My Christmas gift ... to myself!

Ten years ago, while going through a health crisis, I found myself bedridden. Unable to "do" much, I realized I still had use of my fingers and my mind. So I put them both to work and (on a whim) participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). 

I loved the premise of the story I churned out in that month, but like the work of so many first-time novelists, the manuscript ended up stuffed in a drawer. I had yet to learn there was such a thing as story structure. So the book languished in no-man's land.

A few days days ago, a full decade later, another whim breezed by—the idea to publish the work. And so I decided to do so as a Christmas gift to myself in gratitude for all of the events and stories in which I've been embroiled during the intervening years. A departure from my usual Omni Tales or historical fiction, here's what you can expect in this dystopian race against time that clocks in at 98K words:

Hayley Gabriel is a bookworm by trade and couch potato by choice. The night she takes the leap to go out on a date with charming Raiff St. James, the world turns upside down—with catastrophic results.

Throughout her life, Hayley’s been told she’s a jinx. Sure, she wants romance and excitement and adventure as much as the next thirty-year old, but without the risks those pursuits generally entail. So, she satisfies her longings by burying herself in the books she reads as a junior copyeditor for a San Francisco publishing house. Even she couldn’t mess up the lives of the fictional characters she reads about!

When The Event occurs, that is to say, a global cataclysm, she’s forced to choose between sitting on the sidelines to watch the world quietly die or jumping light-years out of her comfort zone to join Raiff on a quest to save mankind. Her search for answers and solutions takes her to places she dared never go. 

All the while, the cosmic clock ticks on.

AVAILABLE CHRISTMAS 2024

The Smallest Hour

A doomsday tale that takes readers to the garden spots of the world as well as to the depths of the human spirit

(a gripping read for travel lovers, deep thinkers, and foodies) 

by JSD Johnston

Kindle . Paperback

“I don’t travel as much as I’d like and enjoyed getting to do so through the book! The Smallest Hour is a fantastic tale, and I recommend it to anyone who likes stories with adventure, good food, and meaningful relationships. You will definitely want to read this story through to the end!!!” —L. Dagnen, author

P.S. While I "edited" the book, I spared my proofreader from doing a pass, so please do apprise me of typos so I can fix 'em. 

Thanx! Erhm, I mean thanks!