John Wilker

OK
About John Wilker
The first story I ever wrote was a harrowing tale of beloved comic strip favorite, Ziggy, saving the Seattle Space Needle and by extension the world, from alien domination. I was about 11, copyright wasn't a thing I knew about back then. Still a good story though, I won an award!
Since then storytelling has always worked its way into my life and my work. I've always loved underdog stories; the ragtag crew just trying to get by in a ship that isn't shiny or new. Space Rogues was born from that love. If you're a fan of Firefly, Omega Force, Spinward Fringe, etc. You'll feel right at home in the universes of Wil Calder and Jackson Caruso.
I live in Denver, with my awesome wife, Nicole, and our dog, Paco. I love Denver, except shoveling snow, and love being outdoors whenever I can, especially if it's a rooftop patio, and there's beer :)
You can always reach me at johnwilker.com
You can follow my writing and other random things I like to share on:
https://twitter.com/jwilker
https://instagram.com/johntwilker
https://facebook.com/johnwilkerwriter
Customers Also Bought Items By
Are you an author?
Author Updates
-
-
Blog postLast weekend was my first and last Starfest Denver. It was my first because I didn’t learn about it until 2019, but I missed the window to sign up and signed up for 2020 (sad trombone). It was my last because after 45 years, the family that runs it is retiring from cons.
It ran from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening.
I went in with a few goals.
Primarily I wanted to practice my hand-selling. That went well, I handed people books when they stopped by. I still need4 days ago Read more -
Blog postIs rocky…
So Picard season 2 ended around the same time as Season 1 of Strange New World’s kicked off. Watching both episodes was a rollercoaster ride of contrasts.
I talked about my feelings about Discovery already. They’ve not changed and I cut all ties with the show. I’m glad people enjoy it, I couldn’t get over the things I didn’t like.
Picard Season 1 I slogged through Picard Season 1 remembering that most Trek takes at least a season to find its footing, often mo1 week ago Read more -
Blog postThis post was started in 2018 and has been brewing ever since. I saw this in a Facebook group I’m a part of. It’s a group of “Power Users”. I see posts like this in this group, and just about every writers/readers group daily if not more frequently. I highly doubt the person who posted […]
The post Our Love Hate Relationship with Creators appeared first on johnwilker.com.
3 weeks ago Read more -
-
Blog postSo, my patrons are probably finishing up Space Rogues 10: Rogue Enterprises about now. It comes out for the rest of the world on the 27th.
Sorry. Want early access, you gotta pony up. Which you should, there’s lots of awesome stuff for patrons over there! :)
Anyway. Ten Motherfucking books. The 1st cover of Space Rogues Book 1 When I wrote ‘The End’ in November of 2016, winning my first NaNoWriMo, I never woulda guessed I’d be here. With ten books in this series, three in a1 month ago Read more -
Blog postThis was on Seth’s Blog last week.
I used to buy the newest iPhone every year, the latest kindle. I’d grab the latest this that or another thing. I’d buy a new gadget not because I needed it, but because it was new.
There wasn’t a single epiphany, chorus of angels type moment for me, but as I’ve grown, I just sort of stopped wanting more. I realized I had enough.
I’ve been fussing with our TV lately and realized it’s from 2008. It works fine. Would I like a fancy new s1 month ago Read more -
Blog postI’ve waffled a lot on how I want to participate in “Cons” as an author.
As my writing career was taking off, I submitted to a lot of events. I applied for author alley tables, and I put my name in the running for panels. For every event around the Denver metro area, I was putting my name in.
Until this year I’d been trying to do both. Have a sales booth, and be on panels or signings/readings. I came into this just assuming I had to do both. That I needed to be seen in both asp2 months ago Read more -
-
Blog postI’ve taken the plunge on creating a Patreon page. I toyed with Patreon, way back when as an experiment to support my community conferences. My most heartfelt thanks to those awesome folks that supported those efforts.
I closed those Patreon pages down after about a year because it was a lot of work to create content just for those few supporters. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough to warrant people’s support. It was an experiment and I learned a lot.
Now that writing is a much2 months ago Read more -
Blog postSo the other day, Apple held its first 2022 event. It was flashy and everything you’d expect from an Apple event. And yet again it showed that they really have lost all sight of their ‘pro’ users.
Sure they released the Studio Mac, avoiding adding ‘Pro’ to the name. It looks like an excellent machine. I’ll probably buy one next year (or maybe 2024) to replace my 2018 Mac Mini. Of course, I have less than zero hope that Apple addressed the Bluetooth issues that have plagued the Mac Min2 months ago Read more -
-
Blog postMy newsletter this week featured a ton of promos and bundles. Normally I keep that stuff exclusive for my newsletter folks, but there were too many good ones that I wanted to share more widely.
First up is C.L. Cannon’s Star Wars Fan Giveaway. I do promos with her once or twice a year. It’s a great way to get in front of new readers that love stuff that is similar to my works. Give it a shot. Worse case, you don’t win but meet a few new authors you might love.
This one ends to2 months ago Read more -
Blog postSo, last week I talked about the Space Rogues series. This week I wanted to dig into my other space opera series.
The Grand Human Empire came about because I’ve always loved scifi that featured that mostly capable loner/small group, just getting by.
With Space Rogues, I always tried to keep the crew grounded so that every book wasn’t a “The Team saves the galaxy” type of story. I generally don’t love those.
The Grand Human Empire is even more grounded in everyday type2 months ago Read more -
Titles By John Wilker
Sometimes it’s good to get back to basics. For Wil and the crew, that means a heist!
What are they stealing?
Why?
For whom?
As they say, ‘The galaxy laughs when we make plans.’
Now it’s a race against time to save the life of one of their own before their past fully catches up to them.
With a little help from an old friend, they just might pull it off.
Wil and the crew of the Ghost have been hired as security consultants for the galaxy's newest, biggest, and most luxurious cruise ship's maiden voyage.
Sounds perfect, relax in the lap of luxury on someone else's dime. Except, of course, that's not what happens.
While a war rages on the outer edges of the Galactic Commonwealth, something more base is taking shape aboard the Galactic Empress.
It's ok though, Bennie has a laser sword.
They saved the Galactic Commonwealth once. For free.
Apparently it’s a thing they do now…
The crew of the Ghost has been privateering for the Harrith government. You know, the one they saved from civil war.
It’s fun; stop pirates, smugglers and the like, and take their loot.
But nothing lasts forever. There’s a bounty on their heads after all.
A call from an old friend has them leave the safety of the Harrith system.
No good deed, and all that. Now they’re in the middle of it, again, can they survive?
At least it’s not a galactic conspiracy this time! There are, however; laughs, tears, and the first-ever Taco Tuesday in space!
Space Tacos?
Can Wil and the crew save the day one more time? There’s only one way to find out, get your copy today!
Something more dangerous than any weapon in existence. Something that the crew of the Ghost are far too familiar with and had hoped to never see again.
The Commission to wind down the nightmare experiments of Farsight Corporation has been robbed, and it wasn’t Wil and the crew. They’re hired to recover the stolen data.
They get help from two unlikely groups, one will betray them and the Galactic Commonwealth.
Sometimes honor gets in the way.
Sometimes your customers are Galactic Commonwealth Politicians.
And sometimes your customers are drunks who find you in a bar.
Those are the most exciting jobs.
They're also the most dangerous and possibly the most rewarding.
Find out what happens when the crew of the Ghost ventures to the outskirts of the Commonwealth on an epic quest.
Wil never planned to go home again.
Plans change.
Hired by one of the most powerful people in the Galactic Commonwealth to retrieve someone from Earth, a protected planet. A planet that no one in the Galactic Commonwealth is allowed to approach let alone land on.
Wil has reservations, the crew wants more bacon. They take the job.
Get in, grab the target, get bacon, and get out.
Easy right?
Wrong!
Things go downhill fast.
While Wil has been off saving the galaxy (more than once, thank you very much), Earth has been busy on projects of their own. None of them good for anyone else.
Not to mention their target isn’t what they expected.
Now Wil and the crew of the Ghost have to decide what to do next.
All while trying not to die, as usual.
There's also the matter of Bennie not wanting to be dissected!
See what happens when homecomings go sideways.
The day starts like any other, venturing into spider-bear territory to rescue Bennie’s sister.
Turns out there’s a lot of space that the Peacekeepers don’t go near, go figure spider-bear territory is on that list.
And that’s just the start of their adventure. Things get interesting, quick!
By interesting, I mean horrifying of course.
Their old friend Xarrix calls with a job. A job that sounds straightforward and easy. That should have been their first clue. With nothing else on their plates, the crew of the Ghost finds themselves in a sector of space deemed “untamable” by the Galactic Commonwealth, working with a warlord with some pretty big plans. That should have been the second clue.
Too bad none of the crew are detectives.
Learning from his past dealings with the crew of the Ghost, Xarrix assigns one of his own to stay aboard the Ghost to keep an eye on the crew and make sure they behave themselves as if that was possible.
What’s worse is it’s someone the team knows and don’t particularly like.
And then there’s the space battles and grilled cheese.
Hired to bring a tech team to a remote planet.
They had no idea what was waiting for them.
Wil and the crew of the Ghost show up to find a nearly deserted research outpost on a frozen world.
Nearly deserted…
Oh, and Maxim has been abducted and with the crew busy elsewhere there’s only one being who can rescue him, Bennie.
What could go wrong? Will the crew of the Ghost reunite? Will they freeze on a desolate ice world?
There are monsters in the ice...
Find out now!
Sometimes the crate is full of space bees and Bennie opens it.
Gabe is back from his mission of leading a droid civil rights movement and seems to have been more or less successful.
A new client approaches the crew, escort and protection detail for a summit. That sounds easy, and the pay is good.
Turns out the Galactic Commonwealth is only partly run by the governing council…
Things, as they do, turn sideways and now the Ghost is hiding from a super-advanced warship that shouldn’t exist.
Turns out one of their previous clients is far more evil than they ever imagined, and someone they thought worthless turns out to be a valuable ally. Who doesn’t like learning new things?!
Jackson ”Jax” Caruso inherited a ship from his parents.
They’re dead, they don’t need it.
The unification wars happened a while ago, Jax’s parent’s fought for the losing side. Now he takes the jobs he can get; smuggling, bounty hunting, hauling cargo. If it pays, he’ll do it.
When Jax is approached with a job that seems too good to be true, he should have known better, he should have walked.
He didn’t.
Now he and a few friends are in it deep; Imperial entanglements are the least of their concerns with organized crime on their tails.
Will Jax and his friends finish the job without getting caught, or killed? Only one way to find out!
Get your copy today!
Everywhere he and Naomi turn, bespoke suited thugs are trying to kill them.
When the Governor of Kelso station hires them to take her to a summit on the Imperial homeworld of New Terra, it’s the kind of straightforward job Jax likes.
Naomi has other ideas.
One thing leads to another and now it’s not just the Crimson Orchid that is hot on their heels, but a mysterious Imperial agent.
Can they shake two very determined groups?
Find out!
He’s been stranded beyond the stars for years. When he buys himself a down-and-out squad, he crash-lands into a whole galaxy of trouble…
Lone human Wil Calder is bored out of his freakin’ mind. So when he gets word of a couple of criminals being hauled to a penal colony, he figures he’s got a sweet deal to offer: Join his crew and he’ll help clear their names. But he quickly finds he’s bought a black hole of misfortune with the two disgraced convicts knowing things that they shouldn’t know. Things that will get all of them killed.
Desperate for fast money to go legit, Wil takes on one last illegal job to rob a heavily guarded space station. But when the motley band stumbles across an interstellar conspiracy, the ill-equipped ship captain must decide how far he’ll fly to bring justice to his team and the rest of the universe.
Can the accidental spaceman escape a cosmos of chaos before they all go supernova?
Space Rogues: The Adventures of Wil Calder is the exciting first book in the Space Rogues space opera series. If you like fun characters, fast-paced action, and lighthearted entertainment, then you’ll love John Wilker’s science fiction caper.
Buy Space Rogues: The Adventures of Wil Calder to make infinity pay today!
- ←Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- Next Page→