Submitted to Connect-Bridgeport.
Inspired in part by the real 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora — one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history — the novel imagines a modern-day global catastrophe that darkens skies, collapses infrastructure, and forces isolated Appalachian communities to adapt and survive.
Much of the story takes place in and around Green Bank, West Virginia, home of the world-famous Green Bank Observatory and the National Radio Quiet Zone.
Rather than focusing on action-driven apocalypse tropes, Seasons of Ash centers on ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances: a husband trying to cross a collapsing America to return home to his family, and a nurse and mother struggling to hold together a small mountain community as fear, scarcity, and division begin to spread.
“West Virginia already has many of the qualities that become valuable during a crisis,” Layne said. “Small communities, resilience, practical skills, strong family ties, and people who know how to adapt when systems fail. I wanted to explore what that might realistically look like in a modern collapse scenario.”
Layne, a Marine Corps veteran and native West Virginian, says the novel was heavily influenced by the culture and atmosphere of Appalachia, particularly Pocahontas County and the Green Bank region.
The book has gained attention among readers of post-apocalyptic and speculative fiction for its grounded realism, emotional focus, and uniquely Appalachian setting.
An audiobook edition of Seasons of Ash is scheduled for release in June 2026.
Layne is currently working on the sequel, Republic of Ash, the second installment in The Tambora Series, which is expected to release in late fall 2026.
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