Adventure Beyond the Stars – Written for Readers Who Want More

Category: John Graves Books

  • Phoenix, Previews, and a Burglar

    Phoenix, Previews, and a Burglar

    More website updates, Martian Phoenix progress, previews of future books, future monsters, another Scarlet dress, a Martian burglar, Faire of Champions, and squadron patches. All this week’s Secret Knowledge is below…

    I worked a lot on updating the website this week. As part of that, I have a “cover” for the John Graves Series.

    I also put together a cover for Wrath of Magi. I’m not sure I want to write it, but looking at the cover—maybe I will…

    I also put together concept covers for the other possible and planned Walter & Eleanor stories and Emory Upton in Mexico.

    Finally, a couple of potential series way in the future.

    I even put together an image to go with the “How to Read” section of the Books & Series Page. Does anyone know who the young man is?

    I made a new banner for my Facebook page. AI really makes it nice for those of us that aren’t good at visual arts.

    I took a break from Martian Phoenix and Website to do some world-building for a future novel. These are the results:
    https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Anthropoid_Apes
    https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Inkanyamba_Serpents
    https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Nandi_Bears
    https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Shetani
    https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Wolfmen

    I also put together a reference document to try and focus ChatGPT to build outlines and book openings that don’t need as extensive a modification. Honestly, I think following this made Antarctic Honeymoon better and will make Martian Phoenix and others better as well. I’m kind of afraid to check the books in Selene Reborn against this—I might not like the result…

    I didn’t realize just how high Kilimanjaro was. It sits on the Equator, but has arctic tundra and glaciers at the top and it takes days to acclimate and get over your high altitude sickness. I’m going to have to rethink the geography of Secrets of Kilimanjaro…

    A new dress for Scarlet, because “She was in another dress that strategically deployed its neckline, hem, skirt slits… it seemed every new dress demonstrated some other sartorial characteristic for that woman to marshal like an attacking general.”

    Amazingly enough, I don’t have a good image of Juan Castillo. I decided to fix that before I made an image of Quiet Footfalls getting caught in the act. I also thought a set of handcuffs would be appropriate. https://museum.west-midlands.police.uk/learn/games/can-you-identify-the-objects/darby-handcuffs/

    I’m considering participating in the Faire of Champions as a vendor. https://www.faireofchampions.com/ If I do, I’ll probably be writing a book inspired by the Faire https://malcolmupton.com/book/palestines-ghosts/

    Martian Phoenix chapters this week:
    Decisions – finished
    Open Doors
    Deciding Poorly – started

    Word Count is 35,838 in 9+ chapters of an estimated 80,000-95,000 in 24+Epilogue Chapters.

    Antarctic Honeymoon is #1,184 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,099 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #7,704 in Exploration Science Fiction. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, or the kindle version here. The audiobook is available here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

    Artemis Rising is #345 in Steampunk Fiction, #374 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), and #1,080 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here or the kindle version here. There is also an audiobook version here. Seven reviews for Artemis Rising. More will help others find the series as well – if you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

    Celestial Accord is ranked now. #1,204 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,875 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #4,187 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

    Forging the Chain Breakers is #1,100 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,473 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #3,866 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

    Selene Unchained is #1,879 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,901 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,872 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here

    Mirim’s First Christmas is #11,372 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), #11,396 in Colonization Science Fiction, and #18,291 in Science Fiction Short Stories. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

  • John Graves, Swords, and Audiobooks

    John Graves, Swords, and Audiobooks

    You can get autographed copies of all four books in Selene Reborn Series (Artemis Rising, Celestial Accord, Forging the Chain Breakers, Selene Unchained), Antarctic Honeymoon, and Mirim’s First Christmas at Steampunk Galveston Saturday.

    Spent a lot of time this week on line editing and finalizing the audio book for Antarctic Honeymoon. I finished the first pass. That means the audiobook is live. I might do another pass, but I’m fairly sure it wouldn’t find anything significant. The audiobook is available here.

    I was thinking about some things and decided to figure out, specifically, what Elisha’s sword looked like. I need to do a lot more work before any of this would be canon – but ChatGPT did have some interesting ideas…

    I’m really considering taking a break from Walter and Eleanor and writing some books that are more romance-slanted since they tend to sell more. I can also do some background on Mars at the same time. Very tentatively, I have the following six books planned:

    Book 1: John Graves and the Queen of Burnished Towers – John Graves leads the Intrepid Expedition to Mars in 1870. Begins his relationship with the Queen of Burnished Towers.

    Book 2: John Graves and the Sky Kingdoms – John Graves and/or Mike Powell among the Air Martians.

    Book 3: John Graves and the Four Canals War – The war that began the expansion of Burnished Towers into the new Empire of Mars

    Book 4: John Graves and the Crown of Mars – Continuation of the war, emergence of the empire

    Book 5: John Graves and the Hidden City – Discovery of the ruins of a Martian City that was not beholden to the Deep Martians

    Book 6: John Graves and the Lords Below – Discovery of the Deep Martians and part of their network of control.

    I made a little progress on Martian Phoenix, but it was mostly in outline and realignment of previous scenes with where I’m going next in the story. Word Count is 19,281 in six+ chapters of an estimated 80,000-95,000 in 24+Epilogue Chapters.

    Antarctic Honeymoon is out, but no rank yet. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, or the kindle version here. The audiobook is available here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

    Artemis Rising is #328 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,183 in Alternate History, and #1,978 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books). If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here or the kindle version here. There is also an audiobook version here. Seven reviews for Artemis Rising (thank you Emily!). More will help others find the series as well – if you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

    Celestial Accord is ranked now. #944 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,145 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,813 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

    Forging the Chain Breakers is #1,309 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,598 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #3,762 in Galactic Empire Science Fiction (not sure how that happened). If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

    Selene Unchained is #392 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #497 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,413 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, or the kindle version here. Audiobook is coming soon. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here

    Mirim’s First Christmas is #7,356 in Colonization Science Fiction, #10,823 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #13,722 in Science Fiction Short Stories. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.