by Alex Keeley

Most people who know me, even many of those who know me quite well, see me an athlete, a goof, or someone who tries to make light of heavy moments (some even have the audacity to say I talk a bit too much). I am really just perceived as someone who leads with humor and tries their best to keep a positive attitude regardless of the situation.

Very few have ever been in a position to see the other side of me.

The side that loves to research and get lost down rabbit-holes of information for hours on end.
The side that voraciously consumes historical texts, especially that of antiquity or medieval topics.
The side that loves to assess and reassess the understanding of newly acquired knowledge.
The side that has poured every ounce of his heart and will into creating universes on notepads and innumerable journals.
The side that spent years quietly studying the military doctrines of damn near every major power since Sumer, Cold War strategy, comparative politics, and the philosophies behind how civilizations rise and fall.

Most people don’t know that I write science fiction and even fewer that my fantasy universe has even more years dedicated to it.

And almost no one realizes that my academic background – that passion for understanding cultures, politics, warfare, and everything in-between – is the backbone of all that I create, regardless of genre.

This post is intended to explore a bit of that side that almost no one knows and share a part of me that I rarely expose.

Civilizations Built By History

I took a long time to get my undergrad degree. I couldn’t really decide where my passion truly lay, but finally was able to get a degree in history from Castleton State College in Vermont. My experience there, the passion that was allowed to flourish and the professors that gave me so much support and kindness, gave me some really terrific tools for writing and creating.

Throughout my time at Castleton, I was able to explore how societies rise and fall – and not the abbreviated or pop-culture understanding that so many have. The truth is so much more complicated and messy than anyone would have you believe.

– Empires expand, and retract, in ugly and uneven ways.
– Cultures blend, fracture, and reinvent identities.
– Religions evolve, being shaped by empire, but also shape them in return.
– Languages never stay the same, evolving as we experience new things and new connections are made.
– Environments drive the rise and fall of nations just as often as people do.
– Political systems evolve, are twisted, and stagnate.

These are all truths to the world we live in and I make sure that those truths extend into the universes that I create.

History informs so much of what I aspire to put forth and sets the very soul of my worldbuilding alight. I use my knowledge of history to better understand and explain how kingdoms or interstellar empires might, and do, form. I use this knowledge to explore and shed light on why cultures within my worlds clash and why conflict, in its many forms, is so prevalent in societies.

History has proven to be an anchor, allowing me to create, what I hope to be, more realistic societies, cultures, and characters.

Behavior and International Relations

One of the greatest tools that my study of history has given me is the ability to assess long trajectories and the arcs of civilizations. That’s a fantastic foundation, but the gears that turn under the surface and truly motivate political and cultural actions need a different lens to be understand and replicated. This is the time that, I feel, my background in international relations and global security (not cybersecurity!) really comes to the fore.

I am currently pursuing my Master’s in International Relations and Global Security and have the pleasure to work with some phenomenal professors and passionate peers. Throughout this journey I have been to explore some truly interesting and nuanced case studies and concepts.

I have looked at:
– Containment and rollback during the Korean War
– Cold War strategic theory and its evolution
– Great-power competition
– Ethnic conflicts
– Comparative governance
– Conflict resolution and what happens when it fails
– How nations-states respond to stressors

These are phenomenal things to study on their own and are wonderful to expand upon an understanding of how the world works, but they have done so much more for my writing. These academic exercises have become the framework for believable conflict.

Any of conflict within my universes, whether they be open war, tense diplomatic negotiations, rebellious factions, or federations collapsing under internal stress, are driven and shaped by an understanding of real theories, recognizable patterns, and real historical analogues.

There is intent to my imaginings. I don’t do anything creatively in a random or listless way.

Instead, I do all I can to ground my writing, even the most mythic of science fiction or epic of fantasy, in real, human experiences. The victories, failures, and anxieties that all of us experience.

Fear and Conflict

One of the more important lessons that I have been able to take from conflict studies is a broader understanding of the motivations of fear. This isn’t solely the motivations that fear puts into the mind of the individual, but rather the broader scope of what happens when fear becomes a driving force behind ethnic conflict, cultural degradation, and political dissonance.

War, no matter how bloody it may be, is never truly about the first clash of blades or firing of rifles, it is about the first misunderstanding.

Everything in the process of writing conflict comes back to perception, narrative, identity, memory, and fear.

This is something special to me. I shape my worlds in such a way that conflict does not occur by the demands of the plot, but rather because the world they exist in has shaped them to do so.

Systems Before Aesthetics

Comparative politics is another lens that I see as invaluable when shaping worlds, kingdoms, and factions. In no way is government or the power of a state driven by the aesthetic. The gilded halls, majestic parapets, or indomitable walls can only do so much without infrastructure.

Because of this understanding, I do everything in my power to try and shape the universes that I create to have systems, top-to-bottom. It doesn’t matter if I am creating a Merchant’s or Mercenary Guild, a coalition of interstellar species or developing post-war agreements and concessions, comparative politics makes these structures feel more believable and natural.

No Carbon-Copies Please

One of my favorite theories within international relations is constructivism. This theory argues that identities shape interests, meaning (as a concept) is a social construct, culture defines behavior, and beliefs matter as much, if not more, than resources.

This is another pillar of my writing.

– Cultures have myths, rituals, superstitions, and taboos that matter.
– Magic is more than just fantastic power – it is built on belief, tradition, and fear.
– Species can interpret the same physiological response in completely contradictory ways.
– The exact same event, the same artifact, the same phenomena can have wildly different means and repercussions across any number of civilizations.

Constructivism lets me build cultures that not only look different, they are able to have their own, unique identity and thought process.

Final Thought

Whether I’m writing high fantasy filled with myth and ritual, or science fiction shaped by harmonic physics and galaxy-spanning civilizations, one thing will never change:

I write worlds the way I study the real one — with curiosity, discipline, empathy, and awe.

My history degree gave me the long view.
My IR studies gave me the analytical tools.
My imagination supplies the rest.

I am exactly what so many people think I am……

But I am also this. I am the writer, the scholar, the storyteller……

The worldbuilder.

And now, finally, the world gets to see all of them.