Liam Undercroft’s Story Letter #1: The Worlds We Trust

Liam Undercroft’s Story Letter · Issue 1
From BLIPSIDE Press

Hello,

What makes you trust a story enough to follow it somewhere unfamiliar? Sometimes it’s a person you want to understand. Sometimes it’s a place you can almost feel. Sometimes it’s the suspicion that the version of events you’ve been given cannot be the whole truth.

For this first story letter, I’ve brought together the two worlds on the author site and a recent article about what draws us into fiction.

Two worlds, different kinds of trust

A Wounded Land begins with The Spiral Wakes: a wounded mountain realm, broken alliances, and a younger generation inheriting promises they did not make. Its epic fantasy turns on memory, loyalty, and the difficult cost of unity.

ZERO LUX takes that interest in trust into near-future techno-noir. In a city shaped by surveillance and manipulated records, the official version of reality can be cleaner than the truth—and noticing the difference can make someone dangerous.

If one of those worlds sounds like your next read, explore the books and story worlds here.

A read for people who love getting lost in books

The recent article What Creates Reader Immersion in a Story? looks at the moments that make an imagined world feel immediate. Its central concern is the person inside the world: what they want, what they fear losing, and how the place around them makes their choices harder.

You don’t need to be a writer to recognize that feeling. Think of the last book that made you forget to check the time.

Tell me what draws you in

A character’s voice, a world you want to explore, or a mystery you need answered—which usually gets you reading? Leave a comment on this issue and, if you like, name a book that did it well.

Thank you for reading,
Liam Undercroft
BLIPSIDE Press

BLIPSIDE Press officially operates this author site and Off Trek Asia, where practical guides explore life in Korea and across Asia. The newsletters have separate subscriptions.

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