Alex, Where Art Thou?

Greetings, impatient readers! You may have wondered, as of late, where yours truly has been. After all: he has not deigned to write, nor to detail his varied and eclectic musings.

Well, wonder no more; for I am in Austria, and have been kept exhausted by a 5 am wake-up yesterday morning—hence my less than prompt blogging. That said, the old is saying is true: there’s no rest for the wicked, and neither will my books write themselves. Speaking of which…

The Ark, And New Arrivals

You may have observed that the Magical Realm has received a new visitor: a page entitled ‘Upcoming’. This, as you can guess, contains information about upcoming books. Concerning the Ark, I have endeavoured to write the current blurb (emphasis on the word current) along with as much information as is available at this early stage. Even so, the page contains enough valuable information to make a visit recommendable.

‘But Alex!’ you cry; ‘when do you start writing it? And don’t you have anything down yet?’ In response to the former: I will commence planning approximately… now. As for when I’ll have a sample chapter, well—I must first plan the novel, then write the book proper. My reasons for this I shan’t detail in this post—for they merit substantial explanation and will therefore be the subject of my next post—but what I will say is that I’ll keep you firmly updated with detailed status reports.

In any case: I have further news in store for you…

Linz

I have currently decided to station myself in the town of Linz, Austria. My reasons are thus: firstly, I require a change of scenery. England, though picturesque, can easily become tedious; and, furthermore, I would do well with escaping the source of my long and demanding exams.

Additionally, this presents an ample opportunity to busy myself with writing—for which distraction-free Linz ought be ideal.

As for such trivial matters as photographs and personal memorabilia: I shall be taking photos of the Danube (the hotel has excellent view) along with those of my hiking trips in the mountains, and cruises along Old Blue. Nevertheless, my priorities do not lie with simple tourism.

On Political Economy

Like much of continental Europe, Linz’s economic system is one that may best be described as ‘social democracy’; a fitting place, indeed, to write my next essay—entitled, simply, Socialism.

Linz has even flirted with communism (for which the multistorey concrete monoliths bear silent witness to)—an economic and quasi-political system which shall also be addressed.

Going on from my collaboration post on Education with Oli Woolley—a work that has proven popular, even to the point of earning praise from readers in my school—I may also be able to collaborate with Oli once more. He is a rather keen socialist, and may make good a rebuttal to my often questioning analysis.

Conclusions

Firstly, do keep an eye out on the Upcoming page. As I plan and write the Ark, the aforementioned will serve as the first stop for my updates and musings.

And do keep an eye out on my blog—for there will be photos of Linz, posts concerning the writing process (and the machinations of the publishing industry), along with—of course—our essay on Socialism.

Until then, keep following. I shan’t be disappointing you.

PS: also, do take a look at the Reviews page; for two such reviews are to be released soon.