About Me

I think I first sat down at a typewriter (what on Earth is that?) when I was probably eight or nine and typed the words CHAPTER 1. Being a perfectionist, I noticed it wasn’t centered, and tried again. This inability to move on from a few words until they were perfect really hindered my ability to write any type of creative fiction. Once I got the words centered, I went ahead and started typing. I don’t remember what it was about, exactly, but it was probably something in the fantasy genre. I don’t think I wrote more than a single chapter and then lost interest.

Writing anything became easier when our family got a computer with a printer and a word processor. Mind you, when I was in my early teens, a computer and printer wasn’t exactly as common as it is nowadays, seeing as how I’m about to turn 39 (again) as I write this. But it was quite a gift. I found as I worked my way through high school and college that for anything short – say, ten pages or less – I could pretty much crank out text without outline or editing and get high marks and kudos for my creativity. Editing? Outlines? Ha!

A few examples come to mind. I worked on our newspaper in high school as an editor. This was in the days when you got printed text from the printer and literally had to cut those infernal strips of plastic with a knife and glue them on to paper to create the look and layout you needed. As editors, we also got to write our own article on any topic we wished. It would probably be the equivalent of a few pages of novel text (500-800 words or so). Outside letting my concept churn in my head for a bit, I wrote all of them in one sitting without outlining, and at most went back and tweaked the wording of a sentence here or there.

I wrote a short story for the school literary magazine. In it, a boy who lived on the moon would sneak away from home in the family’s spaceship and visit Earth so that he could see and smell the flowers, and eventually died when he contracted some common virus and his body couldn’t handle it. (This sounds like a pretty intriguing concept for a book at some point; don’t anybody go run with this!) It was probably about 10 pages long. I’m fairly sure I wrote it in a couple of sittings, with only minor editing. And it was quite good. No idea what others thought, since nobody actually read the stories and poems; this was high school, after all.

My favorite writing time in high school involved a piece of creative writing we did. We were in the process of reading Beowulf. Our teacher gave us an assignment: get out the newspaper, pick something you find there, and rewrite it in the style of Beowulf. If you’ve never read the story, the language makes something as routine as picking up a fork sound like the most incredible heroic feat in the history of civilization. I scanned the newspaper and came to the comics section. As fate would have it, it was the time of year for the annual Peanuts comic where Lucy pulls the football away from Charlie Brown. I’d found my topic, and wrote away. I think it took me one sitting to write it out (3-4 pages), and a few bits of editing. I got an A, and when the teacher handed the essays back, he specifically told everyone that they should read my story. Given that he was a man of rather high standards, that was praise indeed.

Whenever I thought of the future, and daydreamed what my vision of success would be, it was always that I’d be a successful author. I read a lot. My mind was just warped enough to come up with obscure characters and plotlines, but while I could churn out 5-10 pages of highly readable prose on a single topic at will, weaving many chapters and multiple storylines together seemed daunting. So while I had interesting concepts and characters pop into my head (though sadly, none involved a boy who was a wizard or a vampire), I mostly “wrote” them in my head.

At some point in time, I found a website or three that talked about teaching you to write novels quickly. The point they made was simply that most people get sidetracked trying to edit their own work as they go along. Instead, they said, you should identify the subject of your writing for a given session, set a timer, and write as fast as you possibly can, no stops allowed to fix spelling, grammar, or punctuation. You’d be surprised, they’d say, at just how fast you could crank out 50,000 words for a novel if you follow this approach. Intriguing.

For one of these sites, the owner basically offered to do a free writing evaluation. You’d give him your email address. He’d send you three words. You were to set a timer for five minutes and write as fast as you could without stopping to edit, but you had to write those three words into the prose. I remember that one of the words was “fire.” My quick blurb involved a man coming home to find his house in flames, in sheer agony because his love was in there. I sent it in. The guy emailed me back, and told me it was better writing than he’d seen from most professionals, and that he REALLY wanted to know more about the story. (I think I can answer that now.) Sadly, the exchange was lost during an email switch, and I have no idea what site that was or who provided the evaluation. (If by chance you are reading this and this particular anecdote is familiar, please contact me!)

Anyway, the story finally comes full circle one day when I start to hear about this self-publishing concept. I’d heard the stories of the incredible delays and rejections suffered by writers trying to get themselves agents and publishing contracts. I think I avoided writing anything because frankly, I didn’t want to deal with it. But the ability to upload my manuscript to Amazon and publish it to the world…essentially right after I’m done writing? Now THAT I can try. I read many blogs on self-publishing, and decided it was time to dredge up some of the old story ideas. I merged the “house on fire” idea that was still in my head (I’m a sucker for praise!) with the one of a man who wakes up one day in a strange new environment, did a bit of pondering and thinking and (gasp!) plotting, and thus was born the Aliomenti Saga.

14 Comments on “About Me

  1. I am on book 6 now and look forward to book 7, but I don’t want the story to end! Your writing is fun to follow and quite intriguing. Thank you for not only a good story, but some encouragement to share the stories in my head.

  2. Dear Alex,

    My name is Jackie Velnoskey. I saw that you have written Convergence (The Aliomenti Saga – Book 7), with CreateSpace. My question for you is: may I promote the book at the Miami Book Fair, this November? Is costs you nothing. All I’m asking you in return is if we may add you to our book marketing email list.
    I’m giving you two Miami Book Fair promotion options to choose from: 1: you may forward a copy of your book to our address (see below), and we’ll display it in Miami, or 2: we’ll include your work in the Hot Indy Author Guide that we’re displaying and distributing during the Miami Book Fair. Either option is free. Check out our Facebook page during the Nov. 20-22 event when we report live from Miami.

    At America Star Books we have a book promotion department that does nothing but offering book promotion at the lowest fees in the nation. We attend all of the big fairs and festivals: Book Expo America, London Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair, Miami Book Fair International, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the American Library Association mid-winter and annual Conferences, Baltimore Book Festival, and so on.

    All I am asking you at this time is if we may add you to our email list when we issue our next book promotion offers. You may at any time unsubscribe, and we will promptly cease sending you any further emails. America Star Books has been around for more than fifteen years, serving over 60,000 authors. Participating in book promotion is entirely optional.
    Thank you for considering this opportunity. I am looking forward to hearing back from you.

    –Jackie Velnoskey
    America Star Books Special Services, manager
    301-744-7589
    P.O. Box 184
    Frederick, MD 21705

  3. Is there any way to contact you directly…? I have some info that you may ( …or may not… ) want, concerning several of your books that I’ve read. Thanks for the free download of “Detonate”. It’s not often that I will stick to a series, and take an on-going interest in the characters and various story plots. Thanks for the entertainment. I hope we can find a way to get the info I mentioned ( above )to you. Thanks again…! Les

  4. Dear Sir, Did you contact Jackie Velnoskey about promoting your book? I got basically the same email and just wanted to know if you had any info on the lady and her offer. Kind regards, Anthony Kalberg

  5. I’m doing A book report on “A Question of Will” for highschool and I would like to know what inspired you to write it

    • Good question!

      I’d made a number of attempts over the years to turn one of the many ideas in my head into a novel or series, but none of those efforts succeeded. I finally decided one year that before my next birthday I would complete that first novel, no excuses.

      The question was: which idea would I use for that effort?

      I found myself drawn to one specific idea. I’d performed a “writing prompt” exercise years earlier, in which I’d be given three words at random and a time limit of 5 minutes. In that time, I had to write as fast as I could whatever came to mind, but I had to use the three words in my list. I only remember one of the words now: fire.

      My paragraph spoke of a man grieving the loss of his beloved in a house fire set by unknown enemies, which both ended the life of his true love and destroyed critical files relative to a secret mission in the process.

      I started with that. I asked questions: how did the characters meet, what was in the files, who were the people who set the fire, and why? Gradually, that developed into “A Question of Will,” and then the rest of the series.

      Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions.

  6. As I love of writing and reading great boss, I just wanted to say thank you for all of the series you have written. You got me hooked on the Aliomenti Saga and I have read straight through them as well as the Rain series. I anxiously await your next book. Thank you for the many hours of excitement, anger, sorrow, and so many other emotions. You are a truly gifted writer!

  7. Book review for ERADICATE is on Amazon going live at any time.

    GREAT READ
    5 stars

    An excellent series! The author makes you feel as though you are right in the middle of what is going on! I recommend this book but also recommend reading the first in the series “Activate”.

  8. I totally love your books.I read fantasy books all the time, Yours are different and exciting.You are a new Author for me.I will be reading yours for a long time.I can’t wait to purchase your next book.

  9. Greetings Mr. Albrinck,
    I have absolutely enjoyed the Aliomenti Saga thus far. I am in the process of Convergence and look forward to Adam’s Journey. I just have one question… Why hasn’t this saga been made into movies? I truly feel this series would be something never quite done before and a far better experience than what’s being produced today. This could be among the “greats” like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the likes.

    • To re-use a comment on making the Aliomenti Saga into a movie series on another question:
      There are millions of books out there, and tens of thousands more published each year. There are only perhaps twenty major motion pictures in this genre made each year. The math would suggest that no director/producer/studio will ever approach me about movie rights, and even lesser odds that they’d actually complete the project. But hey… I’m open to offers!

      I appreciate your kind words, and hope someday movie fans get the chance to rank this series against the ones you’ve listed (all favorites of mine).

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