alex_kozlowski

Book 2, Chapter 18

The waves came in and broke upon the rocks. Out of the crashing waves came flying birds. It was more an impression of Birds, a beak here, some flapping wings there. Another wave and a similar display. It was memorising, but he flipped to a new page. As enjoyable as watching the show on some unknown beach was, there was no time for him to indulge in it. To get stronger, he needed to get through these books.

The next artwork was frankly perplexing. All the art was of Spheres. Perfectly ro...

Book 2, Chapter 17

“Susie,” he called out, rushing over to her with two shadow steps. Her entire demeanor was one of defeat. Neck bowed with her head resting on her left hand like she was mourning a significant loss.

She looked up. Her eyes were not teared streaked. He slowed slightly. Things were not as bad as he had first feared.

“What has happened?”

“Bad day in the office,” she chuckled bitterly, “I miss my computer.”

“Jules, Kozzie?”

“They are fine,” she...

Very Early Concept Art for Book 1 Cover

Let me know what you think between the two covers.

Book 2, Chapter 16

Four of the eight wash stations were occupied. Three in the middle were empty, so he selected the center one. No Neighbours that way. The stations were little more than modest privacy screens. A curtain serving as the entrance and the sides were office dividers. Inside the closed space were a basic wooden stool, a cheap bright red plastic bucket, a chunk of soap, and a tap connected to a water tank by piping. The walls were as transient as anything, but someone had bothered to do proper plumb...

Book 2, Chapter 15

Sally looked around the room, her experienced eyes capturing the tension and the blood on the carpet. She had a brief, intense discussion with Steve. It was short by necessity. Everyone in the entire room was looking at her.

Cheryl had stood and walked to the front of her group. Putting herself firmly as the center of attention.

“Our jailer.” Cheryl's voice projected over the room with a dismissive, defiant tone.

Sally looked at them calmly. Her eyes were flinty.

�...

Book 2, Chapter 14

The tension in the room was palpable. Steve the unfortunate focus, standing blocking the doorway with his sword out ready to be grabbed. The blade dug carelessly into the thick carpet, adding a rip into one of the few carpets that had survived the event untouched. The sword’s size was still ridiculous. Usually the blade went deeper into the earth, but here in the dining room it had not been pushed into the floorboards so the guard of the sword was at the level of Steve’s chin. Such violen...

Book 2, Chapter 13

Total agony went through the arm. This was what someone had to be feeling when their arm was being torn right off. Pillow in his mouth stifling the screams.

Keep it in.

People were sleeping around. People who feared the Lucu. It was 2am in the morning if they heard him there would be panic. Hopefully, no one had registered his partially muffled scream.

Lay of hands, pushing all of his mana into it to try to fix the arm. It was too sore to move, so he tried to hold i...

Book 2, Chapter 12

Following the steps embedded into his brain by the knowledge transfer process. Concentrating the energy in his center. Drawing the magic from the spear, then his own reserves. Twisting its structure so it mirrored what the Bird was doing. It was hard to hold it in this new form, but at least this test did not call for him to direct it as well. Just focus on it, getting it into the right state and then when ready release. It came together in his gut, ready to release. The first time trying a n...

Book 2, Chapter 11

There were piles of candles in the dining hall there to help you get to your room. He grabbed a dozen just in case there were none in his room. There would be, and his poor memory seemed to remember there being lots spread throughout the room when he woke earlier in the morning. Best to be prepared. They vanished into his bag of holding. Four flights of steps later he was unlocking the room.

Glancing around, literally dozens of candles spread throughout the giant room, including what lo...

Book 2, Chapter 10

“Armageddon,” she quipped back before smiling. “Oh, you mean right here right now. We are just making sure that everyone who needs to be locked up for the night has made it back to prison safely. New protocols,” she waved the clipboard and list around to emphasize it. “From now on, all potential Lucu targets need to tell us where they are going and for how long. We will keep track of everyone. That way we can send out search parties before dark to retrieve them if something delays t...

Book 2, Chapter 9

In and out. Grabbing two bodies with each entry. One in each hand, no time to risk using the bag of holding. With a firm grip usually on a tail, he would retreat as quickly as he could. The lizards were heavy but with his extra strength manageable. Once safely outside their zone, he would process the lizards dumping the useless bit in a bedroom, hoping the smell would attract nothing. Then rinse and repeat. Watching carefully between each incursion to ensure that there were no visible lizards...

Book 2, Chapter 8

The shimmering air hung in front of him. A warning that only a fool would enter. Stepping through into the devastated zone. The air scorched his lungs, forcing him to breathe in through his nose. Next time a wet cloth across the face would be a bare minimum. While breathing was still uncomfortable, the ice trick worked. It let him function despite the oppressive conditions. The plan was to circle around the devastation zone, staying within the zone but ready to run immediately if any lizards ...

Book 2, Chapter 7

Adrian clicked through the interface

Pathway of Intelligence   - 21% (+ 21%)

It was better than expected and probably reflected him having completed one of the assigned texts. What to read next? The answer was obvious: Magic Flavours and Application. It was a book that could really open up his knowledge and propel his magical knowledge even further than it was.

There was a flash of light. His fingers spasmed, making him drop the book. For a moment disorientation hi...

Book 2, Chapter 6

The book lay in front of him, ready and begging to be read. The next chapter;

Balancing experience gains

The key challenge faced is balancing Civilised Society Continuance vs the creation of a Strangled Society or Extinction. If you aim for a high proportion of Civilised Society, then extinction rates sky rocket. If you accepted a Strangled Society, then you have the tools to reduce extinction events however a lot of the strangled societies created were so dark and distorted and s...

Book 2, Chapter 5

Waking up Suddenly. 

The mattress underneath was the type that was soft, that you sunk right into it. Usually, they resulted in a restless night, but there was none of that. Opening his eyes to see a strange bed, it was ornamental, heavy with old wood.

The mother of all headaches that he had expected was not present. Well, that would save him from begging help from Susie. Instead of pain, he felt like he had had ten hours of sleep and had treated his body like a temple for th...

Book 2, Chapter 4

“It is never ending, isn’t it,” Adrian observed to Sally as the crowd drifted away. After his tale the tone of the room had shifted, the manic celebration had changed to companionship. The threat of the Bird was still gone, but the threat of Alpha creatures still loomed. Like Rupa said, nearly everyone was a hero these days.

Sally across from him grimaced. “Different problems than before. Two months ago I was pulling my hair out because of an argument around a garden fence being...

Book 2, Chapter 3

Finishing the plate and contemplating licking it before deciding to many eyes. Maybe some desert would be nice.

Susie looked up. “That is so cool. I'm going to have to practice. It's awesome.”

“And now this,” he said, handing over the memory stone of leatherworking. “I promise not to start my story till you have finished.”

Susie touched the stone. She jolted, her eyes going wide and her mouth opening slackly. The stone glowing brightly in her hands.

“So,�...

Book 2. Chapter 2

“Tell me everything,” Adrian ordered more than asked.

Dave sighed heavily. “It started two nights ago, but we realised this morning.  We are pretty sure we are safe here.” Dave paused as if to invite questions, but Adrian stayed quiet. There were lots of questions that he could have asked, but it was better to let Dave express himself. “Umm. They are brewing some smelly stuff that is poisonous to it. Here and a couple of other buildings have had walls and roofs painted ...

Book 2, Chapter 1

Adrian was not ready to face his friends, so he turned towards where the music was coming from, figuring he could blend in or chat with strangers.

A hand planted firmly on his arm. It was not festive contact, and he looked around into Steve’s cold and shrouded eyes. Steve was stronger, much, much stronger.

Alarm bells rang; there was not an iota of celebration in those eyes. Then there was the strength. Not a little stronger, not fifty percent stronger, but more than twice as st...

Book 2. The Story So Far

Log Report 214,123 - Entry 1

It was a pretty standard Alpha physical event. My previous host had died of old age for once. No time appeared to pass, but in actual time it might have been hundreds, or thousands, or millions of years. As an interface, it is impossible to tell.

Then BAM!!!!

In a new world, a new host, a new race suffering from an influx of monsters and the crumbling of their technological base. Integration is always messy. There is never enough time to do it ri...

Writing update - 11 Jan

Book 2 is progressing nicely.  To meet pacing issues as previously discussed in a prior post, I have needed to write the first 20k words from scratch.

To date, I have 30k words of Book 2 that have had one pass of self-editing through them. My writing approach is 

1) Dictate the first draft, 

2) Correct dictation and add flavor.  

These steps are complete for the first quarter of book 2.  Then after waiting two weeks to freshen the mind, my proc...

Re-Started Writing Book 2

Excited to be starting book 2 and nice to put book 1 aside for a couple of weeks.  

Tempo Considerations

My ultimate ambition is to publish novels. My concept for Alpha Physics had a very loose plan. It was little more than a start, with several regular milestones and an ultimate destination. The intention was to end each book in the series with a discovery. Each novel adds more to lore, development of the main character and the nuances of the alien rescue attempt.

Reality blew this approach to bits. Having mostly finished book one novel, the novel's word count was excessive. At the first ...

Interface reflections

I received this comment on one of my chapters posted on RR.

Uhh... The system that's supposed to be helping him does nothing to help him and then mocks him for being stupid?

Excuse me, what the fuck?

This reasonably innocuous comment triggered a bit of self-reflection. First the paragraph in question.

Stop being so stupid. [MC voice]

There was a sense of agreement and the image of a gun, a si...

2020-12-23 20:29:28 +0000 UTC View Post

First thoughts

I am not sure about being on this site as I feel like a fraud.    Having said that I have been unemployed for 12 months after two real world jobs fell through in February due to the Pandemic so financial support will be welcomed.  

What I aim to do in Patreon is to share my stages of writing.  For what went on Royal Road the process was.

1) Dictation... google translate sucks

2) Expand correct dictation - increased writing by around 100%

3) Edi...