We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexander McCarty. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexander below.
Alexander, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I always enjoyed writing ever since I was a kid. I excelled in English classes in elementary school and was a life long theatre kid, playing the staring role in my 6th grade Oliver Twist production. Once I reached middle school, I was excelling at most courses, minus math. I’d often finish assignments early and thus I had plenty of free time. Even back when i was an ovolactarian i have always been someone who loved and cared about animals, and this gave me a perspective that I loved to share with people. I was often bullied for protecting bugs at school or for not eating animal flesh. because of this I was very introverted. So around half-way through 7th grade I decided to do something with my free time. I decided to write!
Every day I would bring in my composition notebook, protected by a big ziplock bag and I’d take any opportunity I could find to write my story. Back in kindergarten I saw Pokemon the first movie. I really enjoyed it, but was disappointed that Mewtwo, the antagonist of the story, also exploited Pokemon. I wanted to write my own version of the story where he legitimately cared about his people and sought their liberation. This was the birth of my first book, “Rebellion of the Exps: Exp 8.”
By the time I finished high school I had over ten two-hundred page composition notebooks filled completely with a single ongoing story. I continued writing on lunch breaks in college where i would start typing up my stories on my computer. I was twenty one when i published my first book. At this same time I also found myself by becoming vegan.
Alexander, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am Alexander McCarty, I’ve been Vegan for over a decade, the same amount of time I’ve been published. My sibling and I became Vegan together and are cocreators in our independent company Sphere of Compassion. Our goal is to open the minds of our readers with thrilling anime-style novels, comics and manga!
As for how I got into the business, well I had already had written many books by the time I was in college. I decided to take the next step and begin publishing. I had attended several writing seminars (such as FAPA) and even spoke with consultant and writer Ben Hale. After receiving hands on advice, I felt confident signing up for Amazon KDP and getting both physical and digital books out on the market! Once my sibling and I ordered some author’s copies, we decided to sign up for local conventions.
We have five ongoing novel series, several of which have their own spin off novels and most of which have their own gateway comics. Most of our stories are fantasy novels, each having its own subgenre that really gives each story it’s own fresh identity. What sets us apart from other light novelists is both our large varied library of animestyle stories and our unique vegan worldview.
We are proud of our Vegan way of life more than anything! Each book has a special page about Veganism at the end, told by a Vegan character from the story. We also take pride in bringing entertaining thought-provoking stories that we hope will bring joy and open-mindedness to our readers!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
There’s nothing I love spending my time doing more than writing! Editing is a fun job, but polishing a gem can never compare to crafting one. Brainstorming possibilities, the moment where the pieces fall into place or the rush of a sudden bold idea make this career truly a daily pleasure!
I love crafting characters alongside my sibling and finding the perfect artist to bring my words into a new medium! Most of all I adore seeing our characters interact with one another in a world that we created!
Creating is a joy unlike anything else. It is an evolving, rewarding and engaging process. The only thing better than creating is following and shaping the journey of your beloved creations!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I’m still facing difficulty getting my over thirty published works off the ground. I’m a very shy and earnest person, so marketing does not come naturally at all to me. That said, I’ve really come out of my comfort zone. My brother and I started going to conventions around 2017 and took a break during Covid. Now that it’s safe to go out again, we’ve been going all in on local conventions, already having done over fifteen this year alone. I’ve always had support from my family. After all, my brother is the cocreator of our stories, always editing, brainstorming, designing characters and helping out every step of the way. My mom has read most of my books and loves to brag about me to her friends.
I wish I could say everyone who is close to me is supportive, but they aren’t. To celebrate my first publication, I invited my friends over to a big party at my house. They really let me down when they couldn’t even bother to order the $5 ebook I had worked all year on. This really dealt a blow to me and I got depressed. I still get depressed, but as long as I keep busy, there’s no room for that. I love writing and whether I have avid readers or not, I’ll keep doing it. It’s who I am. I’ve been really busy this year so I there are very few times I’ve gotten disheartened. I know that once my stories get noticed, the vast library of worlds my brother and I have created will take off! I always make sure every chapter I’ve written is fun to read! I know our readers will appreciate that the moment they give our stories a chance!
Contact Info:
- Website: sphereofcompassion.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Sphere_of_Compassion/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoralexandermccarty/
- Twitter: https://x.com/of_the_Exps
- Other: https://linktr.ee/sphereofcompassion
