Adventure Beyond the Stars – Written for Readers Who Want More

Tag: writing progress

  • New Story – Coming Soon

    New Story – Coming Soon

    Artemis Rising is #690 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), #947 in Steampunk Fiction, and #2,030 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.

    Saturday I’ll be in Galveston doing research for Mirim’s First Christmas, so no autographing possibilities this weekend.

    Another version of Forging the Chain Breakers cover. Now the Troll is fine, but both Poot and Regdar need fixed.

    I’ve done some major rethinking about aether and “magic”. Check it out here.

    I got an invitation to try out Audible’s beta AI audio book creator. I’m also working through a course on using AI to help content creators. Between the two, I’ve decided to alter my production plans a little. I’m going to get a final version of the cover for Forging the Chain Breakers, then get the cover for Selene Unchained. When I have the covers for all four of the books in the series, I’m going to get boxed set art for the series, Selene Reborn. As far as writing goes, I’m going to finish Selene Unchained first. That way it is ready to go to Sandra in March. Forging the Chain Breakers is ready to go to Sandra in February. While I’m waiting for them I’m going to go back through Artemis Rising and do as much review and improvement as I can. Then I’ll send it to Michael for line editing. Once it is through line editing, I’ll either get Audible AI Beta to turn it into audio recordings – and an audiobook, or I’ll use some of the tools I’m learning in the AI Content Creation course to get audio recordings. Once I have the recordings, I’ll turn the recordings into YouTube videos without much of a graphic, then videos with B-roll images, then, maybe, videos with AI generated moving pictures. Once I get into that area, I will re-establish my Patreon page. $5 Cheering Section $10 [Midtier] and $100 Patron. I’ll post everything to the Patron level as soon as it is ready. I’ll post top level video (whatever that is) to Midtier one chapter per week and leave it for a while before retiring it. That way you have to be a Midtier member for more than one month to see the videos for an entire book. I’ll post top level video in Cheering Section a week after Midtier, but it will stay up only half as long. YouTube will get the first half of a book and only the first chapter at top level video. It will stay up all the time, but you can never get the whole book just on YouTube. Cheering Section gets audio and information on behind the scenes. Eventually there may be recordings from on-line get togethers with Patrons and Midtiers. Midtiers get longer, more complete access to stuff and eventually live get-togethers and recordings with Patrons. Patrons will get on-line get togethers sooner and/or more often. They will also get information about what specific things their contributions are paying for (editing, covers, etc.). Patrons will also be mentioned in the Acknowledgements. I’m also planning on using AI to improve my marketing materials and start more actively marketing my books as soon as I learn enough from the AI content creator course. At least all that is my current thinking.

    I decided to put everything on hold and put together a 7k-8k story of Mirim’s First Christmas. This will be the freebe (at least for a while). The reason for the size is that it will allow me to print a booklet version that the Galveston Historical Society can sell in their gift shop at Bishop’s Palace. I have about 7,500 words, but that includes notes and doesn’t include a lot of the story that the notes will be folded into. It also includes some recipes that may or may not end up in the final version.

    As part of the AI Content Creator course I’m working through, I uploaded Celestial Accord to ChatGPT and asked it to analyze my style. Results:

    • Omniscient but disciplined narration: clear viewpoint control, smooth transitions between exposition, dialogue, and interior reflection.
    • Intellectual density without haste: ideas, politics, technology, and theology are unpacked carefully, not rushed.
    • Competent characters: people think, plan, explain, and reason; conflict comes from circumstances and values, not stupidity.
    • Measured, classical prose: modern readability with a late-19th/early-20th-century cadence; restrained metaphors; clarity favored over flash.
    • Dialogue that carries ideas: conversations advance worldbuilding, strategy, ethics, and relationships simultaneously.
    • Implicit moral framework: faith, duty, hierarchy, and responsibility are present but not preached—shown through choices and consequences.

    That’s pretty cool.

    Selene Unchained chapters this week:
    Qutab’s Revelations
    Zafir Plots Revenge
    Zafir Takes a Hand – started.

    Selene Unchained word count is 40,310, not counting Dramatis Personae (1,251 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.

  • 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.

  • Aunt Joan, Covid, and Torries

    Aunt Joan, Covid, and Torries

    Artemis Rising is #1,977 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,122 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), and #5,491 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 Steampunk November Saturday or Sunday.

    My Aunt Joan, an author of both fiction and non-fiction, passed away recently. She was one of my inspirations to write my own books. Near the end of her life, she had one more manuscript that may have been ready to publish. I will be getting it, looking it over, and publishing it for her. We’ll have to see what that project looks like. I’ll also be looking into the idea of potentially republishing her other books.

    I came down with a bad cold, bad enough that I think it may be my annual bout with Covid. The additional sleeping and laying around in misery cut into writing time and the mental fog of congestion, malaise, and decongestants made the writing time I got less productive than usual. I did make a little progress, however. Good news is that this should keep Covid away for another year and I should be over it by the weekend.

    One challenge I’ve been working into Selene Unchained is what do they do with the loyalists? In every revolution, there are some people who prefer the status quo. Tories, White Russians, Loyalists, whatever. How do the Selenites deal with people who prefer Zafir (or at least his system) when they don’t have a Canada or Europe to send them to?

    Selene Unchained chapters this week:
    11: The Chain Breaking Begins – completed
    12: Falling Water and Laughing Pastures

    Selene Unchained word count is 19,572, 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.

  • Cover, Editing, and the Berghaus Star

    Cover, Editing, and the Berghaus Star

    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.

  • Winchesters, Orange Jam, and Advertising

    Winchesters, Orange Jam, and Advertising

    Artemis Rising is #2,045 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,139 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), and #5,429 in Alternative History. Four customer reviews (whoo-hoo)! 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.

    I needed a lighter rifle for the Recon marines. It seems everyone was looking at new rifles and changed over to something between about 1890 and 1905, but no good ones in position to be reasonably available in September of 1891. Unless Browning does his 2 week design of the Winchester Model 1892 is done in 1891 instead. So, just like in real life, he uses the Winchester 1886 as the basis, but scales it down. Also, instead of it starting out as a black powder weapon, it is a smokeless powder weapon from the outset. It also uses the .306 rifle cartridge the .306 BAR uses instead of a .303 cartridge. Another departure is that the patent is held by Crystal Keep Holdings instead of being sold to Winchester. That will net Browning a nice chunk of change since this will eventually sell over a million copies as well.

    Since the moon has a ‘day’ that is four weeks long, the people of the Moon use a convention similar to Astronauts in real life. Their day counts from the ancient Vulcan equivalent of Greenwich Mean Time. Since Venus, Earth, Mars, and Vulcan all have a 24 hour day (because this is Steampunk, not Hard Science Fiction), the day on the Moon starts 8 hours and 13 minutes before the day starts in Galveston. That’s good enough for right now. I’ll figure out more detail if I need to for future stories. For those of you that want more detail, yes, that means the Moon has essentially the same time zone as Jerusalem.

    Isaac and I had a conversation about the military campaign in Selene Unchained. He approached it from a strictly military, how would you best win the war as quickly as possible. I realized I probably had some plot holes there, despite the fact that the good guys have some significant setbacks. Without giving away spoilers, I did some significant rethinking of how the campaign would run. It is faster now, but not the ‘wham, you’re dead’ strike that Isaac first suggested.

    I needed something yummy for Elisha and Mirim to bring to the dinner when they get back to the village at Tunnel 16 Entrance. Since Stringfellow Orchards was mentioned in Artemis Rising, I decided to go back there for inspiration. Seems that Henry Martyn Stringfellow was the first to plant Satsuma oranges from Japan on the Texas Gulf Coast. I don’t want to go to the trouble of making marmalade with the peel, so Rosa helped Mirim make orange jam instead. I even have a recipe to start with if Upton’s Cowboy Kitchen ever wants to make some.

    I tried out some paid advertising. If you are keeping track, I have lower rankings on Amazon this week after the advertising than I did before. Not spending any more money, at least right now.

    Selene Unchained chapters this week:
    6: A Sorceress, A Marine, and A Spy – finished
    7: Elisha and Mirim Return
    8: Contemplations
    9: Kepler Cluster

    Selene Unchained word count is 14,317, not counting Dramatis Personae (16,121 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.

  • Ads, Hala, and Charlie

    Ads, Hala, and Charlie

    Artemis Rising is #1,987 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,130 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), and #5,325 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.

    I finished the chapter that introduces Hala. I must admit, I’m really disliking Zafir – in the words of the old Texas salt, he needs a good killin’. I really like Hala – if you’ve been reading these you know her name means moon, but has the additional connotation of ‘ethereal beauty’. I thought that was perfect for the character and the role she would play in Book 4.

    I spent some money on ads on Facebook and Instagram. We’ll see if they are worth it. Even if they only make 50% of the investment back, there is enough information about the efficiency of the ads that I may be able to get to break-even on the next round. If I can do that, with some tweaking, I should be able to get beyond break-even. Even if it is only break-even, if I’m selling ten or fifteen books a week, that will help me get some momentum.

    Honestly, I found it really hard to concentrate this week. I was really bummed over Charlie Kirk’s assassination. I know he is with the Lord. I know we will see him again. I know that, like many Christian martayrs, he is likely to have more impact in death than he did in life – and he had a huge, history-changing impact in life. I’m still bummed that one of the biggest advocates for dialoge and free speech, the peaceful exchange of idea, was taken from us. Over and over I thought about Obi-Wan’s words to Vader, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine”

    Selene Unchained chapters this week:
    1: An Air Car Ride
    2: Plotting Freedom
    5: Hala – finished
    6: A Sorceress, A Marine, and A Spy – started

    Selene Unchained word count is 9,248, not counting Dramatis Personae (775 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.

  • Recon Marines, Covers, and Editing

    Recon Marines, Covers, and Editing

    Artemis Rising is #1,822 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,109 in Steampunk Fiction (Kindle Store), and #5,282 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.

    I’ve decided that the way the Defender Marines chose their 12 Recon Marines is they first asked for volunteers. Then they had the 35 Marines who volunteered fight their way through a gauntlet of opponents using exercise weapons that assess when a Jager marine is wounded or incapacitated. Then the five lowest scoring were eliminated. Without time to rest, they fought through the gauntlet again and the five lowest scoring were eliminated. Without time to rest, they fought through a third time and the five lowest scoring were eliminated. The remaining 20 were divided into five groups of four and put through seventy hours of capture the flag combat with a only seven two-hour breaks. Before the capture the flag rounds, they were told that the highest scoring troopers would have the opportunity to choose a partner to team up with in future exercises. After the rounds, the trooper with the highest combat score was allowed to choose any other trooper as his partner. The highest scoring trooper remaining was allowed to choose any remaining trooper as his partner until there were 10 pairs of troopers. The pairs then had to fight each of the other nine pairs of candidates and go through the gauntlet as a pair four additional times. In the end, two of the pairs self-eliminated and the two lowest scoring pairs were dropped leaving six pairs of recon troopers.

    Line editing for Cosmic Accord began this week. A slight hiccup – I sent the editor the manuscript for book 3 instead of book 2. He caught that pretty quick and he has the right one now.

    Also had some issues with the Book 2 cover. We’re having trouble finding a photo of someone for Ima. This one is too young and doesn’t have the right hair. Maybe for next week.

    I did get some modifications for the map in Book 2 and my mapmaker is working on an update of the map for Book 3.

    Selene Unchained chapters this week:
    1: Planning to Break the Chains – finished, but will be extensively reworked
    2: Consulting the Mage
    3: Beraht
    4: Hala – started

    Selene Unchained word count is 7,584, not counting Dramatis Personae (775 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.

  • Finalizing Celestial Accord

    Finalizing Celestial Accord

    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.