About the CAU
The Origin of the CAU
The Crimson Alliance Universe began as a creative experiment with AI image generation bringing a wide array of original characters to life visually before a single word was written. For a month, the characters existed only as images and concepts, sparking ideas and possibilities. Eventually, that spark turned into a story: A Demon’s Rebellion. The first novel was built around these early character designs, which is why it includes an entire chapter dedicated solely to introducing each of them so readers could truly understand who they are and why they matter.
The Invention of the Interquels and Tales
After completing the first novel in the Crimson Alliance Universe (A Demon’s Rebellion) and entering final edits, I realised I wanted to explore the characters more deeply. Rather than creating a traditional sequel or prequel, I began developing standalone stories that focus on one or two characters at a time. That’s when I discovered the term interquel – a story that takes place between major entries in a larger narrative.
Most people are familiar with sequels and prequels – like those seen in Star Wars, Star Trek, or X-Men. But interquels are rarer. Think of it like Han Solo and Chewbacca going on their own adventure between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. It’s a way to dive into character arcs that wouldn’t get enough spotlight in the main storyline.
That’s exactly what I decided to do with the seven main members of the Crimson Alliance, along with the three Zyntarian characters. Each interquel explores a focused, character-driven story set during the same three-month window, meaning all the events occur simultaneously, ensuring each tale stands alone without crossover interference.
Planned interquel titles include:
Kimiko and Freija – Cold Front
Adrian and Grilka – Sunlight and Shoreline
Rainstorm – Whispers of the Totem
Nefertari – (Title TBD)
Lilith – (Title TBD)
Varek, Tarin, and Zela – (Title TBD)
This structure allows for deeper storytelling, richer character development, and a unique way to expand the CAU without losing the focus and intimacy of each hero’s personal journey.
Further along my journey I realised that a full novel (an interlude or interquel) was more than I wanted. Thus, I decided to start writing short stories (i.e., Tales) which would highlight the main characters or even some of the minor characters. These are 10 chapter stories (plus a prelude and epilogue) for those shorter adventures. All of them can be found on our books page.