Creating characters via AI art

 

I'll admit I haven't done much in the way of writing for some time. I'm afraid that muse I don't believe in has pouted and gone somewhere else. Maybe she'll be back some time and I might yet finish the story I half finished. Or have another go at the one which pokes me in the ribs from time to time.

As a matter of fact, while playing with the art AI, Midjourney, I've several times been tempted to use some of the scenes in my books as prompts to get the AI creating. I talked a bit about that last week. This week, I had a go at creating a picture of one of the scenes in my short story, Ink. To do that, I stated reading the novella and didn't stop until I'd finished it. I think it's one of the best things I've written.

So, here's an early scene…

"He walked beside Razza along the gently sloping path leading through a meadow of grasses and wild flowers down to the lake. Four fishing boats drifted at anchor, their shapes mirrored in the dark water. Beyond the lake the mountains rose into an azure sky. For once, the snow-covered peaks were not burdened with the usual expanse of cloud. Golden-leafed forest edged the far side of the lake. Higher up, evergreens covered the lower slopes, and above them, the sun glinted off dark cliffs too steep to hold the snow."

Here's what the AI came up with (with a little bit of help from Photoshop to add the boats).

 

Then I thought I'd see what the AI could come up with to give me an image of Admiral Ashkar Ravindra. As with most things, many iterations are often needed to get a result. The eyes were a Photoshop addition. Even without the strange eyes, I was very happy with this one. It was better than anything I've found on any of the stock image sites.

 

Ink is a story about how Ravindra got his famous tattoo. Maybe some time I'll see if I can create a picture of that tattoo, but at least I could find a reasonably acceptable alternative on a stock image site.

 

Some rites of passage should be remembered…

Life’s good for 18-year-old Ashkar Ravindra. School’s over, and he’s been accepted into the Fleet Academy. There’s time for one last trip up into the mountains in the brand new flitter his father gave him as a graduation present, before his real life, the one he’s been groomed for from the day he was born, begins in earnest.

Up in the mountains not everyone is pleased to see the privileged admiral’s son. Jealousy and ulterior motives turn the pleasant hunting trip into an ordeal. Lives are a stake. If Ashkar makes the wrong decision, he will be the first to die.

Buy the book at Your choice of vendor

Or buy from Payhip and get 20% off. Use coupon code G4U677DOVK

Cheers,

Greta

 

 

 

You have to have a powerful villain

 In any story where there's a hero and a villain, the two have to be at least evenly matched. It's even better if the villain is stronger than the hero. The stakes are raised and the hero has to work that bit harder to succeed. Take Harry Potter; we meet him as an eleven-year-old proto-wizard. Just as well Lord Voldemort is also in proto-villain mode, gathering his strength over time. It's only in book four, The Goblet of Fire, when he's back in shape, as it were. Then there's Batman and the Joker, Batman and Penguin, Superman and kryptonite in the hands of Lex Luther.

When I eventually got around to writing a sequel to Morgan's Choice, I had to come up with a villain to match, or surpass, Morgan Selwood. I suppose, in a way, Morgan is a super hero. She's a cyborg who can interface with just about any computer. She sort of has an AI in her head which can learn as it goes. But what's better than a supertech? I'd already done the ancient AI, Artemis, in Morgan's Choice. Where to from here?

I'd already decided that Morgan would be going home, back to where she came from when her spaceship malfunctioned and threw her into unknown space. She would be going back to find the origins of the Manesai society where she'd ended up, and she would be confronting some of her own past, as well. But what's stronger than a supertech?

Eventually it came to me. Another supertech. One that had gone rogue but had been smart enough to avoid being found out and eliminated. One that was jealous of Morgan.

Here's a snippet from the book.

***

Through the ships' sensors Morgan watched the station's locking arms retract into themselves like some sort of huge insect folding its limbs. She couldn't wait to get out of the place. Iniciara had been crossed off the one-hundred-places-you-must-visit-before-you-die list. What a stinking, messy, dump. She hadn't even liked eating the food there. Who knew where it came from? What it was? She bet the half of it was synthetic, made in a factory somewhere.

Curlew shuddered and began to move backwards. The station had applied enough thrust to push the ship out of the bay and into clear space, with the ship's systems controlling her drift so Curlew stayed equidistant between the docking bay walls. Beyond the bay, the station's slowly-receding bulk rose before them, a metal pincushion of ships, arranged in slowly-turning tiers.

Aft and forward side thrusters fired. Curlew pivoted, then followed a traffic lane to the designated jump area for Torreno. For Morgan, that really would be almost like coming home. She'd spent many a year on the Coalition's capital planet, some good, some not so good. Judging by the lack of traffic, Torreno wasn't a favored destination from Iniciara. Or maybe all the traffic for that destination had already left. Whatever. Space was a very empty place out here.

"Crew prepare for shift transfer in ten," Jirra announced.

One last check of the sensors… Morgan's heart thudded. "Missile, coming fast, from starboard." She'd raised the shields before she'd finished the words. "Prepare for impact." They wouldn't be able to avoid the strike whatever she did.

The shields fairly blazed, crackling with power as the warhead exploded. Morgan hung on to her seat, grateful for the harness, as Curlew was flung across space. Warning lights flashed. Shields were down seventy percent. If she hadn't seen the missile coming at the last moment, they would have been history. Idiot. Fool. How could you be so complacent? And another tiny voice whispered, how could you miss it? How could you not have seen it?

Morgan, Ravindra and the rest of the crew go through  a series of adventures that will test all of them, including Morgan's relationship with Ravindra. He can get a tad jealous :)

 

When you delve into ancient history you never know what strange forces you might unleash.

When Morgan Selwood and Admiral Ashkar Ravindra travel to Morgan’s Human Coalition to learn more about the origin of Ravindra’s people, their relationship is soon sorely tested. Morgan is amongst her own people and Ravindra is overprotective and insecure, afraid of losing her. But not everyone is keen to welcome Morgan home, not when they’d gone to all that trouble to get rid of her in the first place. Soon Morgan and Ravindra have a rogue Supertech on their trail with only one goal – kill Selwood.

Together, Morgan and Ravindra follow a tenuous trail back into humanity’s past, to the time historians call the Conflagration. But what begins as an innocent archaeological investigation escalates into a deadly peril for both humans and Manesai when Morgan and Ravindra are thrust into the middle of an unexpected conflict. And that rogue Supertech’s still out there, itching for revenge.

Buy the book at  Your choice of vendor

Or buy from Payhip and get 20% off. Use coupon code G4U677DOVK

Space Opera/ Science Fiction Romance. There are some non-specific sex scenes. There’s action adventure and politics – and a little bit of swearing. That’s how Morgan is.

Cheers,

Greta

 

 

The sexiest story I've ever written

 

 

When it comes down to it most novels, and especially romance novels, are about relationships between people. Girl meets boy, decides he's not suitable but that changes over time. My books are no exception – after all, the struggle is what makes it interesting. How does he convince her? How long does she defend?

But it's never that simple is it? Take Morgan Selwood, renegade Supertech. You could say she's a very human cyborg, able to interface with any computer, and prickly and difficult as far as most humans are concerned.

When she is rescued/captured by Admiral Ravindra, commander of an alien battlecruiser, Ravindra soon recognizes that this extraordinary woman could be a very useful military asset. And she is. But over time, she gets under his skin and he begins to see her as a desirable woman. For her part, as she gets to know Ravindra, she starts to see past the admiral's uniform to the man. When they're thrown into desperate danger with only each other to rely on they learn mutual respect, trust, and love.

All of that takes place in Morgan's Choice.

But then I felt the urge to write another part to the story, where it's all about the love part of the relationship. Morgan is a brilliant Supertech, a weapon in Ravindra's armoury, and she finds it difficult to get beyond that fact. Does he really care for her, or is it the supertech he wants?

A Victory Celebration is probably the sexiest story I've ever written/am likely to write. The events take place a short time after the end of Morgan's Choice. Morgan is on Ravindra's flagship as a member of his team. He's still very much a Manesai admiral in a patriarchal, regimented society so she's still something of an outsider with doubts about her position in his life. When Ravindra's fleet wins a decisive battle (with her help) it's time for the boys and girls to celebrate.

Here's a short excerpt:

Oh, bloody hell. I just can't concentrate.

The model hung in mid air, motionless. Morgan broke the connection to the data port, leaned back in the chair and flung the nearest object to hand across the room. "Shit."

"Morgan?" Leila Peris stared at her, a data cube in her raised hand.

Oh, shit. That must've been what she'd thrown. "You caught that?"

Leila nodded.

"Sorry." Morgan lifted a hand. "Just letting out some frustration. What are you doing here? I thought you were on leave?"

Leila put the data cube back on Morgan's desk, leaning forward so she could lower her voice. "I heard you were still on the ship. You won't be joining the admiral?"

Morgan glanced at the two techs. They were bent over their screens. Not that it mattered. The whole ship had to be aware that she and Ravindra were a bit more than friends.

"Not tonight. He'll be celebrating with his men."

"Aren’t you jealous?" Leila asked, propping a hip on the desk. They'd become friends, after a fashion. Leila was a promising engineer who had been involved in building and testing the model ship. She wasn't afraid to ask questions and wasn't afraid of Morgan.

Of course I'm not. "No. I’m not the only woman in his life; never was, never will be. That’s the way it is." Maybe a little bit jealous. But she was nothing if not pragmatic.

"Why don’t you come with us? Girls' night out? We're going out for a really expensive dinner and then maybe to a club to do some dancing. All the local girls will be off trying to latch on to a fleeter so there are plenty of local guys to dance with. And don't worry if you can't dance. We can teach you."

Female company, a good dinner, some dancing. Yes, better than working by herself, mooning about Ravindra. Dancing. Yes, she could dance. The memory made her smile. Would Ravindra mind? Then again, did she care if he did? A resounding ‘no’ to that one. He lived his life, she lived hers.

***

Or maybe not…

 A Victory Celebration is a long short story, a little under ten thousand words

What’s good for the gander has to be good for the goose … or so Morgan thinks. The fleet has won a major battle and Ravindra’s doing his celebratory thing with his officers. Morgan gets a rare invite for a girls’ night out.

Dinner, a little dancing, a little jealous pining… And a whole lot of trouble when Ravindra discovers his lady is out ‘n about… without protection. What started as an innocent night on the town turns into something very, very different.

Buy the book at Your choice of vendor