WEEK 27 - JewelVerse: So What is this Unstable Branch, Really?

Week 27 and the energies are picking up for the year. Coming the end of this third quarter, I’m hoping to release another eChapBook - another collection of short stories set in the Unstable Branch of the Library of Exchanges. But first thing’s first…

What is this Unstable Branch?

In total, I’ve worked on a total of three independent publications in this canon - if you include the eChapBook that’s coming out later this year. What started as a partnership with one of the best artists I knew (shoutout to Elvin Ching XD - please go check out his new book, The Woodsman) for a one-shot comic of a heist that almost happened started expanding in my head, sprouting the moment a friend asked - “What is the significance of in Unstable Foundations?”

The more I pondered that question, the more this branch of what felt like a greater fictional universe grew. And the result culminated into the protagonist driving this bigger story -

Madeline Law, Encryptor, Hacker, Student, Cousin - an individual caught in a world of cyber security, under-the-table administration, underground auction houses, and coming to terms with how her cousin was never on his own when he got himself into trouble again. What is this organisation? Why are they messing with personal information and heritage artefacts? And most importantly, for the cousins, why are they being targeted?

So what are Unstable Foundations and Unstable Directions about?

Interested to find out more about the Unstable Branch? You can get your copy of Unstable Directions here!

Unstable Foundations

* Unstable Foundations, the comic, was first published in March 2018 by Comics of Singapore Heritage (COSH) Studios and supported by the National Heritage Board of Singapore. It is available in Books Kinokuniya, BooksActually, and in the National Gallery of Singapore’s gift shop (as of this zine’s printing)

With university fees and other financial issues on Madeline’s mind, finding Yamashita’s Gold with her cousin, Nathaniel, seemed to be the best idea. But when she meets McRitchie, a veteran traveller with an ambiguous origin, she starts questioning the legitimacy of the treasure and what’s truly valuable to her.

While Madeline managed to keep her internship and Nathaniel returned to incarceration, Madeline remains unconvinced that the whole heist was purely the result of her cousin’s greed. Nathaniel, on the other hand, is determined to keep to himself as much as possible. Fortunately for him, extended jail time meant loads of time away from prying eyes.

Until now.

Unstable Foundations is available in Books Kinokuniya Singapore (and Online). ISBN: 978-981-11-5316-7

Unstable Directions Chapter 1

A heist gone wrong, a relationship fractured, a possible conspiracy? When gallery intern Madeline Law saw her cousin, Nathaniel, convicted a second time, she started thinking beyond his past actions and asking - is there something bigger than the incident? This urban thriller eChapBook casts a sliver of light on these cousins, and the potential network they inevitably reveal.

Unstable Directions and Unstable Foundations are part of the Unstable Branch, a world in the Library of Exchanges multi-verse.

Unstable Directions is available online on Gumroad (/joelynalexandra). ISBN: 978-981-14-6643-4

So what’s happening with them now?

Unstable Foundations can still be found in Kinokuniya SG (and Kino SG Online), and Unstable Directions is available on Gumroad. As for Unstable Directions Chapter 2, you’ll be hearing more about it soon ;) - stay tuned here or check out my Instagram (@joelynalexandra) for more news on this series.

Have more questions? Interested in the Unstable Branch now? You can get your copy of Unstable Directions here! (Or leave a comment!)