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.

 

 

The Vipers - 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 to post snippets from my current work, Karrik, Book 6 of SciFi series, Taxyon Space. Brief recap: due to crippling battle injuries, Karrik is in a hospice on the aliens’ home world.

Last week’s excerpt introduced Karrik’s older brother Alarik and his human lover, Phoebe. Their story began in Book 4, Alarik. You can read the excerpt at: https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2023/01/alarik-and-phoebe-excerpt-from-karrik.html

Alarik reflected in wry amusement on their intertwined lives. “Our journeys were launched when the Eekrepisth ship crashed on Mars. That sad accident knitted our paths together.”

She cocked her head. “And Deimos? Poor Deimos is still suffering from the Vipers’ torture.”

“Don’t worry, Sparrow. I have assumed responsibility for your brother’s welfare also.” Phoebe had discovered her unconscious brother in the medical facility of Bathos, the lower level of Galileo Station. His injuries were consistent with torture by the vicious Martian criminal gang.

Ten sentences and a few more

Alarik and Phoebe deduced that Deimos had become the Vipers’ quarry after he acquired the alien object on Mars. His bruises and broken bones were healing, although he had not yet recovered his full strength nor his memory of the events leading to his injuries.

Phoebe murmured, “Where is he? He was right in front of us.”

“The Undercaptains have taken him into the main section of the starship.” Alarik gestured to the arched exit of the vestibule.

He guided Phoebe under the arch into a short connector ending at a barrier. A glistening circle of membrane in the wall served as an airlock. They separated to step one after the other through the iridescent membrane into a curved passage.

Reclaiming Phoebe’s hand, Alarik explained, “This passage spirals around the living section of the starship and gives access to the cabins, ship’s offices, and bridge.” 

I plan to set the book up for pre-order soon.  

February’s 99c bargain books are Super Starrella and The Lady is Blue.

The Lady is Blue.

Intrepid scientist solves mystery of scaly aliens. 

Dr. Lucy Stannis leads a quiet life as the chief biologist in the remote human colony on Eden until an alien spaceship arrives. She is thrilled to meet the captain, the formidable Blue, Sa Kamizan Veedak. But, the arrogant scaled Atrapako disdain the puny humans. Conflicts between the cultures threaten the whole planet as well as her tenuous friendship with Sa Kamizan. Lucy must employ her skills as a covert Terran spy to discover the aliens’ secret and save the colony.

Fun and captivating SciFi Romance. Book 1 of Atrapako on Eden

Amazon  iBooks  Kobo  B&N  GooglePlay  Other

 

Super Starrella

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.

Back home in Atalanta, a serial killer is targeting the students at Goldman University. Before long she must juggle college classes with sneaking out of the house after dark to battle alien monsters. Estelle’s 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 falling in love is not in their plans.

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

Amazon   iBooks   B&N   Kobo   GooglePlay   Other  

 

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.