High Adventure Novelette published, The Walter and Eleanor Adventures, Aerokraken, Giant Amazon, Rapiers and Jians, Palestine’s Ghosts preorder, Texas Geological Survey. All this week’s Secret Knowledge is below…
You can get autographed copies of all four books in Selene Reborn Series (Artemis Rising, Celestial Accord, Forging the Chain Breakers, Selene Unchained), Antarctic Honeymoon, and Mirim’s First Christmas at Downtown Arlington Farmer’s Market on Saturday. https://malcolmupton.com/events/
Weird The Second: High Adventure is available as a stand-alone novelette. Its title is High Adventure: A Walter & Eleanor Swashbuckling Tale https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HGGYD48X There is also a series page for the Walter & Eleanor stories. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HGHPWCKX
One of the challenges the crew of Endeavor faces during Weird The Second. An aerokraken…
Jin Tao’s stronghold bristles with Dragon-Slayer Cannons, at least on the eye side approaches. But they need at least one Dragon-Slayer that can traverse enough to take care of aetheric monsters that come out of the storm. The answer is the Grand Dragon-Slayer. Of course the Endeavor Crew call it the Giant Amazon because it can shoot and, like the Amazon’s of ancient Greek legend, it only has one bazoomba… https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Grand_Dragon-Slayer
The High Adventure Weird is an Aerosphere/Pirate/Swashbuckling adventure, but it also has a nice leavening of wuxia in it (think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). So of course we have rapier’s and Chinese jian’s as weapons…
I’ve decided to put Palestine’s Ghosts up for preorder. I don’t have a final cover, or even an idea of the final cover and I’m more than three Weirds away from having a manuscript, but if I’m going to continue releasing the novellas/novelettes independently, having the link to the overall book will be a good idea. I’m also far enough along to put together a cover for the High Adventure Novelette. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HGCMWF8W
I needed a geologist for the chapter between Weird the Second and Weird the Third. Once more using actual history whenever possible made for a much better story. If I’d been writing in a completely made-up world, I would have had some geologist show up in town, possibly associated with the railroad, to explain the stone of the seal from Weird the Second. Instead I found two real people to fill that role. John R. Hearne was actually a druggist in 1890’s Palestine. He was also a pillar of the community as his election as mayor proved. Since 19th century druggists had to be pretty good chemists, and were familiar with minerals, making him a knowledgeable amateur geologist isn’t much of a stretch. And then there is Edwin Theodore Dumble. The actual head of the Texas Geological Survey during the time of Palestine’s Ghosts. He’d actually led a geologic survey of the Palestine area not long before and was very familiar with the geology there. And there are even political shenanigans going on with the Texas Geological Survey during 1894 to add a little spice.
I’ve signed up for another event. Texas Book Lovers Con Plot Tryst in the Quakertown Civic Center in Denton. Actually, I’ll probably be on the covered patio behind the civic center – but in March, that shouldn’t be a problem. https://malcolmupton.com/events/
North Texas Indie Bookstore Crawl visits this week:
Monkey & Dog Bookstore, Fort Worth
Recluse Books, Fort Worth
A House With Books, Keller
The Dock Bookstore, Fort Worth
Lucky Dog Books, Oak Cliff
Whose Books, Oak Cliff
Blush Bookstore, Oak Cliff
The Wild Detectives, Oak Cliff
Good progress this week on Palestine’s Ghosts. Chapters this week:
Weird The Second II: Through the Impossible Storm – finished
Weird The Second III: Raiding the Tollbooth
Weird The Second IV: Sphere of Worlds
Weird The Second V: Advance to the Rear
3: Capital Answers – started
Word Count is 52,987 in 12+ chapters of an estimated 70,000-130,000 in 32 chapters.
Since Artemis Rising was originally published in the middle of the month, my sales cycle ends on the 20th. July/Aug Sales: Artemis Rising sold 6 ebooks, 776 pages on Kindle Unlimited, and 3 paper books off Amazon, 1 in-person. Celestial Accord sold 1 ebook and 599 pages on Kindle Unlimited. Forging the Chain Breakers sold 1 ebook, and 735 pages on Kindle Unlimited. Selene Unchained sold 1 ebook, and 523 pages on Kindle Unlimited. Antarctic Honeymoon sold 3 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 1 book in-person. Mirim’s First Christmas had no sales. Surprisingly, Goth Galore sold 1 ebook.
Goth Galore is available as a stand-alone novella. It is #1,604 in Gaslamp Fantasy (Kindle Store), #2,335 in Gaslamp Fantasy (Books), and #6,204 in Historical Fantasy (Kindle Store). It is ebook only available here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
Antarctic Honeymoon is #1,903 in Steampunk Fiction, #6,725 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #11,177 in Exploration Science Fiction. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, or the kindle version here. The audiobook is available here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
Artemis Rising is #340 in Steampunk Fiction, #446 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), and #1,336 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here or the kindle version here. There is also an audiobook version here. Seven reviews for Artemis Rising. More will help others find the series as well – if you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
Celestial Accord is in #521 Steampunk Fiction, #544 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,659 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook version here. One review but two ratings so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
Forging the Chain Breakers is #604 in Steampunk Fiction, #807 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #2,358 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.
Selene Unchained is #621 in Steampunk Fiction, #810 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #2,424 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here
Mirim’s First Christmas is #6,783 in 90-Minute Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Reads, #12,001 in Colonization Science Fiction, and #12,253 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books). You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.