Julia Huni's Blog

My newest Dragons of Safe Haven book is out in the real world: A Blacksmith's Guide to Dragon Rearing. It's part of my cozy fantasy world on the enchanted island of Safe Haven where former enemies learn to be friends, dragons spit water instead of fire, and the pastries smell like happiness.

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The first four books in the Colonial Explorer Corps series are up on my YouTube channel. You can listen to them free! And the first ten chapters of book 5, The Romara Confrontation, went live today as well.

These books are performed by the voices at Spoken. I've told you about them before. The robots aren't as good as real humans, but they're definitely listenable and getting better every week. I'm using Spoken because this series doesn't earn enough money to support human-narration. And I know, a lot of folks will say I should use a royalty share deal to get them narrated. That's when a narrator takes a chance on an author, does the work for free, and the narrator and author split the royalties.

But is convincing a narrator to spend a month working on these books in the hope that they'll make money some day really in their best interest? Is it fair to ask someone to work for free on a donkey* series?

Spoken uses ethically sourced voices. Voice actors are paid for each use of their voice clones. In fact, you can go make your own voice clone at ElevenLabs (which is one of the sources Spoken uses) and license it–you might make a few dollars. When we were in Vegas a couple of weeks ago at Author Nation, we met the woman who created the highest paid voice at ElevenLabs. She makes six figures from that recording! Not bad for a few hours work.

But human narration is still the gold standard. Which is why A Dragon Rider's Guide to Retirement will be narrated by two live humans. Stay tuned for the casting announcement!

For me, audio is an accessibility issue. I want my books available to those who can't see or can't read for some other reason. And they're up on YouTube for free.

*Romance author Elana Johnson talks about her race horse series and her donkey series. Donkey series just don't click with the audience, and while they'll continue to plod along, they're unlikely to ever bring home the prizes.

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Triana Moore is back!

Or will be soon. Here's the cover and blurb for the newest book in the Tales of a Former Space Janitor. Book 6 will be out just after Christmas! You can preorder on Amazon. Or if you want to get it before Christmas, you can preorder on my direct store.

Direct preorders will have to opportunity to receive a personalized and signed ebook. Watch for an email from me around Dec 12.

Surviving motherhood is hard enough—try doing it when the universe keeps hitting reset.
Triana Moore thought pregnancy would be messy—but not this messy. Between malfunctioning baby simulators, her mother’s attempts to fire her (again), and a snarky “smart” house that refuses to learn her name, life on SK2 is already chaos.

Then Monday refuses to end. Literally.

Now, Triana and O’Neill are stuck reliving the same day on repeat—while her pregnancy keeps marching forward. As her belly expands and her patience wears thin, they must re-convince her charming cousin Arun, their sharp-tongued friend Vanti, and a hopelessly romantic AI that the time loop is real before the triplets make their debut in a full-blown temporal paradox.

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The third book in the Dark Quasar trilogy is available now!

Political drama. A rogue AI. And a coup with grandma at the helm.

Special Agent Lindsay “Vanti” Fioravanti and her crew thought their mission to Leweian space was complete. But when their AI shuttle Helva—presumed lost forever—calls for help, they are pulled into a planetary rebellion orchestrated by their shipmate Leo’s grandmother.

With friends kidnapped, loyalties tested, and her Hadriana caat stirring up trouble, Vanti has one job: survive the galaxy’s most dysfunctional family reunion and get her crew out alive.

Dark Quasar Reckoning—a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud space adventure where high-tech espionage meets family drama, and the only thing more dangerous than a galactic coup is listening to the caat.

If you'd rather pre-order on Amazon, that's cool. Or you can wait until it goes live and download for free in Kindle Unlimited.

Vanti will return to the Space Janitor universe in book 6 of the Tales of a Former Space Janitor: Warp, Rinse, Repeat. Look for it right after Christmas.

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As you may know, I've been working with Spoken.Press to create multi-voice audio.

Now, I know people are sensitive about AI. Spoken sources their voices from Hume and ElevenLabs, both of which pay voice actors for use of their voices. Ethically sourced digital audio.

And the voices are remarkably good. Still AI, but way better than my first AI audio only a year ago.

I've redone The Earth Concurrence with the multi-voice cast, and posted it on YouTube. Check it out and let me know what you think. And share the link with your friends.

Don't forget to subscribe to my channel so I can get monetized and pay a real human to re-record it!

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The Saha Declination, book 3 in the Colonial Explorer Corps, is available on my YouTube channel. This book is narrated by the AI voices as Spoken.Press. There are a bunch of other books available at Spoken, too. They're currently in beta, so everything is free, but eventually it will be monetized.

Unlike the AI audio being offered on some of the big retailers, Spoken audio requires a lot more care–and you can tell. We can edit each line of the book, ensure any weird “hallucinations” are eliminated, and change the pronunciation of words–which is often necessary for sci fi. We can also choose exactly the right voice for each character.

I'm creating audio with AI voices so I can offer it now. It's important to me that those who can't read or see can still enjoy my work. Eventually, I hope the YouTube channel will become monetized, and I can use that money to hire human narrators to re-record these books. I'd love to do it now, but with the low return on investment (audio is expensive to produce and still a small share of the book market,) this series can't afford the cost.

If you only listen to human-narrated books, I have some of those, too. My Space Janitor series is also on the YouTube channel, and once it's monetized, I'll add the Former Space Janitor audio as they are completed. Rachel Music, my amazing narrator, recently finished Changing the Speed of Light Bulbs. Those audiobook are also available on Audible, Chirp, Google Play, and the other retailers, including my Payhip store.

If you'd like to help me in this endeavor, subscribe to my channel and like my content. And perhaps most importantly, share it with your friends!

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I am really excited to share with you my first book in a brand new genre (for me): cozy fantasy.

A Dragon Rider's Guide to Retirement is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle, and you can also get a signed copy of the book from my Payhip store.

What is cozy fantasy? I have heard it described as Lord of the Rings but if Frodo stayed in the Shire. Imagine Gandolf had one of his eagle friends drop the ring into Mount Doom, so they didn't have to take the perilous journey to Mordor. Sam is still a gardener and courting his sweetheart. Pipping and Merry run a failing fruit stand–they can't stay in business because they eat all their product. On Thanksgiving, Aragorn and Arwen stop by, bringing Uncle Boromir along. Legolas and Gimli run an axe throwing pub down the street.

If this sounds like the type of story you'd enjoy, I think you'll love my new book! Check it out here:

A Dragon Rider's Guide to Retirement

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My newest book is out: The Romara Confrontation. This is book 5 in the Colonial Explorer Corps, and the cross-over between the Krimson Empire and the rest of the Huniverse.

Two civilizations. One planet. No second chances.

Lieutenant Serenity “Siti” Kassis has trained her whole life for first contact missions, but nothing prepares her for this—arriving at a promising new world only to find it already inhabited by an advanced, spacefaring civilization. As acting commander, it’s her call whether to push forward or back away. One wrong move could spark a conflict neither side can afford.

On Lunesco, Quinn Templeton is expecting a quiet lunch with an old friend when the planetary defense system flags an unidentified ship in orbit. Since the revolution, she’s learned to negotiate, but first contact with an unknown species? That’s a whole new challenge.

Siti and Quinn could navigate mistrust, politics, and the weight of history to build something neither of their people expected—a future together. But they have to meet first. And something--or someone--is trying to keep them apart.

You don't have to have read Krimson Empire to enjoy this book–although you'll get a lot of backstory about Quinn, Tony, Sashelle, and the rest if you do. You definitely should read the first four books of the Colonial Explorer Corps first (although you can get away with just reading book 4.) Luckily for you, I have books 1-3 on sale right now to make that easy! Book 1 is free, world-wide. Books 2 and 3 are on Kindle Countdowns, which means they're on sale in the US and UK. (Amazon's rules, not mine!) And the whole series is currently in Kindle Unlimited, so you can read for free if you have a KU subscription.

Come with Siti to discover the Krimson Empire!

Also, if you like audio–I've just added the second CEC book, The Grissom Contention, to a new platform called Spoken.press. This is a robot-voice platform. (Yes, I know everyone calls it AI, but I have to tell you, it IS NOT intelligent. However, it is pretty amazing.) The voices on this platform are remarkably good for robots, and since Spoken focuses on multi-voice narration, this book is more like a radio-drama than a regular audiobook.

If you avoid AI, I respect that. But this platform allows me to get books that aren't earning enough to pay a human narrator into the hands–and ears–of people who can't read or who can't see well enough to read. Like my brother, whose eyesight was damaged. I'm offering these audiobooks free on YouTube (as soon as Spoken sends me the files, I'll get The Grissom Contention up there) in hopes of monetizing and eventually earning enough to pay a real person to record it. This is my way of supporting human narration without going bankrupt. So if you listen, please like, subscribe, and share with friends.

If you're looking for human-narrated audio, my original Space Janitor series is also on that YouTube channel in addition to being for sale on my Payhip store and all the usual audiobook retailers.

And the amazing Rachel Music is currently working on Changing the Speed of Lightbulbs. I can't wait!

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Jump complete, the crew went through the usual procedures, reporting in from each section of the CEC ship Loyal Observer. Maintenance, cargo, life support, and the others all checked in with an all clear. I leaned back in my corner, trying to stay out of the way of the organized, efficient crew. Captain Salu had invited me to be present for jump. Usually, the commander of the Phase 1 team witnessed arrival in the new system from the bridge, but my boss was “indisposed.” I certainly didn’t mind filling in.

My little sair-glider, Yasmi, chittered agreement in my ear. She didn’t understand language the way Liam had, but she echoed my emotions uncannily well.

An ensign flicked a holo-file to the captain’s chair. She glanced at it, then waved her hand through the approval icon, still focused on the reports coming up on the duty officer’s station.

The alert klaxon howled.

“Captain! Multiple contacts!” The communications officer sprang from her seat as if it was electrified. “Many, many multiples!”

“Many, many multiples? Is that what they’re teaching at the academy now?” Captain Salu muttered as she swiped the flashing red holo-icon that appeared before her. “Ship, defstat two.”

The ship’s system acknowledged, flashing the lights blue in an assigned sequence. The alert tone sounded in the overhead speakers and my audio implant, followed by the ship’s calm, flat voice. “Defense status is set to level two. All personnel, confirm.”

I swiped the confirm icon that appeared, acknowledging receipt of the alert. As everyone else on the bridge did the same, the captain turned back to the communications officer. “Put ‘em up.”

Before comm could reply, the ship went on. “Captain, defstat set to two. Confirmation at sixty-seven percent and climbing.”

“Acknowledged.” Salu pointed at the communications officer. “Comm?”

“Working on it, sir.” The comm officer—a newly commissioned ensign—hunched over her console, swiping through the display. The space at the front of the room filled with line after line of data, rolling upward at a rate too fast to allow us to read it.

“Pause!” the captain snapped out.

Ensign Warburton jumped a little, then hit the correct icon on her screen. The data stopped flowing.

“What am I looking at, Ensign?” Salu rose from her chair and stepped closer to the data.

“Standard comm data,” Warburton said, her voice pitched high and wobbly. “First column is assigned ID numbers—our system doesn’t recognize any of these sources, so it assigns a number. The rest is vectors, projected sources and destinations, and digitized packets.”

Salu turned to stare at Warburton, her fists clenching against her hips. “Berza is an unexplored system. How can there be this much—any comm data?”

“I don’t know, sir! If I didn’t know we just jumped to Berza, I’d think we’d landed at Sally Ride. Or maybe Lewei since I can’t translate any of this stuff. But even there, our system would recognize the identification packets. My computer is assigning IDs as if every signal was coming from an unregistered source.”

“You’re saying our newly discovered system is occupied?”

The Romara Confrontation will be available April 14th on my Payhip Store. It's up for preorder on Amazon and will go into Kindle Unlimited on April 24th.

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In today's climate, you probably thought this was going to be a political post, didn't you? But it's not. Although I suppose in some ways it is. Because my newest book, The Romara Confrontation, is coming out April 24th. It's the story of two cultures colliding when one discovers the other.

Lieutenant Serenity “Siti” Kassis has trained her whole life for first contact missions, but nothing prepares her for this—arriving at a promising new world only to find it already inhabited by an advanced, spacefaring civilization. As acting commander, it’s her call whether to push forward or back away. One wrong move could spark a conflict neither side can afford.

On Lunesco, Quinn Templeton is expecting a quiet lunch with an old friend when the planetary defense system flags an unidentified ship in orbit. Since the revolution, she’s learned to negotiate, but first contact with an unknown species? That’s a whole new challenge.

Siti and Quinn could navigate mistrust, politics, and the weight of history to build something neither of their people expected—a future together. But they have to meet first. And something–or someone–is trying to keep them apart.

The Romara Confrontation is book 5 in the Colonial Explorer Corps, and follows Siti, Joss, and Derek Lee as they meet the heroes of the Krimson Empire. If you haven't read either series, I recommend you start with book 1 of the CEC series. If you're short on time, you can jump in at book 4, which I designed to be a second entry point into the series.
This book can be read without reading Krimson Empire first. (But I hope you'll read it, too!)

Preorder here.

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