(Apocalyptic Women, Snug Haven 2025: Juvie)
*Although not an apocalyptic book, it is the novelette prequel to All Bets Are Off (Apocalyptic Women, Snug Haven 2026), so I include it in this series.
“I love a story that features strong women conquering overwhelming odds, and Juvie does just that. Still a kid, 15 years old and a veteran of the foster care system and its trappings, Juvie escapes another near miss with a foster dad with roaming hands. This teen is loaded with uncanny resourcefulness as she sets out on her own with a few supplies and more bravery and heart than most grown-ups.
It becomes an adventure of survival that had me a worried mess for her safety, but with action and suspense that kept me riveted to the pages. I really wish I could reach into the pages and give her a big hug and show her that a grown-up really does care, and I bet you’ll feel the same because this kid deserves just that.”
Juvie is done with detention centers, group homes and foster parents. Done with living life on someone else’s terms. At 15, she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Not a very high bar, considering the trail of inept adults in her wake.
When the last foster father steps over a big red line, she does what she has to do, and with a cumbersome suitcase, Juvie takes to the road…and to the trees. The woods, she believes, will be her salvation. She is sure of it.
With only a few stolen items to aid her survival, she starts a journey north, away from everything she’s known, and everything she wants to forget.
But the world has no shortage of nefarious people, and mother nature is no walk in the park.
(Apocalyptic Women, Snug Haven 2026: All Bets Are Off)
A woman-centered survival story at the start of an apocalypse, with none of the usual damsel-in-distress marmalade.
“Envisioning the demise of America, whatever the reason, builds a certain tension, that when done right, unleashes a character’s genuine self. All Bets Are Off absolutely nails that and what’s even better is that this motley crew of survivors is quarterbacked by strong, competent, yet fallible and lovable women.” ~Amazon Review
November, 2022. The U.S. power grid is taken down. Franny Sullivan-Sky is on the road, trying to find the daughter lost to her for sixteen years. She and her partner Jack are following the best lead they’ve had, when the grid goes down. But no matter how dangerous it is, Franny cannot turn back until she finds Juvie and brings her safely home. Franny’s eldest, Dakota, is still with the young woman she enjoyed from the night before, when she sees the ominous news broadcast, just before the power goes out. Recognizing the implications, she feels compelled to protect Hannah as they set out to save their families. In Kudzu, Tennessee, Juvie, the runaway foster kid, believes the old lady who saved her is the only person worth loving, and she’s happy for the first time in her life. But Juvie is in for a rude awakening when the ham radio reports permanent power failure, and her idyllic life with Burlie quickly becomes another fight for survival. Three women must journey through a dark landscape filled with desperate people doing desperate things. Can they survive long enough to reach the safety of Snug Haven, or will they fall victim to the evils of men?
(Apocalyptic Women, Sister Resisters 2052: Mercy Rocah)
Mercy Rocah isn’t sorry she killed a man, she’s only sorry she couldn’t kill him twice.
“Speculative domestic suspense from bestselling genre-hopping indie author, Kelli Jae Baeli. Mercy Rocah is psychological fiction for fans of strong female protagonists, adventure, survival, and complex relationships.”
History teacher Mercy Rocah gives herself over to the swift justice system of 2054, which sends her to the banishment island of East Castigo. But her survival skills are tested before she even gets there.
As she acclimates to life on the island, what she learns makes her question everything she believes about her younger sister and their mother, who martyred herself for the Sister Resisters a decade ago. Mercy’s discoveries will challenge her insular world view.
And sweet, innocent Zyla might be the only person she can trust.
(Apocalyptic Women, Sister Resisters 2272: Story Book)
Sometimes the best decisions are the ones we make when we have no choice.
“Kudos to Ms. Baeli! This story is fantastic. Talk about covering some ground (or space) in a short book–this is a prime example of brilliant writing.”
Story Book had no idea how to pilot a transport ship. The narratives on her reader never taught her such things. But here she was, waking up on one. The trajectory from Pangea to the prison planet, Sintori-5, would have spelled her doom, had the ship not met with some mysterious mishap. She’s alone, except for another surprising prisoner Story finds in the only other remaining suspension pod.
She has some decisions to make. Does she rouse the Cephalosapien from the sleep pod? Does she abandon all hope? Maybe just engage in tentacle sex until the food is gone?
Or does she choose to go from prisoner to pioneer, taking the ultimate chance, trusting her hybrid companion to get them away from the Garzi warships and then out of their relentless circling of Uranus?
“Interstellar, gelatinous scifi fun with a lesbian twist.”