A Sonnet

Inspired by a friend, I have decided to try my hand at writing a sonnet. This may be a foolish attempt – in fact, I feel quite intimidated – but what the heck . . .

The Seas

Of seas roar’d and toss’d, in semblance of fury,

Where depths hint at life and feed connection.

Porcelain hands speak of lust and worry;

It steals my breath and echoes rejection.

My own can hold back the spindrift in time,

But it scrapes my heart; left chisel’d again.

The stars shine upon a man in his prime,

Shackl’d by fortune; the wings of the wren.

But fate is troubl’d; lost uncertainty.

For the tenebrous, the twilight, the dawn.

The soft lilt of calm feeds the will to see,

That my fool’s tarot was lost all along.

Spent eternity toss’d amidst the fray,

But still in the shallows, my bones won’t sway.

Vibe Check – WORLDS SUNDERED Spotify Playlist!

Like I did with NEMESIS SPAWNED, I’ve created another dark and explosive soundtrack for WORLDS SUNDERED, in the form of a Spotify playlist (see embedded link below).

I tried to express the vibe of each chapter through this eclectic mix of artists and genres – with a song or two for each.

Hope you enjoy the listening (and reading) experience!

Check out where to buy the book here.

Also, if you are in the mood, don’t forget about NEMESIS SPAWNED and the Spotify playlist I created for it!

Reflections of Shadow – Character Profile Cards

As mentioned previously, I really enjoyed creating character images for some of the characters in NEMESIS SPAWNED using a video game character creator for the faces and layered Adobe Stock images for the bodies and backgrounds. As such, it should come as no surprise that I created several for notable characters in WORLDS SUNDERED as well . . .

Inspired by various Role-Playing Games (RPGs), I thought it might also be fun to create a set of Character Cards to accompany the character images.

These cards include the character’s Name, their Class (e.g., Immortal Avatar, Mortal Demigod, Human Fighter), a few key Attributes/Skills, and a notable Quote. The cards also include classic RPG ability points for each character, based on their descriptions in the books – Including Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Worlds Sundered Now Available!

I’m excited to announce that Worlds Sundered, Reflections of Shadow: Book 2, is now available on the FriesenPress website (with other retailers making it available in the next few days)!!!

It’s been an exciting journey writing and publishing this book. Of the three books in the trilogy, this one holds a special place in my heart. It takes the dark introspection in the first book and blows it up. The two main characters are joined by so many new interesting faces, bringing a dynamic new energy to the story. It was the most fun to write and I hope you find it just as enjoyable to read!

I want to thank all those who have been instrumental in bringing this work to life: my wife, my family, my friends and colleagues, as well as the publication team at FriesenPress.

I see myself as merely reflected light – any positive energy is merely reflected from my surroundings and those around me.

Happy reading!

Upcoming Author Events – 2025

Summer 2025 – Author Events

Hi, folks.

If you are looking for me, here are a few places where I’ll be this summer – promoting and selling my books (that’s right; books plural :-)).

  • 28 June – Fantasy Book Market / Parkdale Market – 11AM-5PM
  • 7-10 August – Navan Fair – All Day
  • 16 August – Indigo Rideau – 1-5PM

Drop by to see me and pick up a copy of NEMESIS SPAWNED if you’d like to dive into the psychological fantasy world of Lloryca, or a copy of WORLDS SUNDERED if you’d like to see Alexander’s dark internal struggle externalize!

NEMESIS SPAWNED Spotify Playlist!

Hey folks. I should have done this ages ago, but I’ve finally pulled together a rich, dark, and twisted soundtrack for NEMESIS SPAWNED, in the form of a Spotify playlist.

I tried to express the vibe of each chapter through this eclectic mix of artists and genres.

Hope you enjoy the listening (and reading) experience!

Check out where to buy the book here.

Upcoming Events

Hey folks!

In case you are looking for me, here’s some of my upcoming events for spring/summer 2025.

The Universal Web

There is a web woven between all the people and events in our lives.

Neither Fatalist nor Free Will views satisfyingly explain the apparent coincidental nature of the universe.  Similarly, Determinism is a philosophical view that events are determined completely by precipitating causes.  It is the ultimate application of cause and effect.  While likely mostly accurate, and apparent in anecdotal evidence on a daily basis, I believe that it only explains part of the puzzle.

There is a deterministic connection that links everything in the universe, that much I agree.  That thread is woven through our lives and guides how we grow and change.  It is the constant in our decisions and is clearly demonstrable (e.g., If you have money, you can buy a car), but what is a constant without variables?

In my view, the universal web is more complex than simple Determinism would have us believe.  I would argue that the true explanation lies in the application of the following 3 Laws of the Universal Web:

  1. The Law of Inevitability.

Life events are prescribed, inevitable, and the direct effect(s) of predetermining cause(s).  The web is spun one thread at a time, with each dependent upon the pattern that was woven before it.

2. The Law of Probability.

Although life events are prescribed, their timing (how they unfold) can be affected by actions/intentions that either precipitate or hinder the inevitable.  People can introduce “turbulence” that either increases or decreases the likelihood of the next pattern being woven.  They cannot prevent the inevitable, but they can slow it down or speed it up.

3. The Law of Convergence.

Events cluster.  There is a cascade effect associated with the cause and effect of life events.  When one life event occurs, it naturally increases the probability that another will as well.

It is my belief that the Laws of the Universal Web apply to every life event, whether large or small, because every life event is connected.  These laws incorporate elements of non-linear mathematics, scientific observation, religious beliefs, and philosophical writings.  They are meant to explain why we sometimes appear to have free will, while at other times appear to be enslaved to fate’s whims.

It is my hope that people can apply them in much the same way they apply the serenity prayer:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

Bringing My Characters to Life

I love words.

To me, words are x-ray images allowing me to peek beneath the surface of the world. They help me perceive beyond the superficial to the soul of the world and the quantum-like web that connect everyone and everything (I have a whole theory about the Universal Web that I’ll post in the coming days).

In fact, I even include an important analogy in NEMESIS SPAWNED, likening conscious beings to the various incarnations of words:

“. . . the Ouroboros are the thoughts of space and time, ultimately changeable. We avatars are the speech, incorporeal and tenuously physical, yet easily transformed at a whim. Our mortal creations, however, are the written expressions of life . . .”

And yet . . .

As much as I love words, when I was writing NEMESIS SPAWNED (and the entire Reflections of Shadow series), I couldn’t help but desire something much more concrete to breathe life into the characters I’d created. I know how I saw them in my mind, but I wanted you to see them also . . . and I knew that a picture really is sometimes worth a thousand words.

To that end, I struggled with some digital image software to approximate my vision, but always less than 100% successfully. Then, shortly after publishing NEMESIS SPAWNED last year, I promised myself that I would commission character images from a wonderful artist, whose work I love and appreciate. But, as excited as I was to finally see a professional artist rendering of the characters so dear to me, it was not meant to be. Unfortunately, the current state of the world has gotten in the way. In a nutshell, being Canadian, trying to negotiate an American artist commission with the current exchange rate has sunk the notion completely (Cue raspberry blowing noise here).

I have persevered, however.

I decided to give character creation another shot and have finally come up with images that I think are not too shabby.

Thus, without further ado and for your viewing pleasure, I give you some of the main characters from NEMESIS SPAWNED and the Reflections of Shadow trilogy (with many more to come) . . .

Alexander Cadeyrn – Our protagonist:

Saelen “The Reaver” – Our immortal antagonist:

Lycoris “The Lady”:

Ea’nlil “The Teacher”: