Starting on a new story

 All this mucking about with Midjourney has coaxed the Muse out of hiding and I've started a new book - my first bit of serious writing in at least six months.

My favourite stories to write are history, mystery, and a splash of romance and this one fits the mould. 

Dragon Island, off shore from the fishing village of Portosinta, was a known base of notorious Yrmak pirate Drarkghon back in the days when the space trading routes were closer to Santa Bella. But that was hundreds of years ago. The pirate is long gone but his legend lives on. The story goes he left a treasure on the island but despite treasure hunters, archaeologists, and historians - both Human and Yrmak - combing every inch of the place nothing has ever been found.

Jill Beersohn is an academic with expert knowledge of Yrmak culture in this part of the known galaxy. She reluctantly becomes involved in the search for Drarkghon's treasure due to family circumstances. An old flame, Dan Bishop, turns up unexpectedly and together they find a CLUE.

And that's all I'll tell you right now - except they're going on an ADVENTURE.

In the meantime, here are a few visuals.

Dragon Island

It's surrounded by cliffs with only one way into the lagoon in the middle. You probably guessed how it got its name - 'Drarkghon' doesn't mean dragon but it sounds like it. The island is riddled with caves.

The remains of an Yrmak temple still exist on Dragon Island but it has been thoroughly explored, including with radar systems.

Maybe we can find a clue down here

If there is a treasure to be found, it's sure to include items like this ceremonial carved box. Yrmaks prize green stone. This box would have been coveted.

If they do find treasure, Jill and Dan will still have some competition from Yrmaks. Yrmak warriors are not to be underestimated.

Meanwhile, I'm planning on one thousand words per day. I doubt this will be finished before next year - but you never know. The working title is "The Dragon's Hoard"- but that might change because I don't want people to think it's a shifter story.

I'll keep you posted.

Cheers,

Greta

Creatures from another world

If I think it's hard to find suitable human stock photos for my book covers, that's nothing when compared to finding pictures of aliens. If the alien is basically a human with a few small changes, that can be done in Photoshop. A good example is Admiral Ravindra. His people, the Manesai, have far better eyesight than Humans and their eyes look a bit like a cat's. Which is what I did with this image.

 If it was going to be good at anything, I figured Midjourney would be good at aliens – real aliens that originated on their own distant planets.

My Dryden Universe stories all feature Yrmaks, green, scaly, warlike. MJ did a good job for them based on this description. "A full body alien warrior, tall, powerfully built, green skin, yellow eyes, crocodile-like head, green armor". 

 

But when it came to a totally non-humanoid alien, MJ was waaaay out of its depth. I spent hours trying to come up with a convincing Ptorix but a being without a neck was out of its league. Here's a description I wrote years back.

They are essentially conical in shape, something they exaggerate with their clothing. They have no neck and the head ends in a dome. The body is covered in short blue fur. Their four arms end in a number of tentacles which can be deployed in a variety of ways. Think of a sea anemone and you've about got it right. They have four short legs but these are usually hidden beneath their robes. Three eyes which change color according to mood are located almost equidistant around the top of the head, enabling a Ptorix to see almost the whole way around its body without moving. They have two 'mouths', one – resembling a proboscis – for eating, the other for breathing and speaking. So from a human viewpoint, they're pretty weird.

This is what MJ came up with given "cone shaped alien, blue skin, wearing a full length blue cape, ornate decoration, weird eyes, trunk-like nose."

 
Including four arms with tentacles instead of fingers was not in the ball park at all. I kept trying to simplify to get some sort of result.In the end I gave up on getting a full body image. These are the best head shots.

 

Great weird eyes

A better idea of the proboscis

 

 

Too humanoid - but what the hey

 

I ended up settling for the humanoid version because it looks aggressive and it includes curves and ornate decoration which is characteristic of the Ptorix.

To be honest, something like MJ would have been great back when I created the Ptorix. I think perhaps I wouldn't have been quite so 'out there' with their weirdness after I'd tried to get a likeness. Ah well. It is what it is.

I had much better success with an image of a Berzhan, a sentient being at the core of Crisis at Validor. Here she is.

She looks a little bit like a Chinese dragon so I was able to help MJ in finding something that fit.

Next time I decide to create an alien critter for a book, I fully intend to try out my ideas with something like Midjourney. It will definitely help me come up with something convincing - and help when I need to write descriptive passages, too.

At the moment I'm creating pictures as I plot. So far it's the easy stuff - the island where there's archaeological remains of an ancient Yrmak presence and some pictures of loot. Who knows? I'm might have a new book out, probably next year. 

Thanks MJ.

Cheers

Greta

 

 

 

Nice, ordinary guys deserve to fall in love, too

My third foray into the Dryden Universe was a little bit different. Maybe a lot different. The thing about writing a book with a romance arc is that when you get to the Happy Ever After ending, the basic ROMANCE plot is finished. That means you have to find another couple to meet and fall in love, while making sure it isn’t too quickly etc etc. I had to come up with new characters for this next Dryden book

.

My modus operandi tends to be powerful alpha males, usually admirals, and strong women who can match them, but this time, it seemed to me that nice, ordinary guys deserved to fall in love, too. His name is Brent Walker. (Note to self: not every guy’s name has to start with B - I seem to have had a lot of them :) ) Brent is trying hard to make his way in the slightly dodgy, cut-throat world of small freight hauling. In some respects he’s a bit like Han Solo – rough on the outside, but basically a nice man. 

Now for the female main character. I wanted to work Admiral Ul-Mellor into the plot, but as a supporting character. So Tian Axmar is an Imperial agent, reporting to Admiral Ul-Mellor, who somehow involves Brent Walker in her undercover operation. Tian hires Brent and his elderly freighter to assist in her investigation of murders of Yrmaks and Humans, associated with a strange symbol left at the scene. Of course, since there’s a romance arc, they fall in love.

In that context, the Yrmaks had to be much more than two-dimensional nasty chaps. Tian and Brent would have to actually talk to them, work out why certain things happened as they did. To do that I’d have to make them much more real in my own mind, with their own culture, their own mythology and rituals, and their own reasons for doing things.

Describing Yrmak culture without having too much exposition was a challenge. I settled on revealing bits and pieces as Brent and Tian conduct their investigation. The extract is set in a local market. Looking for clues, Tian has a conversation with a Human stall holder who sells Yrmak souvenirs. He’s just tried to sell Tian a ritual knife she knows isn’t authentic.

"I'm Tian. Pleased to meet you. Tell me about the Rite of Ur Bazoon. Isn't that some sort of fertility thing?"

"No. It's a ceremony carried out when the young men are mature enough to go to war. They pledge themselves to the Great Mother by cutting their left claw with a knife like that one. Their blood drips into a bowl on the altar, then the High Priestess drinks the blood. After that, they're given their spears."

He knew what he was talking about, and his pronunciation of Ur Bazoon had been pretty good. But that dagger was no more authentic Yrmak than she was.

"Do you speak Yrmak?"

"I do. It was difficult, but I find their culture fascinating. A true matriarchy, with the females running things. It's hard to find out about anything interesting if you don't speak the language."

So very true.

"Is there anything in particular you're looking for? I have some beautiful pots, carvings." Austen put down the pot he held in his hand and picked up another. "Lovely carvings on this one. See?"

Tian stared at the jar he'd put down, dark green stone with what looked like a gold inscription. If she was any judge that was probably worth more than the rest of his collection put together. "Can I see that one?"

He picked up the piece and fondled it as though it were precious. "Beautiful, isn't it? It's not for sale. I… ah… only just got this one."

Stolen? "May I see it? Please? I'll be very careful."

"Well… okay." He placed the jar onto Tian's outstretched palm.

Heavy. Not pottery, this was deep green, flawless aventurine. The symbol on the lid had been carved, then the carving filled with gold. It was an eye surrounded by rays. She'd never seen the symbol before, but she suspected she knew what it was. "Where did you get this one?"

"Picked it up in an Yrmak's junk sale. Just came from there. The matriarch had died — that is, passed on to the Mother — and they were selling up her effects. Household goods and such."

"And they sold this?"

His eyelashes fluttered. "It was part of a job lot." He waved his hand at the counter behind him, where an assortment of jars and cheap jewelry stood next to the box. "I've been sorting it out."

There was a certain resemblance between this symbol and the other one she kept in her comm. Not the same, but resonant. "How much do you want for it?"

Austen stared at the jar, then at her, then back at the jar, his eyes widening for the barest instant. He shook his head. "It's not for sale." He tried an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I think I'll be keeping this one."

"Do you know what it means? This symbol?" Tian traced it with her finger.

"I don't think it means anything. Not everything does, does it? Look, it's nothing. Just a part of a female's dressing room. That's why it's so fancy." He almost snatched it from Tian and put it in his pocket. "It's pretty. I think the wife would like it."

He picked up another pot, the same size but made from green agate and with a silver design on the lid. "What about this one? Just ten credits."

If you’d like to know more, you could always read the book…

Eye of the Mother
A distant star explodes. The ripples of its passing will rock the Empire.

When fate throws Brent Walker and Tian Axmar together, it’s strictly a business arrangement. She’s an Imperial agent with a problem to solve, he’s a space jockey with an empty bank balance and a tramp freighter for hire.

Somebody’s murdering Yrmaks and Humans, and leaving a mysterious calling card. Somebody wants interspecies war. Tian hires Brent to help her investigate, delving into Yrmak customs and beliefs to understand what’s going on. It’s an increasingly dangerous game, with more than just lives at stake. Before it’s over Brent and Tian will be faced with choices which will change both of them forever.

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