Dad Asks: Why Don’t They Just…? (Spoiler Alert)

Now, when I finished writing Pride & Planetoids and was running it through automations and all that jazz, my parents were in the process of moving. They didn’t end up beta reading it the way they do most of my books. When they did read it after it released, Dad asked me: “Why would Terra be willing to let Albion pack up a fleet of resource-rich asteroids and fly them off to the Copernicus system? These rocks sit in a region of space that Terra claims sovereignty over and merely leases to Albion. What’s in it for Terra to allow the exodus at all?”

To answer that, I have to unpack some ideas that are deep in the background of the setting, and not really explained by the characters in the book. Elizabeth Bennet, William Darcy, and Effie Price don’t pay attention to these ideas for the same reason that fish don’t pay attention to water.

Continue reading “Dad Asks: Why Don’t They Just…? (Spoiler Alert)”

Video Thursday: An Unlikely Rescue

https://youtube.com/shorts/BFGlzsB_PTE

Elizabeth Bennet claims a dance with William Darcy…not because she wants one, but because she can see exactly what Miss Bingley is about to do, and someone has to stop it. He calls it a rescue. She calls it damage control. They’re both right. From Pride & Planetoids, a sci-fi retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in the Kuiper Belt.

📚 READ PRIDE & PLANETOIDS NOW

#PrideAndPlanetoids #SciFiRomance #SpaceOpera #PrideAndPrejudiceInSpace #JaneAustenRetelling #slowburn #enemies2lovers #ballscene #dancescene #wittyheroine

🎬 ABOUT THESE VIDEOS: These videos feature AI-generated visuals (Midjourney) and music (Suno). The stories themselves are 100% human-written.

Video Thursday: Meet The Bennets

https://youtube.com/shorts/prPWrnS0yzM

Meet the Bennets: a parliamentary delegate with a talent for understatement, a mother who thrives on camera, a father who doesn’t, and siblings ranging from quietly brilliant to alarmingly impulsive. They’re quirky. They’re messy. And they’re family. From Pride & Planetoids, a sci-fi retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in the Kuiper Belt.

📚 READ PRIDE & PLANETOIDS NOW

#PrideAndPlanetoids #SciFiRomance #SpaceOpera #PrideAndPrejudiceInSpace #JaneAustenRetelling #familydrama #ElizabethBennet #scifisiblings #Bennetfamily #spaceregency

🎬 ABOUT THESE VIDEOS: These videos feature AI-generated visuals (Midjourney) and music (Suno). The stories themselves are 100% human-written.

Video Thursday: Most Unseemly Parasocial Relationships

https://youtube.com/shorts/jfVDPU8g8P0

William Darcy, reclusive commander of the marcher-ship Last Repose, is doing research on Longbourn Mining Company. Somehow he keeps returning to an interview with Elizabeth Bennet. He finds his parasocial interest in her to be most improper. From Pride & Planetoids, a sci-fi retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in the Kuiper Belt.

📚 READ PRIDE & PLANETOIDS NOW

#PrideAndPlanetoids #SciFiRomance #SpaceOpera #PrideAndPrejudiceInSpace #JaneAustenRetelling #slowburn #enemies2lovers #scifiromance #Darcy #firstimpressions

🎬 ABOUT THESE VIDEOS: These videos feature AI-generated visuals (Midjourney) and music (Suno). The stories themselves are 100% human-written.

Thursday Videos: Fire When Ready

https://youtube.com/shorts/6oPYHShn3AQ

A rogue asteroid is on a collision course with the Lucas settlement. William Darcy doesn’t wait for permission. He teleports the Last Repose alongside it and opens fire. From Pride & Planetoids, a sci-fi retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in the Kuiper Belt. Low heat should not equal low drama. 📚 READ PRIDE & PLANETOIDS NOW! #PrideAndPlanetoids #SciFiRomance #SpaceOpera #PrideAndPrejudiceInSpace #JaneAustenRetelling #spaceaction #asteroidbelt #marchership #scifiaction #competentheroes 🎬 ABOUT THESE VIDEOS: These videos feature AI-generated visuals (Midjourney) and music (Suno). The stories themselves are 100% human-written.

Where Did That Come From? Mr. Darcy, Destroyer of Worlds

(Thank you, unknown internet person, for creating this meme. It makes the job of explaining the origins of my latest novel so much easier.)

Well, let’s start with the fact that I am a GenXer, who grew up with a limited selection of movies available to me, and more often than not the only thing my siblings and I all felt like watching was the 1977 Star Wars. For some reason, I was very amused to discover that Grand Moff Tarkin had once been an energetic middle-aged man who killed the Hound of the Baskervilles twice and Count Dracula over and over again. It tickled me even more to discover that he had once played Mr. Darcy in a now-lost BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, roughly a quarter of a century before Star Wars. I asked myself: “What if Darcy went around destroying planets?” And a surprising amount of Pride & Planetoids grew out of that single question. 

Continue reading “Where Did That Come From? Mr. Darcy, Destroyer of Worlds”

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

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: Sing Along Edition

Steampunk Armor And Slavic Folk Music (Lyrics) | Hunter Healer King

The Armor of Arent has been waiting for a worthy pilot. Now it has one. 🎶 Sing along to the Slavic-inspired folk music from the Hunter Healer King music video!

🎬 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.

📚 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 Or get the complete series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR7ZL3S7

🎬 Watch the original music video here: https://youtube.com/shorts/XhTQ__CjtVY

🌐 More monster hunting lore from the world of Hunter Healer King: https://jaglionpress.com/category/hunter-healer-king/

#HunterHealerKing #GaslampFantasy #SteampunkRomance #MonsterHunting #steampunk #mecha #gaslampfantasy #AImusic #fantasyarmor #SlavicFolkMusic #LyricsVideo