Fallen Desire is coming along nicely

Hello readers!

I want to share with you all a brief update regarding Book II, my future plans for the series, and some of my upcoming life events.

I’ve written 60,000 words and have finished Part One of the story, which is wonderful! A great many events that I’ve been planning, foreshadowing, or teasing the reader about are now coming to fruition. The entirety of Part Two is plot, action, resolution—all the good stuff. While worldbuilding and characterisation occupied much of Fallen Love and some of Fallen Desire, this is where it all comes together.

Do I know when I will finish? No. Despite my good progress, I have a Master’s degree incoming, plus this book is no paperweight. I anticipated it would be around 90,000 words, and right now it looks like it could easily be 100,000. Is there a Book 3 in the works? Well, there might be a prequel novella. (Maybe.) But the buck ends here.

Speaking of master’s degrees, I have decided to study Business and Data Science at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. You could think of it as an MBA with an MSc; it’s two years long, 9 months of which is made up by internships. While business is a straightforward subject for yours truly (I’m an economist remember?) the data science component will require me to brush up on my Python and statistics. Not to mention the dreaded linear algebra and calculus.

At the moment, however, I’m busy trying to find housing. This is, of course, a pain in the behind.

Anyway, I have one more piece of good news: I have a new fan! Her name is JR Vaineo, and she’s a fantasy writer too, so check out her books. I’ll probably republish the review here on the Magical Realm. Stay put!

Announcing My New Patreon

Hello readers,

I’m pleased to announce my new Patreon page! I’ve been thinking about starting a Patreon account for a while now; I’ve been busy researching how it works, setting my prices and rewards, and waiting for the Royal Mail to deliver the paperbacks. (COVID-19 is such a pain in the arse, don’t you know?)

“But what exactly is Patreon, Alex?” you ask. It’s a good question: I had no idea it existed until quite recently, and not many writers use it, at least based on my experience so far. (This may change.) In short, Patreon is a way of supporting me financially, in exchange for all sorts of cool perks—like getting to read Fallen Desire early, along with cool short stories and poems. Think of it as a long-term relationship with long-term benefits and obligations.

Become my Patron!

Poems 2020

Speaking of poems, I’m going to be writing a new series of poems this year, titled (you guessed it) Poems 2020. They are unique and available only to my Patreon supporters during the first year; in 2021 I will be making them freely available here on the Magical Realm.

I’ll be writing about characters from the Fallen series, and one poem, the Sceptre of Fire, will actually be about a new fantasy series I have planned for the future. (Yes, that’s a hint!)

Make the best of quarantine

Like many people in the world right now, I am stuck at home and only allowed outside to buy food and medicine. I figured I might as well do something useful. There’s nothing more fun than passing time indoors with a good book, right? Or talking about a good book, if not reading it.

I’m finally getting published

Hello readers!

I have been busy these past few weeks, which is why I have not posted any updates here on the Magical Realm. Partly, it’s been because of the new book, Fallen Love. I’ve been advertising on Facebook, fulfilling backer rewards for Kickstarter (lots of paperbacks to send out!) and I’m negotiating the rights to the sequel with a small press.

Yes, you read that right: a small fantasy publisher wants to publish the next book! The talks are only at the beginning stage so far, and there is much to think about. Editing, design and marketing are the big ticket items; there are a million other things that go into a publishing contract.

There is a trade-off involved, naturally: the royalties aren’t as good as in self-publishing, which means I have to sell more books to earn the same. In exchange, I get editing, which is seriously expensive business (think $2000+ for a full-length novel). The publisher has a physical presence in California, which offers many opportunities—conventions, bookstores, Kickstarter rewards—that wouldn’t be open to me otherwise. Finally, I want someone to do the work for me. Self-publishing is too complicated and too exhausting.

The Curse of the Automobile

I’ve started taking driving lessons. Getting my licence will prove a time-consuming and tedious process, mostly because of bureaucracy. I can’t say I’m massively excited about it, because it’s not like I can afford a car at this stage in my life. Moreover, car transport is the cause of many negative externalities—pollution, climate change, congestion, and obesity among them.

Sadly, the reality is that we are hopelessly dependent on cars. You need to drive a car in order to be an independent adult. Even employers require it as a condition for getting a job—or the market forces you to drive a car because living in the city is too expensive.

Plans for the future

But enough about that! I have exciting plans for my writing. Getting a publisher for Fallen Desire is just the beginning; there are other promising opportunities I’m exploring. You’ll hear more about it in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned!

Guest Post with Julia Goldhirsh

Introduction

Hello everyone! Today I’m co-authoring a blog post with Julia Goldhirsh, a YA fantasy & fairytale writer. We met on Twitter and decided to combine our collective efforts for a bit. Enjoy! Oh, and make sure to check out our respective blogs: Julia Goldhirsh and Alex Stargazer.

How to pitch your book as the right genre

1. See what types of people are interested in your book. Who wants to review the book, how old are they etc?
2. Make a list of the types of tropes you have in your book.
3. Search on Amazon to see what other books have those tropes
4. Ask your readers how they would define the book. See what readers say about it during beta reading.
5. Use the template below to help get started
6. Look for novels that seem similar to yours and that have similar tropes. How do those writers classify their books?

Age of characters: 12-18 (Typically YA or MG) Time Period: Modern (Urban), Past (Possibly historical) Genre: Science focused, magic and sorcery focused, end of the world focused, love focused, etc.

You can see a further breakdown of genres here.

To craft your pitch

Grab them with the first line- A dark fairy tale with a twist. Introduce an enticing trope- At the turn of the 20th century, a Rapunzel in a greenhouse battles an evil nymph Leave them with something that makes them want to know more- with help from a messenger with a mysterious past.

Here is another hook that I’ve used- An enchanted Rose spellbound to a greenhouse prison.

How to sell books to bookstores

Some of the main things bookstores want when looking for books are retail discounts, ISBNs, and a price on the barcode. This makes selling your book easier for them and will make your book an easier sell in the long run. Here’s what I’d recommend so you can have those things for the bookstores.

1. Ingram Sparks- Get on Ingram sparks. No seriously. Do it. It will make you a lot more palatable when you approach bookstores.
2. Bowker- Purchase a barcode from Bowker and have your cover artist put the barcode on there for you. You can get your ISBN there too.

Alright, so now that you have that out of the way, here’s what you can do to reach out to bookstores. Note that this is not a one size fits all approach, but this worked for me.

1. Library- Submit to your local library.
2. Bookmarks and business cards-Have some bookmarks made and ask your local bookstores if you can give them bookmarks
3. Barnes and Noble- Fill out the forms they provide on their website. They even offer the option to get your book reviewed through their website.
4. Books a Million- Fill out the forms on their website. (They do not accept Print on Demand titles).

One thing I did was that I had some bookmarks designed and printed through Vistaprint. I contacted some local bookstores and cafes to see if they’d be interested in taking the bookmarks. Often when I went in a customer or two would ask about the book, I’d give them a short pitch and the customer would express some interest. This resulted often times in the buyer purchasing the book off Ingram.

If you’d like to see more of my content, you can sign up for my mailing list here.

Below are some pictures of my book in the library and on the bookstore shelves.

Alex’s Suggestions for Getting into Bookstores

To begin with, I second Julia’s suggestion regarding bookmarks, and this is something I will be doing myself. Bookmarks give you physical presence, author branding, and credibility. But let’s not forget the most important element: pitching your physical book to the manager. This is exactly what I did at WHSmiths, and it immediately grabbed the attention of the manager. At Waterstones, I was unable to meet the manager in person—and when I pitched him via email, it didn’t work.

Another suggestion, which won’t work for everyone, is Kickstarter. I have been able to successfully meet my funding goal thanks to the awesome folks at Kickstarter. What does this have to do with bookstores, you wonder? Again: credibility. It’s easier to convince a manager to buy your book if you can prove that you raised $1000 (say) for your crowdfunding campaign.

Your author branding should work to support your message—I intend to display the Kickstarter logo along with Fallen Love imagery in my bookmarks, for example.

Regarding which company you use to print your books (Amazon, Lulu or Ingram) this is a tricky question and one which I haven’t figured out yet. Julia thinks you should use Ingram, which is the traditional choice for getting into bookstores. But combining Bowker + Ingram has an entry cost in the hundreds of dollars, and that’s money that can certainly be better spent. Amazon has the best prices—but branding might be an issue. Lulu’s prices are too high, for paperbacks at least, to be realistic. Personally, I’ll plump for Amazon.

How About Genre?

This is easy if you’re publishing something in an already well-defined genre—epic fantasy, for example; thriller; or cozy mystery. Things get harder if you’re writing something a bit more unconventional like what me and Julia are writing. The general advice—shelve your book in the sub-genre of the main genre, so on Amazon that might be fantasy and then “LGBT Fantasy”—works if you know what your main genre is. It may be that you need to categorise your book in more than one genre. This is a case of experiment-and-see-what-works.

I learned this the hard way for Fallen Love. I always knew that, at heart, the story is urban fantasy: the young adult characters, the worldbuilding, the tropes—it’s the stuff of Cassandra Clare or Lauren Kate or (heck!) even Twilight. Yet I hoped it would also appeal to LGBT and Sci Fi readers. The jury is still out on the SciFi part (I don’t have a large enough sample of Sci Fi readers yet) but my experience with LGBT readers is that it’s more often miss than hit. As much as I love the relationship between Mark and Conall, the book has too much complex worldbuilding to appeal to M/M romance readers. For a reader who diets on contemporary gay romance, demons, witches and 26th century Europe are just too much.

You can guess I’ll be heavily promoting Fallen Love as an urban fantasy book before anything else.

Conclusion

So how does the intrepid author go about getting their book into a bookstore, and hopefully selling a bunch of copies? Both me and Julia agree on the business fundamentals: you need a good price and discount for your book; a well-chosen target market; and you should a physical product that communicates your brand. The author’s personal presence is often important as well.

If you have raised money in a crowdfunding campaign, or have already sold a decent number of books online, this is something to emphasise.

Julia Goldhirsh is the author of Spellbound, a fairytale spin on the classic young adult fantasy story. You should follow her on Twitter and Facebook or her mailing list to get the latest on her new books, special offers, and cover reveals.

Alex is an author of some excellent LGBT Urban fantasy books with hints of romance. His second novel is called Fallen Love and he has a scheduled publication date of February 1st 2020. You can check him out on www.alexstargazer.com and follow him on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to get updates on cover reveals, new books, and promotions.

The Vampire Eirik is free on Smashwords!

Hello readers,

I am pleased to announce that the Vampire Eirik is free on Smashwords (and only Smashwords) from December 25th to January 1st (2019–2020). You can of course still get a free copy if you sign up to the mailing list here: Sign up now!

If you’ve signed up already, or if you want to do just do me a quick favour, follow the link to my book’s Smashwords page here: Buy on Smashwords Remember! If you buy my book (even for free) it will increase the ranking and help me find new readers.

In other news, I am currently in Vienna and going back to my home town in Romania. I am also busy setting up a Kickstarter campaign to raise more money for Fallen Love; I will tell you guys more in a future update. Hang on in there for a few more days.

Oh, and before I forget: Merry Christmas!

Fallen Love Publication Delayed to January 7

Hello readers!

I am announcing today that I am delaying the publication of Fallen Love to January the 7th, 2020 (which is one month from now). This was not an easy decision to make—I deliberated for some time—but I feel it is the right decision. I’m going to explain why. It boils down to two things: personal and business.

The Business Reasons

I’ve read a very helpful book called Amazon Decoded, and the author, David Gaughran, explained how successful book launches are supposed to work. Essentially, it’s about selling as many books as possible in a relatively short amount of time—a sustained period of five days where sales increase day-on-day.

There are a number of ways to accomplish this—including advertising—but the best way is Bookbub, mailing list promotions, and lots of exposure. At the moment, I don’t think I have enough in place to do that on December 10th. And there are a variety of other good reasons why launching it in January is a better idea.

Reedsy Discovery. This platform—which is run by Reedsy, the company I work with to hire designers and editors and marketers—can help me in two different ways. Firstly, they pay me $50 for every reviewer I refer, and thanks to you guys, I have people who can do this and earn me a bunch of money. Secondly, I have paid them for a launch and have over 250 followers there. But: the earliest launch date available was January 7th. No co-incidences here!

YOU CAN HELP: Sign up to the mailing list on the right-hand side and I’ll send you a reviewer referral link.

WHSmith and Waterstones. I have been in touch with the managers in my local (Glasgow-based) WHSmith’s and Waterstone’s, and I have high hopes I can get Fallen Love on the shelves of at least one of these stores. The potential for exposure is huge. Once again, the earliest available opportunity is in January.

Other funding opportunities. I am looking into the possibility of doing a crowdfunding campaign.

Reviews. I don’t have a huge number of reviews yet, and I am expecting more to come in.

The Personal Reasons

My personal life has been chaos these past three months. I’ll spare you all the gory details, but there are two immmediate things that make a December 10 launch extremely difficult: I will be travelling to Romania (by car) on December 15th. Moreover, I am currently exploring the possibility of going to study for a Master’s in the Netherlands on February 1st.

The uncertainty in my life is very difficult—extremely difficult—but I can’t dither and delay forever. January 7th was the best compromise based on the available knowledge.

To receive automatic updates on Fallen Love, the sequel, promotions and free books, sign up to my mailing list.

A Wonderful 5 Star Review

Hello readers!

I am excited to share with you today a 5 star review I received from Rion on Goodreads. I am reprinting here on the Magical Realm with permission. It’s a long read, so buckle up!

In Rion’s own words...

I received an Advance Review Copy of Fallen Love by Alex Stargazer in exchange for an unbiased review. This review contains no spoilers.

Prior to receiving this Advance Review Copy of Fallen Love, I had never heard of Alex Stargazer. After finishing Fallen Love, I definitely plan on remedying that lack of knowledge. Alex bills his book as a futuristic M/M romance, but it is so much more than that. Let’s stop there for a moment and make one thing clear: when you think of romance novels, you typically think one of two things: the flowery language describing acts of unfettered passion... you know the ones I’m talking about. The bodice-ripping, burgeoning manhood kind of romance novels. Alternatively, you might think of the dark, glittering covers of the 50 Shades books that are so titillating to bored housewives who, without realizing it, propagate the idea that the BDSM scene is for everyone (not knocking the BDSM scene at all... just saying that it’s not for everyone). Don’t get me wrong these are two types of romance novels that the public in general is used to seeing. Further, the public is definitely not used to seeing LGBQ+ romance novels. That is changing for the better, and it is in part due to authors like Alex Stargazer. Since this is a review of Alex’s book, I won’t start in on a sociology lecture about other LGBTQ+ authors that are out there and writing awesome stuff. I will, however, tell you that Alex definitely deserves to be named among those other authors.

Fallen Love is neither a bodice-ripper (cod-piece ripper?), nor is it a book about the darker side of sexuality. Fallen Love is absolutely what it is billed as... a male-male romance novel set in a futuristic world where one’s station in life is where one stays unless they fall. In Alex’s book, the caste system is very rigidly enforced by The Party. The Party is a virtually Orwellian construct that ensure that the population stays where circumstances put them. The members of The Party are obviously the upper echelon, and don’t mind a little slap-and-tickle with those beneath them, called the Fallen. They certainly wouldn’t set housekeeping with them, but for a member of the Party, to have a kept man or woman isn’t frowned upon. It’s not generally accepted, but The Party turns a blind eye if you have enough status and power and you don’t rock the boat with your outside-the-bedroom affairs.

Alright, the background stage is set. What I didn’t mention was the world-building that went into the creation of Fallen Love. One of the things that I found so fascinating about the world of Fallen Love is that if feels like a mash-up of Victorian Ireland and a certain science-fiction movie franchise whose mode of transportation starts U.S.S. (I’m sure you know the one I’m talking about), but without all the rough edges that such a mash-up of cultures would usually create. This world is a smooth blend of the anachronistic and the futuristic and I absolutely loved it because it felt so real and possible. And that, my dear readers, is what I look for first in a story. If I am paying more attention to keeping the old and the new straight, I can’t focus on the characters, their developments, and the plot in general. The world-building in this book is superb.

Next up, we have characters. Characters can either fit the world setting or they can be a constant discordant note that sets your teeth on edge. Some characters are supposed to set your teeth on edge and be so contemptible as to be loathed. When that is what a writer is going for and has this character in a solid world, with other solid characters, it works great. Other times, the characters stand out so much that they overshadow the other characters and even the plot. I am pleased to say that the characters in this book fit and meld like a well-loved recipe. They aren’t predictable or so false that all you can do is roll your eyes. Alex brought these characters into a well-built framework, and made them real. The characters are realistic given the situations that they find themselves in, and grow and act in a manner that is realistic.

Side note: I have to be perfectly honest here (not that I haven’t been thus far)... there was a certain point in the book that I almost lost faith. The circumstances were set for a plot-line that appeared to be going in a direction that I didn’t care for. I won’t go into the details, but I was virtually gnashing my teeth because the book had been so good up to this point and I was preparing myself for disappointment. The plot-line continued and I found myself disappointed alright... disappointed in myself for even entertaining the thought. After the book is out, we can talk about this part and I can describe the direction I thought the book was going and what thoughts I entertained, contrary to the storyline thus far. I admit it... I was utterly and completely wrong to have the doubts that I did, because nothing in the book led me to believe that it would go in that direction.

So, we’ve got a great world, filled with believable characters, a political system so rife with the potential of abuse, and then the Big Bad appears (yes, that’s homage to a certain girl with a pointy wooden friend and whose show was the one that I first saw two people of the same sex kiss). Even the introduction of this character was foreshadowed so well that you’re prepared for something, but you’re not exactly sure what or who to be prepared for.

I saved the best part for last and what you’ve all been waiting for: the sex! Here’s the deal: I don’t mind sex in a book unless I’m turning pages so that I can get back to the plot (a la a certain necromancer who shall remain nameless, but who has recently found the middle-ground between plot and sex). Sex has to move the plot forward for me. It can’t just be a mid-scene cutaway describing a couple, or more, banging each other for no clear or apparent reason. That said, the sex between characters in Alex’s book was real, raw, visceral, and hot! It gets a little bit graphic, but hey, we’re all adult’s, right? We can all handle different words for different body parts and how they fit together. I will 100% say that the sex scenes in Alex’s book moved the story and mire it down in a bunch of unnecessary and gratuitous sex; which, in my opinion, made the sex scenes that much more powerful.

Overall, the pacing of the book is realistically paced, the development of characters and plot both mature nicely, the love scenes were well balanced between sensual and sexual, and the supporting characters storylines were developed to a point of wanting to know more about them (unlike some supporting characters, the characters in this book aren’t little blocks of wood trotted out just to flesh out the plot, they have their time in scenes and the were interesting backgrounds that make you want to get to know them too). One thing that really stood out to me was that Alex’s “voice” and “tone” were very strong without being overbearing, that he had very deft turns of phrase that were evocative and intriguing and those added to the other elements of the book make this an enjoyable and memorable book. And, I can definitely attest to the fact that I want more!

Quality vs Quantity

Hello readers!

Previously, I updated you all on my progress getting reviews for Fallen Love, releasing the cover, and modernising my marketing platform and author brand. I am making steady progress on that, with a new review going up on Goodreads this weekend (more are coming!) I even have a cover for the Vampire Eirik, which I am polishing with my designer.

The purpose of this post, however, is slightly different. I want to talk about strategy in self-publishing, and specifically, I want to answer questions like: How many books should an author be releasing? How much time and money should be spent on editing? What about covers and blurbs?

The lay reader’s response to these questions tends to be simple: a book should be as good as possible. It should be typo-free and well-edited; the cover should be the wow. These attitudes are often shared by big publishers as well. This approach is well-intentioned... but it is not always the correct approach. Or at least, the reality is more complex, and certain trade-offs have to be made.

The self-publishing business model is very, very different from that of the traditional model—and neither readers nor trade publishers really understand it. Some differences are obvious: self-published authors rely hugely on ebook sales, and for most, the profits from print books constitute only a small part of their income. Trade publishers, on the other hand, overprice their ebooks—they want ebooks to be a cash-cow in the way hardbacks are, instead of being mass-market products like paperbacks.

I can recall, with mirth, that time five years ago when I released my first book, the Necromancer. One of my readers at school came up and told me that I must surely make more money on the print books I was selling in school, rather than the ebooks on Amazon. I corrected her, informing her that my profit on the paperback was half what I made on the ebook, thanks to high printing costs and delivery.

Anyway, I am digressing. I would like to return my original point: that the self-publishing business model, unlike trade publishing, requires authors to publish more books in order to be successful. Put simply, self-published authors generate exposure for their books—a marketing term for how “out there” your work is—by having cheap ebooks on sale.

This is how Amanda Hocking succeeded on KDP. At first, her ebooks were 99 cents; this made readers keen to take a chance on her (especially since they wanted lots of cheap books to go on their Kindles). Later on, lending became possible through Kindle Unlimited, and that helped boost her exposure.

But of course, selling ebooks for 99 cents gives authors very little profit (the royalty rate is only 35%) and devalues books—at least if you’re selling full-length books for 99 cents. I doubt 99 cent short stories change the value proposition of full-length ebooks at $4.99 though. So what do you do? Simples: you sell some of your work at 99 cents or for free, and sell some your other work for meaty, profitable prices like $3, $4, or $5 (I don’t think most self-published authors will manage to sell at $5.99).

This is basically the “reader magnet” strategy outlined by Nick Stephenson. Still, there are some tricky questions you have to ask with the reader magnet strategy, especially if you’re a first time author. My main problem is that my free/$0.99 story, the Sandman, is hardly my best work; and while it does entice some readers, it’s not the greatest reader magnet in the world. The Necromancer is a book that probably would get readers interested in me—I could in principle lower the price to 99 cents once I publish Fallen Love.

Of course that’s not going to happen; I won’t sell a 105,000~ word epic for quite that little money. (I am selling it for $3 though, so go grab a copy!) This is where the Vampire Eirik comes in—it’s just long enough to be interesting (I hope!) without threatening my full-size novels.

Taking this strategy even further requires writing series. You sell your first book in the series for cheap, then gradually make your sequels more expensive. You can bet I’ll be doing this with the Fallen Series—the first book, Fallen Love, will be price-dropped once Fallen Desire is released, while the latter book will command a reasonably high asking price.

The Dilemma

I’m sure the reader has probably released the conflict now, and the reason for the titling of this post. The Reader Magnet strategy is great, but you need to have some books in your catalogue. That’s a lot of books to edit—which costs a lot of money. It’s also a lot of proof-reading, design, marketing copy and keyword optimisation.

Nonetheless, self-published authors can rarely rely on one book. There are unicorns like Fifty Shades, but unicorns are more often than not just that—a myth. In the trade publishing world, your first novel has to swim, or your trade publishing career sinks with it. On the other hand, a trade publisher will at least do something to get your book out there; they will put you in mass-market brick-and-mortar stores; and their covers are usually good.

In a way, though, self-publishing is good for authors and leads to better books. This might sound paradoxical, but think about it. Is an author’s first book likely to be their best? Probably not—it isn’t true for a lot of authors, especially young ones like me. In which case, should an author and publisher waste a lot of time and money editing a book that’s never going to be amazing? Probably not. It’s better to concentrate on writing the next one.

A balance does have to be struck, of course. Typos have to be squashed—but you don’t need a proofreader to do this. Beta readers can also do the job. Even reading the book in a different format (in terms of font, leading, justification etc.) can expose previously invisible typos. Full-length novels need more editing than short stories, and so on.

Likewise, cover design is hugely important to selling a book. Still, a good cover doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. When I put an ad for a book cover designer, I received a wide variety of quotes for Fallen Love—one professional wanted €1200. Now, I should add that this man was offering illustration and 3D work for this price, which requires more time and more skill. But there are young, upstart designers charging good prices for their work. The only thing I might avoid is pre-designed covers, if only because they are too generic and probably won’t fit your book.

Very well! I have gone on long enough. I am hoping to feature a review next on the Magical Realm. Until then!

More Important News

Hello readers!

It has been two weeks since I last wrote on the Magical Realm. There has been plenty going on since then, rest assured; I am busy working on promoting my books nearly every day, in addition to master’s applications and job-hunting. On the advice of my marketing consultant, I have included social media links on my website—you can see them up in the top-left corner—along with the subscribe form on the right.

The other big thing has been reviews. I am delighted to have received 4 positive reviews for the book so far—though I will need several more until publication. Some of them are from old favourites like Margaux, Ashley and Teresa, but I have also received a review from newcomer Stephen. I am quoting some snippets from the reviews, and if you want to read them in their entirety (which I recommend you do!) please head over to the Goodreads page. And if you want to read and review the book, pop me a message in the contacts page.

“The plot was both fresh and imaginative, and though I'm not the biggest fan of multiple narrators, in this novel I found I couldn't wait to get back to each character's chapters.” —Stephen

“I was not expecting that at all, this was so well written, had a fantastic storyline and the characters were great. Conall and Mark are beautifully written characters with so much depth and not to mention the steamy moments. Just wow.” —Margaux

“This book was nothing short of amazing. I loved the characters, the action, it's safe to say I loved everything about this book. I hope to see more in this series because I'm hooked.” —Ashley

“It was fascinating to experience the changes that occurred in Conall and Mark as their mutual interest blossomed into love—a bond that will be tested when outside forces threaten everything they care about. The paranormal aspects of this book added incredible twists in ways that were completely unexpected. This was an incredible story and I will be waiting for the next book in the series.” —Teresa

The Vampire Eirik

This is the title of my new short story! It will be released in November for 99 cents on retailers—or you can get it for free if you sign up to my mailing list. I will be doing a cover reveal soon... it all depends on my designer, who is very slow, even if he is wonderful.

Cover Reveal: Fallen Love

Hail readers!

It is time for me to reveal the cover for Fallen Love, my upcoming new book. You will have seen hints of it on the Magical Realm (thanks to the redesign) and on Goodreads if you looked. This is also, technically, the ebook cover—the paperback design will contain some additional text, as well as a beautiful back cover. Nonetheless, this is the official cover real!

I have already received ecstatic feedback from my beta readers and fans, but if you would like to share your thoughts, please leave a comment below.

Now you may be wondering: how did it come about? What inspired the design? What does the cover represent? Well, I am going to answer these questions right now.

How did it come about?

This is not the first draft the designer sent me—far from it. The very first draft was OK—at least my readers thought so—but I didn’t think it was a very good representation of the story. It contained all of the elements from the book (Mark, the main character; the mutants; the landscapes) yet it just didn’t look thematically on-point.

I also wasn’t a fan of the circle-thing at the top. In principle, it should have represented one of Kaylin’s spells, but it just looked weird.

The next draft my designer sent me would form the basis for the final version of the cover, but it was still a long way from the finished product. The concept was right—I wanted to show Mark on a background of wings—but the colour scheme and typography served to give the wrong impression. It looked like a scifi cover, not a romantic urban fantasy story.

It took several more variations on this concept to get it right. Ultimately, my designer did the best work once I gave him a mockup—although my graphic design skills are crude, it helped him to understand what I really wanted.

So, if you need a good book cover in the fantasy or scifi genre, I can recommend Hampton Lamoureux. You will find him on Reedsy.

What was the inspiration?

Two covers really inspired me for the design. The first was the Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series by the much-loved urban fantasy author, Cassandra Clare. The connection here was obvious—the books are very similar in content, characters and themes to the story of Fallen Love. The wings on Heavenly Fire are a graphical connection to the books. Still, from a design perspective, my cover is rather different from the Cassandra Clare books.

Enter Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. The design inspiration here is more obvious: it’s the feathers. Yet Hush, Hush has quite a minimalist design, which my designer clearly noticed and tried to replicate. The cover didn’t really work with only a few feathers, it turned out—what it needed was a lot of feathers.

What does it represent?

I will try not to spoil too much of the story here! The winged figure is of course the main character. I really loved how the blue fire interacted with the gold font and red background—the blue fire is one of the main character’s demonic powers, you see. The feathers serve up background, and also hint at the presence of multiple demons. (No, you didn’t hear this from me!)

In other news, I am also working hard on my consultant’s advice, and I’ve been making a few changes here on the Magical Realm—as the previous post alluded to. You can now sign up to my mailing list and receive a free short story when it comes out. No, I am not saying more than that. You will have to wait a little longer for a title and cover reveal on the short story!

Change is Coming

Hail readers!

Today, I have some more news for you: following the first consultation with my marketing advisor, I’m making some changes to my online platform. To begin with, I have a new Facebook page, named—curiously enough—Alex Stargazer Writes Books. I recommend you check it out! It contains sales links to my existing books, plus the new books when they go on sale. Eventually, it will also contain stuff like videos, photos of the new paperbacks, and so on.

The next part of my online platform is of course Amazon. That’s where I will get most of my sales, and where a significant part of my marketing efforts will be directed—this will involve keyword and category research, and eventually, ads. But as my marketing advisor explains, I need a solid base to begin with, so I have worked to polish my author profile. You can buy my books on there, leave reviews, and get the feed from my blog. The link is easy to remember: https://www.amazon.com/author/alex-stargazer

I have made updates to Goodreads as well, the most significant being that... Fallen Love is now on the Goodreads platform! This means you can add the book to your to-read shelf, and read the ARC reviews as they come in. It also means you can take a peek at the cover ;) I will be doing the cover reveal here on the Magical Realm very shortly. As part of the reveal, I will also explain the design: how it came about—including previous drafts!—and what the cover represents. Here is the link to the book.

Nor is the Magical Realm immune to the new agenda. I have already redesigned the colour scheme and background, but rest assured that more is coming!

Now, I must leave you, dear reader, for I have one more secret up my sleeve. I will leave you to guess at what it is... Oh, but before you do, why not sign up to my blog? Simply enter your email address up in the top right corner. I promise to turn it into a proper mailing list.

Fallen Love is coming out!

Hail reader!

Following on from my previous post (“Publishing Woes and Other News”) I have some good news for you all: Fallen Love is coming out in December. This was not an easy decision to make, but I think it is the right one, and I hope you’re all as excited as I am to read my new book. It’s been a long time in the making.

Self-publishing isn’t cheap, of course—I am trying to get it done on a €1500 budget, which is basically shoestring. This is without considering the money I’ve paid for editing over the past couple of years, which comes out to about €850. The biggest expense (developmental editing, easily costing €2000 on its own) had to go. Even so, I have high hopes for this book, not least because of the awesome cover and my helpful marketing advisor.

Ah yes, the cover. I shall be revealing that very soon—I have one more little detail to finalise with my designer, which is why I am not showing it to you in this post. The new blog design, however, should give you a clue about the colour scheme and thematic elements.

I can, however, reveal the blurb, which you can also read on the page named Fallen Love, up top:

There are many kinds of monster that walk the Earth. Some are ugly. Some speak beautiful words through forked tongues. Some possess the grace of angels, and the hearts of demons...

Upperclassman Conall is rich, impeccably dressed, and set for a prestigious career in the Party hierarchy. He doesn’t lack for anything—except, maybe, love.

When he finds Mark, alone, abandoned and hurt, he doesn’t expect one act of kindness to alter the course of his life forever. For Mark is more than just beautiful; he has the spirit of a warrior, and his heart is divine. He has the power to save Ireland from the tyranny of the Party—or to to condemn it to something far worse.

Fallen Love is packed full of magical action, futuristic technology, and diverse characters. Demons and unscrupulous politicians face off against witches and ordinary, determined humans. If you like romance that’s dark and funny at the same time, this is the story for you!

What readers have said...

★★★★★ “This was an incredible story and I will be waiting for the next book in the series.” —Teresa, aka Fallen Angel.

Stay tuned for more updates! And before I forget to add, the publication date is set for 23 December. But if things go well, I may move it a bit earlier, so hope for the best!

Review: the Queen of Air and Darkness

The Queen of Air and Darkness is a great book that just goes on for too long. Cassandra Clare’s third book in the series is over 200,000 words—and a fourth book, a short story, is coming. Can the plot really support going over half a million words?

The Queen of Air and Darkness is undeniably a stunning work of fiction: the vast array of characters, relationships, conflict and magic is enough to keep this poor reader awake till the dark hours of the night. To cover all this ground in a review feels onerous; I can only summarise the key points, and reflect on my personal impressions. I assume the reader has already read the previous two books in the series, as well as the Mortal Instruments books. You are going to have a tough time reading this book otherwise.

Characterisation takes up most of the immense word count; this is partly a good thing, and partly a bad thing. Emma and Julian are great characters, of course, and we’ve come to know them well—the devoted and protective Julian, so beautiful yet so tortured; and fierce Emma, trusty Cortana at her side. There are many, many other characters in this book, however. Some, such as Jace and Clary—or my favourites, Alec and Magnus—are well-loved favourites from the Mortal Instruments. In fact, let me be honest: Alec and Magnus broke my heart, in all the best ways.

The remaining character cast is not as important to the narrative, but still take up too much “screentime”, so to speak. The number of pages dedicated to Drusilla and Jaime/Diego; to Rayan and Divya; Kit and Ty; and yes, even to the Mark–Kieran–Cristina nexus, is out of proportion. It slows down the plot, and weakens the story. Emma and Julian are the real protagonists in this tale.

Don’t get me wrong: I enjoyed Mark, Kieran and Cristina’s relationship immensely. It’s rare to get a bisexual love triangle in a fantasy book! Even so, I feel Cassy drew out their subplot way too much. Every romance story needs to have a reason for why two (or three) people can’t be together—and the biggest problem with any romance story is when those reasons become contrived. These three were like a seesaw: always up, always down. At some point you have to wonder: “Why don’t they just get together already?”

The plot is certainly interesting: Cassie has woven twists and turns between the angst-driven relationships, and her skill as a plot writer is, by this point, undeniable. The problem, really, is that there’s just too much—the story loses focus and starts to confuse the reader. The real antagonist is not Annabelle Blackthorn, as the title alludes to; it’s actually Horace Dearborn and his Cohort. Nor was it Annabelle in the first book (Malcolm Fade gets that honour).

I’ll try not to spoil this too much, but in part two of the book, Emma and Julian head to an alternate dimension known as Thule. I think this was probably a mistake for the story. This section seems separate from the rest of the book—aside from a few plot points, the entirety of this section could have been removed without affecting the main story too much. There’s some good characterisation, but the re-introduction (and subsequent death) of Sebastian Morgenstern is just anti-climatic.

The subplot between Kit, Ty and Drusilla is underdeveloped, because it does too little to affect the resolution of the story. Cassy could have given this rather important subplot much greater significance, with a bit of imagination: Livvy could have done something important in the final battle.

I would also like to comment on a few things that personally drew my eye. Cassy understands politics incredibly well—I almost wonder if she majored in political science or history at college. She’s certainly read the history books: the Cohort’s rise to power mirrors the Nazis, from the false flag attacks; the political theatre; and the Hitlerjugend. I also enjoyed the political realism displayed by the Seelie and Unseelie rulers; I think Machiavelli and Bismarck would approve.

Despite my criticisms of this book—really, it needed a better developmental edit—I still enjoyed the book tremendously. Emma and Julian are a great love story; Alec and Magnus are wonderful; likewise the Blackthorn family, which is one of the best examples of family I’ve read. The plot twists and turns, sometimes in horrible, unpredictable directions.

I will be reading the next book—a short story anthology named “Ghosts of the Shadow Market”—which will, at least, be shorter.

Rating: 4/5

Publishing Woes, and other news

Hello readers!

It has been a while (over a month, in fact) since I last wrote on the Magical Realm. Alas, this is inevitable: there was too much work to do in June—the final month of my studies—and after July 1st, when I graduated. The wonderful housing corporation, which every single AUC student is obliged to rent from, made me move out on July 15th. That’s barely two weeks since I graduated.

After I managed to sell my furniture—or rather, a single piece, the rest of which I simply dumped—I travelled with my parents to Romania, and visited beautiful places in Austria along the way. The journey is about 2300km in length, and we were in no hurry, so we stayed 2 weeks on the road. You can check out my album here.

In Romania, I hoped for some peace and quiet, but naturally, got neither. Part of it is because of my family. Part of is it also because of a medical problem: I have developed foliculitis decanavans on my scalp and hair, thanks to years of antibiotics and reclacitrant acne. The good news is that I have convinced a local dermatologist to put me on isotretinoin (also known as “Accutane”). This is a Vitamin-A derivative that drastically reduces sebum production—sebum being a fatty secretion on the skin. Acne like mine has a variety of causes, but a huge overproduction of sebum is the main cause.

(The above is still a very simplified explanation: you can read more about it online, if you are interested.)

The medicine is, unfortunately, known for its side-effects, and I will need monthly medical supervision during the 6-month treatment course. But it’s the only permanent treatment available for both my acne and foliculitis.

You, dear reader, are probably interested to know more about my new novel—Fallen Love—as well as my experience at AUC. The latter is a topic I will be addressing in an upcoming blog post, entitled “My Experience at AUC: A Review”. I will be posting that shortly.

As for my new book, progress has once again stalled. I have queried another batch of agents, receiving one rejection and no replies after 1 month. The situation is so bad that I’ve seriously started considering how I will self-publish. Self-publishing requires three things: knowledge, time, and money. Naturally, money is the most difficult of the three. One good thing about AUC is cost; the cost of living in Amsterdam was manageable thanks to student housing and subsidies, and the tuition was mostly covered by loans. The loans have 0% interest and a 15-year repayment period starting in 2021. This means that I am not broke.

Even so, I have divided the self-publishing option into two plans: the cheap plan, and the expensive one. It is impossible to self-publish effectively without a good cover and a solid marketing strategy; and since editing is expensive, it must face the financial guillotine.

The two plans cost as follows:

• The cheap plan costs €2500. This includes cover design (in the region of €500); the services of a marketing professional (€1000); miscellaneous expenses including a self-publishing course, for around €200; and the remaining €800 is budgeted for ads.

• The expensive plan costs €5000. It budgets €2250 for editing (developmental + a proof read) and €750 for cover design, just to make sure I get the best cover I can.

The cheap plan is feasible for me right now; the expensive plan is predicated on getting some sort of job.

Right now, I’m honestly still uncertain as to what to do. I have applied for a master’s degree and a scholarship at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, where I can save rent living with my parents. If that doesn’t pan out—and there’s no guarantee it will, financially—I will look for a job or start a master’s degree in the winter.

Now you understand my quandary. I will leave you now, dear reader, for I need review the quality of my university’s education, on which I shall be writing again soon!

The Bullshit of Academia

Hello intrepid reader!

It has been a long while since I last published a post here on the Magical Realm, and this has been because of—wait for it!—my university. In its usual way, the university has left me stressed out, in doubt, and wondering what to do next. Partly, it’s avoidable mismanagement on the side of both the university and the housing association: I am meant to be moving out on the 15th of July, but I have no idea who the new tenant will be, and I have a lot of furniture I need to sell. Naturally, my room came completely unfurnished; were I to extend the luxury of furniture to the new tenant, both of us would benefit. Instead I must live with the uncertainty.

Then there’s the idiotic choice of dates: I will have my graduation ceremony on the 1st July, my final internship report the day before, and have only two weeks to move out. This is despite the fact that the first years start intro week at the end of August. The rationale? None. Or at least, none that a sane person could comprehend.

It gets worse: although I have to move out on the 15th of July, I don’t get my official diploma until August 30th. What the hell does my university think I’m going to do in the intervening six weeks? (Hint: it’s not holidays or travelling. A great deal of bureaucracy must be conquered in order to have the diploma delivered by post.)

Still, the title of this post does not single out my university in particular (although, buyer be warned). Rather, there is an underlying problem here, common to many universities across the globe: the bullshit of academia.

Teaching Useless Skills

I have spent a great deal of time and effort, during the past 3 years, in perfecting skills that will be useless later on in my career. I speak here of such things like citation styles (an archaic mess that belongs in the 7th circle of Hell); or the various muddled conventions of academic writing, like passive voice; or indeed the whole sorry mess of journals, impact ranking, H-index, et cetera ad nauseam.

All practical applications of writing—i.e writing that people want to read and which makes money—follow conventions that oppose the dictums of academic writing. I am not referring to such things alone as writing a novel, essays, or journalism pieces; indeed, business writing, too, shares more similarities with a journalism entry than your typical academic paper. Practical writing uses active voice; the intent is to sell something, be it a story, your CV, or a product. Good writing gets to the point. When presenting an argument, the reasoning must be comprehensible and the conclusions clear.

The weasel words of academia—“generally”, “this indicates that”, or, my favourite, “to what extent”—have no place in business writing. Superfluous jargon or verbiage, likewise, must face the guillotine. (I exclude technical terms here, which are necessary in order to be precise.)

Teaching Useless Courses

Another pet favourite of liberal arts courses is the teaching of superficial nonsense courses as general requirements. In my case, it was such wonderful things as: “the Global Identity Experience”; “Big Questions in Future Societies”; or Advanced Research Writing. (ibidem)

The problem, let me be clear, is not always the material itself. It is instead its superficiality. Philosophy of science, for example, is a huge discipline with a rich and wonderful history. (And plenty of real-world applications, for that matter.) Yet its treatment in Global Identity did not do it any justice. Qualitative methods, likewise, is a practical course, but covered insufficiently.

Creating Knowledge (not)

The crux of my criticism against academia, as taught in undergraduate courses, is that it inculcates bad habits in students in order to succeed in the academic game; that it teaches certain important topics too superficially, and places too much attention on unimportant things; but my argument also contains a distinctly scientific criticism.

Academics like to delude themselves into believing that they create knowledge. From the perspective of epistemology, it is obvious that the purlieu of academia only covers propositional knowledge, and not other forms of knowledge which are valuable in the pursuit of human flourishing (for example, practical knowledge, moral knowledge, or friendship). Economists like Hayek will tell you—correctly, in this case—that the private sector is also responsible for creating a great deal of knowledge.

But even with these caveats, there remain more problems for academia. The first is one of social conventions—I refer, once more, to the aforementioned passive voice, citation styles, and pretentious journals. These social conventions are dangerous enough on their own. In order:

• Passive voice obscures the nature and strength of the claim being made. Exempli gratia, “Results indicate that the prevalence of rape culture on campus is proportional at 25% (95% confidence interval: 21–29%).” Active voice: “A small-sample size questionnaire with dubious methodology, carried out by feminists with an agenda, found that approximately one quarter of women on campus were raped.”
• Rick & Morty (2000) found that stress made consumers less likely to judge information correctly... versus... A study, “The Effects of Stress on Consumer Behaviour” (1) found that stress made consumers less able to judge information correctly. (Guess what: author name and year tells me absolutely nothing about the the claim being made. Give me a useful description and number your reference list!)
• Pretentious journals, or journals with no standards. One rejects potentially valuable research on technicalities. The other publishes crap. Naturally, everyone wants to get published in the pretentious journals, which, via supply and demand, are given even more power to enforce pointless requirements.

Another problem, well documented by this point, is the “neo-liberalisation” or industrialisation of research output. This is a topic all of its own, and one that I cannot cover in sufficient detail within this mere blog post. I only point to the effect: a huge amount of research is published, much of it unreadable by laymen or non-specialists, and whose scientific merit is difficult to evaluate.

So what to do?

I often see that academics are reluctant to suggest solutions to a problem, either relying on weasel words (“x and y claims are subject to further research...”) or leaving it to someone else (“policymakers”, whatever that means). I don’t have all the answers, but I can suggest some obvious first steps. To begin with: academia and academic teaching should collaborate much more closely with business, industry and successful professionals. Academia is not real life, but real life has a lot to teach academia.

Secondly, scrap the archaic citations, academic verbiage, and passive voice.

I promise you that not only will academia benefit, but students too.

Yours truly,
A frustrated student.

The Necromancer, and Reedsy Discovery

Hello readers!

Once again I have been lackadaisical in keeping the Magical Realm up to date with all my doings. I will spare you the usual litany of excuses: writing a capstone, exams, et cetera. Instead I will briefly cover what’s been going on so far, and my plans for the near future.

To begin: I am still trying to get Fallen Love published. I’ve submitted to many, many agents and have scored a few near misses and close-calls, but no contract as of yet. I will persevere insofar as it is reasonable with this. If not, I will reconsider my options.

In other news, I have decided to submit the Necromancer to Reedsy Discovery. For now, the book is only available to Reedsy reviewers. The idea is to get more reviews, and reviews = exposure. The book will go live on Reedsy on the 30th April. On the day, I will write another post reminding you, my faithful readers, to go to the landing page and upvote the book!

Naturally, I will also be running a Kindle Countdown deal from April 30th to May 3rd, and any readers will be able to buy the book for cheap during that week.

Very well, that’s all for now! I will return to the Magical Realm once again, when time permits. Until then, may the stars be with you.

I’m back

Hail readers!

I must apologise for having taken so long to return to blogging. Several things have conspired against me; I will summarise the problems briefly. Firstly, university, with its litany of papers, exams, and other work-related demands. Secondly, my photography—a new hobby that has taken up time and money, but which is, I suppose, necessary to keep my mind active and buzzing with ideas. Finally: I’m still trying to get Fallen Love published. I have therefore submitted to a number of independent publishers and agents.

I wish to return, then, to discuss my goings-on and life in general. Those of you who have followed my blog and writing adventures will be right at home; otherwise, simply read a few posts from the archive if you want to get up to speed. Additionally, I’ll add a few choice words to the connection between writing and photography—a topic I have touched upon before, but which has gained increasing importance now that I’m spending so much money and creative energy into it. Don’t worry: it’s good for my writing as well as my visual skills.

Life

There is a debate in aesthetic philosophy regarding the extent to which art is representation—or if it is representation at all. It’s a commonly held belief that fiction is inspired by life; but the word inspired can mislead here. Some things in life do inspire me, yet the link is often abstract, its origin mysterious. Then there’s the simple fact that a lot of things in life are antithetical to art: bureaucratic papers, for example, or never-ending work.

It’s unfortunate that the last few months have been more of the latter than the former. Being in my third year of university has something to do with it, as does the simple fact that I’ve not been writing seriously. It’s as if I’m living my life on autopilot: I take care of myself, do work and chores, but nothing about my actions is important. Writing gives me purpose; without it I am lost.

It does not help that I am struggling to feel enthusiastic about my courses. They are not difficult—if anything the opposite is true: they don’t challenge me enough. I don’t feel like I’m exploring new frontiers in my knowledge, or gaining valuable and skills and insight. Although courses like programming were time-consuming and sometimes frustrating, I did learn stuff.

The concept of equilibrium also has a role to play. The last two and a half years have challenged me in a number of ways, but I have now adapted to the challenges as best I can, and there have been no major departures from this equilibrium state. While this is not the same as being unchanging (there have been many changes as of late) this kind of life does nevertheless entail a certain taedium vitae.

To put it more simply: I need something new. Something wild and magical.

Photography and Writing

There are few writers who are great photographers, and photographers rarely write well; it would seem, then, that there is no connection between these two disciplines, or even that they are mutually exclusive. This, however, would be drawing a hasty conclusion. The relationship between photography and writing is complicated, but often fruitful.

Ansel Adams, the famous American landscape photographer of the last century, wrote of the importance of previsualisation: the act of imagining the image you want to make, and setting up your equipment to achieve that creative vision. The same technique applies to writing—the greatest mistake a writer can make is not having a plot, a character motive, or, most importantly, a story. A bad book is much like a snapshot; it is aimless and boring.

The real difference between photography and writing—this will, by the way, annoy some photographers—is in the gear. Frankly, photography is an expensive hobby because it demands expensive equipment. Good luck trying to shoot a puffin in flight without a good telephoto lens and a fast DSLR. (If it’s around dawn or dusk, that won’t be enough, and you’ll need to shelve a couple of grand for a super-telephoto lens.) If your subject is in low light or high dynamic range, you’re going to want an expensive camera with a large sensor. Even the price of peripherals like filters or tripods (or flashes!) can give newcomers a heart attack.

On the other hand, huge bestsellers like Harry Potter were written on a typewriter by a single mum on benefits. The difference is stark.

If you are privileged enough to be able to afford photography, though, it is a satisfying art form to work with, and generally less stressful than writing. Expectations, of course, play a role: with photography, I am content to sometimes lose a shot. Difficult light, and inclement weather (think 60mph gusts and sub-zero temperatures) all play a role.

When you’re writing at my standard, though, there is much less room for error. A typo is trivial to correct, but a cliché you missed, an awkward line of dialogue here—or a chapter that doesn’t fit into the narrative—and you’ve potentially lost an editor.

Concluding thoughts

I must abandon you once again, dear readers, for work beckons. I hope I have made my somewhat scattered thoughts clear for you. There are no guarantees as to when I will write once again on the Magical Realm, but if things go according to plan, it will be sooner rather than later.

Until then!

Under the Stars

Hail readers!

It has been a long time since I’ve written here on the Magical Realm, for which I can only express my regret. Alas, life has a tendency to catch up on you. Moreover, I’ve had a number of things to keep me occupied and otherwise indisposed.

The first of these was university, especially my second (and last, thankfully) Spanish class, which was a mess of grammar. Then the summer holidays came; school finished, but I spent a long time on the road to Romania, fell sick to an abscess in the gums, and spent much time occupied with these foibles. Then there were tuition fees to be paid, not to mention a microeconomics paper to complete.

After all that, I followed my grandparents to the countryside, where, for a time, I had no Internet. Blogging was therefore out of the question, but I still managed to work on both Fallen Love and its sequel.

Speaking of the books, I will get onto that in a moment. Firstly: I wish to discuss my latest poem, entitled Under the Stars (for which this post is eponymous).

A New Poem

Under the Stars is slightly meta-poetic, in that it refers to a poet, but its main message concerns immortality—the immortality of being remembered, of being important to the universe in a way above and beyond the normally insignificant lives led by humans. (Hence the metaphorical allusion to the stars.)

The poem is also a warning, of sorts: those who never seek to explore the world, to understand some of its mysteries, are no better than lesser animals—the poem compares them to chickens.

I should make a few things clear about this poem is not, however. The poem does not deal with any kind of physical immortality (debatable based on the definition of physical immortality and the laws of entropy). Nor does it comment on non-physical immortality (another can of worms entirely).

With that said, read on!

Under the stars Where the Heavens shine bright
In the dark shadow of the blue night
A poet dreams
The things unknown to man.

The moon dares not show herself
For her time is not yet;
The night belongs to the darkness
To the pale blue, the faint yellow
The unseen magenta hues.

It is said
That to admire those precious points of light
For too long
Leaves mortals mad.
The vast unknown is too great to ponder.

But the poet, nay;
He is no mere mortal, is he not?
For what is immortality
But remembered epics
That live forevermore in the minds of men?

On this dark night
In this bright sky
When others sleep soundly in their beds
(Fools, so little they know!)
The poet is allowed to wonder.

What lies in yonder universe?
A man feels small
Among such wise giants.
For the stars look on,
And know humanity too very well.

Does humanity deserve
Such greatness?
The poet thinks, and wonders;
It does not surprise him, in truth.
Man no more deserves it than the chickens.

Poets, philosophers, and kings;
Men of science and learning;
Curiosity lives in them
Bright as the stars
Darker than space.

Yet they are so few:
Diamonds among a mass
Of dull coal, like stars in the great expanse
Of emptiness.
For many are incurious, and stupid.

Mortality is a curse;
Death and suffering are its arbiters
As surely the knife is to the chickens.
Blood flows, men die, turn to dust.
Nought comes of it.

The poet is right, aye.
Those who gaze at the stars
May one day hope to join them;
Those who think of meat and the earth
Are doomed to join the objects of their desire.

Such is the way of the world
Is it not?
The moon waxes and wanes
Day gives way to night, and night to dawn.
Only the stars can taste eternity.

The Struggle for Fallen Love

I come, at last, to my long and difficult journey in getting the book published. Primarily, the problem has been a lack of time and energy on my part; the simple fact of the publishing industry at present (and for the last ten years or so) is that it requires immense perseverance. It is, in some ways, a numbers game: the probability of getting represented by one agent is very low, so it requires a lot of queries—this is an inevitable outcome dictated by statistics. I’m willing to bet that the number of queried agents required to obtain representation is approximately normally distributed around a mean, but left skewed (i.e. all authors need to query 10+ agents, but some end up querying 100).

Another problem is of course simple faith—in the book, in myself as a writer. The publishing process is by its nature demoralising. So what am I to do? Soldier on, carry my cross? It would seem so.

I shall leave you now, dear readers, for I am to return to Amsterdam and still have much to do. Rest assured, however, that I will return to blogging. I aim to write another article on photography and my experiences with my first DSLR. Until then...

The Journey Continues...

Hello readers!

I have not updated the Magical Realm for quite a long while, for which I am sorry. Winter has finally melted over into spring; the days have lengthened and the temperature has risen, albeit erratically, as is characteristic of Northern European climates. Though the seasons have changed, my progress on getting Fallen Love published remains somewhat glacial.

I queried 17 agents and received a handful of rejections, and another handful of no-replies. One agent asked to see part of the manuscript but ultimately did not go further. This is, in fact, entirely unsurprising: it is difficult to get traditionally published, and rejections are normal. However, all this has meant that I have spent the last 2 months twiddling my thumbs waiting.

Or, well, not quite: I have been working on the sequel. That will remain under wraps for now. (All I can say is, I have made surprising progress.) The focus nonetheless remains on getting a publishing contract for Fallen Love, and perhaps even a two-book deal.

To that end, I have submitted directly to two publishing houses that accept unsolicited submissions. In addition, I will resume querying for agents. Doing this simultaneously may seem strange, but considering the response time of the publishing houses (namely: months) and the fact that an agent can act on my behalf to negotiate a contract, it actually makes sense.

In other news, my life has progressed mostly uninterrupted: I have started a new semester, and have slowly adapted to my new course workload. My new 4K monitor has proven itself very helpful in writing—it renders text nicely, and lets me edit multiple documents at once (a much appreciated boon for this writer).

My usual interest in gaming has led me to try a new game, called Dota 2 (you may have heard of it). However, I soon gave up: the gameplay is far too complicated, and not particularly interesting either. SuperTuxKart and Battle for Wesnoth will continue enjoying my attention, as will the Epic Battle Fantasy series.

In any case, I must leave you, dear reader, before I ramble further. Keep an eye out on the Magical Realm for more writing-related news. Also, pay a visit to the Reviews page up top: there’s a particularly interesting novel I will be reviewing soon. Now, onto work...

New Look, New Book

Hello readers!

I am at last getting back to you after the long pause here on the Magical Realm. I have some news for you: the most obvious is, of course, the new theme. I have redesigned the Magical Realm so that it is a) more interesting to look at (the old theme was getting a bit long in the tooth) b) works better on high resolution displays—that took some testing and c) references Fallen Love, my new novel.

Subtlety is not really thing when it comes to web design, incidentally. The fallen angel background—and the colour scheme, with its blacks, dark reds and light blue accents—are all meant to quickly convey what my blog and book are about. In that respect, I think I’ve succeeded; however, feedback is appreciated, as the current design should still be considered beta.

Speaking of Fallen Love, I have received a handful of rejections from agents, but several more have yet to reply. In truth, finding representation is a slow and sometimes difficult process—I don’t expect to get an agent on board until February at the earliest. I, and you, dear reader, must remain patient.

Instead, this post will be about two other things: a brief discussion about my Spanish course this month, and a slightly longer (but still concise) explanation into my shiny new 4K monitor!

The Monitor: An Explanation of Sharpness

To translate from the marketing jargon, a 4K monitor is a monitor with a 3840x2160 resolution: that is to say, it has 3840 pixels on the horizontal side, and 2160 on the vertical, to form a matrix of 8.4 million pixels.

This is significantly more than a more standard 1080p display (1920x1080 yielding 2.1MP in total) and quite a bit more even than a 1440 display (2560x1440, 4M pixels in total). What does this mean in practice? Well, a few things. Pixel density is one: on a 27-inch diagonal monitor, a 4K resolution results in a ‘pixel pitch’—a measure of how fine the pixels are—of 163ppi. A 1080 monitor at the same size, by comparison, has only 81.5ppi.

The above diagram is a good representation of the phenomenon.

But what does it mean in practice? Images show much more detail, for example: I can now edit my photos and actually see all of my mistakes. If focus is not quite right, or the lens have poor sharpness, or if noise smoothing has smeared detail, or if compression has introduced artifacts; any imperfection is shown up in frightening clarity.

But the biggest difference is text. On a 1080p monitor of the same size, text would look... frankly terrible. (1080p monitors at this size should never have existed: they’re awful for any kind of desktop use.) On a higher resolution 1440p monitor, text would look bearable. On a 4K monitor, text looks... good. Almost as good as a high quality print—the key word being almost.

I will not go into all the details of font rendering and its various technical complexities right now; there are many excellent websites that cover the topic, such as Adobe’s Typekit . I will simply state that it is incredibly difficult to render sharp, clear text on any kind of LCD display—especially one that is desktop size. It’s much easier to print sharp text, and to render it on smaller screens like the ones found in phones.

The reason is ppi, as mentioned above. What we perceive as ‘sharpness’ is determined by how small the individual pixels are relative to our ability to discern them. Sharp text is achieved only when the display has a ppi greater than our eye’s maximum at the display’s typical viewing distance. The PC experts Puget Systems have a nice explanation complete with a ppi calculator: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Can-you-see-the-difference-with-a-4K-monitor-729/

Another variable, which I haven’t mentioned, is eyesight. Old people with low visual acuity can’t tell the difference between a 4K monitor and a lower resolution equivalent. I, however, possess the eyesight of an eagle. It’s a blessing, but also a curse: even my 4K monitor isn’t nearly good enough.

The Monitor Itself: the LG27UD69

That said, I am very happy with this monitor. It looks beautiful, for one: it has fashionable thin bezels, and a curved stand. For two, the stand supports height adjustment and tilt, and ergonomics are vital to comfortable computer use. Thirdly, contrast is good, especially with proper lighting—though the monitor still suffers from backlight bleed (a common foible with LCD screens). Finally, colour accuracy is OK; the monitor is factory calibrated.

If all of the above sounds complicated—and display technology is complicated—let’s just say that it’s a very good monitor. In fact, it’s probably the best monitor at its price point, and it’s almost as good as LCD tech gets.

I say almost, again, because there are 5K displays out there. That’s right: 14 million pixels! There are only two models on sale right now. The iMac is one (the screen is manufactured by LG, of course) and Philips makes the other.

The reason I didn’t buy the Philips, aside from price, has to do with another complicated aspect of display tech: bandwidth. A 4K monitor can’t be connected to just any computer: to run properly, it needs to be connected via the latest version of HDMI (version 2) or DisplayPort (version 1.2+). Those old VGA and DVI cables aren’t gonna cut it. In fact, I had to buy a new graphics card for my desktop; the installation took all day.

A 5K monitor can only be connected in one of two limited ways. Option 1: two DisplayPort 1.2 cables. Option 2: a single DP 1.3 cable. The former isn’t properly supported under Linux. The latter would work best, but there aren’t any DP 1.3 monitors on the market... yet.

Anyway, I’m pleased with my shiny new monitor. Below are screenshots. (Yes, I’m bragging.)

Spanish

Moving on, I am currently engaged with studying Spanish. The university requires me to study two foreign language courses as part of my degree—a requirement that I dislike intensely. Although Spanish itself is a nice enough language (indeed nicer than Dutch, and not too idiosyncratic) the teaching format just doesn’t work for me. There’s not enough time—only 4 weeks—and there’s too much emphasis on grammar and test-taking.

Still, I must do my best. Español es una lengua muy bonita! Pero no es fácil.

Final Words

This has been a long enough post, and I have conveyed much information to you. I would write more; but alas, time does not permit. My Spanish lessons demand study, and I am occupied with numerous other hassles. I can only ask, instead, that you keep an eye out on the Magical Realm. I am busy now, but there will come the day when Fallen Love will be published. Until then, keep following!