kmalexander

[kmalexander]

Some Fantasy Map Related Updates

Wanted to throw together a quick update on some easy-to-miss news from the #NoBadMaps universe. If you have donated to the project through Ko-fi or Patreon, you’re probably already aware. (As always, thanks for your support!) As for everyone else, here’s what’s been happening behind the scenes in my weird little world of fantasy map-related tools… New Typeface Page Launched Yeah, I’m also…

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

Tucked away in the Met’s American Swords and Firearms gallery in downtown Manhattan, there’s a small powder horn on display. These hollowed-out bovine horns were common in the 18th century until they were eventually phased out by powder flasks. Carved into this particular horn is a crude but intricate map of the Province of New York around the middle of the 18th Century. That map, allegedly…

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Trip Report - Lisbon > Paris > Porto

Over the last few weeks, I was struck by how much of the Western world has become a monoculture. Here I am, thousands of miles away from home, and I see people wearing the same clothes brands I see in Seattle, drinking the same beverages, watching the same shows, and listening to the same music from Seattle to Lisbon to Paris, if you get in a cab you better believe you’re going to be getting…

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Forgotten Frequencies, Vol. 1: Lovat - Available Now!

Inspiration can descend like a squall. After I shared a recent Quiet Corner on TikTok, a reader asked me: “Do you have a playlist for reading your books to?” It was a great question! As many of you know, in the past, I’ve put together playlists of tracks from various artists that have inspired scenes/chapters/moments within the Bell Forging Cycle. Yet, even as I shared how to find those, I…

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Happy 2025

Goodbye 2024. Hello, 2025. I am not one to prognosticate much over the future. For the most part, handwringing about what could happen means I’m less prepared to deal with what does happen. Just not worth it, and I have a lot to do. Thanks to all of you who have been dedicated readers of this site throughout the years, supporting my work, and generally keeping tabs on me. I appericate it. I…

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My Reading List for 2024

Last year, I read the most books I ever had in a single year, setting a personal best of fifty-three. This year was—er—decidedly not that. In novels, I didn’t even crack thirty. Life got in the way, big time. On the reverse of that, and perhaps because of, I managed to read significantly more graphic novels. Now, I’m not a fast reader, but I can generally finish one graphic novel in a session,…

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2024 in Ten Significant Photos

Despite some incredible and positive changes in 2024, I will not be sorry to see the year go. It’s been a year. A tumultuous year if I was forced to put a descriptor on it. Those incredible highs were also matched by brutal lows. So, it’s good to reflect and assemble my annual reckoning-via-photographs. For those new around here, this is my annual post, where I look back on the year using ten…

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No (New) Cosmic Horror Gift Guide This Year

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Henry Daubrez (Belgo-Spanish, based Belgium) - Anxiety, 2024, Paintings: Digital Art

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America, Vote 🗳

It’s that time again when citizens in the US go to the polls and make their voices heard. That means this is also the time when I write a quick post encouraging you to participate. It’s important! As Thomas Jefferson once said, we’re not governed by the majority. We’re governed by the majority who participate. (I’m paraphrasing a bit. I quoted him in 2020.) Here in Washington State, I voted long…

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A Map of the Island of Biringan

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Uly Pupdate, Autumn 2024

This has been a long and strange year. Through all the ups and downs, one of the constant highlights has been our newest family member, our sheepadoodle, Ulysses. I introduced him back in May, and then our chaotic 2024 summer happened. As autumn settles in and things have quieted down, I realized last night that it has been far too long since I shared a Uly update—or a pupdate. Let’s rectify…

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Everything's A Cover

There’s a rock I keep seeing many science fiction and fantasy fans crash against: adaptation. For some reason, fans think any adaptation must fit within the narrow confines of their own experience. Any new announcement of a beloved property is met with equal parts excitement and trepidation—from soundtracks to cast lists, fans’ grievances over creative decisions are long, exhausting, and…

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Well, This is Obnoxious

A funny thing happened when I shared Hogenburg—my latest brush set—on Instagram the other day. Instagram, in all its divine authority, added a little tag at the top where you’d typically see location information. That tag read: “AI info.” Neat. Thanks, Zuckerberg. I thought that odd. IG now lets you flag if AI was used in a post. But I didn’t use AI, so there was no reason I would flag this…

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Hogenburg: A Free 16th Century Urban Cartography Brush Set for Fantasy City Maps

Mapping a city, fantastical or otherwise, can be a difficult challenge. Nature’s randomness and organic qualities are replaced by a rigid structure influenced by centuries of history shaped by war, religion, politics, and culture. No two roads are the same, no grid is identical, and no block looks like another block. In modern maps, we’ve abstracted the city into patterns, making each city feel…

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Meet the Flock

When we purchased our new house, we inherited a flock of chickens: eleven hens and one surly rooster. We didn’t necessarily want chickens. We could have turned them down, but it felt mean to remove them from their home. So, we brought the flock along for this ride. And honestly, it’s been great. They’re an absolute delight, and now we have a dozen new pets. On top of all of this, the bonus of…