Video Thursday: Sneezing Mecha Edition

Even legendary war machines have bad days. 🤧 The Armor of Arent has waited centuries for a worthy pilot, survived countless battles, and intimidated monsters across three books. It was not, however, prepared for that sneeze. (The pauldrons came back. They always come back.)

https://youtube.com/shorts/eq4rsXCFqkI?feature=share

🎬 Created with Midjourney + Suno

📚 The Armor of Arent guest stars in the Hunter Healer King gaslamp fantasy trilogy by Mel Dunay: steampunk monster hunting, slow-burn romance, and a little dry humor that does not actually involve sneezing robots.

🎬 More chaos in the outtakes: Maxim blames a bee and Maxim’s horse Scrimshaw orders an espresso

📚 READ THE TRILOGY:

Book 1 – Wolf’s Trail

Book 2 – Undead Flight

Book 3 – Dragon’s Teeth

AI as Writer’s Assistant: Marketing with AI 

To the extent that I have a philosophy of AI use, it comes to this: I want AI to handle the tasks I don’t enjoy. Falling in love with a set of characters, following them through their adventures, figuring out how the world around them works…to me, those are the fun parts. If I care enough about a story to want to see it on Amazon with a proper cover and a nonzero chance of someone besides me reading it and caring about it, I want to draft it myself. Hunting for typos and logic fails and things I did wrong? Not the fun parts, which is why I have been using AI more in the revision process. Writing a fanfic nobody but me wants to read? Fun but not as fun as it might be, plus it takes mental energy away from writing things that I might be able to sell. Hence, the Fanficcing with Claude label that turns up in this blog. And then there’s marketing. 

Marketing does not come easily to some writers, and I am one of them. When I’m happy with my writing, my opinion of it sounds too egotistical to share. When I’m unhappy with it, my opinion is too depressing for words. As for keywords, blurbs, covers, search engine optimization, noun phrase optimization, my brain tends to lock up or go down unhelpful rabbit holes. So, I turned to AI, first for cover art and blurb help and then for other marketing tasks.  So, a quick rundown on what I’ve done: 

Continue reading “AI as Writer’s Assistant: Marketing with AI “

🎬Hang On, A #JustStabMeNowMOVIE ??? 🎬

https://youtube.com/shorts/DR8SzQQWeg0?si=Co7AlP5vNLSDQVwP

Okay, I had to laugh when watching this video, because my fondness for El Cid, Horror Express, and The Texican told me exactly where this was going the moment Jill Bearup said “Spanish film company”. But I enjoyed the Just Stab Me videos when they came out, bought the ebook when that came out and the print book as a Christmas present for someone, so congratulations Jill!

In terms of fancasting, the only actresses I can think of who fit my idea of Rosamund are Morfydd Clark (slightly young at 37), Rosamund Pike (on the high end of the age range at 47), and Emily Blunt (right age at 43, but very aggressively botoxed when I last saw her in Fall Guy). My mental image of Captain Collins somewhat resembles Clive Owen or Lloyd Owen, both Welsh men in their sixties. Luke Evans is 47, and also maybe a good fit for Collins. He showed a certain dry humor as Aramis in Three Musketeers that would work for the more absurd situations Collins finds himself on. Rosamund’s childhood friend struck me as kind of a Tom Hiddleston/JJ Feild type, for what that’s worth.

I don’t have strong visual feeling about the mundane characters, but have the impression they were in their thirties or late twenties, so I don’t know how convincing any role doubling would be.

Video Thursday: Caffeinated Horse Edition

Maxim is a man of discernment. So is his horse. 🐴☕ This is what happens when you don’t ask Midjourney nicely. 🎬 Created with Midjourney + Suno 📚 Maxim stars in the Hunter Healer King gaslamp fantasy trilogy by Mel Dunay — steampunk monster hunting, slow-burn romance, and apparently a horse with refined taste in caffeine. 🎬 Also in the outtakes universe: https://youtu.be/XKpsAwKlKyM 📚 READ THE TRILOGY: Book 1 – Wolf’s Trail: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR81P9QP Book 2 – Undead Flight: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNGWVPMH Book 3 – Dragon’s Teeth: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GB86H4N5 Complete series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR7ZL3S7 🌐 https://jaglionpress.com/blog/ #HunterHealerKing #AIArtFails #MidjourneyOuttakes #GaslampFantasy #AIArt #SteampunkRomance #IndieAuthor #HorseGirl #Espresso #CharactersWithAttitude

Video Thursday: War Chant Edition

Before Maxim danced, his father marched. 🥁 This is the version of the Armor of Arent’s song that Maxim’s father, King Urban, would have known: no fiddles, no dance rhythm. Just male voices, a drum, and a war chant old enough to mean something. The lively folk setting in the original music video? That came later. After a certain pilot got into the cockpit and had ideas.

🎶 Lyrics video. Sing along if you dare. https://youtube.com/shorts/zxcLk0oLF_Y

🎬 Created with AI tools (Midjourney + Suno) 📚 From the gaslamp fantasy series by Mel Dunay! The Hunter-Healer-King trilogy combines steampunk monster hunting with slow-burn romance. For fans of Patricia Briggs and Lindsay Buroker.

🎬 Watch the dancing mecha version here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XhTQ__CjtVY

📚 READ THE HUNTER HEALER KING TRILOGY: Book 1 – Wolf’s Trail: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR81P9QP Book 2 – Undead Flight: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNGWVPMH Book 3 – Dragon’s Teeth: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GB86H4N5 Complete series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR7ZL3S7 🌐 https://jaglionpress.com/blog/

#HunterHealerKing #GaslampFantasy #SlavicMusic #WarChant #SteampunkRomance #LyricsVideo #AIMusic #MonsterHunting #MelDunay #IndieFantasy #WorldBuilding

Video Thursday: Bee Movie Outtakes Edition

Midjourney had opinions. So did my characters. 🐝
Sometimes AI art gives you exactly what you asked for, and sometimes…Well. Your heroine refuses to look frightened and your hero has a bee-related explanation for everything. This is that second kind of video.

🐝 A tip of the hat to Cedar Sanderson who came up with “Sorry, there was a bee”.

📚 Chloe and Maxim star in the Hunter Healer King gaslamp fantasy trilogy by Mel Dunay: steampunk monster hunting, slow-burn romance, and apparently bees.

📚 READ THE TRILOGY: Book 1 – Wolf’s Trail: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR81P9QP Book 2 – Undead Flight: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNGWVPMH Book 3 – Dragon’s Teeth: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GB86H4N5 Complete series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR7ZL3S7

Video Thursday: Party-Crashing Dog Edition

https://youtube.com/shorts/6q1DghfMlt8

Sometimes the most useful superpower is being able to tell a dog to settle down. Dr. Maxim os Storm uses his animal telepathy to calm a mastiff misbehaving at a formal dinner party. From Dragon’s Teeth, Book 3 of the Hunter Healer King trilogy.

Video Thursday: Yearning Edition

https://youtube.com/shorts/T7qr-wisBa4

Maxim is struck by the sight of Chloe in a green dress at the top of the staircase. A bittersweet moment, because they both believe they can’t be together. They’ve fought monsters side by side. They trust each other with their lives. But their bloodlines stand between them, and moments like this only make it harder. From Dragon’s Teeth, Book 3 of the Hunter Healer King trilogy.

Video Thursday: Mecha vs Dragon Edition

https://youtube.com/shorts/uzB7gH_NEUo

⚠️ SPOILER WARNING for Books 1-2

Continue reading “Video Thursday: Mecha vs Dragon Edition”

Video Thursday: Crazy Crow Edition

https://youtube.com/shorts/riN4_268kWw

Stormcrows (the people) are named after stormcrows (the birds) for good reason. Maxim’s stormcrow companion wants to ride aboard the luxury airship. Animal telepathy meets steampunk technology in Undead Flight, Book 2 of the Hunter Healer King trilogy.