Welcome, new folks!

Hi, there. I've had a number of people join the mailing list recently. I want to make sure everybody gets their free Frosthelm book, Traitors Unseen. If you haven't gotten it, you can get it free here (the site will ask you to sign up for this newsletter, which you're already getting) or here from Smashwords. It's also on Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. Please, enjoy with my compliments.

Robotic Illustration

I have been playing around a lot recently with the AI-illustration program being launched by MidJourney. It makes pictures based on phrases you type in, and it can often match styles that you give it. Here are some examples:

"A space octopus glides across the milky way"



"The Great Pyramid at Giza, but made of carrots"



"The statue of liberty isn't a woman, she's a giraffe"



"Where the sidewalk ends"



"Betty white as a samurai in the style of a Japanese scroll"



I also created images for my book titles. You can see those on a blog post I did here.

Progress on a new story
I have actually started a new book since I last commented here. I was working on a kind of a metaphysical fantasy/sci-fi novel, which I enjoyed, but it was getting really complicated. I wanted to see if I could get something ready for this year's SPSFC competition, which has an entry date of June 15th, and that one (while fun and cool) wasn't going to be ready in time. So, I started another sci-fi book from a concept I had that I thought might go faster, and it is. The book is set in the same imagined future as Daros, where humanity has expanded to many planets and stars, but where most of their worlds have been destroyed by civil war. Humanity persists, though, and thrives as a smaller group of worlds at the edge of the former human domain, run by a collective government and defended by a unified military called the Patrol.

I've been working on a story about a former marine in the Patrol. After mustering out, she joined a mercenary force, but that didn't go well. Now, she's a solo contracted security officer for an archeological dig on a world that once hosted an alien race that has now vanished. I'm about 16 chapters in and writing every day, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. It's not as funny book as Daros was, although there's some humor, but I think it's an interesting story, and I'm really enjoying working with this character.

Here's my progress so far, and below that, the AI's imagining of the phrase "a female space marine guarding an ancient archeology site in a forest." Pretty cool!

Some stories to try

I'm part of several author collectives, and we share each other's work to try to help all of us reach more readers. In many cases, the books we share are are free or discounted. Sometimes, they ask that you sign up for a newsletter like this one.

In addition to the C. Gockel books up at the beginning of this email, I have a few others to share. First, I have Lightblade by Zamil Akhtar, which tells the story of Jyosh, a young man victimized by fate on a quest to slay the God Emperor. Heavy stuff!

Second, I have the Treasure of Escondida box set by Lottie Morgan.This is a mystery/thriller series featuring a female spy team on an island full of intrigue. The Box Set lets you get a whole bunch of books while saving a lot - the box set is currently only $2.99.

Finally, I have The Man-Butcher Prize by Charles Cross. This is a fantasy novel about a bloody contest between assassins, which sounds just tremendously high-concept and fun (if grim).

Thank you

I realy appreciate you being part of my little writing community. Thanks so much for reading and enoying my books. If you have any ideas for a new book, or any thoughts on my other ones, reply to this or write me any time.

And if you have a phrase you'd like to see illustrated, send that and I'll get the AI to work on it!

May the Bloodmother watch over you - 
Dave