Selene Unchained Audiobook is finished, a new minor character, Scarlet has another dress, and the website is being reworked. All this week’s Secret Knowledge is below…
Another new minor character. He is an opportunity for me to communicate what a good approach to sales and such is, assuming I can keep a close enough eye on ChatGPTs hallucinations about sales…
Scarlet’s arc in Martian Phoenix jumped from danger to max confrontation with no intermediate steps, so I re-wrote one of the scenes to have an intermediate step.
I’ve been having a ton of trouble with the Nrdly template for my website – so I’m in the process of ditching it. That means a lot of work on updating the website this week.
A little progress on Martian Phoenix. Since it is back in previous chapters (and not finished yet), I don’t have a new word count and such.
Antarctic Honeymoon is #1,951 in Steampunk Fiction, #6,837 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #11,294 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 #535 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #552 in Steampunk Fiction, and #1,686 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. #1,738 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,846 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,540 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 #1,215 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,291 in Steampunk Fiction, #3,298 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 #1,604 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,624 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,247 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 #11,278 in Colonization Science Fiction, #11,298 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #18,260 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.
I’m at a family reunion this weekend, so unless you’re one of my siblings, nieces, or nephews – no books available this weekend.
I created several pieces of marketing collateral (signs) for Steampunk Galveston. It also included a picture of Endeavor.
One of the most useful models I’ve even found on decision making is Col. John Boyd’s OODA Loop. In many ways, it can explain the success or failure of competitions or conflicts better than almost anything else. For example: during the Vietnam war, many significant decisions had to cycle through Washington D.C. before action could be taken on the battlefield. Both because those decision makers tended to be civilian bureaucrats instead of military officers, and Washington was literally on the other side of the world (11-12 hours difference), often US actions were too late to be meaningful. During the various conflicts in the Middle East in the last several decades, one of the first aims of US forces was to damage the ability of central dictators to coordinate with their forces. At the same time, civilian authority in Washington has tended to provide strategic direction, and leave tactical decision in theater. The OODA loop for US forces could often cycle several times before the Dictator could get word back to troops that were no longer in anything resembling the same situation. All that to say, Observation, Orientation, Decision, and Action may show up in chapter titles—and now you know the secret behind those choices…
I went to the Galveston Steampunk Festival. Sold Jam and Books. Revenue was so-so. Jam sales sucked. Book sales were several times better than any other event. I think If I have 2 more titles, I’ll be ready to go to cons with books alone. I’ve decided to try out the following at least: http://www.fencon.org/
https://guides.mysapl.org/popmadness
https://www.comicpalooza.com/
https://soonercon.com/
https://www.texasbookloverscon.com/
https://rebelscumconventions.com/
https://www.san-japan.org/
https://fanexpohq.com/fanexpodallas/
https://armadillocon.org/
https://www.p-con.us/
https://texasbookfestival.org/ Let me know if you can think of others I should try. It is looking unlikely that I’ll get into any of these this year…
One of the problems with ChatGPT is that it does its most useful work when cornered like a rat in a trap. One of the ways to do that is be very detailed about the considerations for anything it does (assess chapters, outlines, etc.). I added some more rules about, specifically, what Dolores believes a good wife looks like. https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Counsel_on_the_Worthy_Wife
Selene Unchained Audiobook is about half way reviewed. It should be released sometime next week.
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.
A little progress on Martian Phoenix. Chapters this week: Observation and Orientation – finished Decisions – started
Word Count is 25,248 in 7+ chapters of an estimated 80,000-95,000 in 24+Epilogue Chapters.
Advertising: Between May 1-20, I sold 1 ebook for $4.99 in revenue. Since I spent $42.46 on advertising, I’m still upside-down there. Still, every book sold is the chance of getting another review, the more reviews the better the chance of making sales, the more sales the closer I get to break-even…
Antarctic Honeymoon is #1,508 in Steampunk Fiction, #5,752 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #9,677 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 #635 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #2,051 in Alternate History, and #3,066 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. 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. #1,272 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,515 in Steampunk Fiction, #3,672 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 #591 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #693 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,920 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 #1,122 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,244 in Steampunk Fiction, #3,296 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, or the kindle version here. Audiobook should be finished next week. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here
Mirim’s First Christmas is #7,628 in Colonization Science Fiction, #11,003 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #13,986 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.
Just for grins-this is the list of books currently written, in progress, planned, or conceptualized.
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.
You can get autographed copies of the first three books in Selene Reborn Series (Artemis Rising, Celestial Accord, and Forging the Chain Breakers) at Wataugafest Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
The rewrite for Selene Unchained is finished. It got a little longer, and the cover didn’t fit anymore. The spine needed widening by 0.061 inches. It was checked and is live on Amazon. I’ve ordered copies and should have them by May 28, plenty of time for Galveston Steampunk. I’ll let everyone know when I have copies at the weekend markets. If you want yours earlier, order the paperback from Amazon and bring it with you – you don’t have to buy it from me to get me to sign it.
Antarctic Honeymoon started with an expositional preface. I decided to replace that with an action-focused first chapter instead. I also decided to completely rewrite the end of the book with Aira. That has the modifications to Chapter 20 – The Enclosure done, as well as the replacement Chapter 21 – The Sleepers done. I’m looking at a modification pass on the Epilogue and three more chapters to finish it out. Still trying to get it done in time to have copies for Galveston…
Artemis Rising is #182 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #630 in Alternate History, and #1,073 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. Six 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. #496 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #639 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,709 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 #498 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #647 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,722 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.
Selene Unchained is #1,538 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,803 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,221 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 #6,978 in Colonization Science Fiction, #10,394 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #13,016 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.
You can get autographed copies of all three released books in Selene Reborn (Artemis Rising, Celestial Accord, Forging the Chain Breakers) or Mirim’s First Christmas at Flying Pig Festival Saturday.
All my writing this week has been focused on integrating the feedback from my editor into Selene Unchained. I have the “tactical” edits done, and most of the chapter-level edits. Two or three of the biggest chapter-level issues are taken care of, and I should be able to address the rest of them, the biggest issue is with a potential genre shift. Sandra pointed out that Unchained has a fantasy plot-line to it and that might be off-putting to people expecting a steampunk story.
I’m not sure how to address this. My setting has three major elements driving the world building. One is the alternate history of getting rid of slavery in the early 19th century and the American Commonwealth that enabled. A second is the underlying structure of Martian society that I hasn’t really had an impact on any of the stories published so far. The third, however, is the struggle against the Old Ones. They are Lovecraftian-inspired spiritual entities that kicked off the War in Heaven and empower Zafir on the Moon. I honestly can’t see how to address Zafir’s fall without addressing the spiritual struggle to overthrow Zafir’s Old One master.
Maybe the answer is to make it clearer in my marketing that the struggle against the Old Ones is part of this Steampunk story. If it isn’t a surprise, that should work—it will just be calling out to a slightly different audience.
That’s all for this post – I’m really trying to get Unchained and, hopefully, Antarctic Honeymoon completed in time to have copies for Steampunk Galveston.
You can get autographed copies of all three released books in Selene Reborn (Artemis Rising, Celestial Accord, Forging the Chain Breakers) or Mirim’s First Christmas at Mayfest Thursday through Sunday.
The featured image is a pretty intimidating group, even for an upper-class girl from 1890’s Galveston or a Doña of Veracruz.
I also learned why the images coming out of ChatGPT seem to be so much better than they used to be. The image generator got an upgrade. So I decided to try out the new generator on getting images of Phoenix. It worked pretty good.
So with the best image of a vehicle or ship I’ve ever gotten out of ChatGPT, I decided to build an image of the other side of the delegation with Phoenix in the background.
I had some ideas for a scene currently slated for chapter 21. The image of Scarlet and Nasir came out fine, but I never could get either ChatGPT or Nano-banana to get the Courting Bench right for the Beulah-Nasir memory.
Selene Unchained came back from the editor. Sandra pointed out something that Isaac warned me about. This is a steampunk series, but Selene Unchained leans heavily into fantasy elements. Too heavily. That caused some other significant story-telling problems as well. I’ll need to fix all that in time to get books by the Galveston Steampunk event June 6. Everything else goes on hold until Selene Unchained is rewritten.
A little progress on Martian Phoenix. Chapters this week: Meeting Aliens – started
Word Count is 11,585 in three chapters of an estimated 80,000-95,000 in 24+Epilogue Chapters.
Artemis Rising. 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. Six 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.
Forging the Chain Breakers. 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. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. One review so far. (Thank you Michele!) If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
You can get autographed copies of all three released books in Selene Reborn (Artemis Rising, Celestial Accord, Forging the Chain Breakers) or Mirim’s First Christmas at the Dogwood Festival in Palestine, TX Saturday only.
Needed another opponent for Antarctic Honeymoon. This is it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinonychus Thing is, none of the dromasaurid dinosaurs were known in 1891 – and everyone thought dinosaurs were lizards, not closely related enough to birds to have feathers…
Manuscript and Dramatis Personae for the final book in Selene Reborn, Selene Unchained, was sent to the editor Monday. That is a little early, but maybe it will get back a little early as well.
Needed a new location bible entry. There are details—way more than will ever fit in a book—about the Aetherwood Research Station on Caproni Island. https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Aetherwood_Research_Station if you are interested—warning, there are likely spoilers…
Advertising: 5 sales in the past 14 days. Artemis Rising just isn’t selling at full price yet. When I get five reviews for Celestial Accord, I’ll add that.
Antarctic Honeymoon is progressing. Chapters this week: Clash of Titans – finished Pack in the Mist In the Waning Light The Enclosure Reserve for the Future – started
Word count is 67,048. Aim is 71,000-78,000. Last chapter and Epilogue are all that’s left
Artemis Rising is #251 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #897 in Alternate History, and #1,430 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. Six 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. #609 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #691 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,892 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 #598 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #684 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,852 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here or the kindle version here. The audiobook will be delayed while I finish Antarctic Honeymoon. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
Mirim’s First Christmas is #6,545 in Colonization Science Fiction, #9,826 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #12,272 in Science Fiction Short Stories. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here. I’m still working on getting free versions to be available on my website.
If you want to get early access to chapters in the current book, write a nice review for one of the current novels on Amazon or Goodreads, and email me that you’ve done it.
The box set images for Selene Reborn are done – what do you think?
You can get autographed copies of Artemis Rising, Celestial Accord, or Mirim’s First Christmas at Canton First Monday Trade Days Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
Forging the Chain Breakers is finished! I reset release for March 13. Hopefully I’ll have copies for Granbury Founder’s Day.
Editing Forging the Chain Breakers meant there were some additional threads to resolve, or at least address, in Selene Unchained. I think I have those done and it will be headed to Sandra for editing this time next month. Maybe the series will be complete by the time we go to the Galveston Steampunk Festival.
The advertising is beginning to work. Sold one ebook of Artemis Rising in February. That was only 3% of the royalties I earned, however. The other 97% were from Kindle Unlimited readers. That also doesn’t count books sold at markets.
Antarctic Honeymoon is progressing. Chapters this week: Lost Island – completed The Silver Spire – started
Word count is 43,171. Aim is 71,000-78,000.
Artemis Rising is #259 in Steampunk Fiction, #621 in Alternate History, and #189 in Steampunk Science Fiction. 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. Five customer reviews. 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.
Mirim’s First Christmas is live. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. I’m still working on getting free versions to be available on my website.
Celestial Accord copy-edit is available now. The Audible AI audiobook is also available.
If you want to get early access to Book 3 chapters, write a nice review for Artemis Rising or Celestial Accord on Amazon or Goodreads, and email me that you’ve done it.
Artemis Rising is #3,826 in Space Exploration Science Fiction ebooks, #3,785 in Alternate History Science Fiction, and #5,797 in First Contact Science Fiction. 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. Five customer reviews now (thanks Rick). I still need a more so other readers can find it, but I may start promoting with these five – if you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
Celestial Accord isn’t ranked yet. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get 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.
Mirim’s First Christmas is live. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. I’m still working on getting free versions to be available on my website.
Sandra (my editor) had a slot open up early so Forging the Chain Breakers is now in her hands. Whoo Hoo!
I used Audible AI to do a complete audio read of Artemis Rising. A number of minor fixes resulted and now I’m going through again. Hopefully after these minor fixes, I’ll be able to get a clean audio recording I’m happy enough with to publish as an audiobook. Went through another time, and got a new cover – Updated Artemis Rising with AI Audiobook is now live. If you listen to it, please leave me a review here.
I’ve heard some complaints about how small the print in the current books are, so I increased the size of the print significantly. Artemis Rising will be the first book to be released with the new, larger print.
Started the same process using AI to do a line-edit of Celestial Accord.
I also got title pages for Forging the Chain Breakers and Selene Unchained.
Antarctic Honeymoon is started. It is a stand-alone Walter & Eleanor story taking place the same time as the first chapters of Selene Unchained. Chapters this week: Preface Uncertainty and Change
Still can’t upload pictures – I’m going to see about changing web hosting companies because this is ridiculous.
Artemis Rising is #2,103 in Space Exploration Science Fiction ebooks, #2,130 in Alternate History Science Fiction, and #3,283 in First Contact Science Fiction. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here or the kindle version here. Four customer reviews now, but I need a few more to get Audible to take notice – if you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
Celestial Accord isn’t ranked yet. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get 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.
I’m recovering from surgery so no book signing this weekend
Mirim’s First Christmas is live. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. I’m still working on getting free versions to be available on my website.
Worked some more on alternate history. The Mexican Reform war sure turns out differently. I’m still not sure what to do about King Kamehameha III’s request to become a US state…
Selene Unchained has a cover, and I really like it. What do you think?
I did an AI supported editing pass of Forging the Chain Breakers. We’ll see how that works.
Did an AI Copyedit of Artemis Rising. I think ChatGPT has a tendency to go well beyond Copyedits and into Line Editing – and when it does, the line editing tends to drift into ChatGPTs voice instead of maintaining mine. I kept a tight rein on it, so drift wasn’t too bad. If you want to get early access to Book 3 chapters, write a nice review for Artemis Rising or Celestial Accord on Amazon or Goodreads, and email me that you’ve done it.
