Writer. Gadabout. Designer. Buy my books.
Likes: cosmic horror, imperfect characters, solid worldbuilding, and maps. Rater of faux-cussin'. Knows a lot about riverboats.
| Website: | https://www.kmalexander.com |
| Books: | https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074CHQC4T |
| Pronouns: | He/Him |
New Free Tool: ABR Exporter
Not every fantasy cartographer has Photoshop, GIMP, Procreate, or any of the other design software that can read and use Photoshop ABR files. There are still plenty of people using other tools, and often those tools use transparent PNGs as assets: Wonderdraft, Inkarnate, and many others. Up until now, unlocking those assets as a Mac user was difficult. Photoshop actions take forever.
http://kmalexander.com/2026/04/10/new-free-tool-abr-exporter/
Meet Greta
The Alexander household has grown by one. This week, we welcomed Greta into our home. She's an 11-month-old rescue pup from Texas. (Her birthday is next month.) She's a Australian Cattle Dog and Poodle mix. She is a very happy lady, seems really smart, loves people and dogs, and is really eager to please. She's very active and wiggly so getting photos of her took a bit of time.
New! Old Mapping Asset PNG Packs!
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 good system now, so going forward the…
http://kmalexander.com/2026/03/21/new-old-mapping-asset-png-packs/
Uly Pupdate: Uly turns two!
On March 2nd, our boy turned two years old! He's settling into life here at Briarness. His routine remains the same as before. It's often shocking how smart he is. He still loves walks in the woods and playing with his buddies. He's impossible to keep clean. Still loves TV time—he quite enjoyed A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms…
http://kmalexander.com/2026/03/12/uly-pupdate-uly-turns-two/
True Tags: A Graffiti Brush Set
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...
http://kmalexander.com/2026/02/24/true-tags-a-graffiti-brush-set/
Qiánlóng: A Free 18th Century Cartography Brush Set for Fantasy Maps
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…
Unmoored
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.
Hello 2026
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.
My Reading List for 2025
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.
My Media List for 2025
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 consumed and pick a few standout favorites.
