surprised by how easy it goes.
When you’re nearing the end, you get energy by seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But right there in
the middle… that’s tough. And you can only get through by applying good old-fashioned perseverance.
And by reminding yourself of the bliss and euphoria you will feel once you’re finished and happy with the
result.
Adria Carmichael is a writer of dystopian fiction with a twist. When she is not devouring
dystopian and post-apocalyptic content in any format - books, movies, TV-series and
PlayStation games - she is crafting the epic and highly-addictive Juche saga, her 2020 debut
novel series that takes place in the brutal, totalitarian nation of Choson. When the limit of doom
and gloom is reached, a 10K run on a sunny day or binging a silly sitcom on a rainy day is her
go-to way to unwind.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20581191.Adria_Carmichael
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Adria-Carmichael-591550164840779
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adria_carmichael_author/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AdriaCarmichael
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/adria-carmichael
Amazon Buy links:
Juche 1 – The Demon of Yodok:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FQLHKYP/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
Juche 2 – The Weeping Masses:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J42Y4Y5?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_
1&storeType=ebooks
Juche 3 – The Storm of Storms:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B099BKWKKR?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_cal
w_2&storeType=ebooks
Juche 4 – Freedom or Death: https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Death-Young-Dystopian-
Survival-ebook/dp/B09D9NBZ7S/ref=sr_1_1
Juche 1-4 Box Set:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B3F21BKV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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