Introducing Author James Michael Moody

James Michael Moody developed a love of reading Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Adventure in his early school days. After being introduced to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jules Verne, and others, Moody developed a love for their old-school storytelling style. As he grew older Moody tried out the works of Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert, and Phillip K. Dick. Although they were some of the most-liked authors of the '60s, Moody was not drawn to their modern-style space travel escapades.

James Michael Moody

    

In 1967 while buying comic books at a used book store in his birth town of Johnson City, TN., the thirteen-year-old schoolboy discovered the paperback books of Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan), Robert E, Howard (Conan), and Lester Dent (Doc Savage). All three were Pulp Magazine writers who wrote in the classic style of Jules Verne. These Fantasy, adventure, and survival, writer’s style made him a lifetime fan and collector. 

James Michael Moody

    

In one of the Tarzan paperbacks Moody discovered a list of Burroughs fanzines. Now a Burroughs addict, Moody subscribed to the Burroughs Bulletin, ERB-dom, ERBania, and The Barsoomian. From them, he was introduced to Phillip Jose Farmer who was printing support articles for his upcoming Tarzan Alive. Although embraced by ERB, Inc., Tarzan Alive was not about ERB’s jungle lord, but instead about the real man, which ERB based his ape-man stories.

John F. Roy & James Michael Moody

Unhappy with PJF’s direction, Moody started writing rebuttal articles and publishing them in the ERBzines of the ‘80s and ‘90s and ERB-APA for twenty-plus years. With his last issue, #124 in the ERB-APA, Moody started an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody, which is still active and presents new material.

James Michael Moody

While developing his writing skills in these ERB fanzines Moody started writing his first Sci-Fi novella, Pioneers On Unium, on August 15, 1975, at his family's heritage home in Elk Park, NC. Because of a plant shutdown and no work, Moody moved back to his birth town of Johnson City, TN where he completed his first adventure on August 11, 1977. It was published on December 31, 2019, fifty-two years later.

James Michael Moody

While living in Johnson City, Moody began Exiled On Unium, book two of the series, on December 13, 1979, and completed it on November 9, 1982. Forty years later, it was published on August 25, 2022.

Jamie, Mike & Sissy

In 2022, Moody began writing Swordsman On Unium on December 13, 1979, and completed it on November 9, 1982. Forty-two years later, on July 15, 2024, it was published.

Mike, Lucy (grandmother), Debbie (sister).

On December 31, 2019, Pioneers On Unium was published. Moody was 65 years old.

James Michael Moody

On August 25, 2022, Exiled On Unium was published. Moody was 68 years old.

James Michael Moody & Renee Light

On July 15, 2024, Swordsman On Unium was published. Moody was 70 years old.

James Michael Moody

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Books In The Unium Series

Book One

Pioneers On Unium

Book Two

Exiled On Unium

Book Three

Swordsman On Unium

Exiled On Unium: An Introduction

Exiled On Unium: An Introduction

By

James Michael Moody

Just got off the phone with the folks at Lifrich Publishing. I paid shipping & handling for six copies of my newly published Sci-Fi adventure, Exiled On Unium, which was included in my publishing package. I then proceeded to order 100 additional copies for book signings.

James Michael Moody

Everything is going great to date. The manuscript has been submitted and has been formatted. During the conversation, we discovered my 50-word corrections had not been applied. The corrections are now being resubmitted and reprocessed. That is the good news. The bad news is that it has stalled book shipments to customers for a couple more weeks until those corrections have been applied. However, you can still pre-order Exiled On Unium today on the publisher's website and never be aware of the slight delay.

Exiled On Unium

The e-Book version is not listed on the publisher's website as of this writing. Sometimes it can take up to two weeks for it to be posted. That is not the norm and let us hope it appears sooner.

 

Exiled On Unium

The cover design we sparred over. Liferich book cover designers offered their cover version, but I felt it was more like a stand-alone book cover, instead of a series look similar to the cover I wanted. The following is a picture of the cover of the 1st book of the Unium series.

Pioneers On Unium

The following is the first proposed cover for Exiled On Unium as presented by Liferich book cover makers. As you can see it has no visual connection to the first cover, so I was concerned that the reader would not visually connect the two together as series components.

Exiled On Unium Cover Proposal One

The following representation is more what I was searching for. This version resembles Pioneers On Unium and is easily visually connected to the first book. That is exactly what you want in a series in my opinion. Was I right, or was I wrong?

                    

Exiled On Unium

Book two of the Unium series, Exiled On Unium, takes up where book one, Pioneers On Unium, leaves off. Greg Vancover, the series' lead character, has been found guilty of the forceable rape of Sally Swift, the fort’s nurse. After a failed hanging attempt, the young hunter’s death sentence was reduced to life banishment from Fort America, the name given to their new settlement. If the excommunicated criminal was caught within a day's march of the young town, he was to be killed upon where he was found.

Greg Vancover

Thanks to past service, the town council voted to provide the outcast with a light bark canoe, food provisions, and weapons. Saying farewell to his closest friends, the exiled earthman paddled downstream through the grassy savanna into the shadowy forest miles away. continuing his way down the ever-broadening river, the cautious canoeist made his way to a locality no human had gone to before.       

                                                                   

Chapter One: Trip Down River

When the watery highway broadened into a small lake, the vagabond located a lake bank spot to construct a new home. After weeks of construction and surviving the denizens of the forest, the isolated society reject was attacked by a severe case of loneliness. The friendless desolate was homesick for his own kind. 

Chapter One: Trip Down River

In a bold, but very unwise move, the lonely journeyman made his way upriver back to Fort America. Taking advantage of the dark, the desperate youth crept over the wooden palisade walls and made his way to his former cabin. There he rendezvoused with his lover, Laura Richardson, the woman carrying his child. After a night of reuniting, the daring intruder exited the primitive community just before daylight. 

Greg Vancover

Their inner spirit revitalized, and the canoeist made his way back to his lake bank tree home. There he resumed construction activities. A few days later the boredom and lonesomeness overcome him once again. To help ward off this nagging gloomy depression, the excommunicated earthman decided to go exploring. While examining a swampy patch the trailblazer happened upon a big foot-like being. The hominid was the same species that had kidnapped Sally Swift, but much younger. The struggling man-creature was marred up in quicksand with a ferocious cat threatening. The astonished boater tried to save the teen Sasquatch, but both the hairy anthropoid and cat sank to their death in the soupy sludge.

 Gon-pa

On the way out of the swamp, a quick traveling storm forced the boater to shore. During the unexpected drenching, a strong wind gust broke off an upper limb, and it tumbled to the turf below. The falling limb miraculously fell on a second spying beast man, pinning it to the ground. Upon discovery, Greg freed the hairy forest man and learned it was searching for the teen devoured by the quicksand. 

Mon-ta

Because of the high and dangerous waters, the boater decided to camp where he was and continue the journey home tomorrow. The bigfoot upon learning of his partner’s death, was no longer traveling in urgency. Needing a break from days of strenuous hiking, the ape-like forest man decided to sleep over also. Safety lay in numbers, and it was good for both travelers. 

Exiled On Unium

The earthman later learned the two beast men were on a mission to scale, what they called “The Great Cliffs,” in search of a race comparable to their own. Since the glass slick cliff walls were unclimbable, the voyagers intended to ascend by a gargantuan tree named Ri-ga. The woody giant grew up the cliff walls and extended miles above. The intrigued boater asked the prehistoric troglodyte if he knew of any beings that resembled him. 

Exiled On Unium

"None that lived below Ri-ga," but ancient tales hinted of the possibility above The Great Cliffs. After a sleepless night of apprehensive thinking, the distraught human decided to join the anthropoid in the ascension of the humongous woody plant. This was not an easy decision to make, for there was a possibility the desperate youth may never get the opportunity to return. He was putting everything on the line, for this one long-shot attempt to discover humankind. 

Exiled On Unium

Greg and Mon-ta, the beast man’s name, exited their lake location the following morning. The unlikely pair traveled inland for days before coming upon The Great Cliffs, and Ri-ga the gargantuan tree which towered even higher. Facing much hardship and ferocious wildlife, the two scrambled up the wet base of Ri-ga. Once, they were trailed by a group of hunting snake men, called Sinlu. The slithering constrictors did not give up the pursuit and followed the fleers into the drier mid-section. 

Sinlu

While dodging the deadly reptiles, the excursionist came across a long-tailed monkey man. The treed anthropoid was frantically fending off a ruthless panther-like cat with a wooden cudgel. The passersby came to the hairy primate’s liberation. In appreciation, the simian took the wayfarers to his village for rest and lodging. The outsiders spent several days at the primitive settlement hunting and socializing.

X-tung

During that visit, X-tung the monkey man convinced the visiting star child to teach his village defenders how to fabricate spears, bows, and arrows to combat the ever-pressuring snake men. The human was glad to help his new friends. He went days tutoring them in the use of the alien-designed weapons.

X-tung's Village

The village guest got to witness one of the ancient customs of these unsophisticated tree folk. A tournament of love. The two helplessly watched as their primordial companion, X-tung, fought for and won his soul mate in a tournament designed around combative skills. 

Le-on

After the ceremony was completed, it was time for the two wayfarers to once again continue the climb up Ri-ga. Leaving the safety of X-tung's community, the pair followed home returning contestants of the tournament upwards to their respective villages. Pick up your copy of Exiled On Unium today, available in Soft Cover large print, and eBook. Find out if Greg and Mon-ta made it successfully to the top of The Great Cliffs, or does life take them in an unexpected direction neither expected.

Climbing Ri-ga

Swordsman On Unium: Kindle

 

Swordsman On Unium 

Book Three Of The Unium Series 

Swordsman On Unium Is The Third Novella 

Of A Three-book Sword & Planet Series 

     By     

  James Michael Moody

    Format: Kindle Edition

                                               

Swordsman On Unium

 

Swordsman on Unium is written by James Michael Moody. The novel intends to take its readers on an otherworldly adventure full of challenges and mysteries. The story begins when a person named Greg is mysteriously anesthetized and wakes up on an unknown and incredibly outlandish planet, ‘Unium’, which is unique and very different from Earth in every imaginable way. As he gains consciousness, he is startled by this planet’s unique features and landscape, such as gigantic mountains that slice through the skies, periods of immense night darkness where even the moon dips below the horizon, and vast plains with Beast-Men on the lookout for their prey.

On this alien and distant planet, Greg meets Star, a cautious and charming young girl who lives with her veteran father, In-Kor. It is not easy for Greg to win the trust of the unearthly beauty, even though he risks his life to defend Star from a beast cat named Destra during their first encounter. However, through various instances of inquiry and confusion, they eventually form a bond. Later, Star introduces Greg to her father, In-Kor, a former grandmaster swordsman who, being a veteran, is far more reluctant to trust Greg. Despite this initial hesitation, the father and daughter eventually give safe refuge to Greg, and their bond strengthens. Star exposes Greg to the many perils of Unium, from eerie humanoids to gruesome slavers. Together, they form a bond where Star serves Greg as a guide to this new planet.

The book aims to put Greg's exploration of Unium into words. The breathtaking yet terrifying realities that he witnessed while having a constant sense of dread. His anguish grows even stronger when he witnesses the Unium civilization being dominated by the oppressive trade of slaves, ruthless and extortive kings, and the menace of raids by bandits. Greg's life on this planet becomes an epitome of both awe and horror as he observes the intricacy of Unium’s society and the contrasting moral values of its inhabitants.

Swordmsan on Unium’ is a marvelous tale of survival and companionship. In the book, James Michael Moody attempts to portray a world where danger exists at all times and every step is filled with unique adventures and risks. The book makes its readers explore an alien planet and experience the profound connections that can form even in the most unfathomable of places.

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Other Books In The Unium Series

Book One

Pioneers On Unium

Book Two

Exiled On Unium