How Long Would Medicine Last After the Apocalypse?

What happens to medicine after the apocalypse? How long would medications actually last without electricity, refrigeration, manufacturing, or regular pharmacy deliveries?

As a former pharmacist and author of a post-apocalyptic fiction, I started wondering what would really happen to the medicine left behind when civilization collapses.

Expiration dates are only part of the story. Storage conditions, temperature, humidity, light, and the loss of the medical supply chain can all change how useful a medication remains. And when someone depends on a medication to stay alive, suddenly that abandoned pharmacy becomes a very different kind of place.

Come down the post-apocalyptic rabbit hole with me as I explore how long medicine might last, what happens when it isn’t stored properly, and the uncomfortable ethical questions that come when there isn’t enough to go around.

Because apparently the end of the world needs pharmacy logistics, too.

I Was Going to Tell You My Favorite Books. Then This Article Took a Different Turn.

I sat down to write a simple list of my top speculative fiction reads this year—just a quick roundup of the books I loved most.

But while I was drafting it, I realized my reasons for loving these stories weren’t always the reasons a typical reader might give. Yes, these books swept me away with romance, monsters, magic, ghosts, and parallel worlds. But they also did something else: they quietly solved writing problems I didn’t know how to fix.

A ghost romance taught me how to handle impossible intimacy. A sci‑fi mystery showed me the structure I’d been missing. A novella answered a pacing question I’d been stuck on for weeks.

So this list still represents my favorite speculative fiction books—but filtered through an author’s lens, where every story becomes a craft lesson in disguise.

If you love books that teach you something while they entertain, you’ll feel right at home here.

You Asked. I Answered. (I May Have Overshared.)

What do you actually get when you ask a retired pharmacist turned author — who grew up at a zoo, lived in an RV for two years, and writes from 3 AM to 11 AM — to answer reader questions? Apparently, twenty-three answers and a lot of oversharing.

My readers asked about my writing process, my real-life love story (it involved a broken-down truck and someone’s dad picking us up), where my ideas come from, and yes — the zoo. I answered all of it. Then I added a few questions nobody thought to ask, because apparently I have a lot to say.
If you’ve ever wanted to know what goes into writing romantic speculative fiction, what RV life really looks like, or why there is absolutely no such thing as a writing playlist in this household — this one’s for you.

Top 10 Things I Googled While Writing Mayhem (At least the ones I admit to)

Ever wonder what goes on in an author’s search history?

Fair warning before we get into it: I don’t google things during my first draft. That version looks something like: [Insert Elephant Weight Here]. If I stopped to research every detail mid-scene, I’d never finish the book. Which is probably why my editing takes forever.

Anyway. Here’s the list.