Adventure Beyond the Stars – Written for Readers Who Want More

Tag: writing progress

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First video created, Spooky Spectacle, Austin 1894, Gov Hogg & Ima, Visita de San Miguel Arcangel, Sekmet Valkyrie, the Impossible House revealed, Eleanor’s pistols, Chekov’s Exits, Visual reference cards, Artemis’ cockpit, Steam Traction Engine, First Hangar, Tesla bench test, Selenite Tunnel, Zafir, Freeze Cannon, Moonblossom arch, Selenite Vacuum Suit, Selenite Utility Carrier, Tunnel 16 Entrance, Transit Tube System, Hardcovers. All this week’s and last 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/

Spooky Spectacle is coming soon – come visit me in Granbury for this event.
Saturday: https://www.facebook.com/events/2451040095383878 and Sunday: https://www.facebook.com/events/1061766609963267

Walter, Eleanor, and Sekmet flew to Austin to consult with the Texas State Geologist. Landing Endeavor in the middle of Austin would be a bad idea, so Walter contacted Gen. Mabry of the Texas Guard to use the parade field at the brand new Camp Mabry northwest of Austin. It was only 18 months old at the time, but was already raising money for expansion by staging mock battles for people in the summer – hence the grandstands. When they took the carriage into town, the passed the main building for the fairly new University of Texas on its 40 acre campus. They ended up at the new Capitol building, completed only 6 years previously.

While I was researching the Texas Geologic Survey and Texas State Geologist Edwin Dumble, I discovered that the Texas Geologic Survey had been partially defunded in 1893 and completely defunded in 1894. That led to trying to find out why. It appears that when Texas Governor Jim Hogg was trying to deal with reduced revenues due to the Panic of 1893, he was convinced by some of his advisors to stop wasting money on unnecessary luxuries like scientific inquiry – including the Texas Geologic Survey. Governor Hogg later told geologists that cutting spending for the Survey was one of his most regretted decisions. And yes, his only daughter was named ‘Ima’. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ima_Hogg She would have been 8 going on 9 when the Selenites visited Galveston. I wonder what a meeting between the child Ima Hogg and the adult Ima Wenizasdautr would be like…

I needed a location and some background for the scene that convinced Walter & Co to enter the Impossible House. Before everything was said and done, I had a little information for the chapter, more information for the rest of the book, and a lot more information that may never come out. Note: There are definitely spoilers in the link, and they might not all be spoilers for Palestine’s Ghosts, but if you want to know: https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Visita_de_San_Miguel_Arc%C3%A1ngel

I may be writing myself into something of a corner. I really need to be careful, because I do want to write the story where Walter and Eleanor are Vikings and Sekmet is a Valkyrie…

The time has come for Walter, Eleanor, and Sekmet to enter the Impossible House. Of course it isn’t as easy to describe their entry into the Impossible House if I don’t have a clear idea of what the place looks like. So I got ChatGPT to find me some period-appropriate floor plans and picked this one. Got a colorized version for Saturday morning when they arrive, and three versions of how it might look on a spooky night.

Whovians will recognize that there is a difference between something being bigger on the inside and something being smaller on the outside. The Impossible house is that way. Maybe…

By the time of Palestine’s Ghosts, Eleanor has been in too many situations and seen too much… stuff to go around unarmed. She is still a lady, however, and doesn’t do the whole Annie Oakley thing. Instead, she carries a .32 caliber Smith & Wesson Safety Hammerless Revolver (developed early) for everyday carry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_%26_Wesson_Safety_Hammerless It fits in a pocket Argos specifically makes in her dresses to hold it. For expeditions where she might need a firearm, she carries a Colt Model M. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Model_1903_Pocket_Hammerless It is also a .32 caliber, but has a 8-round detachable box magazine. She normally carries it in a shoulder holster under her coat with three loaded magazines in holsters on the other side. Of course Argos ensures that both the holster and the coat are designed so that her firearms don’t detract from her lady-like appearance.

Some of you may be familiar with the idea of “Chekov’s gun” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun In Weird the Third, we actually have two instances of Chekov’s exit. And… I don’t think I’ll explain any more – Spoilers…

I’m working on a video ad for Artemis Rising. Part of the reason is that I’m competing in an AI video ad competition. Part of it is that I have access to an AI marketplace that gives me access to a bunch of stuff. I might even end up redoing the narration on my books and using AI voices since I’m not confident in my ability to do them myself. As part of the work on the ad, I needed high quality reference cards on Walter, Eleanor, and Nikola.

I also needed a reference image for Artemis.

And these went into the reference image of Artemis’ cockpit.

So in the 1890’s Case Manufacturing made a lot of steam-powered traction engines. But Lee Ironworks in Galveston made boilers, steam machinery, and such. There is no reason they couldn’t have made a steam traction engine for Gresham Steamship Co.

I needed an image of First Hangar in Texas City on the morning of Artemis’ launch on her first trip to the Moon. It is surprising how much work went into this set of images, and they likely will only be used for about 5 seconds or so.

Tesla testing his drive pod will also show up in the ad.

I’ll also need the Selenite Tunnel where Artemis was repaired.

It wouldn’t be a good ad for Artemis Rising without Zafir. I must admit, he came out more creepy than I expected.

And I will probably even get to put the Freeze Cannon into the ad.

These are a couple of images from the agricultural cavern of Tunnel 16 Entrance Community.

Another element I needed for the ad was the vacuum suits the Selenites use. I even considered how to make them “off the rack” and able to fit women’s anatomy into the chest area.

I also made a set of references for the utility vehicle that Eli had. I finally have a reference image of the lunar all-metal wheels. If I use it consistently, that should help the AI keep from getting confused.

Tunnel 16 Entrance. The first significant location on the Moon. I had to create the crater wall, scale it, get an entrance and then spent hours getting the Artificial Idiot to put the entrance in correctly. But it is there now.

I needed the cars, station, and tunnels of the Transit Tube system. These are basically what I was thinking of, although they came out a bit brighter and lighter. Which isn’t a bad thing.

I finally got the video ad finished Tuesday night. I had 2 hours to spare and just shy of 17% of my AI credits left. Not quite the last minute and last credit, but pretty close. I haven’t had to learn so much so fast in a long time. Now we’ll just have to see how well people like it. https://malcolmupton.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Artemis-Ad-1-v9.mov It will be on the Artemis Rising page on Amazon by the end of the week. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3K149ZQ

I did get the updated covers and hardback versions of some of the books done. Probably by the end of the week hardback versions of all these will be available on Amazon.

Artemis Rising: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJ7H71FQ
Celestial Accord: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJ7H18MS
Forging the Chain Breakers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJ7CPHPY
Selene Unchained: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJ7PKN6J

Some progress last week on Palestine’s Ghosts before I dived into Video creation and editing:
3: Capital Answers – finished
Weird The Third I: The House of Doors – started

Word Count is 63,367 in 14+ chapters of an estimated 70,000-130,000 in 32 chapters.

High Adventure is available as a stand-alone novelette. It is #1,236 on Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,421 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,259 in Action & Adventure Short Stories (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.

Goth Galore is available as a stand-alone novella. It is #1,962 in Gaslamp Fantasy (Kindle Store), #2,904 in Gaslamp Fantasy (Books), and #8,120 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 #2,373 in Steampunk Fiction, #8,454 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #13,178 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 #543 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #606 in Steampunk Fiction, and #1,799 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 #632 Steampunk Fiction, #1,110 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #2,601 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 #631 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,204 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #2,600 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 #639 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,241 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #2,625 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books). 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 #6,862 in 90-Minute Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Reads, #12,118 in Colonization Science Fiction, and #12,495 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.

September 9, 2026
High Adventure Novelette Published

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 19^th 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 20^th. 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.

August 26, 2026
Goth Galore Is Live

Goth Galore Novella, Merry Men of Endeavor, Master of Nine Winds, Sphere of Worlds, Missouri Terror Birds, Gen Sam Houston for President, 40^th Anniversary. All this week’s Secret Knowledge is below…

Goth Galore, Weird the First for Palestine’s Ghosts, is available as a stand-alone novella. It ended up at 26,223 words making it a Novella, not a Novelette. At this rate, Palestine’s Ghosts will be more than 160,000 words – way longer than I’d like. Of course Weird The First used an entire novel, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, as inspiration. I’m looking at short stories or portions of stories for the rest. Maybe I can keep the rest of them a little more focused. I did decide to go ahead and publish it as an ebook. It is minimum price of $0.99 for now. I will probably increase the price after the whole of Palestine’s Ghosts is published.

I also started work on Weird the Second: High Adventure. This is going to be more light-hearted, a swashbuckling adventure with a supporting cast of merry rogues. In fact, they purposefully use Robin Hood nicknames – even if the tie is… tenuous. For example, “The Sheriff” is called that because he doesn’t like to participate in the “foolishness.” The fact that he hates the nickname just makes it stick harder. Besides, Eleanor gets to wear pants and shoot aetheric pistols… https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Crew_of_the_Aerosphere_Endeavour

Jin Tao, Master of the Nine Winds, is a wuxia master and dabbler wizard that is the main antagonist of High Adventure. He is an extraordinary man who can only see how others are better, and envy them. https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Jin_Tao,_Master_of_the_Nine_Winds

The Sphere of Worlds is responsible for the Weird goings on in Weird the Second.

A lot of time this week was spent on our 40^th Anniversary trip to Branson, Missouri. The intent was to spend some time together – which was accomplished. We wanted to do some things together – accomplished. Deborah didn’t have super strong opinions about what to do – so we saw stuff that was cool and might make good inspiration or locations for a story or two of Walter and Eleanor in the Ozarks. It’s gonna be a challenge finding a place to park Endeavor…

Good progress this week on Palestine’s Ghosts. Chapters this week:
Weird The First V: Seals and Good-byes – completed
Chapter 2: A Weird Week
Weird The Second I: Endeavor’s Merry Men
Weird The Second II: Through the Aetherstorm – started

Word Count is 39,337 in 8+ chapters of an estimated 70,000-130,000 in 32 chapters.

Goth Galore is available as a stand-alone novella. It is #1,112 in Gaslamp Fantasy (Kindle Store), #1,631 in Gaslamp Fantasy (Books), and #4,109 in Historical Fantasy (Kindle Store). It is ebook only available here.

Antarctic Honeymoon is #1,653 in Steampunk Fiction, #5,829 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #10,037 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 #334 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #398 in Steampunk Fiction, and #1,119 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 #657 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #787 Steampunk Fiction, #2,130 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 #570 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #674 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,890 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 #510 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #610 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,721 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 #6,742 in 90-Minute Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Reads, #11,954 in Colonization Science Fiction, and #12,152 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.

August 19, 2026
GalaxyCon, Anniversary, 90-minute Reads

GalaxyCon, 40^th Anniversary, Brass Seal, Carfax Abby, Criterion Restaurant, Wedding Lore, Hunting Count Wampyr, Book Crawl Progress, Palestine’s Ghosts progress, 90-minute reads. All this week’s Secret Knowledge is below…

No book signings this weekend – Deborah and I will be celebrating our 40^th wedding anniversary in Branson, Missouri. Wish us luck. On the way back we are stopping at Crater of Diamonds State Park. Hopefully we can find a diamond or two for an anniversary gift for Deborah…

I Needed a version of the seal for Weird The First. In that novelette, the seal is only about 3 inches across and it is only a relative of the main seal.

I got approved for an author table at Galaxycon Oklahoma City. This is the first big con I’ve been approved for. We’ll have to see what it is like.

The main refuge of Dracula in the story is Carfax, or Carfax House, in Purfleet-on-Thames, Essex, east of London. Likely its location and size were based on Purfleet house, across from what is now the Royal Hotel. It was a great house built by a brewer and Member of Parliament that was torn down in the 20^th Century. The asylum (which doesn’t appear in the Weird) was probably based on Ordinance house. https://freerangehistory.substack.com/p/issue-29-how-the-worlds-most-famous Purfleet house didn’t look “haunted” enough for a Gothic romance, so Stoker changed its looks to fit the genre. He used Whitby Abby in North Yorkshire for his visual inspiration. That was the reason that the movies called it “Carfax Abby” despite the fact that Stoker didn’t put that name in the book.

I needed a place where Walter, Eleanor and company could grab a quick bite of lunch. One thing led to another as it often does when I look for interesting details, and they ended up at the Criterion Restaurant. It is an immensely historic building and institution. Among other things, it hosted the Royal College of Science’s First Annual Dinner, Chaired by H. G. Wells. Another interesting thing: they had a theater in the basement of the building. They decided having a basement room lit by gas lights might not be the best idea, so it closed in 1883 for renovations. It reopened in 1884 with all new, newfangled electric lights instead.

I had cause to revisit some of the Victorian wedding lore. Specifically the lore about what day of the week a couple is married.
Monday for Wealth;
Tuesday for Health;
Wednesday the Best Day of All;
Thursday for Losses;
Friday for Crosses;
and Saturday No Luck at All

It’s time to hunt Count Wampyr and Walter isn’t willing to play by the Weird’s rules anymore. By the late 1800s, the “Texas Stock Saddle” was an established saddle design. It was descended from Spanish/Mexican vaquero tradition and modified to meet the needs of a rider that would be in the saddle from dawn to dusk for multiple days at a time. This resulted in a deeper, heavier saddle with more leather, a prominent horn in front, and a rather high canticle in back compared to the typical English riding saddle. With the rest of the equipment Walter sees as minimally necessary, it makes for a great contrast between him and the Englishmen riding with him. Of course Sekmet is just as determined to protect Eleanor and destroy the Count’s evil.

North Texas Indie Bookstore Crawl visits this week:
Bibliobar Bookstore, Plano – not my cup of tea
Neighbor Books, McKinney – This was a wonderful bookstore. I wish it was closer.
The Plot Twist – Another bookstore specializing in Romance novels.
Talking Animals Books – Two bookstores in Grapevine. The one on Main is a standard bookstore and coffee bar, definitely worth the visit. The one just off Main on Worth Street is a kids book store. I was so excited to see that Golden Books are still a thing. They have Little Engine that Could and the Pokey Puppy that I remember reading as well as Star Wars and other modern stories to read to kiddos. One of the most exciting finds so far on the Book Crawl.
Tropes Bookstore – Brand new bookstore in North Richland Hills. The co-owner suggested I have a launch party there when Palestine’s Ghosts is done. I haven’t thought about launch parties, but probably should…

Good progress this week on Palestine’s Ghosts. Chapters this week:
Weird The First III: Count Wampyr
Weird The First IV: Count Wampyr Strikes Back
Weird The First V – partial

Word Count is 30,762 in 6+ chapters of an estimated 70,000-130,000 in 32 chapters.

Mirim’s First Christmas is in a new category: 90-Minute Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Reads

June Sales: Artemis Rising sold 1 ebook, 629 pages on Kindle Unlimited, and 1 paper book off Amazon, 8 in-person. Celestial Accord sold 192 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 5 in-person. Forging the Chain Breakers sold 5 in-person. Selene Unchained sold 5 in-person, 2 ebooks off Amazon. Antarctic Honeymoon sold 83 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 3 in-person. Mirim’s First Christmas sold 5 in-person.

Antarctic Honeymoon is #1,410 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,833 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #8,552 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 #715 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #830 in Steampunk Fiction, and #2,224 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 #1,698 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,827 Steampunk Fiction, #4,560 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 #355 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #495 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,097 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Selene Unchained is #1,766 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,939 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,682 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 #6,687 in 90-Minute Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Reads, #11,875 in Colonization Science Fiction, and #12,033 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.

August 12, 2026
Book Crawl, Brides, and Van Helsing

Book Crawl, Book Crawl progress, Sekmet vs the Brides, Van Helsing, Consulting Bag Contents, Blaud Pills, Lost Kingdom of Angkor, Palestine’s Ghosts progress. 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 Richardson Farmer’s Market on Saturday. https://malcolmupton.com/events/

In North Texas during the month of August, there is a really cool event I encourage everyone to participate in: The North Texas Indie Bookstore Crawl. You get a passport to take to 33 independent bookstores all across North Texas. The bookstore stamps or signs your passport when you visit. At the end of the month, you submit your passport electronically and get entered into a raffle for bookish prizes. Every visit gives you an additional entry. If you are a reader and like to support local, independent bookstores, this is a great excuse to get to know more bookstores.

North Texas Indie Bookstore Crawl visits this week:
Daydream bookstore and coffee bar – Arlington: Specializing in Romance Novels and great coffee
Wyrd and Wand Archive – Waxahachie: If you are a Harry Potter fan, you have to visit this one.
Paper Leaves Bookstore – Waxahachie: Books and Plants – I also got to talk to a fellow author, JW Jones.
O’Brian’s Bookshop – Midlothian: I got to talk with Lisa, one of the owners. She’s a really sweet lady.
Same Page Bookstore – Mansfield: This one is in an area with a number of small shops that is really cool.

I had an idea for a scene near the end of Weird The First, so I went ahead and wrote it even if it is ahead of time.

Weird The First II introduces a significant new character – Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. If you don’t recognize the name, you need to read more classic Gothic Horror…

I looked up classifications of fiction by length and discovered this:
Flash Fiction – 50 to 1000 words
Short Story – 1000 to 7500 words
Novelette – 7500 to 17,500 words
Novella – 17,500 to 40,000 words
Novel – 40,000+ (note: most publishers like 70k-100k, especially for debut authors).
I always thought Mirim’s First Christmas was too long for a short story, but thought it too short for a novella – I was right, but didn’t know about the novelette, which is where First Christmas fits. That also gives me a better idea of what the five Weird stories are. They will likely be novelette-length stories stitched together by bridge chapters in Palestine.

Herr Professor Dr. Van Helsing consulting bag became a project all its own. https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Medical_bag He used a relatively new instrument for his examination of Lucy – the binaural stethoscope. In 1851 either NB Marsh or Arthur Leared (I found credible sources claiming both). Although the stethoscope was originally invented to allow doctors to listen to the hearts and breathing of young women without directly touching or putting their ears to the young woman’s chest, the fact they made such sounds easier to hear meant they were rapidly adopted. The first ones were simple cones, but the binaural stethoscope allowed the blocking of sounds other than what the doctor was listening for, making it even more effective. In 1867, Sir Thomas Clifford Allbutt invented a new thermometer for clinical use. Instead of being a foot long, it was only six inches. Instead of taking 20 minutes to get a reading, it only took 5. And because it had a self-registering constriction, the mercury within stayed at the peak measured temperature until it was shaken back down. Dr. Van Helsing also used a rather simple but effective instrument in his examination of Lucy that is rarely seen today—mostly because doctors have more effect tools to do the same thing. A Head Mirror. It was made so the doctor could put it over one eye and place a lamp next to the patient. By adjusting the mirror slightly, the light from the lamp would bounce off the mirrored surface and shine on the patient’s ears, nose, or throat, illuminating the portion the doctor was looking at. Since the light was in the line of sight and slightly concentrated by its concave shape it provided shadowless illumination. Who’s old enough to remember a doctor using one of these?

Even in the 19^th century, they had iron supplements to combat anemia.

Had some trouble staying on task Monday. Instead of doom scrolling or watching videos, I came up with some possibilities for future Walter & Eleanor adventures. This was the one that sounds the most intriguing (at least right now).

Palestine’s Ghosts chapters this week:
Weird The First II: Van Helsing
Weird The First III: Count Wampyr – started
Weird The First V – partial

Word Count is 17,710 in 3+ chapters of an estimated 70,000-130,000 in 32 chapters.

June Sales: Artemis Rising sold 1 ebook, 629 pages on Kindle Unlimited, and 1 paper book off Amazon, 8 in-person. Celestial Accord sold 192 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 5 in-person. Forging the Chain Breakers sold 5 in-person. Selene Unchained sold 5 in-person, 2 ebooks off Amazon. Antarctic Honeymoon sold 83 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 3 in-person. Mirim’s First Christmas sold 5 in-person.

Antarctic Honeymoon is #745 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,668 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #5,001 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 #436 in Steampunk Fiction, #949 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), and #1,584 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 #1,540 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,646 Steampunk Fiction, #4,156 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Forging the Chain Breakers is #1,860 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,896 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,888 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Selene Unchained is #1,523 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,664 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,103 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here

Mirim’s First Christmas is #11,780 in Colonization Science Fiction, #11,915 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #18,804 in Science Fiction Short Stories. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

August 5, 2026
McReynolds, Sekmet, and Stoker

Judge McReynolds, Sekmet, Aero Warship Olympia, Seals, Endeavor iced over, the I&GN, Knebworth House, Edward & Henrietta, Lucy, Van Helsing, and Abraham Stoker, Pembroke, Irish Saints, and Drawing rooms. 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 Arlington Farmer’s Market on Saturday.

The first supporting character for Palestine’s Ghosts – County Judge Z. A. McReynolds. He was the historical County Judge of Anderson County up until mid-February of 1894. He was also the county clerk for more than a decade before becoming County Judge, giving him an encyclopedic knowledge of county documents. When weird things start happening in the woods west of Palestine around a house that everyone, including him, remembers and doesn’t show up in any records, he writes Walter and Eleanor to start the book. https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Judge_Z._A._McReynolds

I decided to create an image of the second scene in Palestine’s Ghosts. That meant I needed to create a favorite place on Endeavor for Walter and Eleanor to read, a favorite settee https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Endeavour an image for Sekmet (her first appearance is in Riddle of the Sphinx), and put it all together for them to read Judge McReynolds letter. Sekmet won’t only be a little girl in Palestine’s Ghosts. She will also appear as several different adult incarnations. Some of the possibilities are in the featured image.

I was looking for a journal for Eleanor to read, and Scientific American was an obvious choice. Looking at the articles for the December 23^rd edition, I found an article about The New American War Ship Olympia. Given the situation at the end of 1893 – that obviously became an article about The New American War Aeroship Olympia. That’s how Commodore Perry’s flagship for the Battle of Manila Bay in the Spanish American war (a war that won’t happen in the Greshamverse) became the Aero War Ship Olympia, which may show up over another battlefield in the United States in 1900…

I also have a stone as a central McGuffin for the story. By the start of the book, it has had three iterations. The earliest was going to be a Celtic inscription in Ogham. The next was an inscription by Merlin in Old Irish. The next was added by an anonymous friar prior to 1894. The last is added by the Greshams to finalize the seal at the end of the book. The first try had the AI messing up the inscriptions, so I went back through and kept a much closer eye on each step. I got better results and changed the stone’s backstory a little at the same time. Explaining too much might provide too many spoilers – read Palestine’s Ghosts for this knowledge…

I looked up the weather in Palestine during January of 1894. I found out that it was unseasonably mild most of the month, but there was an ice storm with a low of 4 degrees Fahrenheit near the end of the month. It fit so well with my story, I just moved the start earlier by a week.

I also discovered that in 1894, the Palestine train yard was owned by International-Great Northern Railroad, not to be confused with the predecessor of the modern BNSF, the Great Northern Railway between St Paul and Seattle.

I finally got the story for Weird the First—Goth Galore to crystalize. I even got the Artificial Idiot to put together an outline of sufficient worth that I can use it to keep organized. The finished story will only mostly follow it, of course, because ChatGPT isn’t even a good hack author.

Because of where Weird the First is set, I needed to get pictures of Edward Bulwer-Lytton and Henrietta Lowe (Eleanor’s biological parents) when they met around 1859.

I also needed to get a picture of supper with Walter, Eleanor, Lord and Lady Lytton, Lucy Westenra and her mother, and Dr. Van Helsing. If you don’t have a fairly good idea what “Weird the First” is about—you need to read more Gothic Horror classics, or at least watch the movies… This does show one of the reasons I only use AI images for inspiration—Lucy looks way too healthy in this picture.

As is often the case, in the course of writing, the characters changed. This time it was researching the staff for Knebworth House that made me realize that having Sekmet as Eleanor’s Lady’s Maid didn’t make 19^th Century Aristocratic English sense. At 17, Eleanor had outgrown a governess, but didn’t really rate her own maid—and needed some older supervision. Companions filled that role. They were usually somewhat older than their charges, often from lower down the aristocratic order (or at least the wealth ladder) and they served unmarried young ladies as chaperone, confidant, friend, and (somewhat) wiser sounding board. They could be with a young lady in any setting, but didn’t have to be with them always. It opens up so many more story options. https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Goth_Galore

A new minor character. Mr. Alistair Pembroke, butler of Knebworth House for 29 years as of the time of the story. He might end up being pretty interesting.

I found a way to explain and expand on the Old Irish inscription of the seal. Merlin consulted with St. Finnian of Clonard on the seal and entrusted Finnian with the White Book. St. Finnian, known as the Teacher of the Saints of Ireland, passed parts of the lore down to two of his students, St. Columba and St. Brendan the Navigator. Just a little more texture behind everything else.

I’ve always wondered why they were called “drawing rooms” when they didn’t seem to have anything to do with art. The reason is that after dinner, the expected next step was for the women to withdraw from the dining room and be drawn into a different room—the drawing room. Amazing how obvious things are—once you understand them…

Incoming Powers is the last Martian Phoenix chapter until Palestine’s Ghosts is completed. Word Count is 53,447 in 13 chapters of an estimated 80,000-95,000 in 24+Epilogue Chapters.

Palestine’s Ghosts chapters this week:
Prologue
Chapter 1
Weird The First I

Word Count is 10,900 in 3 chapters of an estimated 70,000-130,000 in 32 chapters.

June Sales: Artemis Rising sold 1 ebook, 629 pages on Kindle Unlimited, and 1 paper book off Amazon, 8 in-person. Celestial Accord sold 192 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 5 in-person. Forging the Chain Breakers sold 5 in-person. Selene Unchained sold 5 in-person, 2 ebooks off Amazon. Antarctic Honeymoon sold 83 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 3 in-person. Mirim’s First Christmas sold 5 in-person.

Antarctic Honeymoon is #2,065 in Steampunk Fiction, #7,239 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #11,911 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 #499 in Steampunk Fiction, #881 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), and #1,954 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 #1,418 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,495 Steampunk Fiction, #3,693 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Forging the Chain Breakers is #1,726 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,763 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,469 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Selene Unchained is #1,355 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,477 in Steampunk Fiction, #3,568 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here

Mirim’s First Christmas is #11,702 in Colonization Science Fiction, #11,793 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #18,730 in Science Fiction Short Stories. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

July 30, 2026
Cons, War, and Promoted Ghosts

Side Quest Con report, Aerosphere voyages, Countess Golden Scales, War of the Worlds, Rubber Tires, Ghost’s got promoted. 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 Richardson Farmer’s Market on Saturday.

I had my first Con experience selling books. Revenue was more than booth fee, but when you take into account cost of books, I lost money. Maybe not if several of the people who said they’d get the audio or ebook end up purchasing (or at least getting it on their membership). I also checked out the Texas Book Lovers Con Sunday. That looks like a good one to try out, I’ll be keeping a weather eye on when they have it in 2027. I also looked at Cowtown Comic Fest. I talked to most of the authors there and none of them had a super show. I think comic-centered cons might not be good for unillustrated books. Even if the genre overlaps, the difference in format may not. I’m also doing an update for all my covers and will be releasing a hardcover option when that is done.

Did a little more work on the Aerosphere setting. This might be something someone says: “We sail for the Princeps Mining Ironholm in the morning. We’ll hug the coast of the landshard to Lastpeak Point, then sail south through the Lassiter Aether Reefs for a week.”

I needed more detail on the third Countess that reports to Viscountess Peacock. This is the woman that keeps the Defiance Merchant Exchange running. https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Countess_Golden_Scales_Beneath_Morning_Light In the picture she is ringing the great bell that opens and closes trading on the floor of the Exchange. Like the whole exchange, it makes the New York Stock Exchange look rather provincial. I wonder if the Texas Stock Exchange will ever get a trading floor and, if so, will it be bigger and grander than the NYSE floor?

I think after Ghosts of Palestine I’ll do the rewrite of The War of the Worlds. I don’t plan to make much change, just enough that it makes sense for H. G. Wells to have written this version in the Greshamverse in 1894. I also plan to write a companion volume that will be the story of the Deep Martians attacking the New Martian Empire at its capital in Burnished Towers. With Walter & Eleanor in the Ozarks potentially being up to three novels, that means I’ve added 2-5 novels to the list without completing one…

Rubber tires are really old; apparently there were omnibuses and autowagons running around on solid rubber tires on a fairly regular basis in 1891. But pneumatic rubber tires were just getting popular for bicycles. When Beulah sees pneumatic rubber tires on Martian ground vehicles, it is something she wasn’t expecting…

I got to looking at the progress on Martian Phoenix and how long I have before I need to have Palestine’s Ghosts done – I may not make the deadline. That said, I’ll finish the Incoming Powers chapter and lay Martian Phoenix aside until Palestine’s Ghosts is done. We’ll see.

Martian Phoenix chapters this week:
Incoming Powers – progress

Word Count is 52,130 in 12+ chapters of an estimated 80,000-95,000 in 24+Epilogue Chapters.

Antarctic Honeymoon is #1,736 in Steampunk Fiction, #6,143 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #10,488 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 #665 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #715 in Steampunk Fiction, and #1,975 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 #1,151 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,238 Steampunk Fiction, #3,131 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Forging the Chain Breakers is #1,474 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,537 in Steampunk Fiction, #3,954 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Selene Unchained is #1,002 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,118 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,811 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here

Mirim’s First Christmas is #11,627 in Colonization Science Fiction, #11,683 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #18,681 in Science Fiction Short Stories. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

July 22, 2026
Bookmarks, Collectables, and the Aerosphere

Details about Defiance Exchange, sneak peek at the bookmarks, collectable character dossiers, new hero images and a sneak peek at the Aerosphere. All this week’s Secret Knowledge is below…

No books available this weekend – We are at the Parker County Peach Festival trying to keep up with selling all the peach jams.

I needed a place for the principals of Phoenix to meet with factors. The entrance and grand trading hall of the Defiance Exchange. https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Defiance_Exchange Eat your heart out New York Stock Exchange…

I kind of got side-tracked making some handout marketing pieces for Cons. The first two are the front and back of the free bookmark that encourages people to check out the Books & Series page. The second two are the front and back of the free bookmark that encourages people to sign up for the Secret Knowledge transmission. I also started putting together The Greshamverse Character Dossiers. These are collectable character dossiers that are free with a purchase.

The first Character Dossier is for Walter. I upgraded his default character image in the process.

I did the same with Nikola. Actually I didn’t have a lore image for Nikola. I think he looks amazingly like Benidict Cumberbatch.

Also upgraded the lore image for Elisha. He actually has two, one as General Al-Selene and one as President Al-Selene.

I finally came up with a definitive sword for the Selenite Sword of State. Essentially it is what a katana might look like if designed for modern materials. With some leukos crystals, of course…

Mirim also got an upgrade. Hers was mostly just making the image far higher resolution.

Sales at the 4^th of July market were super slow this year, so Isaac and I talked some about the setting for one of the substories of Palestine’s Ghosts. It is a vast aerosphere sea with islands floating in it. They are in proportion to the crust, mantle, and core of Earth, so a few habitable islands, a bunch of islands made of almost pure metals – mostly nickel-iron, and even more islands made of the strange minerals that make up the mantle. In this setting, those mantle islands serve the same purpose for aetheric life that coral reefs serve for ocean life. And, given the shear size of the place… Let’s just stay that humans are not at the top of the food chain.

Just a little progress on Martian Phoenix chapters this week:
Gathering Storm – progress

Word Count is 43,518 in 11+ chapters of an estimated 80,000-95,000 in 24+Epilogue Chapters.

June Sales: Artemis Rising sold 1 ebook, 629 pages on Kindle Unlimited, and 1 paper book off Amazon, 8 in-person. Celestial Accord sold 192 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 5 in-person. Forging the Chain Breakers sold 5 in-person. Selene Unchained sold 5 in-person, 2 ebooks off Amazon. Antarctic Honeymoon sold 83 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 3 in-person. Mirim’s First Christmas sold 5 in-person.

Antarctic Honeymoon is #1,191 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,267 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #7,758 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 #658 in Steampunk Fiction, #705 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), and #2,275 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 #798 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #902 Steampunk Fiction, #2,548 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Forging the Chain Breakers is #794 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #899 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,538 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 #717 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #823 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,305 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here

Mirim’s First Christmas is #11,535 in Colonization Science Fiction, #11,542 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #18,486 in Science Fiction Short Stories. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

July 8, 2026
Covers, Cons, and Sartorial Strategy

What was the Ladies’ Mile, Galveston dry goods stores, sartorial strategy, a visit to Mistress Beauty Woven Into Destiny, Texas Horror Lit Fest, Side Quest Con, the four leading couples and the graphic they’re on, Countess Diligence Smoothing the Way, Martian Phoenix progress, Sales Report for June and status on all the books. 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 Granbury 4^th of July Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

I needed to know where the ladies of Galveston would go to shop when they made their yearly pilgramage to New York to get the latest fashions before they filtered to the regular people out west. I found out about the Ladies’ Mile, a district in New York that included such names as Tiffany’s and Lord & Taylor – even I’ve heard of those…

I also needed a dry goods store in Galveston. Some of the candidates: Bonat Bros. Dry Goods (2516 Market), HJ Wilshusen Dry Goods and Notions Store (12^th & Market), Christian Henck Dry Goods (1502 Winnie, 3.5 blocks north from Gresham Castle), John Boddeker Dry Goods (1121 Broadway, 2.5 blocks east). There were also a number of Dry Goods stores on Market Street.

Scarlet’s pentultimate deployment of sartorial strategy—say that five times fast…

Since I’m writing Chapter 11, I have final versions of the dresses designed by Mistress Beauty Woven Into Destiny. These are the ones Beulah tried on, but not the one that was designed just for her… That also prompted a redesign of the notional cover. This also means I can quit torturing Beulah – yes, she finally gets hit with a big enough clue stick to start growing up instead. That whack really feels bad when it happens, but it is an example of a blessing that comes through tears…

Visited the Texas Horror Lit Fest Saturday. I’ll definitely want to attend as an author next year. I also found a couple of other events I put on my radar—or is that wirar (wireless acquisition and ranging)? That includes Side Quest Con in North Richland Hills in July, Ama-con in Amarillo in August, The Muses of Storytelling Texas Author Con in Haltom City in September, Plot Twist Book Festival in Longview in May, and Galaxy Con Oklahoma City in May. I might get into Side Quest Con – at least I was able to still fill out the vendor application. I also filled out an interest application for Plot Twist Book Festival. I’ll need to stay on top of everything.

Good News!!!! – I will be attending Side Quest Con in North Richland Hills July 17-18. It will be my first ‘Books Only’ festival/convention. Come by and visit!

I needed some images for some marketing. While I was working on it, I realized that my stories tend to be carried by a couple: Walter & Eleanor, Elisha & Mirim, Nasir & Beulah, and Beraht & Hala. That wasn’t a conscious choice, but it makes sense. I believe marriage could be the second most important relationship in a person’s life, second only to their relationship with God. This setting was inspired, in part, by a Space 1889 campaign my wife and I played in. In fact, Walter & Eleanor are based on the characters we played in that setting. Now that I’m aware of it—I don’t think I’ll change it at all…

It did end up taking all day to get this image. I don’t think I’ll need to change it any time soon, so I guess it was a good investment.

Another minor character. Countess Diligence Smoothing the Way is the bureaucrat in charge of everything to do with the Defiance Canal Harbor. In Martian Phoenix, she operates as one of Viscountess Peacock’s primary Lieutenants to draw Phoenix into a permanent, subordinate, relationship with Seven Canals. https://greshamverse.fandom.com/wiki/Countess_Diligence_Smoothing_the_Way

Copies of all my stories will soon be found in the Azle Public Library, so if you’d like to read them without paying anything – there you go. https://www.cityofazle.org/203/Library

Martian Phoenix chapters this week:
Deciding Poorly – finished
The Final Dress
Gathering Storm – started

Word Count is 43,272 in 11+ chapters of an estimated 80,000-95,000 in 24+Epilogue Chapters.

June Sales: Artemis Rising sold 1 ebook, 629 pages on Kindle Unlimited, and 1 paper book off Amazon, 8 in-person. Celestial Accord sold 192 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 5 in-person. Forging the Chain Breakers sold 5 in-person. Selene Unchained sold 5 in-person, 2 ebooks off Amazon. Antarctic Honeymoon sold 83 pages on Kindle Unlimited and 3 in-person. Mirim’s First Christmas sold 5 in-person.

Antarctic Honeymoon is #598 in Steampunk Fiction, #2,125 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #4,230 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 #814 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #874 in Steampunk Fiction, and #2,371 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here or the kindle version here. There is also an audiobook version here. Seven reviews for Artemis Rising. More will help others find the series as well – if you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Celestial Accord is ranked now. #1,498 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,950 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #5,030 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Forging the Chain Breakers is #1,406 in Steampunk Fiction, #1,693 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #4,436 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 #2,096 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #2,123 in Steampunk Fiction, #5,319 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here

Mirim’s First Christmas is #11,433 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), #11,466 in Colonization Science Fiction, and #18,392 in Science Fiction Short Stories. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

July 1, 2026
Audiobook, Master Tomorrow, Website update

Selene Unchained Audiobook is finished, a new minor character, Scarlet has another dress, and the website is being reworked. All this week’s Secret Knowledge is below…

Selene Unchained Audiobook is finished. You can get it here: https://www.audible.com/pd/Audiobook/B0DMW12HDR

Another new minor character. He is an opportunity for me to communicate what a good approach to sales and such is, assuming I can keep a close enough eye on ChatGPTs hallucinations about sales…

Scarlet’s arc in Martian Phoenix jumped from danger to max confrontation with no intermediate steps, so I re-wrote one of the scenes to have an intermediate step.

I’ve been having a ton of trouble with the Nrdly template for my website – so I’m in the process of ditching it. That means a lot of work on updating the website this week.

A little progress on Martian Phoenix. Since it is back in previous chapters (and not finished yet), I don’t have a new word count and such.

Antarctic Honeymoon is #1,951 in Steampunk Fiction, #6,837 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #11,294 in Exploration Science Fiction. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, or the kindle version here. The audiobook is available here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Artemis Rising is #535 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #552 in Steampunk Fiction, and #1,686 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here or the kindle version here. There is also an audiobook version here. Seven reviews for Artemis Rising. More will help others find the series as well – if you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Celestial Accord is ranked now. #1,738 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,846 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,540 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Forging the Chain Breakers is #1,215 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,291 in Steampunk Fiction, #3,298 in Alternative History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

Selene Unchained is #1,604 in Steampunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store), #1,624 in Steampunk Fiction, #4,247 in Alternate History. If you don’t have yours yet, you can get the paper version here, the kindle version here, or the audiobook here. No reviews yet. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here

Mirim’s First Christmas is #11,278 in Colonization Science Fiction, #11,298 in Alternate History Science Fiction (Books), and #18,260 in Science Fiction Short Stories. You can find the paper version here or the kindle version here. One review so far. If you’ve finished the book and haven’t left a review, please do so here.

June 17, 2026