K. M. Alexander

It’s what the title says, my latest ambient soundscape album, Forgotten Frequencies, Volume 2: Territories is out today! Huzzah! Forgotten Frequencies is an auditory exploration of the world of the Bell Forging Cycle. As before, all of these are all long looping tracks, each around ten minutes in length, designed to be environmental aural impressions of the Territories. That’s right, in this…

Buckle up mapmakers, it’s history time! Between 1567 and 1570, surveyor Robert Lythe worked in Ireland on behalf of the British government to assess how best to garrison and colonize their latest conquest. Much of that work was never widely distributed in his time; but those surveys would later go on to influence a great many cartographers, including the Flemish cartographer Gerardus…

Well, I just hit publish, so it’s official. My next album of soundscapes is dropping next Wednesday, July 1st, 2026. Eight new 10-minute looping tracks take you from the scrape and span of Lovat’s shadowed streets and onto the wild dust-choked trails of the Territories. Cover for FORGOTTEN FREQUENCIES: VOL. 2 TERRITORIES album I’m excited about this one. I think you’ll all dig it. It’s a lot…

Today I am excited to announce that I’m releasing new PNG packs of some of my oldest brush sets! If you’ve been using my asset for a while, you’ve probably noticed I started shipping PNG sets alongside every brush set starting in 2023 with Moronobu Gansai. Before that, I used to ship enormous and unwieldy PNG files. Moving to individual PNGs took some sorting out—more on that later—but I have a…

Graffiti is the oldest form of human expression. Even before humanity developed a written language, we were drawing on walls, leaving a mark, and letting the world know we were there. Graffiti has been found everywhere, in Egyptian pyramids, Myan ruins, Roman excavations, Chinese caves, and if you have kids, probably on your walls. Photo credit: Russell Harrison Photo credit: LMGP Photo…

The Huánghé (黄河), or the Yellow River as we know it in the West, carries rich cultural significance in China. The sixth-longest river in the world, the second-longest in China, it’s traditionally considered the cradle of Chinese civilization. Given its cultural relevance, it’s no surprise to find it as a subject in historical Chinese cartography. That river, and the Grand Canal that connected it…

I was laid off last week. A few months shy of thirteen years. Totally unexpected. Still processing it. If you told me when I started that I’d have so much fun designing enterprise software for nearly thirteen years, I wouldn’t have believed you. My experience over that time was shaped by the amazing people I was lucky enough to work alongside. While I am sure I will see many again, I already…

Hey, Happy New Year! We made it through 2025. As always, thanks for hanging out with me, reading this blog, and taking an interest in the work I share here. I had big plans for 2025, and somewhere along the line, it got away from me. While we got a lot of home projects done, I left 2025 feeling less creatively fulfilled than I had hoped at the start of the year. We’ll see if I can’t rectify that…

Last year was a bit of a low point for me in terms of novels finished. This year was a slight improvement, and I managed to read some ponderous tomes. Any improvement is good, and overall, I had a good year, reading-wise, but I still feel I’m falling short of where I’d like to be. I’m at my best when I’m reading regularly. Hoping to see more improvement in 2026. I’ve been trying to kickstart my…

Since 2013, I’ve shared my reading list at the end of every year on this blog. Tomorrow I’ll continue that tradition and do just that. But today I am starting something new: this year, I started tracking all the media I consumed over the twelve months of 2025, not just books but also movies, television, albums, and video games. And like my reading list, I thought it’d be fun to share what I…

In many ways, 2025 was a reset year for us. After the chaos of last year, with cancer and a fairly stressful move (among other things), taking a year to refocus felt necessary. That doesn’t mean we rested. In true Alexander fashion, we took on a bunch of projects and spent time learning about our new island community. Thankfully, this year wasn’t as disruptive as 2024. A lot happened, but…

After way too long, my office buildout is complete, and my store is finally back. You can browse the goods over at store.kmalexander.com. If you ever wanted to get signed paperback copies of my books, merch mugs, or selected stickers, now is your chance. Hit the link above and get buying! Please note that for now, I am only shipping to the US. It’s dumb, and it sucks, but that’s where we’re at…

Every year, I put together a Cosmic Horror-themed gift guide for all my fellow weirdos out there. You can see this year's here: https://kmalx.co/2025GiftGuide