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Stepping Out of the Shadows – A Book Seeks Its Way: Author on Publisher Hunt

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 15:47:39 +0100

For a long time, it was just white noise. A jumble of voices, images of gray village squares, and the blinding light of a grand stage. Now, that noise has taken shape. The Price of Applause is finished. It feels like I’ve accompanied Leo and Max for months on their painful journey, documenting every bruise and every triumph, just as Klaus does in the book. I watched rivalry turn into friendship, and two lone fighters grow into a unit that defies the world’s expectations.

Plain Talk: Why My Manuscript is 100% Handmade

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:37:45 +0200

As an IT professional, I live in a world of logic, algorithms, and code. I see every day how rapidly technologies evolve, and artificial intelligence has become an indispensable part of modern IT. It is a brilliant tool for automating processes and solving complex problems.

But precisely because I know this world so well, I draw an absolute, insurmountable line when it comes to my other great passion: writing.

The Machine Doesn’t Co-Write To put it very clearly and leave no room for speculation: I do not use any AI for my texts. No ChatGPT, no Gemini, no hidden algorithms churning out plots or writing dialogues for me. Everything written in my manuscript comes 100 percent from my own pen—and my own mind.

Submission

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:09:47 +0200

I did it. After reading the manuscript what felt like a hundred times and rearranging countless sentences, the email to the agency went out. The synopsis and the author bio also took forever until I was truly satisfied with them. But now, the package is sent. From now on, it’s all about waiting and hoping.

I don’t know how familiar you are with the Busy Beaver concept. To put it briefly: It is a thought experiment from theoretical computer science. With such a machine, you never know in advance whether it will eventually produce an output (i.e., halt) or run endlessly. That is exactly how I feel right now. The agency will naturally come to a conclusion internally – but I don’t know if that output will ever reach my inbox, or if I’ll just be stuck here forever in an endless waiting loop.

Snippet: Leos und Max' verbotener Döner

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:00:38 +0100

Leo and Max have reached a limit. A limit everyone knows. A limit that inevitably arrives when you love something with every fiber of your being.

„Ich halt’s nicht mehr aus“, sagte Max am Samstagnachmittag, als sie nach dem Training aus dem Gemeindehaus traten. „Ich kann kein einziges Plié mehr sehen. Ich brauch mal was anderes, und wenn es nur für einen kurzen Moment ist.“

Leo nickte nur stumm. Die Freude am Tanz war für einen Moment einer tiefen, grauen Müdigkeit gewichen.

Vorwort

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 07:51:24 +0100

I thought I’d give you a little sneak peek into my upcoming technical book. What exactly is it about, and what tone does it strike? To answer that, nothing fits better than the preface itself. So, here it is. Enjoy the read!

„Und … was machst du eigentlich genau?“

Wenn ich für jedes Mal, wenn ich diese Frage gehört habe, einen Euro bekommen hätte, müsste ich dieses Buch hier nicht schreiben. Die Antwort ist meistens kompliziert. Ich bin kein reiner Software-Entwickler, der den ganzen Tag Code in eine schwarze Konsole hämmert. Ich bin kein reiner Admin, der „Nein“ sagt, sobald jemand einen Server anfassen will.

Imprint / Legal Notice (Social Media)

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 17:25:00 +0100

Information pursuant to § 5 DDG & § 18 Para. 2 MStV

Responsible for content: Sören Merkert-Zapf Germany

The Deceptive Calm

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:34:03 +0100

The fact that it’s been so quiet here on the blog over the last few weeks definitely wasn’t due to a lack of motivation. Priorities just had to shift temporarily. Besides writing, my main profession is as a software engineer – a job I really enjoy. Currently, a large project there is demanding my full attention.

We aren’t just writing simple scripts; we’re building a complex architecture. The fascinating part is that it’s damn similar to writing a book. Everything has to interlock, the common thread needs to be clear, and the structure has to hold up. And just like with writing, there’s always that one moment in IT: on paper, the idea looks brilliant – but in reality, you look at the result and just think: back to the drawing board.

The Website is Up

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 14:48:35 +0100

My website is finally coming together. The tech is in place. But I’m still tweaking the speed. My goal has always been to keep loading times as low as possible. Nothing is worse than pages that take 20 or 30 seconds to load and still aren’t fully rendered.

That also means—and I’m a huge fan of this approach—not using any bloated software in the first place. So: no CMS, no cookies, no PHP. If something needs to be computed, the visitor should have everything under their control. Sure, a little bit of CSS and JavaScript is necessary, but no heavy lifting that the server has to calculate. And what was and still is absolutely crucial to me: zero cookies. I’m happy if you read this, but I don’t want to track you or, even worse, spy on you. Anyone who does that lacks confidence in themselves and, worse, in their readers.

5000 Words and a Dead Hamster

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 05:38:21 +0100

Is it just me? Yesterday, I was in the zone. 5,000 words. Just like that. Compiled and deployed. Sure, the plot still has more holes than a bad firewall config, and the story is shaky, but the core is there. I finally know what the characters want: They don’t just want one life; they want them all. One moment submerged in the underground, the next in high society. They want to change personas like other people change underwear.

Project No. 4: The Lure of the Blank Page

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 08:43:14 +0100

You know the feeling: You’re watching TV, reading an article, or just walking around, and pop—you have a new idea for a plot. The problem? It doesn’t fit into any of your current books. Not with the dancers, not in the dystopian zone, and certainly not in the server room.

So, what is the only logical (and completely unreasonable) thing to do? Exactly: You start a new book. A new world, new characters, completely without a past that’s already written in stone. You just start typing, and the character decides who they want to be.

Of Cats, Code, and the Second Gold Medal Run

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 21:51:27 +0100

The plan this morning was simple: squeeze in a nap after the early morning feline Olympics. Well. Wanting and doing are running on two entirely different operating systems, unfortunately.

But fine. To make up for it, the cat spent the rest of the day in a coma. I get it, totally—elite athletes need their recovery phases, after all. I, on the other hand, got to work. A bit of thinking, shuffling some Python and RabbitMQ packets around. Someone has to pay for the premium wet food.

After the Applause: Starting the Second Volume & New Challenges

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 05:58:56 +0100

What do you do when the first book is finished? As a reader, you wait for the next one. As an author, you try to carry the momentum and start the second one straight away.

In the background, the first new characters are already scratching at the door, but they have to wait their turn. First, the established cast needs to regroup and settle back into everyday life. One needs to get back in shape, while the other is currently astonishing everyone. Together, they’ve received new assignments—some small and on the side, others life-changing. But they do it all willingly, either because it’s necessary or because it’s their absolute dream.

4:30 AM – Olympic Games in the Living Room

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 04:37:12 +0100

Yeah, I’m an early bird. Usually, I’m up by 5:30, no alarm needed. But our cat had other plans today. Apparently, 4:00 AM is the perfect time for a morning workout—discipline: the hurdle sprint involving moving furniture.

He’s currently loudly redecorating the living room. Every lap of his attempt to set a new Olympic record is accompanied by a loud meow. And then: crash. He’s knocking things over—after all, they were in his way. No idea what that was, but it sounded expensive.

Why Keep It Simple When You Can Do It in Threes? An Introduction.

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 05:50:03 +0100

A post about heart, mind, rage, and structure.

It’s time to unlock the doors. Not just to the finished stories, but to the construction site behind them. I’ve realized something: The finished book is the goal, sure, but the path to get there is the actual adventure. That includes the painful art of “killing your darlings.” Characters pop up out of nowhere but never make it into the final draft. Not because they’re boring, but because they steer the story in the wrong direction. Deleting entire chapters feels a lot like code refactoring: It stings for a moment, but the system runs much smoother afterwards.

The Cursor

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 20:00:36 +0100

There’s that little, nervous blinking on the monitor. It waits. It demands. As a computer scientist, I feed it logic. As an author, I feed it stories. The problem is the same in both cases: Sometimes you stare back, and your head is as empty as the text field.

You ask yourself: Are the cryptic characters I’m typing here brilliant or total nonsense? Does the syntax fit? Is the tone right? The truth is: You won’t know until it’s there. The cursor has no patience, and I’ve decided not to have any either. No more hesitating. I’ll just type away. Fixing errors—whether bugs or plot holes—is something that can always be done later.

A Labrador, a Shoe, and a Dead End

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 19:33:12 +0100

Things rarely go according to plan. Neither in life nor in novels. Right now, my protagonists Severin and Bernd are pinned down in a pretty tight spot: an old factory hall, nervous security forces outside, and inside, the people the system has chewed up and spat out.

I know exactly what needs to happen next: Severin has to get back to the Zone, to his laptop, to publish the truth about the Insolvency Administrator. The “What” is crystal clear. The “How,” however, is my major glitch. I’m staring at the screen, suffering from a classic plot blackout.

Between Lines of Code and Chapters

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:27:14 +0100

At first glance, computer science and creative writing might seem like worlds apart. Here, cold logic; there, raw emotion. But for me, they are two sides of the same coin.

As a computer scientist, I’ve learned that every functioning system needs a solid structure. A program crashes if the logic is flawed. A novel does the same. For me, programming is simply writing in a different language—only now, I’m no longer typing commands for machines, but crafting stories for people.

Snippet: Max After Training

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:16:02 +0100

Max is the star of the soccer team. But a secret training session takes its toll—forcing him into a decision that draws the attention of the entire schoolyard…

Note: The following excerpt is currently available in the original German manuscript only. An English translation is in the works and will be added here soon.

Der Muskelkater war brutal. Jeder Schritt fühlte sich an, als wären seine Gelenke durch rostiges Metall ersetzt worden. Max versuchte, seinen Gang normal aussehen zu lassen, als er in der Pause über den Schulhof auf die Gruppe der Fußballer zusteuerte, aber er wusste, dass es ihm nicht gelang. Er war noch keine drei Meter entfernt, als Klaus’ spöttische Stimme ertönte. „Was läufst du denn heute so komisch, Max? Sieht ja aus, als hättest du ’nen Stock im Arsch.“

Legal Notice (Imprint)

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 01:00:00 +0100

Information pursuant to Sect. 5 German Digital Services Act (DDG)

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Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

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