Hello, I am A.L. Hornbeck. Real name Austin Lee Hornbeck. I am a historian, metalhead, and aspiring author. I have created this blog mostly because I want to tell stories and help build my audience of fans for my book series as well as other tales that I want to tell. It is my intention that I will create a blog where people will want to come to read stories and hear updates and lore about my books to help share in these stories. I am currently working on the first draft of my first novel called Imagient King: Journey with the Princess of the East.

My skill set comes form being a History Major and my love of Asian history and culture from my Asian Studies minor gives me the ability and knowledge to work in the median of fantasy that I hope that will differentiate me from typical fantasy authors. I bring the awe and passion of Japanese anime and manga well as Traditional Chinese novels such as Journey to the West, and Indian epics such as Ramayama. These influences of Asian culture I hope will make my worlds a bit different than the typical European influenced worlds that you see in most fantasy.


When I am not writing I am reading historical primary and secondary sources as well as a plethora of fantasy novels by a variety of authors. I listen to a variety of music from rock, metal, Jpop, folk, and classical music.I also watch a ton of anime, historical documentaries and comic book films. Beyond fantasy and history I read a lot of comic books, both American comic book publishers and Japanese manga as well.

 I primarily listen to heavy metal, more so traditional heavy metal bands like Dio, Iron Maiden, Armored Saint, A Sound of Thunder and Riot as well as power metal bands such as Avantasia, Blind Guardian, Galneryus and Mary's Blood. I'm a huge fan of progressive rock such as Yes, King Crimson, and Riverside as well as Progressive metal such as Dream Theater, DGM, Mindmaze, and Pagan's Mind. My favorite Jpop groups include Kalafina, Yusei Teikoku, T.M Revolution and Yuki Kajiura.

Some of my favorite novels and series include Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Ranger's Apprentice, Black Company, and Malazan Book of the Fallen. I can be a bit of a specific anime taste including Yu Yu Hakusho, Outlaw Star, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, Baccano, Full Metal Alchemist. I am currently reading Berserk, the epic dark fantasy manga series by Kentaro Miura. Marvel used to be my favorite comic book publisher in the United States, although I still read Marvel and even DC properties my main interest has been tied to Valiant Comics mostly due to their diversity and non-superhero driven stories such as Shadowman, but even their superhero stories such as Faith are really well written. 



I try to support my local music scene, as much as I can. Speaking of supporting the local scene, I want to use this blog to help local artists of various artistic mediums including painters, illustrators, and animators. I want to eventually use the local talent to help make cover and in-book illustrations helping bring color and personality to my books.


Outside of this blog, I am the news director for www.918thefan.com and write the scripts for the istalks. Which are anime news videos that report on the hottest and latest anime news. You can follow the link if you love anime, Asian culture, kpop, jpop, or just are interested in the site itself.


This blog was created for me to write stories, I have a lot planned, and I'm hoping to write at least two novels a year. I am not up to that level yet, but that is a dream that I will hopefully achieve in the future.