What inspired “Vashon Island Rises”
Published 1:30 am Friday, March 13, 2026
Ten years ago, when I first stepped off the ferry and onto the docks of Vashon Island, I had no idea the island would become not only my home, but the beating heart of an entire fictional saga.
I’m proud to announce the release of Vashon Island Rises, the newest novel set here in our rural refuge in the middle of Puget Sound.
Vashon Island Rises is the first installment in the Second Era: Shattered Remains series and serves as a direct sequel to the earlier Vashon Island Fall books. Both series are part of the larger October Fall World saga.
While the original series chronicled the immediate aftermath of a devastating EMP that shattered the United States, this new chapter turns its focus to resurgence. The old world may have died in the darkness of that attack, but on Vashon, a new one is being forged through ingenuity, resilience, and determination.
People often ask why I chose Vashon as the epicenter for a post-apocalyptic thriller. The answer is both practical and deeply personal.
On a map, Vashon looks like a quiet green shape floating between two major urban giants: Seattle and Tacoma. That geography alone creates narrative tension. In the event of a large-scale disaster, the island’s isolation becomes a double-edged sword. On one hand, being reachable only by water provides a literal moat.
With ferries silent and fuel scarce, the millions in the surrounding metropolitan areas would face enormous barriers in reaching our shores. The island’s separation could shield it from the worst waves of chaos.
On the other hand, isolation cuts both ways. When the lights go out and the grid collapses, little help is coming. No convoy of trucks. No rapid response teams.
No easy resupply. Islanders would be left to live or die by their own resources and capabilities. That stark reality, self-reliance in its most uncompromising form, makes for fertile storytelling ground.
The first Vashon Island Fall series explored those raw early days: fear, confusion, and the scramble for food, water, and security. Vashon Island Rises begins two years later.
The shock has passed. The question is no longer “Can we survive?” but “What kind of world will we build from the ashes?” Here is where Vashon’s real-world character truly shines.
Anyone who has lived here knows the island has a strong underpinning of self-reliance. Hobby farms dot our winding roads. Farm stands operate on trust. Many islanders raise poultry, rabbits, and livestock, and grow much of their own food. In a prolonged crisis, that agricultural backbone could mean the difference between starvation and stability.
The climate also plays its role. Though wet much of the year, Vashon is not typically harsh in the way other regions can be. Growing seasons are workable. That temperate environment gives survivors a fighting chance to transition from emergency response to long-term sustainability.
Perhaps most important of all are the islanders themselves.
One of the joys of living here for the past decade has been witnessing the extraordinary range of skills embedded in this community.We have glass artists, metalworkers, potters, carpenters, mechanics, weavers, and engineers. We have people who can repair small engines, build barns, spin wool, weld gates, and rewire homes.
There is a deep-rooted “do it yourself” maker mentality woven into the culture of the island. In the world of Vashon Island Rises, those skills become invaluable.
But this is still a thriller. Dark forces press in from all sides. Not everyone sees the disaster as a tragedy; some see it as opportunity. Ambitious leaders beyond the island’s shores seek to leverage chaos to carve out power for themselves. Even within the community, internal strife threatens to undermine hard-won unity. The same traits that can build a stronger society—independence, conviction, fierce loyalty—can also fracture it. That tension between cooperation and division lies at the core of the new series. Will Vashon rise together, or will it splinter under pressure?
My connection to this story is inseparable from my connection to this place. Over the last ten years, Vashon has become more than a setting. It’s the backdrop of daily life, the inspiration for characters, and the embodiment of the resilience I’ve seen firsthand in neighbors and friends.
Writing these books has been, in many ways, a love letter to the island—an exploration of what might happen under unimaginable strain, and a testament to what I believe this community is capable of.
The first five books of the Vashon Island Fall series, along with a companion volume, are available in paperback at the Vashon Bookstore and in digital and paperback formats online.Vashon Island Rises is currently available in digital form, with paperback copies arriving at the Vashon Bookstore in the coming weeks.
In the end, this new release isn’t just about the end of the world. It’s about what comes after. And if there’s any place I’d bet on to rise from the ashes, it’s Vashon.
MJ Witt is an author and the manager of the Vashon CERT team.
