The Big Disclaimer

I've struggled with identifying how to phrase this without mentioning any current political figures. While it may seem obvious to many, c. 2025 has turned out to be the year that many of the themes in my work have stepped into reality.

Dear readers, please know that in my mind, the current state of affairs is one that I assume will always have its day, and should be expected in cycles.

(Metaphor) Hey look! A chair waiting for someone to sit down! Otherwise useless, unless filled. This is the role. The person who sits in the role, IS the chair (or the authority imbued by its position).

When I began Shattered Hollows, it was a short story that only included the first chapter of Book 2 (Entangled Binds), and I wrote that in 2015. It was not until later that year that I decided to start fleshing out the work more deeply, working to convey what corruption, xenophobia, and classism would look like in the future (TL;DR: fascism is an inevitable struggle for humanity and is often portrayed in classic science fiction).

In general, I wanted to create a world that had found a way around sexism, racism, and the phobias of sexual inclination -- a world that legitimately does not care about skin color, or who you love...so long as you toe the line. This is an investigation into how power will ultimately attempt to elevate itself using division, whether by value of birth, skillset, or monetary worth (as per usual), and how, without that division, it falls apart.

The political figures of today are/were not the basis of my work, in any way shape or form. The fact that many of the corrupted people in power resemble my characters, is because present day power foci are filling a pre-set role seen in most fascist/demagogue centered societies. Magnus was built to fill the role of puppet master, but if not him, it would have been someone else. The role is what is created over time, before it then becomes a power void that must be filled. No current day politicians or officials are meant to be illustrated in this work. ANY similarity is role-based, NOT person-based. Also, take note that Magnus is actually a genius, and I would not describe the puppets in power in most countries

as the true font of authority today or in the future. As per usual, power is a nesting doll, and the smartest of those in power do their best to stay unknown and unnamed when possible.

My work is thematic and the roles are historically concrete. Any likeness to current figures is incidental and any parallels drawn by the reader belong solely to the reader, as my work does not invite or invest in comparison to the events of today.

The Art of Writing and Publication (1)

For those of you that are trying to get yourself published, may I recommend the self-pub route? This is not to say you won't need a team to support you (a cover artist and editor are rather important for a refined and original story). All in all, I'd say that going self-pub is going to cost you more out of the gate, and give you more satisfaction with the control you maintain after the dust settles. The hard part isn't the publication process -- it's getting the readers to read!

Full transparency: I have been incredibly lucky in my marketing. By happy accident, I've found a way to hit certain podcasts and newsletters during optimal times, but it has been, and will likely continue to be a driving force of luck and belief that my hard work will pay off.

Continuing in the realm of transparency, I've done a lot of work to understand what a podcaster wants from their guests (I'm a serial researcher), as well as interviewed them after recording sessions to see what they liked and did not like about my performance. Hands down: they are all simply grateful that I'm willing to talk in full sentences and wax romantic about my own work and the work of others. If you're nervous about appearing on a podcast, tell your host in advance and ask to meet with them immediately before the podcast to get your nerves out in conversation, as well as get an idea as to what you want to say. We're writers! It's okay to format/script what you want to say!

Writing blocks: if you are forcing yourself to write something and it is not flowing easily, I highly recommend putting the project down for a bit and writing about something that is truly exciting to you. This is the best way to keep a block from forming, even if you feel pressured to finish the work you're stymied on. Another great way to work out of a block is to move from creation to integration. By this, I mean "read other people's work", and take note of their pitfalls while focusing on how, even if it isn't what you would write, IT IS STILL GOOD. This really helps to take the pressure off of your own work when you realize that this is art and is not meant to follow a pre-scripted formula -- leave that work to AI and embrace your own voice, style, and tone.

Character development: I cannot explain how helpful journaling from the perspective of my characters has been. My work has a lot of named characters, and every one of them has their own background and motivations. It can be far harder to keep characters true to their structure through a long series if you don't know them as people. For example: I have journal entries by Nightingale saved up that detail her favorite cafe's and foibles in romantic relationships in her youth. I journaled from Merrick's perspective about the hum-drum of working in SAB coupled with crippling anxiety as SAB performance reviews loom. These types of things seem mundane to readers, but for an author allow us to draw out what a natural reaction might look like for this person, but might be a surprise to your readers.

Taken from Assassins Creed Wiki

Finally, I have made several mistakes in my own work due to gaps in my research and simple forgetfulness. Instead of withdrawing all of my books and rewriting them, I've determined to have the characters correct the mistakes for their own reasons, and am even integrating several as 'easter eggs' that call out how the mistakes occurred. For example: a few of my characters use shéng biāo (rope spears/rope weapons), but I wasn't sure what word I wanted to use from the outset (there are several to choose from). So, I used the term pinyin to remind me to choose the appropriate Chinese wording at a later time. Guess who forgot to go back and insert the corrected terminology? So, now, it will be described in the 5th supplementary book (character and terminology encyclopedia w/ short stories and digital art) as an item that was incorrectly catalogued by SAB during the Shining Wars...the exact same way I missed the mark. Work with your happy little accidents and consider them sprinkles -- mistakes are often gateways to something fun.

Work with Me!

I do not prefer to rely on AI for my images or formatting, and I go out of my way to find people that are like me: just starting out. Digital artists, fanfiction writers, and writers trying to get started in ANY genre are invited to reach out to me for collaboration and/or discussion.

If you would like to be featured in my work, know that you will be paid, but I cannot and will not overextend my budget, which means you'll be taking a risk by publishing your work in my fifth and final addition to the box set for this four novel series, because I'll be paying you with the proceeds. I am willing to sign contracts with three year limits to get artist's paid for their work.

In the meantime, while I can't pay for every non-AI image that gets featured immediately, any artist that works with me will be on the cover, will have added description of their work inside my books, and I'll be linking your products directly to my site so your art can still be sold directly from you. All copyright and ownership will stay in the hands of the original creator.

My goal for digital artists is to showcase your art as you want it in order to attract people to your specific styles so that you are pulling in clients/consumers that already match well with your preferences. I aim to pay $100 per original print, and will be running them through AI generation to ensure that the art is indeed original to you.

I don't gatekeep my work -- I want everyone to read it, even if they can't afford it. At $1.99 e-book, you're probably clear in the western hemisphere, but if you're in another part of the world, I understand how much a dollar can actually be, so hit me up via contact@shatteredhollows.com so we can work something out.

Here's hoping I can do something to help others!

M. A. Wall