Artemis Rising is #1,820 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,928 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), and #4,772 in Alternative History. 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. No reviews yet either – if you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
You can get autographed copies of both books at the Keller Indianettes Craft Show Saturday or Sunday.
I’ll be having an author meet and greet in March at The Reading Rabbit in Azle. Hopefully I’ll have Forging the Chain Breakers available by then.
Found out a polearm with a hook to pull knights off horses and a spike to finish them off is called a guisarme. Yes, most polearms at least started as peasant tools put on a longer pole to serve as an improvised weapon. The low place in a crenelated castle wall are the embrasiers. Also found out that the effective range of a modern hunting crossbow is about 40-50 yards. Not very useful against a BAR…
Selene Unchained chapters this week: 11: The Chain Breaking Begins – reworked 12: Refugee Policy 13: Dark Rituals 14: Falling Water 15: Baron Qutab Strikes Back 16: Laughing Pastures – started
Selene Unchained word count is 30,440, not counting Dramatis Personae (1,123 words).
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 #1,904 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,044 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), and #5,260 in Alternative History. 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. No reviews yet either – if you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
You can get autographed copies of both books at Funky Finds Saturday or Sunday.
Steampunk November was an excellent chance to sell books – better than any other event so far. I had a chance to talk to several other authors about places they go to sell books. It was also kind of cool to be in a place with a lot of other steampunk fans. I’m looking into other events like it. If you know of one, let me know.
The cold is still making everything harder than it should be. I did make a little more progress, however. Maybe I’ll be over it by this weekend…
Selene Unchained chapters this week: 11: The Chain Breaking Begins – completed 12: Falling Water and Laughing Pastures – started
Selene Unchained word count is 20,714, not counting Dramatis Personae (988 words).
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 #1,996 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,132 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), and #5,469 in Alternative History. 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. 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.
You can get autographed copies of both books at the Lightning Dancers Craft Show Saturday or Sunday.
There is a new description of the first series Selene Reborn. Please check it out here and let me know what you think.
The modifications and additions to Celestial Accord lengthened the book and it needed a very slightly wider spine on the cover. GetCovers.com took care of it for me and the physical book with new front matter and line editing will be available by the end of the week.
Now that Celestial Accord is put to bed, I’ve been able to spend most of my writing time on Selene Unchained. Some of the chapters I’d already written needed modifications, and some were replaced or massively modified.
Ima’s son, the Platoon Sargent, talks to his Platoon Commander about Kobolds. I did some research about Kobolds in German folklore and it was really interesting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobold
Selene Unchained chapters this week: 1: An Air Car Ride – minor modifications 6: A Sorceress, A Marine, and a Spy – minor modifications 7: Elisha and Mirim Return – minor modifications 8: Selene Revealed 9: More Messengers, Better Message 10: The Lunar Atrium 11: The Chain Breaking Begins
Selene Unchained word count is 19,229, not counting Dramatis Personae (975 words).
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 #1,992 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,154 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), and #5,464 in Alternative History. 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.
Book Signing Saturday 10-2 at the Downtown Arlington Farmer’s Market – both Artemis Rising and Celestial Accord will be available.
Michael, my line editor, finished this week. I should have the modifications integrated into the master manuscript by the end of the day Wednesday. I’ll integrate the additional map and family tree and get updated versions of the book on Amazon before the end of the week. There will probably be a couple of days delay to the release, but it will be better because of that.
The complete Selene Reborn series is now visible on Amazon. The publication dates for books 3 and 4 may change, the covers certainly will, but it allows the whole series to be seen.
Isaac finished beta reading Forging the Chain Breakers. Thank you! I have his comments integrated now. I also started putting Selene Unchained (book 4) out for Beta Reading.
The first copies of Celestial Accord came in Friday. See me at markets on the weekends to get a signed copy.
I received the map of the American Commonwealth from Tomas. It will be added to the next printing of Celestial Accord.
I have the final family trees from all four artists – let me know which one you think should go into Celestial Accord
Final Family Tree from Olha Maksymtsiv:
Final Family Tree from Adnan Thana:
Final Family Tree from Reyhane Hoseyni:
Gresham Family Tree f
Final Family Tree from Nadee Diwakara:
Selene Unchained chapters this week: 1: An Air Car Ride – minor modifications 6: A Sorceress, A Marine, and a Spy – minor modifications 7: Elisha and Mirim Return – minor modifications 8: Selene Revealed – begun 9: Contemplations – may need revisions 10: Kepler Cluster – may need revisions
Selene Unchained word count is 17,268, not counting Dramatis Personae (975 words).
Artemis Rising is #2,021 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,159 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), and #5,492 in Alternative History. 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.
This week was consumed by preparing for a huge weekend for jam sales, a visit to San Antonio to see the new nephew and reviewing editing notes for Celestial Accord. Actually, I did make some progress with the artists working on the world map and family tree for Celestial Accord, but nothing on Selene Unchained.
Artemis Rising is #2,057 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,138 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), and #5,430 in Alternative History. 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 has a finalized cover. It took a lot more time and effort this time than the previous three times I’ve used GetCovers.com. I must have had someone new or something. For the first time I had someone use one of the image slots for images that I hadn’t approved and they charged me for additional ones. The cover artist also seemed to have trouble following directions. Oh well, the final product looks fine.
Michael, my line editor, finished his edits and returned the manuscript to me to approve/disapprove edits. I’m going to review them and we’ll have a conversation about word/style choices before he finishes the cleanup. That is where all my effort is going to be focused until it’s finished. That should put Celestial Accord on track for release at the end of October. Even if we are a little late for that, with the cover, I’m releasing the current version on October 31. Available for ebook pre-order now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FP72PX1G
I’m working with some other artists on two additions to the front matter. One is a Gresham family tree, since the various in-laws, brothers, cousins, etc. have such a significant impact on the story. The other is a map of the American Commonwealth. I’m working with Tomas again on that. I’m hoping he can base it on the Berghaus Star projection of the world map.
A new, probably minor, character for Selene Unchained: Name: Commander Hrodger, Commander of the 1st Company of the Defender Marines. Age: 97 earth years (appears Late 40s) Race/Species: Human (Defender Base Selenite) Physical Appearance: Broad-shouldered and stern-faced, Hrodger has close-cropped iron-gray hair and a jagged scar bisecting his left eyebrow. He wears his Jager battle suit with the comfort of decades of experience in one. https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Commander_Hrodger
Selene Unchained chapters this week: 9: Kepler Cluster
Selene Unchained word count is 15,669, not counting Dramatis Personae (890 words).
If you want to get early access to Book 2 chapters, write a nice review for Artemis Rising on Amazon or Goodreads, and email me that you’ve done it.
Artemis Rising is #2,059 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,550 in Steampunk Fiction, and #5,120 in Alternative History. Still at 3 customer reviews. 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.
A Copy Editor has been chosen for Celestial Accord and the manuscript will be headed that direction in a couple of weeks. Chances are we’ll be finished by October and it can be published by Halloween. OK, so that is 4th Quarter, not 3rd Quarter or mid-2025, but it will be better for the wait, I promise.
The Shadowy Man needed some bribe money. Being a child of the late 20th Century living in the early 21st, I immediately thought of a Franklin, a $100 bill. Thing is, $100 in 1891 was the equivalent of about $3500 today. There were $100 bills, but they were used like bearer bonds are used today – they exist, but you won’t see them in the cash drawer of a retail business. Next thought was a Jackson, a $20 bill. They existed, in fact they would occasionally show up in retail commerce. This was because there was a law that the US government had to buy a certain amount of silver every month and the government printed special bills to make the purchases. They weren’t really common, however. What were common were the various gold coins. A double eagle was a $20 gold coin and these were what tended to show up in circulation.
In the 1780’s John Fitch engaged the services of Henry Voigt to help him invent and build a steam engine to power a water craft. The reason he had to develop his own steam engine is because Britain had a technology embargo against its former colony and wouldn’t let the Watt steam engine be exported to the US. That first steamship in the US was the Perseverance.
In 1891, Patrick “Pat” Tiernan was Sheriff of Galveston County. Richard H. Tiernan was the only deputy sheriff listed in the 1890-1891 directory. I guess there’s nothing like keeping it in the family…
Learned some things about Old German names. Adal means “noble”. Beraht means “bright”. Gunda means “battle”. Hart means “hard, firm, brave, hardy”. Gar means “spear”. Learned Nikkal was a goddess married to the Moon in the ancient Levant. There was an ancient Arab moon goddess known as Al-lat (literally the goddess). The Arab female name, Hala, means “moon’s halo” representing ethereal beauty. The Arab female name, Mayar, means “glow of the moon” representing radiance and warmth.
Charon, the largest moon of Pluto, has features such as the Spock, Kirk, Uhura, Skywalker, Organa, and Vader craters. I guess they ran out of gods and old dead guys…
Finished Forging the Chain Breakers this week: 37: The Marine Council (most of Military Pow-Wow moved to chapter 40) 38: Once More Into The Cave 39: Gaisarix Roll-Out 40: Military Pow-Wow 41: Plans for Selene Unchained 42: The Baron Raises The Stakes
Forging The Chain Breakers final word count is 72,567, not counting Dramatis Personae (2,629 words). Developmental Editing scheduled for February.
Selene Unchained chapters this week: Prologue: Zafir Needs a Replacement 1: Planning to Break the Chains – started
Selene Unchained word count is 1,600, not counting Dramatis Personae (295 words). Developmental Editing is tentatively scheduled for March because Sandra is such a professional.
If you want to be a beta reader and comment on Book 2 chapters, write a nice review for Artemis Rising on Amazon or Goodreads, and email me that you’ve done it.
Artemis Rising is #1,964 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,356 in Steampunk Fiction, and #4,795 in Alternative History. Still at 3 customer reviews. 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.
Discovered that John Browning invented the guns and Matthew Browning sold them. Kind of like how Eleanor and Walter divide the work. I went back and rewrote the parts with the Browning brothers.
My editor, Sandra, returned the rewrite of Book 2, so I tied up Forging the Chain Breakers and started working on integrating the edits instead. I have them all integrated now. Title is now “Celestial Accord”. I have an order for a new cover from GetCovers.com. I have a request for copy editing on Reedsy. Release by the end of September if I’m really, really, lucky. Chances are it will be at least October instead <sigh>.
Forging the Chain Breakers chapters this week: 36: Browning Assault Rifles 37: A Military Pow-Wow – started
Forging The Chain Breakers word count is 65,912, not counting Dramatis Personae (2,506 words)
If you want to be a beta reader and comment on Book 2 chapters, write a nice review for Artemis Rising on Amazon or Goodreads, and email me that you’ve done it.
Artemis Rising is #1,845 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,043 in Steampunk Fiction, and #3,818 in Alternative History. Still at 3 customer reviews. 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.
I needed a place for the New York City aeroport on Staten Island. The Edison Aeroport takes up the shore of Staten Island from the Tottenville Station to Mill Creek and from the shoreline to the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad. I also had to figure out how an aeroport would work. They wouldn’t have long runways and terminals like modern airports because they don’t have heavier than air aircraft and the passenger and cargo access such aircraft have. Especially since this is Steampunk, we decided that liftwood cargo ships, passenger ships, and military ships would all dock at towers. Gantry connecters would come out and connect to the ship and provide just the right amount of external power to keep the ship steady on the tower. Stability arms would come out to pre-designed hardpoints and lock in place to hold the ship steady in high winds. Passenger tunnels would extend to passenger hatches. Cargo ramps would connect to cargo hatches – all sorts of connections and complex machinery with plenty of gears…
I got to thinking about where Aeroports, especially Aeroports with significant military forces, will be in 1900. I decided they would be Galveston, Texas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Staten Island, New York; San Francisco, California; London, England; Antwerp, Belgium; Le Harve, France; Bremen/Bremerhaven, Germany; Genoa, Italy; Vienna, Austria-Hungry; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Moji, Japan. It’s going to increasingly suck the farther down that list the city is…
In 1891, the British military used the Lee-Metford rifle chambered in .303 black powder. It weighed about 9.5 pounds, was almost 50 inches long with a 30 inch barrel. It was magazine fed from an 8 or 10 round magazine and had a rate of fire of about 20 rounds/minute.
My initial thoughts about Defender Marine firearms: Major Regdar and Walter visit Ogden Utah to talk with John Browning about designing weapons for the Defender Marines. Their electromagnetic guns are kludgy, prone to break, and not known for their accuracy. They do, however, have a very good design for a reloadable magazine. Walter encourages Browning to use the new smokeless powder and a magazine based on the lunar one for his design. Since this is about 3-7 years earlier than IRL, Browning’s automatic and semi-automatic weapons are developed earlier as well. Jagers at first carry a rifle similar to the Remington Model 8 (invented early) with a 20 round magazine. It is later replaced by an improved version similar to the M1 Garand, again with a 20 round magazine. Trolls at first carry a version of the M1895 Colt-Browning Machine Gun with a 30 round magazine, later a 100 round drum magazine. Later replaced by a version of the M2 (Ma Duce), with a 100 round drum magazine, although it can also be belt fed. These may have a cooling circuit designed by Nikola to cool the chamber and barrel using something like the cooling coils of the freeze cannon.
I got a new notional picture for the Troll troopers armed with their .50 Browning Assault Rifles. It is the picture that will be used for, at least, Forging the Chain Breakers, although it may also be the notional background picture for Selene Unchained. I like the Troll much better, but I like the old Moon background better. My guess is the GetCovers folks will probably make something even better – they have every time so far…
I’ve decided that when Walter and Eleanor go to the 1891 Cornell graduation to recruit engineers, they will offer five work/study opportunities to work for Gresham Aerospace and study engineering from the Crystal Keep. Three of the engineers, Juan Almirall, Robert Burwell, and Oren Heilman will go on to be the foundation of the engineering team for Gresham Aerospace. Two, Clarence Cory and Warren Meeker will become the initial Earthborn faculty of Crystal Keep University – Galveston. Cory was the real life first professor of mining and electrical engineering for UC Berkley. Meeker was the real life longest serving faculty member of the Iowa State University College of Engineering.
I’ve decided that I will only have the first four or five books be a real series. Artemis Rising will be directly followed by Book 2 will be directly followed by Forging the Chain Breakers, maybe Antarctic Honeymoon will be next, but I might jump directly to Selene Unchained. All the rest of the planned books I’ll try to make stand-alone. They share a setting and characters, but I’m going to aim to make each one stand on its own without the reader needing to read another book to understand what’s going on. I’m not sure how to organize that on Amazon. I may just say they are Victorian Interplanetary stories and not put a number on them and make the first 4-5 books the series Selene Reborn. What do y’all think?
Current titles with votes: The Moon’s Secret Envoy -2 The Moon’s Surprise Envoy -1 A Celestial Accord – 2 Moon Comes Down – 1 Selenites Path – 2
Chapters this week: 28: Galveston Aeroport Company 29: Aero Reconnaissance 30: Completed Sanctum 31: The Trolls Seize Fire 32: Facing the New Council 33: Military Update 34: Where Will it Fit? 35: A Beginning and a Milestone 36: The Browning Order – started
Forging The Chain Breakers word count is 61,959, not counting Dramatis Personae (2,472 words)
If you want to be a beta reader and comment on Book 2 chapters, write a nice review for Artemis Rising on Amazon or Goodreads, and email me that you’ve done it.
Artemis Rising is #336 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,639 in Steampunk Fiction, and #1,258 in Alternative History. Still at 3 customer reviews. 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.
Thomas Lucas, who lives across Broadway from Gresham Castle, may be an alternate builder for at least the upgrades to First Hangar. Information about Thomas Lucas IRL.
If you haven’t sent a reply with feedback about the title for book 2, please review the list of title suggestions and hit reply.
Not as many chapters this week. Two reasons, Deborah and I spent several days celebrating our 39th wedding anniversary. It takes longer for us old people to celebrate things – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it… Also, what the Shadowy Man is getting up to will be talked about more in this book than originally planned. That means adding some pieces in some of the already completed chapters.
According to the 1890-1891 Galveston City Directory, page 179, David Fahey was proprietor of Uhrig’s Cave saloon, 2102 Market on the corner of 21st Street. Residence same. That is more than enough to inspire even a half-way decent writer to create a setting for the Shadowy Man to pump the bricklayers for information.
John Locke (h) – Bricklayer in Galveston. Roomed with Fannie Stone. I added that he was from Eastside London because I wanted the Cockney accent. His friends were John Lipscomb (h) and George Blake (h) both historical bricklayers that I decided were Galveston natives.
Historically in 1891 there were three foundries in Galveston. One, Lee Ironworks, part of the C. B. Lee & Co. complex, was right near the railroad depot and was the run by the Alderman for the 6th Ward (Northwest Galveston), Charles Lee. Guess where Walter and Company got the steel plates to cover Nike and Artemis…
I’ve had a couple of questions about plans for future books. Those plans have changed a lot since I sat down to write Artemis Rising almost a year ago now. Currently, as of the changes made this morning, the plan looks like this:
The Rise of the Selenites (Series): Artemis Rising [Book 2 – please send your title suggestions] Forging the Chain Breakers Selene Unchained
The Adventures of Walter and Eleanor: Antarctic Honeymoon – may be book 4 of 5 in Rise of the Selenites Secrets of Kilimanjaro
Others: Flight of the Phoenix Beware the Wrath of Magi
Ideas that may become books: Return to Mars – A Walter and Eleanor adventure Getting a Clue – A Walter and Eleanor adventure Old Ones In England – A Walter and Eleanor adventure Fish People of the Amazon – possibly a Walter and Eleanor adventure Secrets of the Sphinx Floating Cities of Venus Dark Side of Mercury Secrets of Ceres Bombing Iapetus War of the Worlds – may be a series War in Heaven – may be a series Emory Upton in Mexico The Rise of Amir Al-Jalil Mike Powell on Mars
Plenty of untold stories and all that assumes I don’t get enough feedback from readers about wanting more story somewhere not covered by this list…
Chapters this week: Shadowy Man additions 2 Chapters split (additional 2 chapters) 27: Preparations for the Council 28: Galveston Aeroport Company – started
Forging The Chain Breakers word count is 48,947, not counting Dramatis Personae (2,183 words)
If you want to be a beta reader and comment on Book 2 chapters, write a nice review for Artemis Rising on Amazon or Goodreads, and email me that you’ve done it.
