Visualizing Starheart

 

Yes, you're quite right. I seem to be addicted to Midjourney What I'm finding quite wonderful is being able to create images of people and scenes I've only seen in my head. Take the book STARHEART: I can SHOW you what I think Hudson and Jess look like - even a starheart.

Starhearts - uncut and cut

Starhearts are what the story is (sort of) all about. Here's a snippet where Admiral Hudson is considering the job he has been sent to do.

Hudson asked the IS to find the article about the sale of the starheart Gordon had mentioned. Yes, five million. A picture of the stone accompanied the article about the sale. From what he knew, this stone wasn't even a particularly good example, the fire blazing in the stone's red heart more like embers than flames. Yet he gazed at the holographic image, turning it from one side to another, for far too long. It was almost an effort to banish the thing from his desk.

Starhearts. As far as Hudson knew, no-one had found a deposit in any human systems. The Ptorix kept their sources to themselves but there weren't very many. He'd seen a picture of the one in the Khophir's crown, a jewel they called the dragon's eye. No Ptorix would give up a starheart lightly. They were worth more than enough without having to trade with humans. Even so, central intel recently mentioned reports of starhearts appearing in odd places.

I can even show you Admiral Hudson. Here he is in his dress whites.

 And then, of course, there's the lovely Jess. She's strong, competent and not above using her charms when it suits her interests. She attends a function where she encounters Admiral Hudson for the second time. The first time she was taken to his flagship for interrogation. This time, she's dressed to kill.

Here's the relevant scene.

Jess looked past the captain, over his shoulder. Hudson's head had come up at the mention of her name. She caught his gaze for a nanosecond and turned back to Sundra.

"We've not been introduced, no. Although I did have the… er… pleasure of visiting his ship earlier today."

Sundra smiled, white teeth against dark skin. "It wasn't personal, Captain. I'm sure you appreciate we have a job to do."

"Well, I do so hope you can lay your hands on these smugglers so we honest traders can carry on."

Hudson, murmuring 'excuse me', stepped past Captain Sundra, the group shuffling aside for him. He kept walking until he stood right in front of her. "Captain Sondijk. I'm delighted to see you again." Again that sweeping glance which encompassed all of her and left that lingering, sexy shimmer. "I had wanted a private word."

He took her arm and led her away toward the tall doors leading out onto the terrace.

Nordheim's two small moons glimmered against the dark sky to the East while to the West, the dense stars of the inner arm blazed. The air, redolent with the fragrance of night-flowering junisters, felt cool after the warmth of the crowd inside.

"What about?" she said.

He leant against the balustrade, silhouetted against the soft lighting of the garden below.

"I trust you were not too inconvenienced today?"

He had to be joking, didn't he? "Oh, the interrogation was what one might expect. But a strip-search? After being physically scanned? A little excessive, don't you think?"

His lips stretched in a brief smile. "Not conducted by my crew. I expect these things are a necessary part of the job of a planetary militia but I can't see much point in antagonizing people." He waved a hand. "I wouldn't like you to judge me on an unpleasant sideshow. I'd like to get to know you better. Much better."

And get her into his bed. He still looked at her with that all-consuming gaze. He had an aura, something about him that radiated authority. This may prove to be a dangerous game. But it might be fun.

Footsteps rang on the tiles.

"Admiral? Ah, there you are. Miss Marati and I would like a word."

Ottenshaw. She'd recognize his prissy accent anywhere. He sounded like he had pebbles in his mouth.

"It seems we've been found," Hudson said, soft voiced. "Will you have dinner with me? I'm told the Mountain View is one of the better restaurants in town. Just nod. I'll have my adjutant call you."

Jess nodded.

He pushed himself away from the stone wall.

"But you'd better call me yourself."

The tiny smile widening into a grin, he swept her up and led her back into the room.

***

But when Jess is in tough girl mode it's a whole nother story. Here she is at the controls of a ship.

Jess's co-pilot, Santh, plays an important role in the story too. Here he is

 I enjoyed writing the book. Maybe you'd enjoy reading it.

Freighter Captain Jess Sondijk thought she had her life under control until Confederacy Admiral Hudson stops her ship in search of contraband. Although he’s taken with the lovely Jess, Hudson’s after bigger fish than a small-time smuggler; somebody’s trading with the alien Ptorix – and offering them a large enough prize to induce them to part with their beloved starhearts, the jewels they call the windows of the soul.

Hudson’s questions open old wounds for Jess. She decides to investigate the circumstances of her husband’s not-so-accidental death. Soon her life’s headed into an increasingly dangerous spiral – for her, her friends, and her family.

Only Hudson can help. But in this deadly game of political intrigue, murder, and greed, one false step will cause inter-species war. Hudson is forced to make difficult choices – Jess, starhearts, war, and his commission.

This book contains mild sex scenes and strong language.

Buy the book at  Your choice of vendors

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

Cheers,

Greta

 

 

 

Even in space you can write what you know

I guess you guys all know I write mainly space opera. So you might be forgiven for raising an incredulous eyebrow (maybe even two) when I talk about writing what I know. And sure, I take out the space opera tool kit for the space bits. FTL travel, artificial gravity, shields to divert radiation (and attacks) etc etc. But not everything happens out there in the wide black. I usually have some goings-on planetside. And the WIP is no exception.

Senior Commander Thad Butcher was Grand Admiral Saahren's adjutant in the Iron Admiral series, but this time, he's getting his own story. Newly promoted to captain after the events chronicled in the Iron Admiral, he's gone home to Validor for a brief holiday before he takes up his new command - a battle cruiser. It's a boyhood dream come true. But he arrives on planet just in time to become embroiled in an attack on the Ruling family, where he's reunited with Tarlyn, who had been the unattainable love of his life before he left Validor, aged seventeen, to attend the Fleet Academy.

I've had a vague plot floating in my head for several years now, but distilling that ephemeral essence into a working story takes time. Although we'll get back up into space later down the track, at the moment Thad and Tarlyn are on a boat, heading for a meeting with the Ptorix - and some other amazing, intelligent creatures.

And this gave me the opportunity to write what I know.

A few years ago ago I was privileged to go on a three-day sail in the Whitsunday Islands off Queensland. It was a memorable experience, and one of those appears in the WIP. Thad and Tarlyn take a boat out of a bay between two headlands. That's based on my experience when we sailed through the Solway Passage, with its churning waters and whirlpools, all overlooked by a stormy sky and the towering red cliffs of a distant island. My scene isn't exactly the same, but I've drawn on that journey to lend some colour.

But that's not the end of the sea adventure, and here I dragged out another recent experience, when I went to Horizontal Falls, in Western Australia's far north, six years ago (gosh, was that really so long ago)? I wrote about it here. I used that image, of a tide roaring through a narrow gap, in another exciting scene.

Crisis at Validor is a fun read, my usual combination of action, intrigue, and politics, all served with a large helping of romance.

Newly-promoted Captain Brett Butcher is about to achieve his life-long ambition to command a battle cruiser. But before he takes up his new posting, he goes home on leave, hoping to perhaps catch a glimpse of his first love, the unattainable Lady Tarlyn.

When the queen is assassinated in a terrorist attack, Tarlyn’s life is thrown into turmoil when she, too, becomes a target. The last person she expects to rescue her is her childhood sweetheart, Brett Butcher.

As Validor’s Ptorix and human populations face off over a group of islands neither owns, the calls for war grow louder. Torn between duty and ambition, Butcher and Tarlyn struggle to prevent an inter-species conflict, while the ember of love that has smouldered for so long bursts into flame. But with planetary peace at stake, both will be forced to choose; love or duty.

Buy the book at  Amazon B&N Kobo iBooks

An interview with Admiral Saahren

The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy is the first of my five-book Ptorix Empire series. I expect you won't be surprised to learn that the Iron Admiral himself, Chaka Saahren, stars in the first two books.

Before the events of The Iron Admial: Conspiracy took place Admiral Saahren was a hero of the Human Confederacy after his heavily outnumbered forces defeated the Ptorix fleet at the battle of Forenisi. This is an interview he gave to a nervous young reporter after that event.

***

Saahren's clerk escorts me into the admiral's office. Saahren stands when I enter. Dressed in the Fleet's black day uniform, he's tall, dark and imposing, his lips curved into a brief smile of welcome. I stop myself from drooling as he waves me to a seat. "So kind of you to see me," I manage.

He offers a head bow. "My pleasure. What can I tell you?"

I point at the decoration on his breast, a blue jewel surrounded by a spreading burst of silver rays. "Congratulations on the Confederacy star."

He shrugs. "I'm honored, of course, but I was just doing my job. I see it as recognition of the valor and dedication of all the crews of all my ships."

I get the feeling he means it. So often it's false modesty. "Do you think we're safe from the Ptorix, now?"

He considers. "Safe? We can hope. But there are many, many more Ptorix in the galaxy than humans, and although we coexist on some planets, we're so very different. It's inevitable we'll clash. Especially with someone as ambitious as Lord Governor Anxhou in charge of the adjoining Ptorix sector."

I don't really want to talk about politics, though. I want to know about him. I ask him why he moved from his home world to Malmos when he was twelve years old. 

His eyes take on a faraway, introspective look. Eventually he says, "The planet had fallen into anarchy. Warlords had usurped power. My father was part of a revolt against the local tyrant. During the fighting my father was killed and I was badly injured. I was lucky enough to come under the care of a specialist doctor from Malmos. He took me back to the capital with him to finish my treatment, and then he became my foster father, you might say."

"From there you went to the Fleet Academy."

He nods. "Yes. It was an opportunity I would not have had if I'd remained on my home world."

"You've never married?"

Again, that enigmatic half smile. "My career has always been important to me. I see that as a way of giving back, making life safer for millions of ordinary people. I don't see myself as a family man."

I throw the rumour out to see how he'll react. "There have been suggestions you're gay?"

He laughs. "I've also heard I'm impotent. Either way, they can think what they like."

"Even your own officers and crews?"

The grin fades and one black eyebrow arches. "I don't expect all my officers to like me. That's impossible. But they will obey orders."

That last is said very quietly. I have to stop myself from standing up and saluting. I toy with the idea of asking him out to dinner, but I think I'll be wasting my time. He shakes my hand after I stand to leave. Warm, strong fingers gripping firmly, not one of those condescending limp fish offerings people like me get from too many 'important' men.

As the door closes behind me I wonder if he'll ever give himself the time to fall in love. I've met a few like that. They swear it'll never happen… then they meet the right woman, and BAM.

Time will tell.

The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy is the first of the five books in the Ptorix Empire series. It's available for $.99c at  Amazon B&N Kobo iBooks

And on the Morgan's Misfits front, I'm still working on Misfits 3. I might tell you a little about that next week. 

For all my American friends - have a peaceful, joyous Thanksgiving. And don't eat too much.
Cheers