42 Stories Anthology Presents: Kyle Shepherd (a.k.a. K. J. Shepherd / Jorsin Alkestes)
This week, we’re featuring Kyle Shepherd, a writer who doesn’t just bend genres—he bends universes. Appearing in 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42² under the names K. J. Shepherd and Jorsin Alkestes (more on that in a minute), Kyle brings readers not one but two reality-warping tales:
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LAST NIGHT I TRAVELED TO ANOTHER UNIVERSE
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I DESTROYED ALL OF SPACE-TIME LAST THURSDAY
🪐 Jorsin Alkestes...
“is a character from Brent Weeks’ trilogy The Night Angel. I didn’t steal it, please don’t sue me lol. I just love that trilogy so much, I read it twice back to back and it was so inspirational to me as a writer and fan of all fantasy.”
🏡 Location: San Marcos, TX
✍️ Writing Space: “I write a bit of everywhere. Bars. Cafés. Coffee shops. Parks. Sometimes even in my own office. Lately, I’ve been writing by hand on my eNotebook, and it’s been great to have that kind of mobility to write where I please, or where the mood strikes. It might not be the best for discipline; it’s something I’m working on.”
📚 Favorites...
“My favorite authors are Steven Erikson, Brandon Sanderson, Christopher Wooding, GRRM, Michael Swanwick, Tolkien, and Brent Weeks. I think my favorite book of all time is Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson, there’s just something about this world he’s created that resonates with me. The magic, the places, and especially his characters. It’s just a fantastic book and a great introduction to an entire universe.”
Also:
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Mountains > beaches
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Death metal all day (but also Celtic music and video game soundtracks)
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Recently obsessed with Electric Callboy and Spirit Box
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Grew up on Iron Maiden (shout-out to his older brother for that)
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Favorite films and shows? Hereditary, Dr. Sleep, V for Vendetta, RRR, LotR, Dark, The Boys, Invincible, Breaking Bad, and “a healthy plethora of anime”
🌶️ On Why He Writes...
“I love creating things in general. Food; I love cooking. I’ve made my own beer, jam, bread, and now I’m working on my own mustards. I also garden and have grown watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers, habaneros, and various other peppers. Stories are kind of the same way for me. I love to see the characters in my head, give them wants and dreams and desires, and then put them through unholy terror that will surely crush them.”
Oh, and:
“I also noticed a theme of amputation in a lot of my stories and I’m not sure why.”
“My friend Zach Chapman got me to finally realize that I could also be a writer; it just seemed oddly out of reach for me growing up, even though I started writing stories at twelve years old, I only started submitting my work in 2017, at the age of 31. I keep going because he’s dumb and if he can make cool shit then I certainly can. It’s ok, he’ll never read this!”
🌘 On His First Story and more...
“The first story I conceived of was an epic fantasy, that would span several books, and be reminiscent of Final Fantasy in terms of epic scope. I loved Final Fantasy IX and Xenogears, and wanted to emulate that feeling of discovery and wonder.”
The concept?
“An Earth in the far future, in which the moon had smashed into and shattered into dozens of shards, but which was held together by some unseen force. And a magical essence issued forth from the Earth, and it permeated everything and changed the course of evolution, each shard developing humanity into vastly different, sometimes corrupted, creatures…”
It also featured:
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Guardians of the Earth
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Guardians of the Moon
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And a collective of planet-bound guardians tasked with protecting sapient life
“I have thousands of receipts with various scenes, concepts, plot points, and characters written on the back, but I haven’t really pieced it all together yet. It became too daunting a task and I have put it off in favor of working on new pieces and short stories, and horror novels.”
In the Anthology
Kyle’s two 42-word stories in 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42² feel like tiny neutron stars—explosively compact, heavy with implication, and weirdly hilarious in their existential panic. He plays with tropes of time, space, regret, and paradox while anchoring it all with voice and tone. A little doom. A little absurdism. A lot of fun.
📘 Want more of Kyle’s work?
Check out his Linktree: https://linktr.ee/kyledoeswords
📖 Read his micro-stories in 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42², available now in print, ebook, and audiobook via 42storiesanthology.com
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