HAVEN was inspired by what I learned as a journalist covering agriculture. In 2017, I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Tarrytown, New York. I interviewed the farm manager while he showed me around the 350-acre property. What I learned and experienced in those few hours inspired the scenes I at ARC, weather not included. After all, HAVEN is fiction. 

If you are interested in learning how our food is grown, I highly encourage a visit to Stone Barns. It’s a beautiful place and well worth the visit. Also, Stone Barns is a nonprofit organization whose work benefits farmers and food systems worldwide. 

I dedicated HAVEN to the memory of my aunt, who had rheumatoid arthritis and spent the last fifteen or more years of her life mostly in a wheelchair. While writing this book, I wondered what would happen if she were trapped in a disaster. I worked through that fear by creating a peripheral character (Kath’s father-in-law) and making him endure what I hoped my aunt would never have to. This line of thought led to me find The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, an organization that holds a vision of “whole community readiness, support when disaster strikes, and disability-inclusive engagement throughout disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery to improve disaster outcomes for all.”

Disasters will strike. Because of Climate Change, we will face more frequent, more extreme weather events in the coming years. Adaptation and preparedness are key. That’s why I support The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies. 

I hope you will consider making a donation to one or both of these important organizations.