How a typo created an ecological disaster:
A couple weeks ago I received a negative comment on the Wattpad edition of Iron Empire. It was confusing, a tad blunt and didn't bother explaining the source of its disappointment.
I haven't actually received many negative comments on my books, but that wasn't the important part. The real thing that confused me was the source of the disappointment that the commenter didn't explain.
//Report: Blackwell, Darius.
//The Nevada Desert.
//Arizona.
//Axion Industries manufacturing base.
//Designation: “The Forge”.
Upon examination, the Forge is, very specifically, located in the Grand Canyon.... which is entirely located... in Arizona. The "Nevada Desert" is not a thing, because Nevada, as it turns out, is a state.
And I published that error on Amazon.
Palm, meet face.
In my defense, I'm Canadian. I could probably place a good dozen American states on the map, total.
However, I wasn't about to let that stop me.
And thus, as I sit here writing Chapter Sixteen of the sequel, Steel Skies, the "Nevada Desert" had been given proper lore.
"What had once been distinct arid regions—the Mojave, Great Basin, and Sonoran deserts—had merged into an expansive wasteland that came to be known as the Nevada Desert. Stretching from the southern reaches of California and Arizona to the northern borders of Nevada and Utah, the desert swallowed entire ecosystems, leaving behind a barren, windswept expanse of sand and cracked earth. This new megadesert, punctuated by sporadic, toxic salt flats and ghostly remnants of pre-war settlements, extended as far north as the Grand Canyon, which had become a desolate chasm devoid of its once-vibrant rivers and plant life."
And so, a new ecological disaster was born.
