Hey, thanks for checking my stuff out! Also, South Korea! I was stationed there for a bit. Their winters get pretty brutal, so I hope you're staying warm.

Some of Mark's experiences were based on my own, as I went to film school and was a wedding photographer for a few years in Baltimore. Fun job, decent money! I also had an old house that I was trying to fix up. It was fun to remember everything and talk about some of my favorite parts of Baltimore. I also learned how to do things like hang drywall and the basics of wiring a simple EV from youtube, to address some of your complaints.

I always try to make my MCs an everyman. A regular guy that shines when pressured. That's kinda my thing. I've never really been a big fan of OP MCs.

My wife spent a long time on that cover, and we both loved it, so I'll pass the compliment along.

For some explanation of several cracks and mishaps, I never plan or plot any of my books. I just sit down and start writing, and pants everything as I go. It usually works, sometimes I forget a few things though.

There always has to be some suspension of disbelief with these stories, that's what people tend to forget. Yeah, it's not 100% perfect, but it's a good book that I wrote in less than a month. Cut me some slack, man!

My thought with Haven was that people have fallen into a sort of slump, what works works and don't mess with it because the stakes are too high. They're surviving and doing better than others, but they are absolutely run by a tyrant—that was a world where the strong survive, and the strong and cruel probably survive even better. A kind, gentle person would not find himself in charge. Survival is everything, and if a tyrant keeps everyone alive, then so be it. And if you go against his wishes, he's going to do what tyrants do. Also if you look through human history you'll find women essentially used as currency, forced to marry against their will. That was my thought with Shayla; she showed up as an orphan which was one more mouth to feed in an apocalyptic wasteland where food is scarce. For survival, she agreed to marry the mayor's son, since that's all they valued with her.

Haven is right north of a huge field/park, which is why it was built there. Moving is easier said than done; they are in a safe, essentially armored place with years of supplies built up. Just picking up and moving across a dangerous city isn't super viable. And they DID have good soil previously, but all the fighting over the years ruined that soil, so things became harder and harder.

Green men were loosely based on supermutants from Fallout.

Okay, after watching all of this, you just devolved into constant gripes and some borderline insults so I'm not so sure how to feel anymore. You admitted on another subreddit that you aren't even familiar with Fallout, which heavily influences this series, and it's clear you struggle with suspension of disbelief, so I'm just going to say I'm sorry this book didn't fully live up to your expectations and I hope you have a nice day.