Writer Brian Niemeier admits he didn’t hit it out of the park along with his first novel.
Name it a bunt single, at finest.
He might need given up at that time, however the tales in his creativeness wouldn’t budge. Now, he has a gaggle of tales to his credit score, and his newest novel builds on his literary empire (actually).
Assume:
- The “Fight Body XSeed” sequence
- “Unusual Matter”
- “The Hymn of the Pearl”
And, now, “The Specter of Empire”
Think about warlords battling to subdue a continent … an emperor seduced by world conquest … a primal evil that lusts for whole energy. And that’s just the start..
As an unbiased creator, he typically leans on crowdfunding campaigns to succeed in the end line. He’s doing simply that for his newest novel, and for anybody pissed off by the restricted choices in immediately’s market, it’s the right strategy to assist AND make a distinction.
Niemeier, Government Editor at Kairos Publications, opened as much as HiT about his newest mission, why he dove head first into science fiction storytelling and the way he resists the urge to wag his finger at readers.
The Specter of Empire is reside!
Get early chook perks, restricted rewards, and unique objects on the hyperlink within the replies pic.twitter.com/n78TrmKWCX— Brian Niemeier (@BrianNiemeier) November 6, 2025
HiT: Please share your origin story within the grand superhero custom … how did you first begin writing and, later, determine to dedicate a lot time to the occupation?
Niemeier: I began out like quite a lot of children within the pre-digital period: nostril buried in paperbacks, attempting to determine how these authors conjured entire worlds from sheer creativeness. I didn’t develop up considering I’d be a author, however someday in school I noticed the urge to inform tales wasn’t going away.
My first forays into storytelling really got here via the tabletop roleplaying recreation pastime. However I began typing away on a novel in my scarce free time and ultimately completed it.
Like all first novels, it was terrible! However I persevered as a result of the tales refused to remain cooped up in my head. Solely after I bought cancelled from my first actual job out of college for holding the identical opinions our grandparents took without any consideration did I dedicate my full consideration to writing. And I found that individuals had been really prepared to purchase what I wrote. As soon as readers began asking for extra, the selection to go full-tilt into my calling turned fairly easy. If God offers you a expertise and folks need the fruit of it, you’d finest use it.
HiT: You’re employed persistently with style tales … science fiction specifically … what drew you to this fashion of storytelling and what traditional books have influenced you on this area?
Niemeier: Science fiction grabbed me early as a result of it asks the most important questions whereas nonetheless delivering spectacle. I used to be raised on a gentle food regimen of Tolkien, Herbert, Wolfe, and the outdated science-fantasy pulp masters like Howard and Lovecraft.
These guys weren’t afraid to combine mysticism with mad science, or theology with starships. That fusion has all the time felt like residence to me. You may discover deep themes with out letting the story collapse right into a sermon. Style fiction isn’t an escape from what issues. I see it as a stage the place we are able to discover reality from the next vantage level.
HiT: Share a sneak peek at The Spectre of Empire … do readers must know any of your earlier work, or can they leap proper into this story?
Niemeier: The Specter of Empire follows Zebrin, a younger priest with a divine mandate and much more accountability than he’s prepared for. He units out to rescue a good friend’s enslaved mom and stumbles right into a fiendish plot to unravel an empire. It’s high-stakes darkish fantasy with greater than a touch of sword and sorcery.
New readers can begin right here; Specter of Empire is an entire story. However studying books 1 and a couple of, The Burned Guide and Lord of Destiny, will assist you see and respect the entire tapestry. That’s why we’ve made it straightforward to gather the entire sequence via the crowdfunding marketing campaign.
HiT: Will readers discover conservative themes within the saga?
Niemeier: Not within the bumper-sticker sense. I’m not serious about fiction that wags its finger on the reader. However I do write from a worldview that takes goal morality, transcendent order, and the dignity of the human particular person critically. These assumptions naturally run in opposition to the grain of the present cultural institution, so some readers label them conservative. I consider them as merely true.
You’re all too acquainted with the bigotry conservatives face within the literary world … are you able to briefly share the way it manifests itself and the way you’ve labored round it over time?
On the legacy degree, it’s easy: Main publishers blacklist writers who don’t toe the accredited ideological line. And reviewers on the huge retailers will fortunately tank a e-book or ignore it altogether if the creator’s politics are “incorrect.”
The workaround is easy, although not essentially straightforward. Don’t play the rigged recreation. Impartial publishing, direct-to-reader relationships, and platforms like BackerKit make it attainable to succeed in an viewers with out asking permission from individuals who don’t need you there within the first place. When you’re not invited to the social gathering, don’t crash it. Throw your individual.
HiT: Share why you’ve gone the crowdfunding route for Spectre of Empire — and why it’s an important manner for creatives to keep away from the same old gatekeepers…
Niemeier: Crowdfunding lets readers and creators work collectively straight. There’s no intermediary siphoning off income or telling you what you’re allowed to jot down. It additionally offers backers a stake within the closing product.
They not solely assist the e-book exist, however have the prospect to affect its closing type. That collaborative power produces higher, extra formidable initiatives than something a risk-averse company writer would greenlight. Plus it’s sustainable and scalable. I can fund particular editions, inside artwork, and expanded initiatives as a result of readers select to help them up entrance.
HiT: You beforehand wrote, Don’t Give Cash to Folks Who Hate You — has that downside gotten worse lately? Higher? How do conservatives deal with the matter?
Niemeier: It’s gotten extra blatant. Companies have dropped the masks. They inform you outright what they consider you, after which they count on you to maintain paying them. However the excellent news is that extra persons are refusing to conform.
The answer isn’t sophisticated: Construct alternate options, help creators who respect you and withhold patronage from establishments that despise you.
Each greenback is a vote.
HiT: What’s up subsequent? Any ideas on bringing your tales to a unique medium? YouTube? The small display? Different?
Niemeier: Subsequent up is the tenth anniversary particular version of my Dragon Award-winning novel Souldancer, which can get an much more lavish deluxe remedy than its predecessor Nethereal did this 12 months. After that, extra Arkwright Cycle. It’s a giant world, and I’m not achieved exploring it.
As for different media, we’ve already made inroads into ttrpgs and audio with a few of my different works. I’ve appeared on YouTube quite a bit just lately, notably creator David V. Stewart’s and Black Lodge Video games’ channels. However adapting the novels right into a video format would require a group with the best imaginative and prescient. If somebody desires to construct with me, I’m all the time glad to speak.