You notice things others miss. You connect dots fast.
You’ve tried the usual leadership advice, and it never quite fit.
300+ copies sold through real conversations, events, and workshops.
Not for followers. For builders.
Psssst - Quests, Codes & More
They were written for a slower world.
Neater rules. Clear lines. Predictable systems.
You’re leading in chaos, speed, and change.
No wonder the old advice keeps failing you.
A fantasy story with real leadership truth woven through it.
Not theory. Not hype. A way of seeing that changes how you decide.
You sense what’s wrong before others see it
You think in connections, not straight lines
You lead with heart, not just logic
You feel ahead of the room more often than comfortable
You don’t need another checklist.
You need a story that shows you how leadership really works now!
Publisher: Hambone Publishing
Publication Date: 1 April 2025
Language: English
Print Length: 308 pages
ISBN-10: 192235791X
ISBN-13: 978-1922357915
A catalogue copy is held in the National Library of Australia
Weird is the New Normal ® is a registered trademark of M31
Also available as Audio Book throughout the world
Weird is the New Normal
the unlikely path of leadership
Author: Michael Meyer
International / US - Buy your copy from... Print on demand and shipped near to you
Australia / NZ - Buy your copy from...
Signed Copies – Includes colour gloss map so you can follow the adventure.
Arcanus was never polished like other leaders. His approach to leadership was raw, untamed, and instinctive. He did not command through force or entitlement but inspired through vision, resilience, and sheer force of will (in himself). He’s affable and warms to everyone around him.
Background
Born into a minor noble family that lacked wealth and influence, Arcanus stood on the fringes of power. While other noble-born wizards trained in the finest robes and gilded halls, he studied by candlelight, practising spells with scraps of parchment and secondhand tomes. No one expected much from him.
He was accepted into the Arcane Academy for his raw talent but not as a true equal. Regarded as a concession and admitted through the mentorship of those who saw his potential (yet never truly accepted by his peers), Arcanus focused on what mattered: Proving he deserved to be here, studying under the brightest wizards on the continent.
Despite being treated as an outsider, he endured. Where others relied on wealth, connections, and privilege, Arcanus relied on his mind, his work ethic, and his ability to see what others could not.
He was not born great, nor was he chosen—he earned every step of his journey.
Sorche is a seasoned Urban Bounty Hunter in a vast, corrupt trade city, a rapid observer whose split-second decisions and strategic use of information keep her alive and valuable to those in power. Orphaned in the slums after a tragic raid claimed her father and illness took her mother, she was left to protect her younger sister, Isla. Every dangerous move Sorche makes—infiltrating the underbelly as a whisper broker, fixer, or vanishing ghost—is driven by a single goal: to ensure Isla’s permanent safety and comfort.
Misunderstood as a ruthless, self-serving manipulator, Sorche is a deeply caring soul who keeps others at bay, relying only on herself. She’s a wily, cunning street fighter nicknamed “The Enchantress” because many believe her uncanny ability to escape danger is a form of magic, though she possesses no such powers—only unparalleled skill and perception.
Meeting a duo under strained circumstances, Sorche struggles with trust. Her reputation precedes her, yet as she travels with the team, she proves her worth and learns to trust them, understanding they share a common fight for a future. Sorche’s true “enchantment” is simply a lifetime of making the right moves at the right time.
Berik, a renowned warrior and talented smithy, once belonged to an exclusive guild dedicated to serving and protecting the people. He gave up his warrior life when he met and married his wife, as a promise to her. He lived a peaceful life, raising two young children in a close-knit village. This tranquility was shattered when Rafe’s men raided his village, resulting in a devastating blaze that claimed the lives of his family and most of his community.
Berik is not a hothead, but once he decides to do something, nothing can sway him off his path. The loss reignited the warrior within Berik. No longer bound by his promise, he has taken up arms once more. Driven by a steadfast determination, he vows to exact vengeance on Rafe, promising to “carve Rafe’s head from his neck.” Berik’s journey is fueled by his unyielding commitment to honor over glory, making him a reliable ally and a formidable foe.
Berik sometimes struggles to accept that things are not strictly black and white, but shades of grey, which can create difficulties in the team. He is a solid leader and his experience is valued by everyone they meet as Berik usually dishes out solid advice with a dash of good sense. Berik’s journey takes him on a rollercoaster, and he learns valuable lessons along the way, resulting in him finally acknowledging a few home truths he’s been carrying as personal burdens. Now, on his way to healing, Berik has found a different path, one just as fulfilling.
Rafe is the story’s main villain, a brilliant but ruthlessly egotistical wizard driven to reshape reality using the forbidden powers of the skrol and the staff. He was once the Arcane Academy’s most promising student, slated to become the next High Elder, but his unauthorized and dangerous experiments with dark magicks led to his scandalous expulsion. This event forced the Academy to severely restrict the use of dark magic.
Seeing his exile as a necessary step, Rafe embraced his twisted vision: if the world wouldn’t acknowledge his genius, he would force it to submit to his will and structure. He murdered his wealthy, influential family to gain absolute control, and his pursuit of the artifacts is a means to achieve total dominion—to replace a “flawed” world with one of absolute order and control dictated by him.
Rafe is a decades-older master whose secret success in extending his own life shows the depth of his dark power. Though he and the High Elder’s protégé, Arcanus, have never met, Rafe sees him as a formidable opposite. Rafe is not a chaotic brute, but a calculated, relentless mastermind—an inevitability who believes he is destined to dictate the very structure of existence.
Juju is a bard from the Kingdom of Naivohw, known for his infectious humor, witty performances, and profound connection to hidden lore. His origins are a complete mystery; he offers a different, often fantastical, backstory whenever asked, though even he isn’t sure where he truly came from. His first recorded appearance was in the mechanical city of Harkenhold, playing songs that hinted at forgotten kingdoms and lands far beyond the continent of Ez.
Though charismatic on stage, Juju is socially awkward and often overcompensates with relentless humor, which both charms and irritates those around him. The pragmatic Berik views him as a “talented irritation,” while the protective Sorche feels a need to watch over his trouble-attracting antics. However, the mage Arcanus is his kindred spirit, recognizing the profound truths hidden within Juju’s clever lyrics.
Juju’s music often weaves the mundane and the magical, reciting stories of ancient mysteries he shouldn’t know, leading to rumors that he’s a wanderer from another plane. His current journey is driven by an obsession with a cryptic, living melody he found in a Harkenhold tome—a fragment he believes holds the key to his own origins and the world’s strange connections. Juju’s accidental or purposeful actions make him a bridge between worlds, his melody a thread weaving a new harmony between magic and mechanics.
Leadership, life, neurodiversity and the occasional rabbit hole. New articles from Mike, without the marketing nonsense.
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