N.B. Austin

American Author

Civilands Updates

I Created a New Religion, Here’s What I Found

World-building is one of the most exciting parts of creating a series. One aspect of world building is developing a new religion. In the Civilands series, there are actually two major religions. In this post I will highlight each briefly, but will end with something more profound I realized once they were created.

New Religion created in the Civilands series.

Cerebism

This is the most prevalent belief system amongst Eastern Duresians. It is monotheistic and views the mind as man’s greatest gift. Cerebs are conscious of the world their deity, the Enigma, grants them. If they follow the Cereb Hymnal, they will perceive a better world in the next life. Their favorable reincarnation is what gives them faith and drives the expansion of their religion.

The Murrieta Maiden

The natives of Western Duresia (the Murrieta Territory) follow the will of their own deity, the Mother. Unlike Cerebism though, the followers of the Maiden are more focused on their world around them as its own entity and gift. They draw faith from what the Territory gives them and their unique connection to the place itself. For more on this connection, read on in the series!

What Creating a New Religion Taught Me

Perception on one side and secular appreciation on the other. It wasn’t an entirely intentional effort for these belief systems to be based around each of those concepts, respectively. However, I realize now it was no coincidence either.

Since my college years I’ve come to understand the power of the mind. It can be influenced by so many things. When it is though–whether in a positive or negative way–the world around us and what it all means, can change. The loss of a loved one might make life seem cruel the same way a new relationship can make it heavenly. Our world can shift over time with a switch of thought and to me, there is a spirituality in that.

On the other hand, the Earth is a magnificent place and there is more to it than just what we perceive. It is a privilege for us to be a part of the life that exists here. Personally, I love to hike and explore different environments. Doing so provides a type of energy. It runs through you and gives you purpose. It is a connection which feels as spiritual as it does physical.

Discovery: The Combination Makes Up My Concept of Spirituality

In a way I guess you could say it’s my own little belief system. A balance between there being a greater purpose than life here in our world and the great purpose of life here in our world. Maybe this qualifies as “religious” and maybe it doesn’t. Either way, it was really cool to me to see somewhat subconscious values come to life this way 🙂

Look for the conflict of these two belief systems to really build in book 3, Crescent Heart, coming March 2018. Thanks so much for reading!

The Civilands Series: A Case for Healthy Vengeance

Author N.B. Austin - My Case for Healthy Vengeance
Being super moody here and thinking about revenge while walking through an alley. You know, a typical Wednesday.

The Civilands series begins with 13-year-old Jeannie Morrell. Unfortunately for poor Jeannie, her home has been burned to the ground with her family inside. The culprits of the crime are a power-hungry bunch called the Keagan gang. If there’s one thing this scene sets up from the beginning it’s that Civilands is a story of vengeance. However, this is not a simple tale of find your foe and slaughter them. Instead, some of the characters undergo transformations as they cope, which I like to refer to as healthy vengeance.

Healthy vengeance? Explain, strange author man…

Consider being broken up with or getting bullied in school. Both are real world problems. Either option is responded to with pain, frustration, and/or a need to prove oneself. We feel this hurt because whatever it is the person did made us feel inferior. Since no one wants to be stepped on in this way, we seek to prove we shouldn’t be again. We need to prove it to ourselves, to others, or both. The method with which one chooses to do so is the distinction I aim to make here and in my series.

Below I will highlight the two methods:

  1. Straight vengeance – Eye for an eye, or worse. The Keagan Gang killed my family. I’ll be damned if I don’t take them all out one-by-one. Think Arya Stark in Game of Thrones here. In a real world senario, maybe a key to someone’s car or some other form of vandalism. Bottom line: it may not bring back what I’ve lost, but damn if it doesn’t feel good releasing the anger.
  2. Healthy vengeance – They are miserable people and will always remain as such. What they did won’t bring them any closer to happiness, nor will it better me to strike them the way they have me. Instead, I will do everything in my power to restore my place while they watch helplessly from their pit of hell. Back to Game of Thrones, this is Jon Snow and Sam Tarly. When you get put down, work harder than anyone else. Use the pain as fuel. Bottom line: with time and effort, you’ll look down and they’ll be there beneath you. However, by then you won’t even be able to spot them anymore. Your drive will have refocused your vision. “Latera now stood above it all. There on her perch she was higher than the Riverlands, higher than … all those who had wronged her thus far” (Crimson River, Chapter 7 – What Once Was Whole).

Though the latter is a more positive behavior and a favorable response, both of these are natural. Analyzing the path certain characters will decide to take is why I love this type of story.

Next, I’ll highlight specific character relationships we see this develop in within the Murrieta Territory.

Latera Crystal Eyes Cover - Healthy Vengeance

In the Civilands series

  1. Jeannie Morrell v. the Keagan Gang – as mentioned above, Jeannie’s family has been attacked. Her father, Adonis Morrell, helped shape the Riverlands and the Murrieta Territory as a whole. Not only was he a loving father, but was a uniter of the native V’ahani and Easterners in the region. How will young Jeannie fill the void left while also coping with her loss?
  2. Latera v. “the World” – Latera is a young, sheltered nurse and daughter of Riverlands Chieftain, Arkouda. The fire on the Morrells’ home sets into a motion a series of events that shake her people. What will she find about the outside world she so avoided before? What might she find out about herself?
  3. Dominic Turner v. Collin McCormack – Crafty illusionist Dominic Turner embarrasses Keagan gang member Collin McCormack during an escape. It is an unacceptable act and one which forms a fierce rivalry between the two. Vengeance in this duel is not focused on one side, but comes from both men as they collide relentlessly. Who will come out on top?
  4. Read the series for the rest 😉

Have you ever gotten your revenge? If so tell me about it below and which kind. Also, if you’ve had any thoughts on the actions of the characters mentioned above let me know about that too!

Thanks for reading as always and hope you’re enjoying the Civilands series. If you haven’t started it yet, you can do so FREE with a sign-up here!

Crystal Eyes (Civilands #2) Now Available!

Crystal Eyes (Civilands #2) Now Available

I’m so excited to say book 2 of the Civilands series is now available in e-book and paperback! Find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Kobo.

Crystal Eyes picks up right where Crimson River left off, starting in a place of uncertainty.

In Latera’s case, she feels trapped in a new region which isn’t at all what she’d expected. Now feeling responsibility for keep her people safe, she’ll need to figure out how to do so while being imprisoned herself.

In Harran, Daniel Keagan is working his magic, trying to secure alliances to allow his gang’s influence to spread. But when a new threat presents itself, what will he realize about the power dynamic in the Murrieta?

For William Keagan, Daniel’s brother and leader of the Keagan gang, it’s time to go East. The time to make the deal he’s been working so hard to make with his father, Leonard, has come. Who will he find and what has become of his former city of New Berkeley across the mighty Chorisma River?

Searching the Mountainlands for Jeannie, Harrison, and Dominic, will Hanzah find his new friends after an avalanche separated them?

Crystal Eyes features your favorite characters from book 1, as well as some new favorites. The world of Duresia will also expand like never before. Adventures and twists experienced along the way will shake you to your core. This is a novel that will inspire any reader who dares to try their luck in the Murrieta Territory.

From the Editor, Katrina Diaz-Arnold of Refine Editing:

“N.B. Austin has done it again. In Crystal Eyes, his latest installment in the fantasy western series, Civilands, the thrills are sharper, the twists more shocking, and the characters more engaging than ever before. As we dive further into the world of the Murietta, we witness how power can affect an individual in a myriad of ways. Whether they sing on its poisonous edge, teeter over the abyss of its questionable morality, or grapple with the danger it brings head on, the characters in Austin’s world learn that any victory, small or large, always comes with a price, and power is always easily and unforgivingly corruptible. In Crystal Eyes, the stakes are upped and now everyone is playing the game—whether they want to or not.”

Inspiration Behind the Series Pt. 2

Happy Thursday August 17, 2017 and welcome to the Enter Civilands blog 🙂 Today I’ll be continuing on the topic of my inspiration behind the Civilands series with part 2 of the thread. Feel free to check out part 1, in which I talk about how this story was impacted by everyone’s favorite: Game of Thrones. Also, I am really excited to say that I’ll be expanding Enter Civilands to YouTube soon and have some juicy character bios in the works which should include portraits of each of the main P.O.V. characters!

Crimson River books. Inspiration behind the Civiands series.

So what was the next thing that inspired the series . . ?

Manifest Destiny.

Epics like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings define the fantasy genre. They create worlds where anything is possible and the stakes are tremendous because of it. But at the same time, they got me thinking: why are fantasy stories mostly so focused on the medieval time period?

Now granted, there is probably some kind of historical background or something behind it that I’m sure avid historians would yell like the answer is one everybody should know–all the power to you and you’re probably right, my historian friends! But whatever the explanation is, it couldn’t satisfy me to hear.

And thus, Civilands digs into this time period–this wild, controversial, pre-industrial time period. What it reveals along the way is the spirit that inspired all the chaos, cruelty, and romanticism of the era. That spirit comes to life because:

From the first days of colonization, we have thought it our privilege and our destiny to go west.

Whether it was for wealth, for power, or even just for a new life altogether, people have always and will always view the west as a territory unexplored. And in that there are so many uncertainties.

  • There could be people there who we’re unfamiliar with . . . Will we learn from them, with them, or at their expense?
  • There could be wildlife there that could be incredibly dangerous or equally docile . . . Will we adapt to it, slaughter it, or let it eat us alive?
  • The land itself could be plentiful or it can be barren . . . Will we explore its majesty, cultivate and create, or starve and destroy?

Inspiration behind the Civilands series. A canoe by the River in Austin, TX.

But these questions do not stop us and they will never stop us.

So we go forth anyway because it’s thrilling. Because even if there is danger, we want to say we faced it and came out alive or even stronger. Because the things we can see along the way are not what we’re accustomed to and it’s in our nature to conquer.

There is opportunity in it too—much more so than if you stay home. Your opportunity is bred from a dream of power. Power that you don’t experience now here as an ordinary citizen. But there? There you can become anything, good or bad, and you will find your true nature along the way. You might not make it out alive at all. But you could become a king. You could become a god.

Of course, you aren’t a god and never will be.

You think you’re stronger than you are and your desire for change and for power pushes you to do things you might not otherwise.

What if the land you sought for was not like our own? What if its inhabitants had abilities that you didn’t have and fought back in ways you couldn’t? How would you react to them and could you justify this life over the simplicity of an already developed city back east? Will your moral code need to be broken along the way or will you hold true? What about the ones you love? Will you be able to give them what they need in this hectic environment? Will you even be able to maintain sight of that?

This is what’s explored through Latera and Hanzah of the native V’ahani clan; through Elan and Malik of the native Tokali clan; through the Morrells, Keagans, and others who each come to the Murrieta Territory for something different–or is it really that different?

I really hope you dive in with me on the journey and find out!

Thanks so much for reading and hope you’re enjoying the Civilands series 🙂 Let me know what you thought in the comments below and/or feel free to share it if you enjoyed!

Inspiration Behind the Series Pt. 1

To start, I want to welcome you to the first post in my new segment Enter Civilands. In these posts I’ll discuss all things behind the series, including character bios, information on the world, and additional bonus content.

Today we begin with what inspired me to write this series. Since there’s so much that goes into the inspiration and it’s also something that expands/shifts over time, I’m going to make this itself a multi-part post.

So for my first influence in this wild journey: Game of Thrones (the TV show).

Behind the series. Forest in my Long Island backyard.

I have very much been an enthralled beneficiary of the television renaissance we’ve experienced in the Netflix era. Shows like Breaking Bad and Fargo shaped my understanding of high quality plot and character development.

That being said… the Game of Thrones series–which I made my way through in about as unrealistically short a time period as anyone who watches it–was what first planted the seed in my mind that I wanted to be a story-teller.

So many characters, plot-lines, and world-building. All of it is tied together with such expert care in a way that’s shocking each and every season. This is the kind of entertainment that you don’t simply consume, but you live right alongside the characters and feel their struggles like they were your own.

This is so much the case, that I actually saw a tribute video the other day which was made for Jamie Lannister. We’re talking about a character who begins the series by pushing a young boy out of tower for catching Jaime sleeping with his own sister! Yet he’s praised. Why? Because he’s portrayed in a way that is entirely human: flawed for certain, but also, at the core, not all bad.

Behind the series. Crimson River Book.

All these things heavily influenced my work on the Civilands Series in the following ways:

World building

Civilands focuses on the fight for control and power in the mysterious Murrieta Territory. The territory spans the entire western half of the continent of Duresia, separated from the growing, pre-industrial cities of the eastern half, by the north-south Chorisma River. While there is no throne yet constructed in this newborn expanse, the theme of several distinct players remains. The stakes rise as they fight to build their one of their own.

Not “good and evil,” but “human”

As mentioned, this is what Game of Thrones does best. I believe the large majority of people mean to do good, even if they don’t understand how to do it. They will make mistakes sometimes and/or be too greedy. But they will also have a reason to do so in mind at the time. And yea, occasionally you’ll get a maniac like Joffrey, or Clovis Keagan in the case of Civilands. But even these deranged characters are that way for a human reason. We may not forgive them for their actions, but we need to understand their pain.

The fantasy element

This was an area of extreme inventiveness for George R.R. Martin, especially mixing a world of zombies with a medieval type fantasy. In my series, the native V’ahani and Tokali clans’ superhuman connection to the land was a layer of complexity I thought interesting to explore. In American history, by contrast, Native Americans were over-powered in terms of technology. Leveling the playing field a bit through this wrinkle in this new world was my own fantasy element and one that will continue to develop as the series progresses. While Daenerys has her dragons, Latera stands tall with the V’ahani grizzlies.

Twists, twists, twists

Realistic, believable ones though, which drive the plot forward. I can’t expand here on Civilands for obvious reasons and I won’t spoil GoT either. But this show taught me about delivering the unexpected when those watching/reading are least ready for it. So buckle your seat belts and prepare to gasp!

If you made it this far or even skipped to here, thanks so much for joining me! 😀 I look forward to continuing our exploration of both worlds and hope you are enjoying the Civilands Series!