The Writing of Zurkerx: Author's Note

I know what you all are thinking: why write a book? Well, to be honest, it was an idea circulating in my head since I was eighteen years old. I wanted to try something different. I wanted to see if I could, in fact, write a book. I wanted to have an entertaining story for all ages. Most importantly, I wanted people to read something a little different, something that would intrigue them. Let me try to explain.

This book, Zurkerx, is based on a nation I created on a government simulator website known as NationStates, where players address issues that form their ideal, but stereotyped nation for entertainment purposes. The site also has a forum where users can talk about a variety of topics, including sports, role-playing, and perhaps the biggest, politics.

NationStates has a broad diversity of political discussion on a wide variety of issues and ideologies; many that I never knew existed: Distributism, Voluntarism, Objectivism, Mutualism, Minarchism, Synthesis Anarchism, Classical Liberalism, Neoliberalism, Libertarian Socialism, etc. Over my eight years on NationStates, I learned these terms and then some. While I don’t know each political idea in its entirety, these ideologies have expanded my knowledge of the political world since my time on NationStates, and helped me write Zurkerx. So, how did I get involved on such an interesting site?

I got involved on the site on January 20th, 2011 when my friends persuaded me to join the site, on which I created the nation of Zurkerx. On that same day, I created another nation known as Omericoa, which I used as my primary nation until a friend destroyed it in a Role Play with a biological weapon. Now back to Zurkerx.

When writing Zurkerx, I drew on my writing skills from my college days, as well as reading novels such as 1984, Jennifer Government, and Fahrenheit 451. To help further develop my book, I drew. When I came up with Zurkerx, it was supposed to resemble a conservative-type government. At the time, I was an Economic Republican, a Republican who was moderate on social issues but embraced Republican economic views. For a while, I identified as one, thinking that was where my beliefs stood. It wasn’t until later that year, or in 2012 that I discovered the words Libertarian and Libertarianism. After researching the terms, I discovered I was a Libertarian and not a Republican. This would lead to Zurkerx changing to a Libertarian State: a land with high political, economic, social freedoms.

However, through the years, the nation would eventually evolved into a Libertarian State that devoted an abundance of its resources to the military (aka Neo-Libertarianism). But the nation wasn't the only thing that changed. While I identify as a Libertarian, my views have moderated as I have become more pragmatic. While I agree with a majority my nation’s views, I am a very different kind of Libertarian now than I was back then.

From writing this book, I have developed a respect for people who write on a regular basis. Some only make a living off the books they write and sell as their livelihood. For that, I respect these writers and the arduous effort they put into their works of literature. Intrigued? You can buy the book here, here, and here. If you have any questions regarding the making of Zurkerx, feel free to email me at zentaridossier@gmail.com.

~Eric