Alarik's Story - Excerpt for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

I’m posting excerpts from Karrik, Book 6 of SciFi series, Taxyon Space.  

Karrik, an alien merman, lives in a small room in a hospice on his home world after being crippled in battle. Because their society is intolerant of physical weakness, his brothers, Alarik and Baswin, paid for his care by serving as spies on Earth. Alarik has just returned from Earth and is visiting Karrik for the first time in many months. Karrik cannot speak more than a stuttered word. You can read last week’s excerpt here: https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2023/03/gestures-instead-of-words-excerpt-from.html

Alarik gave a rueful laugh. “Our disguises worked well for half a year. We sent reports to the Triarch about the Earthers. He was especially interested in their sentiments about Warrish. They call us alien mermen.”

“Urg?” Karrik arched his eyebrows.

“One day, some of the Earthers detected the Triarch’s holographic transmission to me. Baswin and I had to flee. By good fortune, I had already hooked a flight to their red planet. I took passage on their space ferry to the outer planets and dove into cover in our Watcher outpost in the oceans of Europa.”

Ten sentences and a few more

Karrik spluttered a question, “B…Bas?”

“In our last conversation, he said he planned to swim to our embassy on Earth.” Alarik rubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t know where he is. He did not reply to my last message. Perhaps he has no privacy to transmit a message safely.” 

Uttering a groan of distress, Karrik squeezed his brother’s hand in sympathy.

 Karrik, Book 6 in Taxyon Space: The fates of six people are at stake.

Karrik Kenton Tallis, Third of the Flaming Comets, endures a miserable existence in a hospice on his home planet. Unable to walk or speak more than a single word, he misses his older brothers and is unaware of their sacrifice to ensure his care. He cherishes a faint hope of recovering his health.

Karrik’s life improves when his brothers return to Rishalt with their human companions. Alarik, First of the Triad, is escorting Phoebe Wong with her brother and a mysterious alien object for an audience with Prime Jadel. The middle brother, Baswin, is traveling home with Holly and Rosie Moon. The Moon sisters are enrolled in an experimental program to train human psychics to navigate in hyperspace and relieve Earth’s governments of their onerous reliance on Warrish tripilots. Rosie, a psychic healer, desires to help Karrik despite the conflict with her duty to humanity.

But the water world of Rishalt holds many hazards, both above and beneath the waves. Can the alien treasure help the three brothers to conquer the challenges and unite with their chosen partners? Read the scintillating story of the Flaming Comet brothers to learn the answers.

Karrik’s story is available in ebook and audiobook: https://books2read.com/u/3LNnVD

If you haven’t read this series, the first book, Europa, is discounted to 99c for a limited time. 

 Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers.

NEW: I’m preparing to launch a kickstarter campaign to make a special illustrated edition of Super Starrella. Please support me by following the campaign at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/auroraspringer/exclusive-special-hardcover-edition-of-super-starrella (You do not have to pledge any money to boost my campaign's visibility).

All my stories are discounted at my direct BookStore.

View my pictures and videos on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Pintrest.

Find high quality prints of my art at WhimsicalArt, and art on clothes, mugs, and other merchandise at my RedBubble Shop.

 

 

Gestures instead of words - Excerpt from Karrik for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

I’m continuing the scene from Karrik, Book 6 of SciFi series, Taxyon Space.  

Karrik, an alien merman, lives in a small room in a hospice on his home world after being crippled in battle. His brothers paid for his care by serving as spies on Earth. His older brother Alarik has just returned from Earth and is visiting Karrik for the first time in many months. Karrik cannot speak more than a stuttered word. You can read last week’s emotional excerpt here: https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2023/03/a-reunion-excerpt-from-karrik-for.html

“You seem to be alert,” Alarik said. “Can you understand me?”

Uttering an inarticulate grunt, Karrik pressed his brother’s fingers again.

“Urish. You can understand, but you cannot speak words clearly. Is that correct?”

Another squeeze and Karrik panted, “Uh…Uh…Urish.”

“You don’t need to speak. Press my fingers if you agree. If you wish, I’ll explain why Baswin and I were unable to visit you.”

Ten sentences and a few more

Karrik pressed for yes.

“After you were injured, we were desperate to secure proper care for you. You were unconscious for days. Even after you woke, you seemed befuddled, as helpless and incoherent as a baby. Triarch Webale offered to place you in the care of the Pearl Sisters as an inducement for Baswin and me to serve as his undercover spies on Earth. We had minor surgery to merge into Earther society.” He held up his hand and waggled the fingers. “Look at what we surrendered.”

Marveling at the sacrifice of a finger, Karrik touched his forefinger to each of the five fingers on his brother’s hand. The full implications filtered slowly into his fuzzy mind. His elder brothers were mutilated, and like him, they were dishonored and unfit for normal society.

 Karrik, Book 6 in Taxyon Space

The fates of six people are at stake.

Karrik Kenton Tallis, Third of the Flaming Comets, endures a miserable existence in a hospice on his home planet. Unable to walk or speak more than a single word, he misses his older brothers and is unaware of their sacrifice to ensure his care. He cherishes a faint hope of recovering his health.

Karrik’s life improves when his brothers return to Rishalt with their human companions. Alarik, First of the Triad, is escorting Phoebe Wong with her brother and a mysterious alien object for an audience with Prime Jadel. The middle brother, Baswin, is traveling home with Holly and Rosie Moon. The Moon sisters are enrolled in an experimental program to train human psychics to navigate in hyperspace and relieve Earth’s governments of their onerous reliance on Warrish tripilots. Rosie, a psychic healer, desires to help Karrik despite the conflict with her duty to humanity.

But the water world of Rishalt holds many hazards, both above and beneath the waves. Can the alien treasure help the three brothers to conquer the challenges and unite with their chosen partners? Read the scintillating story of the Flaming Comet brothers to learn the answers.

Karrik’s story is available in ebook and audiobook: https://books2read.com/u/3LNnVD

Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers. 

NEW - I'm preparing to launch a Kickstarter to fund a special illustrated edition of Super Starrella with a new superhero cover. See https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/auroraspringer/exclusive-special-hardcover-edition-of-super-starrella

New My RedBubble Shop is currently featuring crystal shamrocks and leprechauns to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.

All my stories are discounted at my direct BookStore.

View my pictures and videos on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Pintrest.

Find prints, T-shirts, mugs, and other merchandise at my site for WhimsicalArt.

 

A Reunion - excerpt from KARRIK for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

 Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

I’m continuing the scene from Karrik, Book 6 of SciFi series, Taxyon Space.  

The title character, Karrik, lives in a smalle room in a hospice on the alien home world after being crippled in battle. His brothers paid for his care by serving as spies on Earth. Karrik has just been told that he has a visitor. You can read last week’s excerpt here: https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2023/02/a-visitor-excerpt-from-karrik-for.html

The last sentence was: Which type was this visitor?

He turned toward the door.

And froze in astonishment.

A man with a flaming wave of yellow-tipped orange hair stood behind the white-robed sister. His brother Alarik, First of their triad.

The sister glided aside.

Alarik stepped forward, saying hesitantly, “Calm seas, Karrik.”

Karrik rolled over, rocking the hammock, and stretched out his one hand. He forced a croak out of his stubborn mouth, “A…Al…Alarik.”

His brother rushed to kneel by the hammock and embrace him.

Ten sentences and a few more

Feeling his brother’s strong arms around him, Karrik burst into gasping sobs.

“Oh, Karrik, it’s been too long since we were together. I’m sorry.” Alarik also wept, silent tears trailing down his cheeks. 

After the first rush of emotion subsided, Alarik leaned back and sighed, “By the Great Mother’s blessing, I’ve been recalled home. Our supreme Tol-Jadel summoned me and my companions. While I’m in Pucklerakt, I’ll visit you as often as I can.”

Karrik smiled through his tears. Catching hold of his brother’s hand, he squeezed the fingers and dipped his head in a nod. Gestures were easier than speech.

 Karrik, Book 6 in Taxyon Space

The fates of six people are at stake.

Karrik Kenton Tallis, Third of the Flaming Comets, endures a miserable existence in a hospice on his home planet. Unable to walk or speak more than a single word, he misses his older brothers and is unaware of their sacrifice to ensure his care. He cherishes a faint hope of recovering his health.

Karrik’s life improves when his brothers return to Rishalt with their human companions. Alarik, First of the Triad, is escorting Phoebe Wong with her brother and a mysterious alien object for an audience with Prime Jadel. The middle brother, Baswin, is traveling home with Holly and Rosie Moon. The Moon sisters are enrolled in an experimental program to train human psychics to navigate in hyperspace and relieve Earth’s governments of their onerous reliance on Warrish tripilots. Rosie, a psychic healer, desires to help Karrik despite the conflict with her duty to humanity.

But the water world of Rishalt holds many hazards, both above and beneath the waves. Can the alien treasure help the three brothers to conquer the challenges and unite with their chosen partners? Read the scintillating story of the Flaming Comet brothers to learn the answers.

Available NOW at my Direct store (and discounted) - https://payhip.com/b/5g7lt

OR Pre-order for release on March 8^th at other retailers: https://books2read.com/u/3LNnVD

 

Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers.

NEW: I have set up a RedBubble Shop for my whimsical art.

All my stories are discounted at my direct BookStore.

View my pictures and videos on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Pintrest.

Find prints, T-shirts, mugs, and other merchandise at my site for WhimsicalArt.

 

A visitor - excerpt from Karrik for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

I’m posting from Karrik, Book 6 of SciFi series, Taxyon Space.  I skipped last week since I was visiting family in North Carolina. The previous week, somehow my post didn’t register at the WeWriWa site. You can read it at https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2023/02/an-alien-water-world-excerpt-from.html

Brief recap: due to crippling battle injuries, Karrik is in a hospice on the aliens’ home world of Rishalt. My earlier posts introduced Karrik’s older brother Alarik and his human lover, Phoebe. Their story began in Book 4, Alarik. Alarik and Phoebe have arrived on Rishalt.

I’m jumping to the next scene with Karrik.  

Karrik turned his head to gaze at the window. The upper section of the window was open to air the room and a gentle breeze caressed his face. The breeze carried the scents of herbs and flowers overlaid with salt and an occasional whiff of fish. It cooled his fevered brain and evoked his memories of the sea.

The window overlooked a courtyard enclosed by white walls. From his prone position in the hammock, he glimpsed wispy clouds in the cyan sky. The wind ruffled the leaves in the upper branches of shrubs, but metal bars in the lower pane obscured the flower beds. The swish of water hinted at the pond in the middle of the courtyard.

Nine sentences and a few more

Sometimes people visited the courtyard garden. He heard laughter and splashes. He wished he could join the happy people. But, they would despise him for his missing limbs and lack of speech. They would ignore him and whisper behind his back.

The door hissed open.

The cheery voice of one of the Pearl Sisters called, “Calm seas, Karrik. Wake up. You have a visitor today.” She walked to his hammock, raised his head onto the pillow and pulled the blanket up to his chest.

Some visitors were good. Others were not. They poked at his body and asked too many questions despite his inability to speak the answers. Which type was this visitor? 

Karrik, Book 6 in Taxyon Space: The fates of six people are at stake.

Karrik Kenton Tallis, Third of the Flaming Comets, endures a miserable existence in a hospice on his home planet. Unable to walk or speak more than a single word, he misses his older brothers and is unaware of their sacrifice to ensure his care. He cherishes a faint hope of recovering his health.

Karrik’s life improves when his brothers return to Rishalt with their human companions. Alarik, First of the Triad, is escorting Phoebe Wong with her brother and a mysterious alien object for an audience with Prime Jadel. The middle brother, Baswin, is traveling home with Holly and Rosie Moon. The Moon sisters are enrolled in an experimental program to train human psychics to navigate in hyperspace and relieve Earth’s governments of their onerous reliance on Warrish tripilots. Rosie, a psychic healer, desires to help Karrik despite the conflict with her duty to humanity.

But the water world of Rishalt holds many hazards, both above and beneath the waves. Can the alien treasure help the three brothers to conquer the challenges and unite with their chosen partners? Read the scintillating story of the Flaming Comet brothers to learn the answers.

Available NOW at my Direct store (and discounted) - https://payhip.com/b/5g7lt

OR Pre-order with release on March 8^th at other retailers: https://books2read.com/u/3LNnVD

Here’s a picture of Karrik and Rosie, the main romantic couple in this story. You can read about the tools I used to produce the image in my previous Blog Post. 

Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers.

NEW: I have set up a RedBubble Shop for my whimsical art.

All my stories are discounted at my direct BookStore.

View my pictures and videos on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Pintrest.

Find prints, T-shirts, mugs, and other merchandise at my site for WhimsicalArt.

 

Meet Karrik and Rosie, the Romantic Couple in My New Story

 

I made a picture of the main couple, Karrik Kenton Tallis and Rosie Moon in Karrik, 6^th Book in my SciFi Thriller series Taxyon Space.

I created individual components of the picture using text prompts with Stable Diffusion in NightCafe.studio. For my Science fiction stories, I prefer to make characters with natural expressions rather than polished beauties. Finding a suitable facial expression can take multiple attempts.

The image for Rosie emerged early in my tests. I liked her expression. She is an energetic and friendly person. Further tests did not give faces with better expressions.

Karrik was more difficult. He is a young alien man with green skin and his hair is dyed flame-orange. It’s not easy to get non-natural skin colors in text-to-image programs. Often, the resulting images look like cartoon characters instead of ‘real’ people.  

You can evolve images, however, that process tends to smooth away the natural expression and also mutes the green color of his face.

My solution is to grab the image with the most appropriate expression and physical characteristics. Often the eyes need to be touched up in PhotoShop or Gimp. Again, I discovered that AI to improve faces tends to smooth out the face and remove the natural expression.

A second problem was the clothes. The original image had a green-skinned man with a bare chest despite including ‘wearing white shirt’ in the text prompt. I failed to evolve the image to include a shirt. Instead, I used inpainting to create clothes. It works, sort of. My tests failed to make a white shirt. Also, the face degrades, becoming paler and less natural.

My solution for Karrik’s image was to cut out the shirt and add it to the best image for his face. Then, I corrected his eyes to whiten the green eyeballs and change the iris color to blue.

 

Karrik

The fates of six people are at stake in this SciFi adventure and romance.

Karrik Kenton Tallis, Third of the Flaming Comets, endures a miserable existence in a hospice on his home planet. Unable to walk or speak more than a single word, he misses his older brothers and is unaware of their sacrifice to ensure his care. He cherishes a faint hope of recovering his health.

Karrik’s life improves when his brothers return to Rishalt with their human companions. Alarik, First of the Triad, is escorting Phoebe Wong with her brother and a mysterious alien object for an audience with Prime Jadel. The middle brother, Baswin, is traveling home with Holly and Rosie Moon. The Moon sisters are enrolled in an experimental program to train human psychics to navigate in hyperspace and relieve Earth’s governments of their onerous reliance on Warrish tripilots. Rosie, a psychic healer, desires to help Karrik despite the conflict with her duty to humanity.

But the water world of Rishalt holds many hazards, both above and beneath the waves. Can the alien treasure help the three brothers to conquer the challenges and unite with their chosen partners? Read the scintillating story of the Flaming Comet brothers to learn the answers.

Buy at a discount from my Webstore: HERE

Karrik is also available at other retailers: BookStores.

 

Valentine's Special Stories #scifiromance and #superhero

 

Two of my most romantic books are on sale for 99c this month to celebrate Valentine’s Day: The Lady is Blue and Super Starrella.

Intrepid scientist thwarts invasion of scaly aliens. 

Dr. Lucy Stannis leads a quiet life as the chief biologist in the small human colony on the remote planet of Eden. She is thrilled to meet the captain of an alien spaceship, the formidable Blue, Sa Kamizan Veedak. The massive, scaled Atrapako are confident in their superiority over puny, emotional humans. Their secret schemes threaten to destroy the whole colony as well as her budding friendship with Sa Kamizan. Lucy must employ all her skills to discover the aliens’ vulnerability and save the colony.

99c at all Bookstores: https://www.books2read.com/u/bxqkAk

Teen superhero, Starrella, and her flying horse combat vicious killers in the skies of Atalanta. 

The quiet summer before her freshman year turns frighteningly weird after Estelle Wright trespasses onto an Army base. Blown into the air and knocked unconscious, she wakes with a nascent superpower. Not to mention a winged horse with a snarky attitude and a mind of her own.

But a mysterious killer is targeting the students at Goldman University. Before long Estelle must juggle college classes with sneaking out of the house after dark to battle alien monsters. Her life is in danger, but who can she trust: handsome Mark Copper from military intelligence, or hunky Toby, the tough gangster with a motorbike? Both men have secret agendas, but where does she fall in their plans?

Superheroes at college, quirky animal sidekicks, and a dash of romance enliven this thrilling adventure. Book 1 of the Secret Supers.

99c at all Bookstores: https://books2read.com/u/4jDwOZ

An Alien Water World - Excerpt from KARRIK for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

 

Happy Valentine's Day! Do you like my Space Heart?

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

I’m continuing to post snippets from my current work, Karrik, Book 6 of SciFi series, Taxyon Space. The book is available for pre-order at selected retailers, while I finish checking for typos.

Brief recap: due to crippling battle injuries, Karrik is in a hospice on the aliens’ home world.

The last couple of weeks introduced Karrik’s older brother Alarik and his human lover, Phoebe. Phoebe’s brother Deimos is recovering from torture by a Martian gang. Their story began in Book 4, Alarik. You can find last week’s excerpt at https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-vipers-excerpt-from-karrik-for.html

I’ve jumped ahead for this week’s excerpt to give you a glimpse of the alien water world. The starship has arrived near Rishalt and Phoebe jumped through the quantum transporter.

Wrapping a supportive arm around Deimos, Alarik steered the boy after his sister. The haze cleared, and they stepped into the spaceport. Instead of the busy public terminal with crowds of people, they arrived in a small room with a single exit. A transparent wall offered the first view of the planet. Under a cloud-streaked cyan sky, the blue-green ocean dominated the view. Rippling waves extended to the horizon, broken in mid-distance by the vividly colored towers of the capital city.

Phoebe stared out the window, wide-eyed in awe. 

Alarik smiled at her rapt expression. “You are gazing at the floating city of Pucklerakt.”

Nine sentences and a few more

Maintaining her gaze on the view, she exclaimed, “Rishalt is beautiful. It’s totally different to the yellowish sky and dusty red soil of Mars.”

Deimos sagged against Alarik’s arm, groaning, “Styx. High gravity sucks.”

Phoebe spun around and hastened to grab the boy’s free arm.

Appreciating the problem, Alarik maneuvered the boy onto a conveniently placed bench. Even with grav-ease, interstellar travelers frequently experienced the punch of heavier weight on disembarking from a starship.

 

Karrik, Book 6 in Taxyon Space

Karrik Kenton Tallis, Third of the Flaming Comets, endures a miserable existence in a hospice on his home planet. Unable to walk or speak more than a single word, he misses his older brothers and is unaware of their sacrifice to ensure his care. He cherishes a faint hope of recovering his health.

Karrik’s life improves when his brothers return to Rishalt with their human companions. Alarik, First of the Triad, is escorting Phoebe Wong with her brother and a mysterious alien object for an audience with Prime Jadel. The middle brother, Baswin, is traveling home with Holly and Rosie Moon. The Moon sisters are enrolled in an experimental program to train human psychics to navigate in hyperspace and relieve humans of their onerous reliance on Warrish tripilots. Rosie, a psychic healer, desires to help Karrik despite the conflict with her duty to humanity.

But the water world of Rishalt holds many hazards, both above and beneath the waves. Can the alien treasure help the three brothers to conquer the challenges and unite with their chosen partners? Read the scintillating story of the Flaming Comet brothers to learn the answers.

Available for pre-order at selected retailers: https://books2read.com/u/3LNnVD

Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers.

All my stories are discounted at my direct BookStore.

View my pictures and videos on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Pintrest.

Find prints, T-shirts, mugs, and other merchandise at my site for DigitalArt.