Category: Author Journey

When the Power Grid Blows Out for a Little While, the Geo-Political Face of North America Makes a Massive Change!

By John Irvin

            It all started when I watched the TV show Revolution—a show, mind you, that should not have been cancelled after the second season! To this day, I wonder why in the worlds they did that to me. Not nice.

            But I digress.

            The idea was sparked—what if we did go through a Black Out, but not one controlled by tiny little microbots in the air. Maybe a solar flare—that’s all it would take to knock out several Power grids.

            Oh, what if when this Black Out happened, a mishap took place at a Nuclear facility and something akin to Chernobyl blew up in Washington, D.C.?

            There would be no head of government to reestablish order fast enough before sections of the country would join together and form their own new nations. Yes, there would still be those clinging to a dead horse and claiming to want to renew the United States.

            So, is it perceivable there could erupt North American War thanks to this backlash? Possibly.

            I wrote a short fake-history of such an event, set it as if I were writing from the future—around a hundred years from now. Basically something I could imagine my niece and nephew would read when they were eighty years old. Or perhaps, they were even the ones to write the textbook for their grandkids.

            I didn’t think I would write books on this short historical narrative. I even told several friends who wrote it that I didn’t plan on it, it was just something done for fun.

            Then—like most ideas, it grew into a five-volume short series.

            The Shattered series.

            Volumes 1 through 4 have been published in E-Book format and Volume 5 will be undergoing the second draft in about a week—after I’ve finished the second draft for Longevity, Book 2: Independence. The publication for Volume 5, Conspiracy, is planned for mid-October.

            Volume 1, Collapse, covers the beginning phase of during which the Black Out happens, the communities unite afterward, then the power comes back on and what is left of the military attempts to regain control. The Locke Republic is born at Montgomery, Alabama—changing the name to Liberty City.

            Volume 2, Revolt, is about a team of leaders who bring order back to the streets of Atlanta then begin work on a plan to bring Georgia, Florida, the eastern part of Tennessee, and the Carolinas into a new union called the Southern Federation. Over in the west, the nation of Texas reins in their independence.

            Volume 3, Anarchy, portrays two of the only survivors from the U.S. Government, who attempt to “restore the United States” to her “rightful glory.” They have plenty of rebels and “traitors” to deal with. Then a surprise event happens, stalling their plans.

            Volume 4, Spark, is about what it sounds like. The beginning of the North American War starts with a bang. Liberty City is attacked and the President of the Locke Republic kidnapped. After 14 years of peace, you’d think everything would be okay, but no. This is not to be.

            And I will wait till I’ve published Volume 5 to really discuss what will happen. But, being the last volume—the final chapter—I bet you can guess what it’s about.

            This is my third series and I’m so excited it is finally coming to a close. It’s bittersweet for sure. I feel like I’m saying goodbye to a few friends, but then there is this sense of closure and satisfaction.

            Being able to say I’ve finished a whole series is something I’m told not everybody is able to do. The fact I have several various series open right now gives me a feeling of accomplishment when I can say I’ve closed one already. It gives me confidence I’ll be able to finish the others.

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The Idea of Magic Killing Technology and Introducing a New World History

By John Irvin

            I don’t know about you, but I love history. I’m also passionate about fantasy and mythology. The allure for these three fields is quite diverse. Being a fantasy writer, I wondered how cool it would be if I were to create a new timeline where Magic governed the laws of the universe.

            Would Technology work? Would they take turns? Were they molded together like in some steam punk?

            Those of you who’ve kept up with me know that my top three book series are the American Family Portrait Series by Jack Cavanaugh (A Historical Fiction Chronological series), the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (An Urban Fantasy series), and the Bright Empires series by Stephen Lawhead (An Parallel Universes series).

            So, basically these three influenced me in some way.

            But it was the Kate Daniels series giving me more ideas. Although in her story, Magic and Tech take turns ruling the world.

            What if I had a team travel back in time to say 1815 in hopes of starting a new colony uncorrupted by the greed and immorality of modern society? Why this specific year? It was a joke—or dream, depends on your point of view—I’d made with a friend several years ago.

            We thought it would be amazing to do just that. 1815 was a year shortly after the War of 1812 and the next major war was the Texas War for Independence which didn’t start for another few decades. It was a peaceful year between wars, we figured that would be great.

            Then my brain took this spark of an idea and thought, let’s add Magic to this.

            Not only that, Magic kills Technology, creating a whole new timeline—alternate timelines or parallel universe influenced by Bright Empires series here.

            Then I wondered if I should make it a chronological series like in the American Family Portrait series. I decided against that as I’ve already got a few other series based on such a theme.

            So…how were my main characters going to live through this new history for so many centuries?

            Easy…they’re Immortals. Okay, how did they become Immortals and what all does this entail?

            These are literally the conversations I was having with my Muse.

            Eventually, Magic’s Time Split series was born.

            As of this month, the first two books have been published. Book 1, Hidden Lake’s Light, is on Kindle and Nook for free! At least, I received the emails from Kindle confirming this. If it’s not free on Kindle yet, please wait a bit, they should be following through with their word soon.

            Book 2, When Kingdoms Arise, is also out on Kindle and Nook for $2.99.

            I’ll let you in on a secret that’s no longer a secret because it is announced within the pages of Book 1…Book 2 is available for free somewhere else. Yes, that place is my website! If you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll receive Book 2, When Kingdoms Arise, for FREE! Who doesn’t love free stuff?

            The road ahead has a journey on it. Magic’s Time Split will be continued in eight more novellas! Yes, it is a 10 volume series. I’m going to be writing it along side my Longevity series. Both are planned for completion in 2021.

            Well, that’s unless Magic does break out and we are thrust into a Fantastic Apocalypse and I’m given supernatural powers. Because if so, I’ll be too busy battling the forces of evil or creating new realms to write these books—just a warning for you.

            I hope your Hump day goes well and I’ll talk to you on Friday!

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I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

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I Was Born To Create Worlds

By John Irvin

            I am presently working on the second draft for Book 2, Independence, in my Longevity series. So, as you can expect, it is on my mind a lot these days. I want to talk a little about this gem of my heart.

            Longevity, a gothic fantasy series that sprang from one little comment made at the supper table.

            Yes, as a writer, sometimes you have no idea where a story will come from—it can hit you from anywhere, the point is to make sure you’re watching and ready.

            It was one evening meal during my Sophomore year in college, I was complaining about feeling old and tired. A friend made the remark, “You’re nine-hundred years old.”

            I was born near the end of 1989—nine hundred years from then would be 1109 AD. So my writer’s brain—at the time, I didn’t see myself as a professional writer, I was pursuing a medical degree at the time for goodness sake’s! But my mind began exploring the reason behind the why. Why was I nine-hundred years old?

            At the time I was beginning to be attracted to the dark/gothic fantasy genre—with the werewolves, vampires, etc.

            Studying the werewolves, I dreamed how thrilling it would be to have the ability to shift change into such a powerful form. But, most werewolves are humans who turn into actual wolves. Most are murderous and nothing but malevolent beasts.

            In my mind, I wanted to be a good saviour-like monster who protected humans from the abominable vampires.

I did not see a regular wolf—whether huge or normal size—but rather a humanoid beast with a wolf’s head. Covered by wolf hair and fur, but walking like a man—a powerful Beast with heightened senses…this part is probably stemmed from my childhood passion for super heroes.

            So a Man-Wolf.

            Then, two years later, I wrote this brief bullet-point autobiography of all the main events in my life from 1109 up to the present.

            After graduating college, I filed that away, making jokes about being a werewolf and even letting a few friends read the autobiography. Some remarked I should turn it into a book.

            Who would read a werewolf autobiography of over 900 years now?

            How could I make that intriguing?

            Naturally, my brain continued exploring while I was busy focusing on other stories.

            In 2014-2015, I wrote the first edition—a 512 page novel. I wish I hadn’t published it. I wished I’d been patient and tweaked it or set it aside to stew for a couple years. But two years ago, I cancelled the publication when it dawned on me, this story would be much better as a series.

            Last year, I wrote the first draft of Longevity, Book 1: Revelation and after a journey, I published that book on July 27, 2019. I’m much more proud of this work than all the rest. But I see the journey to where I’m at and it impresses me.

            I’m even more excited as it was the first in-print novel I’ve ever had in Hardcover format! The Paperback came out a week or so ago and the Ebook was published around the same time as the Hardcover.

            If you’d like to order a copy, here’s the Amazon page—sadly, it’s taking time for the paperwork to go through for them to sell the Ebook, but that’s out on Barnes & Noble’s Nook.

            Amazon: Hardcover&Paperback!

            Nook: Longevity, Book 1: Revelation.

            I just wanted to share that for today’s blog. Can you blame me for being a little proud?

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

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