K.M. Alexander's Blog, page 10

Come See Me at TBRcon 2022!

FanFiAddict’s streaming speculative fiction convention TBRcon is coming back next year, and once again, I’m going to be a part of it! Join Moderator Sadie Hartmann (aka Mother Horror) along with Adam Cesare, Laurel Hightower, Gabino Iglesias, Tim Meyer, and myself as we discuss The History of Horror on Tuesday, January 25th, at 10 A.M. PST. Horror panels are always a fun time, and this is a fantastic crew of people. I’m really excited.

The convention will stream online from January 23rd through the 30th and feature live panels and live gaming sessions. I had a great time last year. (Check out my recap here.) Also, be sure to check out the official TBRcon 2022 page for details about the other panels this year, as well as schedules, sponsors, times, where-to-steam, and much more. (I’ll announce details as we get closer to the convention.)

TBRcon is free to stream. So mark your calendars and join us!

Open Call for Unutterable Cosmic Horror Items

Every year since 2014, I have assembled a holiday gift guide filled with cosmic-horror goodies. It’s become one of my favorite annual projects. Our little corner of the horror world is full of talented creators, and I like to use the gift guide as a way to highlight some of the fabulous weird-fiction-related items I’ve discovered throughout the year. 2021 will be no different. (I’ll link to previous guides below so you can see what I’ve featured previously.)

That said, I am but one man, and there’s always cool stuff out there I missed. I could use your help. As I have for the last several years, I’m getting an early jump on assembling the guide. And it’s always worthwhile to do an open call and see what else lurks in the internet’s shadowed corners. This is that open call! Link me cool stuff! What have you found, dear reader? I want to know about it, and I’m sure others do too.

As always, the categories are:

Books (I generally have this covered)MusicApparel (no teeshirts—there’s a bajillion of them)Games (no, I will not feature Bloodborne, it gets plenty of love already)HousewaresMiskatonic University

You can leave a comment below (I approve all non-bot comments), tweet at me, or just drop me an email. Let me know what you’ve found that would be perfect for this year’s Gift Guide! Thanks in advance.

Previous Cosmic Horror Gift Guides

As promised, below are links to the guides from the last seven years. Some of the products were one-offs, are out of print, or just aren’t sold anymore. Don’t be shocked if you find some broken links. Especially in those earlier guide. It happens. Still, loads of cool stuff.

2020 – 2019 –  2018  –  2017  –  2016  –  2015  –  2014  

The eighth annual 2021 Cosmic Horror Holiday Gift Guide arrives on Black Friday, the darkest and most vile winter holiday. So, be sure to return here to see this year’s thematic selection. Tell your friends! Share with your family! Shout it from the rooftops! It’s going to be a good one.

Three Great Horror Reads for Halloween 2021

I can’t remember the last time it hasn’t rained on Halloween in Seattle. But right now it’s cold and crisp and the sky is clear and the sun is out. It’s a pretty incredible fall day. Should be good weather for tonight’s trick-or-treaters. But we’re not here to talk about Seattle weather, we’re here to talk horror books! It’s now become a tradition for me to recommend three horror novels to spook up your Halloween season.

This is the third year I’ve done this, if you want to see my previous recommendations check out my selections from 2019 or from 2020. All the links below will go to IndieBound (Support your local indie book store!), and author links will go to their website or blog.

So, what are my choices for this year? Well, I am glad you asked…

Whispers in the Dark

by Laurel Hightower

What begins as a police procedural quickly reveals itself to be much more. Part ghost story, part urban fantasy, yet somehow grounded in a pulse-pounding realism. An engaging tale that subverts standard tropes while also exploring the ramifications of abuse and how the echoes of its trauma that can extend through generations. After finishing I immediately went and picked up Hightower’s latest novel, Crossroads.

The Beauty

by Aliya Whiteley

This was recommended by M. R. Carey during our panel for TBR Con earlier this year and I’m glad I picked it up. The Beauty is a dark thought-provoking heart-of-mankind story about history, myth, and the stories we tell all set in a future world without women. It’s a bit of an allegory which isn’t something I typically enjoy, but it works well here and the story told stuck with me for months. A small but powerful novel that is very much worth your time.

The Worm and His Kings

by Hailey Piper

This novella landed late last year and I was glad I gave it some attention. Set in New York in the 90s when the Freedom Tunnel was an underground homeless encampment Piper weaves a unique cosmic horror story that explores gender identity, personal relationships, and poverty. A fresh and welcome voice that both brings something new to the genre and still sits solidly within the cosmic horror tradition.

So there are three more great horror novels for this year. If you’re looking at spooking up your Fall, I recommend checking one of them out. Now, how about you? What are your favorite horror novels from the last few years? Leave a comment below and let everyone know!

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The Stories So Far

I have made a new video, well… videos, really. Headphones recommended. Check it out:

As many of you have noticed, I’ve started to experiment with more video content lately. Seeing what I can do by taking advantage of vertical formats found on TikTok and Instagram Reels. Along with these experiments, I’m also trying to be more mindful in promoting my books.

So, for fun, I assembled the four looping animations you can see in the videos above, and I’ve been sharing them on Instagram and TikTok for the last few days. Each is designed to fill a vertical smartphone screen and loop seamlessly. I’m pleased with the result.

With each book, I’ve had an undercurrent of thematic “elements,” and each of these videos is based upon those. These aren’t the traditional four elements but beats designed to help me focus on the sensory side of worldbuilding. The Stars Were Right had its darkness and shadow, Old Broken Road was fog or mist, Red Litten World had its icy cold, and Gleam Upon the Waves was obviously water and the sea and I have more planned for the two remaining books.

If you’re new to my series, the first book, The Stars Were Right is available on eBook for only $2.99. You can find out more over here, and expand your knowledge about the weird world of the Territories here.

Let me know what you think of the videos in the comments below. Feel free to share any of them with friends who you think would love the series. Leaving reviews/ratings and word of mouth is the best way you can help me promote my books.

Happy spooky season, everyone!

Check Out My SPFM Interview!

September was Self Published Fantasy Month, and I was lucky enough to participate and I gave an interview with the crew there. It’s varied, and much is discussed from my reasoning for indie publishing, how I celebrate the wins, common pitfalls for new writers, some of my favorite indie books, and I describe a tavern in Lovat—The Marsh Bed—a place I now consider canon. Click the button below and read it today.

Read the IntervieW TODAY!

While you’re there, be sure to follow/bookmark the SPFM blog. They’re a great site with a ton of content. It’s a solid place to find a fantastic collection of indie titles to fill out your TBR list. They’re also active on Twitter and Instagram. So give ’em a follow across the web, and you’ll be set when the next Self Published Fantasy Month rolls around.

 Interviews & Articles

Looking for further conversations with me? Perhaps you’re interested in articles I’ve written elsewhere? You can find all of this and more at my About Page. There’s a lot of great stuff with posts going back as far as 2013.

de Fer Settlement: A Free 18th Century Brush Set for Fantasy Maps

It’s been a while since I’ve share any new tools for fantasy cartographers. I released my last brush set way back in January. Since then I’ve been a little busy. I launched Gleam Upon the Waves, the fourth novel in my cosmic horror series (you should buy it!), expanded my “Old Haunts” project significantly, and since I was fully vaxxed I took some time after the launch to travel a bit. It was quite an eventful summer. But autumn has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, and I want to get back into the swing of things and continue supporting the community of fantasy cartographers—I’m long overdue for a new brush set.

Nicolas de Fer in all of his wiggy glory

Let’s fix that! Today I’m releasing the first in a collection of sets all coming from the same cartographer. Nicolas de Fer was a famous eighteenth century French engraver who eventually becoming the official geographer to the Spanish and French court. His work is stunning, and his styles varies depending on what he was depicting and/or plagiarizing. He also wasn’t the most accurate of cartographers. These days most of his work is viewed for its artistic merit as opposed to its historical accuracy. Think of him as a quantity over quality guy. Lucky for us, when it comes to fantasy maps, historical accuracy isn’t something with which we concern ourselves. Instead, we’re looking at signs and symbols that are unique and can help our work stand out while still feeling period-authentic, and de Fer’s work serves us well in that regard.

de Fer Settlement is the first of three planned sets I’ll be releasing. Each will highlight a different aspect of cartography. As the name implies, this first set is focused on settlements. Taken from La Banlieue De Paris—translated “The Suburbs of Paris”—the map is an 18th-century map of the homes, towns, and villages that sprawled across the Parisian countryside in 1717. It’s a diverse set with a lot of little details. While there isn’t much in the way of landforms or flora, the set will work well with any other brush sets I’ve released, allowing for a bit of variety in your fantasy maps. Don’t be afraid to mix-and-match to get the look you want!

The de Fer Settlement set features 300 brushes, and includes the following:

50 Homesteads13 Mansions25 Villages50 Towns9 Combinations of the Above7 Unique Settlements12 Chapels2 Abbeys7 Churches10 Ferry Landings10 Water Mills10 Tiny Windmills35 Windmills6 Gallows2 Gibbets20 Crosses (The French loved erecting random crosses along the roadside.)5 Fields3 Big Trees20 Forests3 Map Elements

The button below links to a ZIP file that contains a Photoshop brush set (it’ll also work with GIMP and Affinity Photo) as well as a transparent PNG in case you’re using a program that doesn’t support Adobe brush files. Remember, they’re black, so they’ll look broken viewed in some browsers, but trust me, they’re all there.

DOWNLOAD DE FER SETTLEMENT

As with all of my previous brush sets, de Fer Settlement is free for any use. I distribute my sets with a Creative Common, No Rights Reserved License (CC0), which means you can freely use this and any of my brushes in commercial work and distribute adaptations. No attribution is required. Easy peasy!

Enjoy de Fer Settlement? Feel free to show me what you created by sending me an email or finding me on Twitter or heck, leave a comment below. I adore seeing how these brushes get used, and I’d be happy to share your work with my readers (let me know in your message.) Let us see what you make!

de Fer Settlements in Use 3000 x 3000 3000 x 3000 1080 x 1080Supporting this Work

If you like the de Fer Settlement brush set (or any of my free brushes, really) and want to support my work, instead of a donation, consider buying one of my cosmic-horror soaked dark urban fantasy novels. The first book—The Stars Were Right—is only $2.99 on eBook. I think you’ll dig it. You can find all my books in stores and online. Visit the Bell Forging Cycle hub to learn more about the series. Tell your friends!

Not interested in my books but still want a way to support me? Buy me a coffee.

More Map Brushes

Hyacinth just one of many brush sets I’ve released. You can find it and other free brushes covering a wide variety of historical styles on my Fantasy Map Brushes page. Every set is free, distributed under a CC0 license, and open for personal or commercial use. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something that works for your project. Click the button below to check them out!

view more Fantasy Map Brushes

Want to stay in touch with me? Sign up for Dead Drop, my rare and elusive newsletter. Subscribers get news, previews, and notices on my books before anyone else delivered directly to their inbox. I work hard to make sure it’s not spammy and full of interesting and relevant information. Sign Up Today→

It Cannot Be Reversed

“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.”

Cesar Chavez

For those of you who live in the United States, may you have a happy Labor Day! For those who live elsewhere, have a happy Monday!

Introducing “Quiet Corners” an “Old Haunts” Deviation

For the last year, I’ve introduced my readers to my “Old Haunts.” Looping vignettes and visions from the City of Lovat. Sometimes they’re relaxing. Sometimes they’re creepy. Often they ooze atmosphere, and yeah, I consider them all in canon, part of the Bell Forging Cycle, and tied into the ARG. (Those who have read the books will find loads of fun little details.)

Those longer and larger videos take time to make (I did a whole live stream on what goes into their construction), and while I enjoy that process, I want to explore less rigid forms that don’t take so damn long to build and embrace some of the new video platforms that have emerged. Enter “Quiet Corners”—clips made for TikTok and Instagram’s Reels.

These will often be shorter and less rigid, and while they tie into the world of the Territories at large, they might not always “work” the way I intend for “Old Haunts.” Think of “Quiet Corners” as experiments. Ways to explore whatever is in my head, glimpses of Lovat and the Territories, where strange things happen unbeknownst to heroes and the machinations of Founders. They’re fun, weird, occasionally creepy, and a nice place to stretch me creatively. I’ve already got a bunch up, and you can check them out via the links below. Enjoy.

Watch via:

TikTok

Watch via:

Instagram Reels

Quick Note: While “Quiet Corners” can be viewed on your laptop or PC, a smartphone is recommended as these videos are made specifically for the vertical 9:16 phone resolution.

There is a lot more to come in the future. Who knows what you’ll see. Be sure to follow me on either platform so you can stay attuned to Lovat’s “Quiet Corners.” I’ll see you among the tangles of the scrape and the span, roaders.

A Return to the Indie Pub

Back in May I was lucky enough to be the first guest for J. Rushing’s indie-publishing focused podcast, The Indie Pub. Well here we are a few months later and in the waning days of summer and I’m excited to say I’ve returned to the pub for its tenth episode! Listen to it below.

This time around Jim and I discuss maps—how they’re used in fantasy books, how to go about creating them, and the toolsets I provide to empower creators to make their own authentic looking maps. We had a great discussion and I was happy to share another aspect of the writing process I’m passionate about. I think you’ll dig it.Tell your pals, drop Jim a review, and subscribe to the Indie Pub from any of the links below.

AnchorApple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsCastboxBreakerSpotifyYouTubeRadioPublicOvercast (see app)Pocket Casts

Enjoy the episode everyone!

Old Haunts: Remain Calm

Gardner Warren
Level Five
Late Night

“The monorail to West Lovat was closed, the Lovat Transit Authority had the platforms blocked.

—Waldo Bell, Gleam Upon the Waves

Visit Previous Haunts: Lucky Star

Denny Lake Warren
Level Four
Midmorning

Rhapsody

King Station Warren
Level Four
Early Evening

Serenade on Two

Martello Warren
Level Two
Late Night

Local Service

Martello Warren
Level Four
Mid-Day

Licensed Dir. Agents

Unknown Warren
Level Three
Late Night

Happy Auseil

Hickman-Franklin Warren
Level Three
Early Morning

Social Climber

Frink Park Warren
Between Level Four & Five
Early Afternoon

Order Up

Shantak Coffee
Deck Three
Mid-Morning

All of Me

Wilcox Warren
Level Four
Morning

Red-Light Nite

West Lovat Warren
Level Three
Late Night

Services Suspended

West Lovat Warren
Level Three
Late Night

Study Related Ephemera: Echoes of the Wasteland: The Repository Glossary of the Territories Read the Bell Forging Cycle Explore Distant Margins: This Green Sunrise Shore No Lips Dare Speak Aloud Did you think this was over? A telegram arrived Credits:

“Martha Overture” by Friedrich von Flotow
“Hong Kong Noir 1” by John Bartmann
Other audio from Freesounds, special thanks to: alienxxx, craigsmith, johnsonbrandedediting, juandamb, fillmat, lenguaverde, nahlin83, reznik-krkovicka, woldmaxter
Broll provided by Videezy

Want to stay in touch with me? Sign up for Dead Drop, my rare and elusive newsletter. Subscribers get news, previews, and notices on my books before anyone else delivered directly to their inbox. I work hard to make sure it’s not spammy and full of interesting and relevant information. Sign Up Today→