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Starbound Ascension Lore: Money

The Universe of Starbound Ascension Lore

Money, money, money.

With the universe of Starbound Ascension in its publication infancy, I think it would be cool to showcase some of the lore touched on in the current novel and ones in the future as well. See, I’m a bit of a lore nerd. I remember a few years back staying up a full night studying the expansive and deep lore of Warhammer 40,000, and my God is that deep. That and the intoxicating lore of the Elder Scrolls just sent me down a deep rabbit hole that I simply couldn’t get enough of. The weird thing about lore in a sci-fi universe or a fantasy world is that it’s hidden under the surface most of the time. Unless you want, more times than not you’re never going to know. That’s what makes it so intriguing.

Perhaps it’s just with bigger franchises like the ones I previously mentioned, but for me I like to know the smallest details of the worlds I’m stepping into. Especially ones that I fall in love with. Starbound Ascension is only one novel deep at the time of this post, but goodness do I have lore written up enough to fill three to four. Any author or DM/GM of sci-fi and fantasy can relate. Building a complete world from the ground up is truly one of the best parts about the process, and for me, becomes a bit of an addiction.

Anyway, to kick off this lore we’re going to dive a bit into one of my favorite discussions. Economics! Nahh, I’m not going to bore you. We’re just going to talk about the main currency of the expansive Arkaan Empire: Astrids.

Astrids are paper notes with holographic designs printed on them detailing their stated worth. Each note is infused with trace amounts of asteroids with the specific compound mixture only found in the home Arkaan system. This currency system not only lessens the ability of creating forgeries, but maintains the value of each note by the limited resource of asteroids in the home Arkaan System. A simple, yet effective way to manage the economic flow of an inter-galactic civilization.

With a free market system such as one present in the Arkaan Empire, Astrids exchange hands for endless amounts of reasons that mimic our own. Work salary, paying for dinner, even as gifts, everyone loves money- everyone loves Astrids. Having a solid currency for the exchange of goods and services is the foundation to any state throughout history, and even more so in the universe of Starbound Ascension. Acquiring wealth has pushed society to bigger and better for thousands of years, and that will forever remain true. With a proper moral compass and endless opportunity there’s always the ability for a rags to riches story within the Arkaan Empire.

Now, there’s other species and factions within the galaxy where our stories take place, but they haven’t made themselves known yet on paper. Each one has their own system of value and “currency” that pushes them like any other. Only future adventures within the Starbound Ascension universe will reveal that!

Be sure to subscribe to the Dark and Mysterious blog as well as follow along on Instagram for book giveaways and other cool stories!

–John McCool

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New Year, New Writing

“Echoes From A Distant Star” was officially released a few weeks ago, and it’s been a long, crazy ride! It’s been one of my biggest projects to date, and the most expensive for that matter. A lot of people don’t really know this, but being an independent author comes with a lot of financial cost. In contrast to a signed authors to a publishing company, I have to fork over the entire cost out of my pocket to bring my work to life. This is mainly why I consider myself a hobbyist instead of a “professional” author.

Now, that may be a tad bit misleading. I do consider myself to have professional quality, but I’m not aiming to be a full time writer and make a living off of it. I write fiction because I absolutely LOVE it. I have thousands of stories swirling in my head every single day, fighting for the gift to be placed on paper to become a portal to the real world. However, that’s of course not a realistic thing. I have tons of obligations in my life, so I have to be very selective of the time I allow myself to write, and what I write with that limited time.

For those of you amazing readers who still don’t know me, I’m a busy dude. I manage one of the BEST coffee companies in central Illinois and I’m a Dad of two kids with one on the way. Nothing is more important to me than spending time with my kids, which is why I have such limited time to write, and honestly, I’m cool with that. I’m very proud of the books I’ve written to date, and I’m so excited to share what I have coming up next! It’s still cooking, so you’re gonna have to just wait…

This is a bit of a weird blog post, but things are going great for these little fiction worlds I’ve created, and so many more are coming soon.

Thank you to all you amazing readers that have come along on the ride so far! There’s so many more stories and worlds to share with you in time!

Check out my new novel “Echoes From a Distant Star” on Amazon or Kindle now! Also, don’t forget to leave me a review whether you loved it or hated it. Reviews are the driving forces behind ALL independent authors.

– John McCool

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There Came A Knocking Post Launch Update

Man, what a thrilling adventure it is being an indie author. When I conceived the idea to make the jump from being a short story anthology author to a full fledged novelist, I was a little intimidated not going to lie. The support I’ve received post launch has been more than I seriously thought I was going to get. I always try to shoot for the moon with everything I do, but keeping a low expectation on reader feedback is a self defense mechanism that I believe most authors have to develop in their journey. That wasn’t the case with my debut novel There Came A Knocking.

I’m not going to sit here and claim it’s a bestseller, cause it certainly isn’t. As of this post it has 16 reviews on Amazon and 52 on Goodreads which I love and appreciate more than anything! Review, either good or bad, are seriously gold for independent authors such as myself. Anyone of my readers that have received a book directly from me will recognize that line. In every book I personally send out, I ALWAYS write a personal letter with that line somewhere in there. I can not stress the importance of reviews for books. Even if you hate it, please review and let me know that! It helps me evolve into the best author I can be.

Reviews go such a long way, but what I enjoy more than anything is when you wonderful readers send me a DM on any of my social media. I love having deep conversations with y’all about the story devices used in my work, and why characters developed the way they did. Of course, those are things that can’t be made public because of spoilers, but after you read it, please send me a message and let’s discuss it and how it made you feel. I’m really interested in that sort of thing.

Anyway, There Came A Knocking is in a great place four months post launch. I’m very happy with its progress, and I’m more than pleased with the reviews all you incredible readers have given it. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, please go give it a read! If you want to hold off, I occasionally do free giveaways to my followers on Instagram, so if you aren’t keeping an eye on that, be sure to give a quick little follow!

What does the future hold?

A writer gonna write. I’m not in a position to announce anything quite yet, but my next novel is deep in the process and it’s…out of this world. Thanks everyone for your continued support!

Remember to read indie and stay creepy! 🤡🔪🩸

–John McCool

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Get “There Came A Knocking” FREE!

Merry Christmas everyone one! From now until December 26th my book There Came A Knocking is FREE on Kindle! Spook up your holiday with this 80s inspired slasher tale that will have you wondering if you actually remembered to lock your door at night.

Grab There Came A Knocking FREE now!

Synopsis: When Fear Knocks at Your Door, Will You Dare to Answer?

Best friends, Jessica and Danielle, are in for the fight of their lives as they fall victim to a home invader. However, this intruder isn’t there to rob them of the little they have. A simple game is all he’s after, and they have no choice but to play.
This horror/thriller calls back to the clown epidemic of 2016, where clown sightings became a regular occurrence for reasons that still remain a mystery.

Get ready to unlock a door to your worst nightmares. Get your copy of There Came A Knocking now and be among the first to experience the spine-tingling horror that will have you checking your locks twice.

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Resurrection of Audio Dramas

“Radio affects most intimately, person-to-person, offering a world of unspoken communication between writer, the speaker, and the listener.”

Marshall McLuhan


Since I was pretty little I always had such a deep fascination with audio dramas. Yeah, I was secretly a weird kid. I remember listening to War of the Worlds for the first time after a deep interest in aliens developed after watching Signs. I would pop the audio on in the background on my computer, and usually play some sort of video game with the sound turned off. Oh the good old days.

Here recently I don’t really have too much time to enjoy TV or even movies really. I’ve considered listening to audiobooks, which I will on occasion on my commute, but I have rediscovered my long lost love for audio dramas. I searched through the deepest depths of Spotify to find some newer ones to dive into, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed with what I found.

The first one that really caught my eye was The White Vault. This is an INCREDIBLE horror audio show that delivers, quite literally, chilling tales from a research station in the frozen tundra of Iceland. The writer was great at writing the dialogue for each of the characters, and the audio engineers set the creepy atmosphere to 100% to set the stage. It was so well written, and was really what inspired me to look into writing audio dramas myself.

What a lot of people really don’t know about me is that I’m a superhero nerd. Yeah, I admit it. Growing up with Spider-Man and Batman has followed me into adulthood, and it’s something I hope I can enjoy with my kids one day. On my search for some new audio shows, I stumbled upon BatmanThe Audio Adventures. Now this one was truly next level in terms of production. The writing is like a mix between the 90’s animated show and the early 1960’s Batman. There was some awesome casting for voice actors too. Seth Myers plays Jack Ryder and Kenan Thompson plays commissioner Gordon. The show is actually created by Warner Bros, so the production value has a great deal of backing, and it definitely shows for the overall product. It’s a true thrill ride from beginning to end, and I highly recommend it for ANY superhero fan whether you are a DC or Marvel fanboy. We can like both brands I promise…

The one I’m actually currently in the middle of as of the writing of this post is Star Trek: Outpost. This is a fan production that you truly could’ve fooled me if you were to tell me this was a professional production created by Paramount. The story follows a StarFleet officer who is assigned his first executive officer position, and is assigned as Captain of his first ship. It’s quite the way to kick off the narrative, throwing the main character into the driver seat as soon as possible. The storytelling is that of true Star Trek fashion. It’s full of adventure, discovery, and the occasional filler episodes that really provides to plot at all except to develop characters a little more. That’s just Star Trek for you, and these fan writers do an excellent job replicating that.

Audio dramas are an old art form, but hasn’t died as some predicted it would. Especially in the age of streaming music and podcasts, an amature can make a solid show with nothing more than great wirting and a smart phone. Believe me, I’m working on one myself. It’s way easier than you think it is. I encourage all of my readers to give audio dramas a try. They can unlock your imagination the same as reading a book, and provide a higher level of immersion than TV could never do. On your next stormy or snowy day, grab yourself a nice cup of coffee, sit down in your comfy chair, and pop on one of these great shows. It’ll send you to worlds you couldn’t possibly imagine otherwise.

-John McCool

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There Came A Knocking Publishes Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is publication day for my new novel “There Came A Knocking”!

I’m so excited to finally get this awesome work out to all of you incredible readers. I’ve put so much love into this, and painstakingly brought the retro feel of 1980’s slasher thrillers back to the literary world. The campy slasher genre has disappeared as of late leaving, what I would argue, a void that hasn’t been filled by much of anything substantial. My hope is that this novel can revive some peoples’ interest, and reignite the silliness that comes with it.

Now, what do I mean by silliness? It’s all about the gimmicks and the HORRIBLE decisions that our poor unsuspecting character make within the horrorscape that we as authors create. Think about some of the best slashers out there! The combination of an interesting gimmick and the complete absurdity of characters’ choices to go into the dark basement when you as the reader KNOW there’s something fishy going on down there. It’s almost satisfying to see a clearly dumb move be punished by something you’re mentally telling the character not to do. That’s party of the joy of the genre!

Think of some of your favorite movie slashers and really think of their gimmicks. Ghostface has the ghost mask and hunting knife, Jason has the hockey mask and giant machete, Freddy Krueger has the burned body with the finger blades, and Jeepers Creepers has his hate and coat to cover his demon body. The gimmicks are the key to creating a memorable antagonist in these stories, and it’s something I find so much fun in creating. The best part is coming up with something so absurd, give it to someone with murderous intent, and let them loose into the worlds of the page.

In some ways one could compare the slasher horror/thriller genre to that of romantic comedies. The stories are so full of absurdly exaggerated events that lead the characters to make choices that one would never do in real life. Do you think the hot cowboy billionaire is gonna choose the city girl that has nothing much to give him? Yeah, probably not. Do you think that rummaging around in a dark creepy shed behind your house while you’re being stalked by a serial killer is going to result in anything except you being stabbed? Yeah, you get my point.

This genre is so dear to me, and offers so many great stories that keep you looking over you shoulder as you walk through your house at night. did you check if your door is locked? Better go double check, who knows who could out there. “There Came A Knocking” has a slasher with a killer gimmick that would make you question if his motives blur the lines between what is morally right or wrong. Or maybe you will just see him as a monster that he is to so many unfortunate people. That conclusion is completely up to you! I look forward to hearing what all of you amazing readers have to share about it in the coming weeks post publication.

Thank you all so much for coming on this journey with me, and I look forward to all of you coming a knocking with me!

–John McCool

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Minneapolis’s Hidden Bookstore

Recently I undertook a journey to the land of a thousand lakes for a work trip to Cafe Imports and Mill City Roaster. Oh yes, I’m talking about the land of the Vikings in America. The lands of the far north that borders our friends and partners across the great lakes. I’m talking about the great state of Minnesota, land of a thousand lakes.

After my business things were taken care of, I decided to just strap on my backpack, pick a direction and just walk. I walked on for a while until I happened across this super cool book store hidden off the beaten path. Every time I go off adventuring in some new city, I make it a point to find a local coffee shop, and find a nice used bookstore to lose myself in for a few hours. So business trip or not, this trip was no different.

I stumbled upon a very interesting sign that just leaned up against the side of the building. It literally said “Books, Maps, and Prints”. What a way to pique my interest, right? I was immediately intrigued. I promptly crossed the street, and pushed my way into the old wooden door revealing the hall within. Now, what was really cool about this building was that it was actually connected to an art studio, which had their current exhibit up on full display as soon as you stepped in.

Their theme was a very relevant subject that we see quite frequently in the circles of the literary world. The theme was Banned Books. Displayed all through the exhibit was various forms of artistic representation of books being banned through society, whether for a good reason or bad, the intention was clear. However, the most impressive piece was four books that hung from the ceilings by chains. The dangled loosely to about chest level where upon further inspection, I discovered that there was a little lock mechanism that allowed someone to open them up and read the books. This was such a super cool feature, but it was the actual books themselves that interested me more. From the chains hung religious texts from four of the biggest religions in the world. It was fascinating to try and dive deep into the mind of the artist to understand what they were going for. Why were they hung from the ceilings by chains? Why were they locked, but easily unlocked for anyone to read? It was simply an incredible exhibit.


After that awesome surprise, I took a trip next door to the reason why I came. Before me was a low lit, dusty, old book store with books piled high to the ceiling. Literally my dream come true. This little hole in the wall is a small operation ran by an older man, that was just as awkward as you could imagine. He was the owner of this fine establishment, and wore the wrinkled face of a man who had seen a thing or two in his day. Each wall was lined with books from medieval reprints to maps of some of the strangest places in the world that one might not expect to find in such a place. It was quite the collection that could only be spawned in the dreams of a bibliophile.

I took my time to rummage through the seemingly endless shelves; most so over stocked that there were stacks piled up high on the floor. What I discovered is this book store was dedicated to the realms of knowledge and history. 85% of the tomes that lined those shelves held the chronicles of the world which the likes I’ve never seen. Memoirs, biographies, history texts, language books, How-to’s- and even a few cook books thrown in for good measure. I love the fact that places like this exist to preserve some of the forgotten lore from our history. In an age where reading certain things can be looked down upon, seeing this old man hold such tomes was a delight.

One section that quite interested me the most was his vast collection of art books. Each one was carefully categorized by the region which the art pieces were collected, making the seemingly endless books more manageable. The shelf that interested me the most was the Japanese art collection. I’m very interested in this subject at the moment as I am currently wrapping up a course in Japanese Scrolls and Manuscripts at Harvard University online. As I flipped through the pages, I found many of the works which I had learned about in my studies which gave me valuable insight.

Now, I don’t really collect non-fiction books, however, I can truly appreciate it. Even though there weren’t any books I walked out with, the memory of this place will forever be with me. If you ever find yourself in Minneapolis, MN, please go check out this incredible shop. Finding this little book store confirmed to me that the used book market isn’t going away any time soon.

–John McCool

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Does anyone actually read screenplays?


This is the question I’ve been asking myself over the past year. So, a little backstory on me. I actually began my writing journey as a screenplay writer back in 2016. Of course I’ve written things before then, being short stories and stuff, but my first REAL work was in writing for the silver screen. Or the little screen you hold in your hand everyday, and are most likely using to read this very post. Anyway, I wrote several screenplays to ship around to film festivals, and some of them actually did quite well. In fact, some of my readers might be familiar with The Ruse. I loved that story so much that I produced a print edition with added extras like commentary and an exclusive short story for it.

So, I was going over my website the other day, and a question materialized in my head. The exact same question I proposed at the beginning of this post. Does anyone actually read screenplays? The answer, come to find out, is like 95% no. Now, this isn’t to discourage any would be screenplay writer, because that is absolutely NOT why I’m here. It all has to do with the target audience, right?

Who would you say is the target audience for your screenplay?

1) Actors looking for practice.
2) Producers that you’ve pitched the script to.
3) Other screenplay writers.
4) Film festival judges.

That’s it.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. If you have a love and a passion for screenwriting, then you already know that your future belongs in the hands of the festival circuit. Submitting my work to a film festival is truly some of my most exhilarating and exciting memories as a writer, and it’s going to be something I look forward to more in the future. However, the common reader or follower of your work more than likely isn’t into such a format. AND THAT”S OKAY. We write depending on the people who we wish to share our work with, and I’ve found over the years that leaving screenplays sitting dormant on my website is just a waste of space. Every bit of writing has its place and its proper location!

I’ve recently redone my website to accommodate this transition to a more traditional format. If I do get lucky enough to get something produced, or produce it myself, I’m going to 100% publish the script alongside the produced product. I’m a huge fan of reading scripts after I listen to an entrancing audio drama, so it would be quite the shame if I didn’t follow that same release format. Did I just admit to working on audio plays? Maybe…

Regardless of who your chosen audience is, go out there and follow your dream no matter what. Write that screenplay you’ve had an idea for, and send it out to every festival imaginable! Those are your people!

– John McCool

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Current Novel WIP Update

Hey Reader!

This is just a little update on my current work in progress. I have been writing “There Came A Knocking” every day since the beginning of January of this year. It’s been such an incredible experience, and I can’t wait to talk more about it in the near future! However, while being in such a sensitive phase in the novel writing process, it becomes a little hard to talk about it with so many story pieces being moved around the board.

I’m currently almost finished with my second draft of the novel which is a huge accomplishment. When I finished the first draft, I made one of the biggest mistakes an author can make after wrapping up that phase of the process. I immediately started working on the next draft as soon as I typed the final period on the sentence. For those of you who do not know, drafting your manuscript is nothing more than going over your work from top to bottom and editing. It’s to make sure you have a consistent story with no plot holes or continuity errors.

Most authors recommend taking a few weeks off after you finish your first draft to get rid of the book eyes, as it’s called, then hop into the second draft with the eyes as a self editor. So, I didn’t do that. I hopped in straight into the deep end of the pool which led to a wee bit of burn out. Rookie mistake, but we live and learn. The burn out didn’t last long, so as soon as I took a breather, I hopped back into it, and now I’m knocking on the door of a finished second draft.

My wife, of course, will be my alpha reader, but as soon as it’s ready to go I’ll begin the recruitment of my beta readers. After that, it’s go time for my editor, then my proofreader who I’ve yet to hire. Only then will I start to assemble a solid group of ARC readers to begin the long awaited day of November 10th! I’m very excited for this piece of literature I’ve worked so hard on, and I hope all of you enjoy the gripping, terrifying story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Until next time!

John McCool

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Reedsy

When I began my writing journey I often wondered where was the best place to start. I remember sending in the library of the community college I was going to at the time in my home town of Meridian, MS world building this incredible fantasy world that I have yet to do anything with. As I filled this notebook up with some of the most detailed crafted world I’ve ever developed, I started to become worried that I’ve bitten off more than I could chew, and I was right. I was under the false assumption that the best thing for new authors to do go balls to the wall, and knock out that debut novel from day one. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but I can say that it was the wrong idea for someone so new to the world of writing literary fiction. This quite obviously led to extreme burn out before I even started to pen my first work, and as you could assume, this was quite discouraging for someone just starting out.

There was a time when I was really considering that a potential career in writing simply wasn’t for me. I dabbled with screen writing for quite a while, until I was introduced to something that completely changed my writing life forever. This little community of dedicated professionals helped me propel my career in writing to a place I’ve always wanted to be, but always struggled to get a firm grasp on. I’m talking about Reedsy.

As me and my wife were bouncing around to different places, as a result of our nomadic lifestyle at the time, I really struggled to actually sit down and put pen to paper. The original part of Reedsy that I was introduced to was their awesome short story writing contest. They provide authors with five prompts that they can submit to, and a panel of decorated judges come to a winner who is awarded $250! Now, to be fair I’ve yet to win this competition, but every week the competition restarts allowing myself and hundreds of other authors to step into the arena of literary combat to become the champion for the week.

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I would be encouraging new authors to join competitions. The answer is that it’s not about the competitions at all. It gives new authors an organized, structured environment to hone their skill, and make a few friends along the way. The content requirement is very simple with a max word count of 3,000 words, and a minimum of 1,000 which is absolutely perfect for beginner writers. With the overarching theme changing from week to week, writers are able to really stretch their muscles of creativity. I tend to steer more to the dark and mysterious in my writings (it’s literally more slogan), so I can take any of those prompts and turn it into something quite epic! However, the downside is that I’m pretty sure Reedsy doesn’t necessarily like dark story telling, because I’ve never seen one win, but who knows!

Reedsy will always hold a special place in my heart. All of the stories in my first published book was an anthology of short stories all written for those competitions! It really helped me become such a better writer, and become more comfortable with people reading my work. For anyone even slightly interested in writing as a hobby, please consider giving it a look over. You will be quite surprised with the fascinating worlds you can create.

– John McCool