Tag: worldbuilding

  • Forging, Alligatormen, and Advertising

    Forging, Alligatormen, and Advertising

    As announced yesterday, Forging the Chain Breakers will publish Friday. Get yours at the Granbury Founder’s Day Jubilee Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

    Somehow I messed up the paleo botany and paleo zoology of the central basin. Had to do some rework of that.

    I have another race – this one definitely not human.

    Alligatormen are an intelligent, semi-aquatic crocodilian humanoid species adapted to life in warm swamps, rivers, and coastal wetlands. Standing taller and broader than most humans, they possess powerful tails, thick armored scales, and long, tooth-filled jaws capable of crushing bone. Their society is primitive but organized: they build crude huts, maintain fires, and craft weapons from materials taken from the creatures they hunt. Their primary armament is a heavy macuahuitl-like club edged with shark teeth, used for brutal close combat, along with javelins tipped with dimetrodon teeth. Patient ambush predators both in water and on land, alligatormen rely on stealth, sudden violence, and their formidable physical strength, making them one of the most dangerous indigenous threats encountered by explorers in the swamps they inhabit.

    I also have a minor character that is going to be fun. “Am I A Mouse?” marks the third chapter the Black Ocelot has appeared in.

    I have a new poster and table sign for this weekend.

    I heard about another location that I might use at some point. Ubar—Atlantis of the Sands. This is what we know in real life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis_of_the_Sands so if I use it, it will need some… poetic license applied.

    Advertising: 9 sales in the past 14 days. $120.02 in spend, $24.91 in revenue. Still upside down there, but that may change if I can start getting sales at full price instead of just $0.99. When I get five reviews for Celestial Accord, I’ll add that.

    Antarctic Honeymoon is progressing. Chapters this week:
    Alligatormen – Finished
    Am I A Mouse?
    Clash of Titans – Started

    Word count is 54,381. Aim is 71,000-78,000.

    Artemis Rising is #147 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #446 in Alternate History, and #814 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—thank you Diane. 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 isn’t ranked yet. 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.

    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.

  • Pictures, Aetherwood, and Ginkgos

    Pictures, Aetherwood, and Ginkgos

    You can get autographed copies of Artemis Rising, Celestial Accord, or Mirim’s First Christmas at the Walnut Springs Rattlesnake Roundup Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

    I spent more time than I probably should have getting better pictures of Eleanor, Walter & Eleanor, Walter and Eleanor for their wedding, and the Antarctic Honeymoon cover mockup.

    I also took time to nail down liftwood/aetherwood details. If you’re interested, you can learn more here: https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Aetherwood

    One of the distinctive types of trees on Caproni Island are Ginkgo trees. Today, we know that one species of ginkgo – ginkgo biloba – is still extent. In 1891 – the entire family was thought to be extinct, only being rediscovered as a ‘living fossil’ in 1896. I also looked for fossil animals that were known in 1891. Unfortunately, the giant crocodiles, Titanoboa, and even giant turtles are all 21st century discoveries. I do have terrorbird fossils from the 1870’s…

    The advertising is beginning to work. Sold 5 Artemis Rising Books in the last week. That’s 10 since the ads started. It is costing me more than I’m making, so I put the e-book price back to $4.99. We’ll see what impact that has. I’ll probably do a sale in conjunction to the release of Forging the Chain Breakers.

    Antarctic Honeymoon is progressing. Chapters this week:
    The Silver Spire – completed
    Alligatormen – Started

    Word count is 47,414. Aim is 71,000-78,000.

    Artemis Rising is #450 in Alternate History Science Fiction (books), #580 in Space Exploration Science Fiction eBooks, and #699 in First Contact Science Fiction eBooks. 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.

    Celestial Accord isn’t ranked yet. 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.

    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.

  • Islands, Endeavor, and Forging

    Islands, Endeavor, and Forging

    You can get autographed copies of Artemis Rising, Celestial Accord, or Mirim’s First Christmas at the Granbury Winter Wrap-up Market Saturday.

    One location for Antarctic Honeymoon is one of the few islands near Antarctica that was known in 1891. Peter I Island, named after Tsar Peter I and discovered by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen on January 21, 1821.

    Also got a lot more detail about liftwood island. I have this entry from the original Earth discoverer. Probably won’t use it in the books.
    From the Journal of Giovanni Caproni, 1721

    (Translated from the Italian)


    The fifth day of September in the Year of Our Lord 1721, in a latitude most inhospitable and far south beyond the accustomed commerce of ships, we encountered a marvel that no chart had foretold.

    Toward the second bell of the afternoon watch, while the sea lay iron-gray and restless beneath a sky of low and sullen cloud, a bank of vapor rose before us unlike the common fogs of these waters. It did not drift nor thin as others do, but stood as if rooted in place, ascending straight upward in a white and breathing wall. The air near it grew strangely temperate. I removed my gloves and found the wind no longer cut the skin as before.

    Believing we had come upon a shoal or hidden reef, I ordered the helm eased and our speed reduced. Yet as we advanced, the mist parted in tatters and revealed a mass of stone so abrupt and prodigious that the men fell silent.

    It was an island, if island it may be called, formed not as other lands are formed, but as though a great massif of black rock had been thrust upward from the sea entire. The outer face rose sheer from the water to a height I judge no less than one thousand feet. No beach, no slope, no indentation offered entry. The waves struck and shattered below, and the spray fell back without gaining purchase.

    We stood off and circled at a cautious distance, though the fog clung close about the heights and obscured much of the summit. Once, when the fog broke entirely for a brief and providential moment, I beheld at the very heart of the island a slender spire, pale and gleaming, rising above the hidden summit. It shone not like snow nor like polished marble, but with a luster more akin to silver, though brighter and of more curious aspect. It pierced the mist as a needle through cloth and vanished again as the cloud closed.

    The air about the island was warmer by several degrees than the surrounding sea. Our instruments, such as they are, confirmed what the skin already knew. Rain fell within the fog though no storm was present above us. The wind behaved most peculiarly, as though pressing against an unseen boundary and sliding along it.

    We made a full circuit of the island, seeking a breach in the encircling wall. None presented itself. The stone ran unbroken and stern. The sea floor near its base dropped away sharply, and we dared not approach too near lest the currents seize us.

    I confess to a sensation, most difficult to describe, that this place was not merely remote but withheld. Not hidden by chance, nor neglected by navigation, but veiled as though by intention. The men murmured of enchantments and ancient fortresses, and I rebuked them, though in truth my own mind was not free of wonder.

    We took its measure as best we could through mist and uncertainty, though I place little trust in such reckoning under these conditions. Having found no means of landing and our stores not suited to prolonged experiment in these hostile waters, I resolved to record its position carefully and to leave it for another season, should Providence permit.

    If this island endures where I have seen it, it stands as a fortress of nature—or of some art beyond nature—set at the edge of the world. Should future mariners read this account, let them approach with caution and with patience, for it does not readily reveal its secrets.

    — G. Caproni

    Came up with a character bible entry for Ethan Estrada. He’ll be a frequent supporting cast member.

    Got a reply from Trinity Episcopal. The sanctuary holds 450 people comfortably. I think I’ll leave the attendance at 300 – that’s 2/3 full. I also put together a wedding photo of Walter and Eleanor.

    Got a picture of Endeavor. This is the final.

    Antarctic Honeymoon progress got put on hold due to working on integrating feedback from my editor, Sandra, on Forging the Chain Breakers – that is done now, however. She should be able to let me know early next week if I fixed enough.

    Antarctic Honeymoon is progressing. Chapters this week:
    Lost Island – progress

    Word count is 40,940. Aim is 71,000-78,000.

    Artemis Rising is #1,362 in Steampunk Fiction, #3,550 in Alternate History, and #4,721 in Alternate History 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. I still need 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, 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.

    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, Forging, Selene, Reform War

    Artemis, Forging, Selene, Reform War

    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.

  • AI, War College, and Artemis

    AI, War College, and Artemis

    Something is broken this week and I can’t post pictures. If I can get it fixed quickly, I’ll edit this.

    Artemis Rising is #4,155 in Space Exploration Science Fiction ebooks, #4,205 in Alternate History Science Fiction, and #7,536 in Exploration 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.

    You can get autographed copies of both books at the Richardson Farmer’s Market Saturday.

    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.

    I did make some edits on Mirim’s First Christmas, so it is better now.

    I spent a significant amount of time with ChatGPT fleshing out the alternate history of my setting. I have everything lined out from the deviation point of Sam Houston only receiving a minor wound at Horseshoe Bend, to the 1891 inauguration of Benjamin Harrison. As a bonus, I have a history book chapter and War College case study on the Euro-American War and a War College comparison of the Euro-American and Franco-Prussian Wars, both of which are pretty cool. They also very neatly set up the importance of decisive action and naval strength in US military thinking. That will be important by 1900…

    I’ve learned a lot more about AI, mostly how to use it to make really cool video. I also got AI to help me with outlining the rest of Selene Unchained. It did an OK job, but mostly I took only about half what ChatGPT put in the outline, did some rearranging, and a lot of editing to keep the book on track instead of going off in some sort of weird direction. I also asked ChatGPT to actually write a chapter. What it wrote fit the book about like a marine diesel engine would fit in a sports car – but it had a few neat ideas. I suspect it might not have saved me much time, but the additional ideas may have made the chapter better.

    ChatGPT does seem to do a good job of writing marketing copy. I’m much better at recognizing good copy than I am at writing it myself. With ChatGPT doing most of the heavy lifting and me doing the final edit and clean-up, I think I have really good blurbs for all four books and the series in Selene Reborn. I’m not sure changing the blurbs helped. My rankings are worse. But all four books show up as suggestions now. Check them out:
    Mirim’s First Christmas: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GC9XCR2Z
    Artemis Rising: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3K149ZQ
    Celestial Accord: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FP72PX1G
    Forging the Chain Breakers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FXTFL9K8
    Selene Unchained: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FXTJ933V
    Selene Reborn: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3NGXHYH

    The cover for Selene Unchained was started this week. That is the last cover required for the Selene Reborn Series. Once I have it, I’ll get the art for the boxed set.

    I also started a Fiverr project to get an actual illustration of Artemis. Isaac has done a great job of putting together a concept art level version, but I need something closer to photo-realistic for some of the other projects I have planned, including the boxed set graphics. That is proving to be a major headache.

    A new character added to the Dramatis Personae. Sgt Selkoryos – the second in command of the Troll troopers. He appeared first in Artemis Rising but has a little bigger part in Selene Unchained.

    Another productive week for Selene Unchained. At least some of the progress was made in chapters not listed since I put together a more detailed outline for the rest of the book.

    Selene Unchained chapters this week:
    Eldritch Summit
    A Dream of Import
    Manufactory Defense
    Bally Cluster
    Bloody Endymion
    Smelter Six

    Selene Unchained word count is 69,649, not counting Dramatis Personae (1,315 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.

  • Papa Kòt-Nwa and the Baroness

    Papa Kòt-Nwa and the Baroness

    Artemis Rising is #1,923 in Alternative History, #3,046 in Space Exploration Science Fiction, and #3,092 in Alternative History 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, thanks Michele! 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 Richardson Farmer’s Market Saturday.

    Mirim’s First Christmas just went 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.

    I needed another Old Ones daemon. This is what I came up with:
    Papa Kòt-Nwa (fic) – An Old One daemon who grants power to partially possess and trap souls. Feeds off the power of ritual worship, especially rituals enacted out of fear or dread.

    There are three first worshipers of Papa Kòt-Nwa in the story. Baroness Bahah, Qutab’s mother, Sahiqa and Nigarish. I’m actually kind of proud of the description of their dance of devotion to Papa Kòt-Nwa.

    Cover for Forging the Chain Breakers is final. Now I need the cover for Selene Unchained.

    I got a lot done on Selene Unchained this week. Thank you to Deborah who did an excellent job of protecting my writing time.

    Selene Unchained chapters this week:
    Zafir Burns His Hand renamed Kepler Station – finished
    Laughing Meadows Revisited
    Tunnel 45 Fort
    The Lesson of Forge 27
    Changing Tactics
    The Siege of Kopff Castle
    Raid on Kopff Station
    Battle of the Cloister
    Eldritch Summit – started

    Selene Unchained word count is 57,104, not counting Dramatis Personae (1,301 words).

    I worked on training ChatGPT to be my line editor. I added the style sheet from Celestial Accord to its training and had it review Mirim’s First Christmas. This is ChatGPT’s analysis:

    1. Narrative Voice & POV

    Style Sheet

    • Past tense
    • Omniscient narrator with selective interiority
    • Authoritative but restrained
    • Moral and cultural confidence without polemic

    Mirim’s First Christmas

    Exact match

    How it manifests in the manuscript

    • The narrator moves freely between:
      • Mirim’s perceptions
      • Observed social behavior
      • Cultural explanation
    • Interior thoughts are infrequent and purposeful
    • Moral judgments are implied through tone and consequence, not stated

    Notable reinforcement

    • The narrator never apologizes for tradition, faith, hierarchy, or ceremony.
    • Cultural authority is assumed, not argued.

    Conclusion:
    Mirim’s First Christmas is a textbook execution of the style sheet’s POV doctrine.


    2. Sentence Structure & Cadence

    Style Sheet

    • Medium-to-long sentences preferred
    • Subordinate clauses encouraged
    • Rhythm valued over brevity
    • Fragments allowed for voice, not laziness

    Mirim’s First Christmas

    Perfect alignment, with added sophistication

    Observed patterns

    • Frequent use of:
      • Parallel lists (foods, customs, people)
      • Clarifying clauses (“which,” “that,” “since”)
      • Gentle temporal framing (“After,” “As,” “When”)
    • Sentences often accumulate meaning rather than rush to a point

    Manuscript adds

    • A slightly more Edwardian hospitality cadence than the style sheet explicitly calls out
    • A strong “host explaining traditions to a guest” rhythm that recurs scene after scene

    Conclusion:
    The manuscript doesn’t just follow the rule—it teaches the reader how the rule feels in motion.


    3. Dialogue Philosophy

    Style Sheet

    • Dialogue serves culture, not conflict
    • Polite speech default
    • Humor through understatement and social friction
    • Dialogue punctuation follows Chicago with voice exceptions

    Mirim’s First Christmas

    Exemplary execution

    Key observations

    • Almost no confrontational dialogue
    • Characters explain, reminisce, instruct, tease
    • Humor arises from:
      • Cross-cultural misunderstanding
      • Generational differences
      • Gentle irony (especially Dolores, Eleanor, Nikola)

    Important nuance

    • Dialogue often carries exposition that would normally be narration
    • Speakers are trusted to be intelligent and articulate

    Conclusion:
    The manuscript is a model for how to embed exposition into dialogue without didacticism.


    4. Exposition & Worldbuilding

    Style Sheet

    • Embedded exposition preferred
    • Lists acceptable if contextualized
    • Worldbuilding revealed through lived experience

    Mirim’s First Christmas

    Strong confirmation

    How the manuscript uses exposition

    • Food as cultural memory
    • Ritual as theology-in-action
    • Architecture as values made physical
    • History revealed conversationally

    Where the manuscript goes further

    • Uses ritual density as pacing rather than plot
    • Treats traditions as events worth dwelling on

    This is not just allowed by the style sheet—it is its natural consequence.

    Conclusion:
    The manuscript validates that your style sheet supports “ceremonial fiction,” not plot-driven minimalism.


    5. Capitalization, Religion, and Terminology

    Style Sheet

    • Capitalize divine pronouns
    • Respect doctrinal distinctions
    • Precise theological language
    • Period-appropriate usage

    Mirim’s First Christmas

    Exact compliance

    Notable strengths

    • Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant distinctions handled carefully
    • Theology explained respectfully but confidently
    • Religious language is normal, not exoticized

    Important note

    • The manuscript proves that faith language can be frequent without becoming preachy when handled through tradition and lived practice.

    Conclusion:
    Mirim’s First Christmas is a working proof that the style sheet’s religious rules are narratively sustainable.


    6. Tone Toward Progress, Tradition, and Family

    Style Sheet

    • Civilization is inherited, not reinvented
    • Family and clan matter
    • Progress is additive, not destructive

    Mirim’s First Christmas

    Thematic alignment

    Observed emphasis

    • Marriage as covenant
    • Multi-generational continuity
    • Hospitality as moral action
    • Technology coexisting with ritual

    The manuscript does not merely obey the style—it embodies its worldview.


    7. Where Mirim’s First Christmas Adds to the Style Sheet

    These are not conflicts—these are emergent refinements you may wish to treat as implicit addenda:

    1. Ceremonial Density Is Acceptable
      1. Long stretches with minimal plot advancement are stylistically valid
    2. Lists Can Be Luxurious
      1. Food, customs, and names may be lingered over
    3. Domestic Grandeur Is a Legitimate Setting
      1. Mansions, tables, kitchens, and halls are as important as battlefields

    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.

  • Mirim’s First Christmas

    Mirim’s First Christmas

    Artemis Rising is #882 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,095 in Steampunk Fiction, and #2,414 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. One review so far, thanks Michele! If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

    Mirim’s First Christmas is finished. It is a long short story or short novella – a little longer than one tenth of a novel in length. It is mostly just a ‘slice of life’ story that explores Christmas traditions in the 1890’s. I learned a lot of neat things researching it and plan to make the eBook available for free once I get the final cover.

    The first commercial oil field in Texas was in and around Corsicana in Navarro county. It started as a mistake when the Corsicana city fathers commissioned a water well that produced oil instead. In 1897, it produced 65,975 barrels of oil that year. Now days we talk about millions of barrels a day, but in 1897, that was a lot…

    Gresham Castle takes up most of the lot it is on and didn’t have space for a carriage house. The Greshams did have a phone, however. So what they would do is call the livery stable and hire a carriage for whatever they wanted to do. At least until Eleanor perfects her Air Carriage…

    I always thought the winged lions at the gate to the house were added when Bishop Byrnie moved in. Not so. They were installed as part of the original construction and were named Oscar and Zeke. Apparently the Galveston Historical Foundation have Josephine Gresham’s diaries and so they know for sure what the names were, although the docent said they didn’t know who was who. According to a Facebook post by Ernest McKelroy, the left one when facing the castle is Oscar and the right one is Zeke.

    The enormous front doors of Gresham Castle don’t swing open. They are pocket doors. There are also a second set of plainer pocket doors that can be pulled closed to protect the main doors in a storm, or to indicate the Gresham’s weren’t in residence at the time.

    Nicolas Clayton, the architect, included several interesting innovations in Gresham Castle. One was the book shelves in the library. The shelves are adjustable to accommodate different size books – something uncommon at the time. They also had doors that slide open instead of swinging open. He also designed the house to be able to capture the sea breeze that blew in to the front of the house. The ceilings were high, 14.5 feet on the first floor, 12-12.5 on the second and third floor. The hot air would rise to the ceilings, above where people were, and would circulate toward the grand staircase and rotunda. It would rise to vents in the dome on the third floor and vent into an area above the dome. That area had skylights that could be opened at the bottom to vent the hot air out of the house. It provided some air circulation. In addition to the 2 foot thick masonry walls, the house would have been much cooler than one would expect from a pre-AC house in Galveston, Texas.

    IRL, Walter Gresham Senior was called Col. Gresham. I’ve always assumed this was because he gained the rank in the Confederate Army. In reality, he was only an enlisted man in the army and purchased his commission later after he became a professional politician. In the post-Civil War south, every gentleman of substance needed to have the title ‘colonel’…

    In the Grand Staircase, one of the stained glass windows is of St. Teresa. It was put there by the bishop after the original cherub window was lost in a hurricane.

    The research trip to Galveston and work on Mirim’s First Christmas took up most of my writing efforts this past week, but I did get a couple thousand additional words written on Selene Unchained.

    Selene Unchained chapters this week:
    Zafir Takes a Hand – finished
    Zafir Burns His Hand – started

    Selene Unchained word count is 42,273, not counting Dramatis Personae (1,251 words).

  • Trolls, Dragons, and Progress

    Trolls, Dragons, and Progress

    Artemis Rising is #228 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), #379 in Steampunk Fiction, and #680 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. One review, thanks Michele! 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 Arlington Farmer’s Market Saturday.

    I’m trying out another route to building up a following and creating content. The two are definitely intertwined. I bought into a course that helps content creators leverage AI tools to build content. That could result in a number of things – AI generated video where Walter or Eleanor or one of the other characters invites people to read the stories. AI generated audio books. Even AI generated audio books with AI generated visuals for YouTube. Although, if I do the YouTube videos, I might should just do the first 10k-20k words in a book…

    I had one of those huge ah-ha moments this week. Getting AI to write things, create images, make videos, etc. depends on prompting the right AI. AI prompt writing is a skill (small ah-ha), specifically a mental skill. Since AI is all about improving the quality of mental skills, AI can help you write better AI prompts (MAJOR ah-ha). Talk about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. I learned how to get ChatGPT to default to asking me clarifying questions when I give too vague a prompt. I learned how to get ChatGPT to identify the critical elements of a good AI prompt. I learned how to get ChatGPT to write a fill-in-the-blank good AI prompt. I learned how to get ChatGPT to analyze a logo/image/etc. and suggest how to write an AI prompt to recreate it (which you can then edit to get the variation you want). It was awesome!

    I realized that I hadn’t come up with a jam flavor to go with the third book, Forging the Chain Breakers. Moon Apple, based on Hasid’s moon apple cider, was for Artemis Rising. Bolivian Peach, based on the mocochinchi drink the Bolivians have for the Presidents’ Ball, was for Celestial Accord. I was planning an orange jam like the one Mirim made and took to the Moon, for Selene Unchained. This evening I decided to use our State Fair of Texas award-winning Peach Butter as the one for Forging the Chain Breakers. After all, since the State Fair of Texas started in 1886, an 1891 Peach Butter could, potentially, also have won a ribbon at the State Fair of Texas…

    I had an idea for a cool addition to the way liftwood works. What if one of the styles of liftwood craft that was being used for racing craft and military craft was to cover the skin of the craft with liftwood scales that could be electronically “steered”. An AI cogitator interprets control inputs into variable lift outputs on each scale allowing for far greater maneuverability. Theoretically, any point on the ship could be the point that is pushed in whatever direction. When there is a significant change in the liftwood output, the rapid change in gravity effect would make the scales appear to ripple. I also thought it would be cool to make it so when the scales are inscribed in a certain way, they absorb radio waves – making them radar absorbent. Voila, Stealth coverings… It would also put Tesla further on the road to beamed power (or deciding beamed power isn’t practical). I think Walter and Eleanor will encounter scales at liftwood island, but won’t have enough information to make a system until they see it in practice on Venusian interceptors. Yes – green scaled, long cylindrical shapes that fire lightning at enemies. Why wouldn’t lizardmen ride “dragons” into combat…

    My cover people are finding it difficult to find stock photos of powered armor. Surprise, surprise. I used came up with four possibilities and sent them to GetCovers.

    I’ve decided to not number the chapters in the manuscript document. The reason is that I use Atticus software to do the biggest part of my formatting – essentially the typesetting. Since Atticus automatically numbers chapters, it is easier to leave them unnumbered instead of deleting the chapter numbers after importing the manuscript from Word.

    Selene Unchained chapters this week:
    Lunar Atrium – Beraht’s vision added
    Dark Rituals – Beraht’s vision added
    Laughing Pastures – completed
    Zafir Takes a Hand – started
    The Beginning of the End – started, actually there are a number of chapters between Zafir Takes a Hand and The Beginning of the End, but there were some pieces of the later story I wanted to nail down before continuing in order.

    Selene Unchained word count is 34,767, not counting Dramatis Personae (1,227 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.

  • The Endymion Aerie

    The Endymion Aerie

    This is the basis for the Family Seat of the Count of Endymion Cluster. It is AI generated so I can use as much or as little as I want. Since I generated it, I don’t have to worry about copyright infringement if I use some/none/or all of it. I won’t use all the details. I won’t use the illustration without getting it modified. I probably will use it to inform the descriptions of things that take place inside it during Selene Unchained. One thing I will definitely change is that the entrance is from below, where the Endymion Cluster transit tube station is.

    Overall Structure

    Set into the crater wall itself, the mansion is a stacked honeycomb of chambers, galleries, and pressure-sealed halls. From the exterior, only a few armored windows and a shimmering energy veranda are visible; most of the estate is tunneled inward, blending neo-Victorian ornamentation with gravity-defying tech, pneumatic systems, glowing brass conduits, and gaslamp-inspired lighting strips.


    PRIMARY LEVELS (TOP TO BOTTOM)


    LEVEL 1 – SKY VERANDA & ROTUNDA (Main Entrance)

    1. Lunar Sky Veranda

    • Transparent diamond-laminate deck overlooking Endymion’s plains.
    • Atmospheric bubble field allows guests to breathe while still feeling the vacuum beyond.
    • Aetheric chandeliers “float” using mag-lev nodes.
    • Viewing telescopes with brass ornamentation, including a massive antique refractor repurposed.

    2. Grand Rotunda

    • Central reception dome.
    • Steampunk mechanical orrery showing Earth-Moon system in real time.
    • Automated coat/pressure-suit valets—polished brass arms that store EVA attire.

    3. Guest Greeting Salon

    • Plush seating, velvet, polished cavorite-pattern floors.
    • AI butlers with genteel Victorian voices.

    LEVEL 2 – SOCIAL ENTERTAINMENT WING

    4. The Nebula Ballroom

    • Zero-G option: gravity plates withdraw to let guests float.
    • Programmable starfield ceiling.
    • Orchestra balcony with robotic performers designed to look like Edwardian automata.

    5. Moonlight Conservatory

    • Hydroponic biome with engineered “silverleaf” trees that glow softly.
    • Tiny gravity wells allow floating koi spheres (fish swimming in hovering globes of water).

    6. Gentleman’s Vapor Lounge

    • Prestigious lounge with vapor-distilled spirits, cigars grown in sealed lunar greenhouses.
    • Brass pressure dials, holographic fireplace.

    7. Lady’s Galaxy Salon

    • Luxury retreat with customizable personal-gravity chaise pods.
    • Viewport windows shaped like Victorian bay windows but reinforced.

    8. The Observatory Bar

    • Half-dome overlooking the crater.
    • Mixology done by AI bartender who uses micro-gravity fountains for dramatic pours.

    LEVEL 3 – FAMILY & PRIVATE WING

    9. Master Suite Complex

    • Multi-room suite with private veranda.
    • Bed platform with selectable gravity (0.3g–1g).
    • Enormous mirrored bath sphere—water kept in hovering orb with controllable shape.

    10. Private Library (The Brass Athenaeum)

    • Tens of thousands of books in smart vacuum-resistant cases.
    • Sliding ladders and pneumatic tube book retrieval.
    • Fireplace sim simulated by plasma ribbon.

    11. Heir’s Suites (2–4 units)

    • Each with mural holo-walls that change with mood.
    • Built-in mechanical curiosities powered by micro-steam cells.

    12. Family Dining Salon

    • Small intimate dining room.
    • Crystal table with embedded navigation charts of lunar surface.

    LEVEL 4 – GUEST SUITES & HOSPITALITY

    13. VIP Guest Suites

    • Private mini-atriums, velvet-draped sleeping alcoves, personal gravity control.
    • Automated tea and aperitif service.

    14. Standard Guest Suites (16+)

    • Still luxurious: lunar stone fixtures, softlighting, privacy holo-veil windows.

    15. Grand Guest Bath Hall

    • Communal Roman-bath-inspired nano-cleanse pools.
    • Steam generated from recycled lunar ice, flavored with exotic botanical essences.

    16. Atrium Corridor

    • Wide promenade with art exhibits: antique diving helmets, mechanical insects, moon-mining relics.

    LEVEL 5 – WORKING & SERVICE WING

    17. Culinary Module Complex

    • Gravity-stabilized chef’s kitchen with gourmet nano-cookers.
    • Walk-in cryostores.
    • “Taste Lab” for experimenting with exotic proteins.

    18. Staff Quarters

    • Comfortable, compact, efficient.
    • Separate recreation room with artificial sunrise lamps.

    19. Logistics Hub

    • Storage, pressure suits, drone docks.
    • Freight elevators connected to surface landing pad.

    20. House AI Core (“Pneuma Engine”)

    • Housed within a brass-and-glass chamber.
    • Visible vacuum pistons animate as the AI “thinks” (purely decorative).

    LEVEL 6 – RECREATION & LEISURE ZONES

    21. Anti-Gravity Amphitheater

    • Circular event hall where performers float.
    • Seats mounted on vertical rails.

    22. Holographic Hunt Chamber

    • Wilderness simulations of any era or planet.
    • Gravity and atmospheric conditions adjustable.

    23. Zero-G Swimming Atrium

    • Free-floating water ribbon track; guests swim “through” suspended streams.
    • Safety nanobots prevent spills.

    24. The Clockwork Gymnasium

    • Resistance gear using mechanical flywheels, gear trains, magnetic tension.
    • Windowed wall facing the crater interior.

    LEVEL 7 – INDUSTRIAL & SUPPORT (Lowest Level, inside crater rock)

    25. Life Support Plant

    • Water processing from mined ice strata.
    • Atmospheric recyclers with exposed glowing conduits for aesthetic effect.

    26. Power Chambers

    • Fusion micro-reactor with decorative brass shielding.
    • Auxiliary solar arrays on the crater rim feed power lines.

    27. Waste Reclamation & Bio-Lab

    • Closed-loop ecological laboratory.
    • Some rooms decorated to mask the industrial nature with steam-era accents.

    28. Vehicle Hangar / Garage

    • Lunar rovers (opulent, of course).
    • Personal lander pod for Earth-Luna travel.
    • Maintenance drones in mechanical butler style.

    BONUS: SECRET / ELITE SPACES

    29. The Hidden Treasury Vault

    • Pressure-sealed vault deep within the crater rock.
    • Collection includes lunar diamonds, rare artifacts, antique clocks.

    30. Escape Funicular

    • A narrow rail car connecting to an emergency surface pod.
    • Decorated like a Victorian subway car.

    31. The Secret Observatory (“The Cat’s Eye”)

    • Microlensed telescopic array.
    • Accessible only via shifting clockwork door.

    A thousand years have passed since the Fall—when most lunar settlements went silent, their domes collapsing, their pressure systems failing, their reactors burning themselves out or sputtering into cold darkness. Endymion Crater has been untouched for centuries, save for ancient dust storms drifting lazily across its basin.

    Yet the Aerie endures.


    FIRST ENTRY INTO THE ENDYMION AERIE — 1000 YEARS LATER

    The expedition’s boots sink into fine grey regolith as they approach the carved opening halfway up the crater wall. Their helmet lights sweep across the once-grand façade: a fused-glass veranda fractured into spiderweb patterns, brass ornamentation dulled to a blackened patina, the mansion’s original glow long since extinguished.

    A gentle flicker interrupts the darkness—the docking proximity sensors.
    Somehow… there is still power.

    A faint, low hum resonates through the stone.

    When the explorers breach the entrance lock, its pressure doors grind open with the slowness of ancient machinery. A yellowed holographic welcome banner stutters to life, flickering between languages lost to time. The air that spills out carries a dry, metallic scent—thin but breathable thanks to millennia-old systems struggling on remnants of power.

    Inside, the Grand Rotunda is a cathedral of faded opulence. The central orrery still turns, though barely: its gears—once brass-bright—now brown with oxidation. Celestial spheres jerk instead of glide, and a few smaller moons hang motionless, frozen mid-orbit. A haze of dust hangs in the low gravity, drifting slowly with every footstep.

    And then the Aerie speaks.

    A ghostly butler’s voice—its diction still elegantly Victorian—echoes through the hall, distorted by ages of degradation:

    “We… welcome… distinguished guests… to the Endymion Aerie.”

    The mansion’s automated attendants struggle to fulfill programs written ten centuries before.
    Mechanical arms, stiff with corrosion, attempt to take nonexistent coats.
    A drone butler glides forward on trembling stabilizers, its once-polished shell flaking and scarred.
    Tiny sparks jump from its eye lenses as it tries to bow.

    Down the corridors, dim bioluminescent strips glow erratically—some strobing, some pulsing, others dark forever. Plants within the Moonlight Conservatory have long since died, replaced by a petrified forest of mineralized stems and ghost-white leaf imprints. Yet a few sealed hydroponic tanks still gurgle faintly, tended by loyal robotics who never understood that their garden had been dead for centuries.

    In the Nebula Ballroom, gravity plates malfunction.
    One moment the explorers feel heavy; the next, they drift upward, surprised, boots scraping the domed ceiling.
    Shattered chandeliers float freely in the intermittent zero-g, spinning like crystalline nebulae.

    Deep within the Private Library, thin motes of dust swirl in currents created by neglected air recyclers. Book spines crack at a touch. The pneumatic retrieval system hisses once, then dies mid-cycle, leaving a brass tube clattering weakly.

    Yet despite the decay, signs of the Aerie’s stubborn resilience are everywhere:

    • The reactors—far beneath the living areas—still pulse with a faint, steady heartbeat.
    • Pressure seals, though aged, still hold.
    • The Aerie’s AI, though fragmented and glitching, still attempts to care for its absent master and any visitor it believes worthy.

    Occasionally, speakers emit a half-formed memory of the mansion’s glory days—laughter, chamber music, the distant echo of a gala—audio files corrupted into eerie, dreamlike fragments.

    As the explorers descend deeper, they encounter rooms sealed for centuries, their contents untouched: a guest suite with bedding still neatly arranged; a dust-coated lounge with glasses waiting for a party that never came; an automaton pianist slumped over a keyboard, fingers paused above yellowed keys as though waiting for applause.

    The Aerie is not a ruin in the usual sense.
    It is a mausoleum of luxury, kept alive through sheer mechanical loyalty—a palace waiting for guests who will never return.

    And now, after a thousand years, it has guests once more.

  • Reading Rabbits and Polearms

    Reading Rabbits and Polearms

    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.