As anyone who’s ever participated in creative writing knows, finishing an entire book is a daunting task. It’s impressive for an author of any age to have completed a manuscript, much less having gone through the endless revisions and edits necessary for publication.
Yet, one of USN’s own high school juniors has endured this entire process alongside balancing schoolwork and extracurriculars and is now publishing his own novella.
As Alder Brandon ‘27 describes it, his work is a cosmic horror story.
“I liked the thought that there could be this book out there that let people in on this dark and tragic secret of existence that led them to become a part of this cult and worship essentially an evil god,” said Brandon.
Brandon says that the inspiration first came to him back in eighth grade.
“When I was younger, I really loved the short stories of H.P. Lovecraft, which I found creepy and weird. I know he was a problematic person, but I liked the idea that there were these cosmic forces beyond comprehension that made a nightmare of the world,” Brandon said.
His love for the arcane was partially influenced by his childhood.
“I felt like that idea carried over well into my life, with being a kid, where there are all these forces you can’t control that randomly play into your life,” Brandon said.
In high school, Brandon started writing in earnest. In ninth grade, he wrote his first short story, “The Singing of the Shadows”.
“I wasn’t expecting to do anything with [the story]. I was bored after school, my parents were picking me up at 5:00, and I had two hours to spare. So I started writing random things, and I sent it to some of my friends, and they really liked it. I was like, ‘Hey this writing thing… I could do more of that,’” Brandon said.
Brandon never struggled with motivation issues.
“I’ve reached the point now where I can’t not write, because it’s become my way of understanding the world. I feel like I can understand things better when I write them down, and I can understand myself better when I write these stories,” he said. “I hit a point in the process where I was like, ‘This is actually what I want to be doing with my Saturday morning,’ rather than ‘I’m doing this for the end product.’”
Brandon ended up writing several short stories set in the same universe. Eventually, he tied them together into a narrative with recurring characters. Then, a revelation at a summer program influenced the rest of his writing process.
“I finished that around the end of freshman year, and then I went off to Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference over the summer, and when I came back I realized that it [had been] a transformative experience. I realized everything I’d written before sucked, and I began the very slow process of rewriting everything,” he said.
This summer, Brandon continued to edit the manuscript. He also received feedback from English Department Chair Freya Sachs ‘00. When he eventually completed his final draft, he wanted to avoid traditional publication, as it includes barriers that can be difficult for young writers to overcome.
“It’s kind of a difficult thing to pitch to an agent,” Brandon said, “Here I am, young and inexperienced. Here is my wacky idea. You should dedicate your time and effort to it.”
Instead, Brandon chose to pursue self-publication. He used digital tools like Reedzy Studio to format the book, and paid a professional artist to create cover-art. Then, he went through Ingram-Spark for printing. Brandon’s novella, “The Razor Darkness of a Starless Night,” was officially published on November 15, and is available to purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other major booksellers. USN’s English department owns multiple loaner copies already.
Brandon’s advice to other young writers is that you have to simultaneously balance two ideas in your mind. He said, “On the one hand, you have to be writing, and know that what you’re writing is imperfect and flawed and that you’re going to go back later and fix it. And you also have to believe that you’re writing the single greatest thing that anyone will have ever read. Because if you don’t believe that, then you won’t have the motivation to write the next sentence.”
Karen Knox PDS '66 • Jan 5, 2026 at 1:28 pm
I SO love this! Alder is the son of one of my former students, as is Freya Sachs, head of the USN English Department. I had the pleasure of working with Alder when I was subbing at USN after I retired. I am not surprised that he’s writing so well. He’s clearly carrying on a long PDS/USN tradition. I know everyone is so delighted with his writing debut and proud of him.