Druid's Almost Ready For Publishing

Hi Guys,

To begin with I thought I'd let you know that Druid is now almost ready to roll off the presses. It's an urban fantasy that will hopefully be out in time for Christmas after just a little more editing.

The other thing I wanted to tell you is that that image you see at the top of the post is me - sort of! (Or it could be me if I shed twenty years, a hundred pounds, got to the gym a lot more, grew some designer stubble, maybe used a little hair dye, and underwent some plastic surgery,) Really, it's a dead ringer for me! At least Deep Dream seems to think as much.

The reason I wanted to show you this, is that this was a fun experiment which I only thought of the other day and tried out simply to see what would happen. And it's amazing! Normally when I use Deep Dream I use only a written command prompt, and often get some very random images. The people it comes up with might not be very representative of the instructions I gave the program or the image in my head. But if you add a photo as a reference, you tend to get something far truer to the image. And then it occurred to me - what if I began with a photo of myself?!

So, I tried it, using a minimal command prompt and a photo and got something that was of course a supermodel twenty year old guestimate of me. And while it was pretty, I really couldn't see a lot of myself in it. But by adding a little to the command prompt description and playing with the parameters I got the above - which is probably fifty percent me and fifty percent the AI's built-in biases for young and beautiful people. And it's truly strange and amazing and awesome to look at it and see something that's almost me. A little like staring into the uncanny valley! (And then for variety, I started using some of the other engines on Deep Dream like photoreal, fantasy and artistic and got even more weird and whacky versions!) It's been a blast!

And yes, I know, AI is terrible, and all the machines are going to rise up and destroy us shortly, but damn - some of it is worth the ride towards the apocalypse!

So I think my point here, is to recommend to all of you that you try the same experiment with photos of yourselves and whichever AI you use and see what comes out. It's just so damned much fun!

Anyway, that's just my two cents worth, and I hope you take it for what it's worth. I'll also try to put out another post before the end of the year. (Maybe I'll even try to hit the gym again too now that I know what I could almost be like if I really, really, really work at it!) And in the meantime, as usual, be good or don't get caught.

Cheers, Greg.

 

 

A Pirating We Will Go!

Hi Guys,

 

Just to let you know - The Pirate's Son is now up and out there. It's another mystery / detective, but this time set in New Zealand - Hamilton, Britain and the Canaries. (Also on the Seven Seas!) And it asks that most fundamental of questions - what happened when a banker goes nuts and takes up piracy?!

Anyway, I'm pleased with the book and pleased that it's finally done. And yes, once more the book cover comes from Deep Dream. So for those of you curious about these things, here's the blurb:

A pirating we will go!

It wasn't easy being an architect! That was what Cliff was discovering. Because one day he might be sitting at his desk, designing a barn, and the next he could be in jail because his bastard of a father – who wasn't even his father – had collapsed his bank and run off with the money. And while he did that Cliff would be left to answer for his crimes!

It was that old pirate blood showing through!

Then again, it wasn't so easy being a police detective either as DI Richards was discovering. Not when her suspects were crazy, the mastermind behind the fraud was missing, and the crimes made no sense. But she had hope. It would all come together – maybe. And hopefully her boss wouldn't yell at her!

But then when her chief suspect started cruising the seven seas, plundering in a luxury yacht turned pirate ship, she knew that the chances of that were slim to none!

It was time to batten down the hatches and prepare for a storm as a geriatric madman in a pirate ship declared war on the world!

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the book, and I'll enjoy a nice long nap on the couch!

Cheers, Greg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hobson's Choice

 Hi Guys,

Well yes, it's finally happened! I've put out another book - Hobson's Choice - which is my third detective novel, though not related to either The Keeper or Alone In The Dark. 

As well as a simple detective / police procedural work, it also delves into the spy genre as well. So as well as the basic whodunit plot lines, it also has the more paranoia / suspense plot lines of who's trying to kill me and who have I actually been working for for all these years? There's also a bit of old school spycraft that I remember seeing on shows like Mission Impossible as a kid. And for those who like it, I set the book in Bora Bora. (Yes, I admit it, I do like Death in Paradise - even if it's a different mythical island.)

Also don't ask me what happened to the dagger. I had an image of a dagger covered in black rose petals in my head and Deep Dream had a different one in its! But I still think it's a great image, even if it's not quite right.

Of course as usual, while I was finishing off Hobson's choice, I was also starting two more books, so my timetable for other books has been thrown off a little - but what else is new?

In the meantime, Here's the blurb for Hobson's Choice:

 

One Crime – Two Choices

James Hobson is a copper. A British detective, retired on medical grounds and living in the French Pacific. And life is good. Until a gang of armed robbers raid the Sandstone Resort and kill and injure dozens of his neighbours. After that he has only one choice – to be a copper again. He can't allow such horrible brutality go unanswered. Not on Bora Bora.

Sarah Goldman is a spy. A cleaner for the Agency. And she has covered up the gang's tracks. But after having been there during the raid and seen what they did – can she still be that woman? Will she ever forgive herself?! Then again, can she quit? Or will the Agency kill her first?!

Until she can make that choice however, she has one job to do. To stop Hobson from investigating the crime! If she fails – her tropical vacation will become her funeral!

And here, hopefully, if something is working, is the link:

https://www.amazon.com/Hobsons-Choice-Greg-Curtis-ebook/dp/B0CJQ5HY7W?ref_=ast_author_mpb

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the book, and of course keep yourselves safe and don't get caught!

Cheers, Greg.

Enjoying Some Down Time - On The Couch!!!

 Hi Guys,

Been a little while since I posted anything - mostly because I put my back out about three weeks ago and haven't been able to do much in the way of sitting, standing or walking since then. It's no fun having a back that goes out more often that you do!

However the good news is that I have been writing - lying on a couch and tapping away on my laptop which my back seems to be okay with. And I expect my next book should be out shortly. It's another detective - Hobson's Choice - which I'm just finishing off now. 

 Mostly what I'm doing is tweaking the dialogue of one of the characters who is Tahitian and likes to mangle not just the English language but French as well. You'd think this would be easy for me as after two years of failing to learn French at college, my French teacher was glad to see the back of me. But it seems that in order to mangle French properly you should probably know how to speak it first! (I think it may be a little bit late for that in my case!)

I've also picked up a couple of words of Tahitian as well writing this, but I keep wondering when I read the correct pronunciations of the words, whether I should try writing them phonetically. Because the way they're written doesn't match at all with they way they're said!

Other than that the book is basically finished, and two others, Druid and Freaksville, are in the editing process, so hopefully won't be that far away - if I can ever stop starting new books!

Anyway that's my life at the moment. Hope things are doing better with you guys.

Cheers, Greg.

DRUID

 Hi Guys,

Just to let you guys know that I am actually working and the first draft of DRUID is now complete and the revisions / edits are underway.

Druid is a basic urban fantasy and the tattoos are a part of the magic of the man - Krys Ingrim. In fact in this world all those with magic can only use it by shaping the gift within them through markings painted on their bodies - which makes it kind of tricky to hide what you are from the rest of the world if people know that secret! Of course the background to the story is that the secret gets out and the magical have to try and keep their heads down while battling a traitor within their own number and an international intelligence agency wanting to utilize their gifts. 

The story is set in Rotorua, New Zealand and the main protagonist lives not that far from my door. Just on the other side of the lake in fact - a place called Haumarana. So be warned, there are some Maori names in the work which are going to sound odd to non-kiwi ears. (The spell checkers didn't like them either - and some of the auto-corrections were hilarious! Haumarana for example they believe should be either maharani or amaranth - neither of which I'd ever heard of before.)

Meanwhile Freaksville is still in process. I've reached the final chapters and love the story but can't quite figure out what the ending is. (Oh the joys of being a pantster!) But I will keep working on it and I'm hopeful it will be out shortly.

As always I hope you're all doing well and keeping out of trouble - or not getting caught!

Cheers, Greg.

More Fun With Covers and Deep Dream!

 Hi Guys,

Just having some more fun with Deep Dream. I don't know what all the fuss is with AI, but so far my computer hasn't tried to kill me - although my new phone is driving me to the point of epic insanity! But Deep Dream is amazing.

Damn he looks confused and horrified!

Don't really have a book for this image - just playing around and it came up.

This could be the cover for a book I'm working on - Dream Five (It's an urban fantasy that I keep getting stuck on.)

 

And this was one of the covers I was looking at for the next Barton Villa book. (Actually it's two Deep Dream Images put together by me!)

All I can really say is that this program is bloody awesome!

Cheers, Greg.

I Have Entered The Modern Age!

 Hi Guys,

Yes, it's true. I have finally entered the modern age - though admittedly I was dragged into it kicking and screaming. Or put another way, my old land line died. So yes, now I have a cell phone! (Five or ten years behind the rest of the world!)

I'd like to be able to say I love it - but I don't. It looks pretty enough, but my fingers are too clumsy to push the keys on the screen - and for some reason it seems to click on keys before I even touch them. It's not like a proper keyboard at all. And I can't tell you how infuriating that is when I'm trying to enter my fifteen digit password! (Maybe the guy at the shop was right about using a shorter one!) And even when I'm sure I've entered the password correctly, it doesn't work! It just keeps telling me to try again in thirty seconds. One of these days those thirty seconds are going to be the length of time it has left to live!

As you can guess things have not been quiet in the house. There has been an awful lot of yelling at the damned machine! Enough that the cats keep running away - or staring at me as if I'm having some sort of fit!

So anyway, I guess it's back to the Spark store to get the password changed, and then to pray that in time the world goes back to the glorious age of land lines and actual buttons! (And yes, I do see the irony in that - a writer of science fiction unable to deal with even current technology! I may actually be a technophobe! But I comfort myself with the fact that many writers even in this computer age, use typewriters or even write by hand. I'm in good company.)

In the meantime, somewhere between screaming like a two year old on crack at the phone and pulling my hair out, I have been writing. Jumping as I usually do, between several different books. But a couple of them are close to completion at least - including the long promised Freaksville. All while I wait nervously for the first reviews of Moody Rockers.

Anyway, cheers, for now. 

Greg.

Moody Rockers is out!

 Hi Guys,

Yes, it's been a battle, but Moody rockers is out in Kindle, finally. I did the paperback too, but thus far, after hours of pulling my hair out this morning, I haven't had word from Amazon as to whether it's going to make it through the inspection process. There were four typos after all! But we'll wait and see, I suppose.

Moody Rockers is an urban sci fi set in 2030 New Zealand, when backyard genetic engineering has become a thing, and it explores a number of the issues associated with the technology - not to mention a growing freedom of expression movement called Moody Rocking. Essentially it's the next step in body art. Why paint an elf or an ogre on your skin when you can actually become one?! 

Doctor  Robert Moody is my MC and the guy who invented the process (this year in fact so he'd better get moving!), which is why the movement bears his name. And why he's becoming the next thing to a cult leader whether he likes it or not!

But the story is essentially a slightly futuristic police procedural revolving around the criminal side of genetic body modification. What people can do to themselves - and others - with the technology. And what those who have been modified can do on the criminal side of things. (And of course I had to have werewolves and elves and super soldiers because as Homer would say - doh!!!)

It also looks at how this particular technology will change our society and the problems it may cause. But the advantages it will bring as well - like longer life spans and improved health. It's essentially a genie that is almost out of the bottle.

Anyway, it should be an enjoyable romp, and I hope people enjoy it.

https://www.amazon.com/Moody-Rockers-Greg-Curtis-ebook/dp/B0C3ZDYDGC/ref=sr_1_2?

Cheers, Greg. (And as always, be good or don't get caught!)

Alone In The Dark Is Out In The Open!!!

Hi Guys,

 

Well it happened guys! I was supposed to be working on Freaksville (which is almost done - still) and got side tracked again. As usual! And I ended up finishing off Alone In The Dark - which is another detective / police procedural.

But I will say this one does touch just a tiny bit on genetic engineering - in as much as it has some skin pigmentation etc mixed in with cosmetic surgery. But in this case, that genetic tweaking, is really not a lot more advanced - if it's more advanced at all that is - than what's currently available, which is why I felt comfortable including it in what is essentially a basic detective novel.

In essence this is a book about a woman in witness protection who is offered the ultimate don't get killed card - change your name, face and race and then take up residence as a new person in a foreign country. And so Maryanne Simpson was born. (Her old name is deliberately never used in the book because the story is not about who she was, only who she has become!) And I have a detective of course - Dan Murdock with the New Zealand police whose job it is to track down criminals using exactly the same sort of technology through the black market clinics, to escape justice.

I wanted to explore in this book, a lot of the reasons that people might use this sort of technology, both for good and ill, as well as of course, what it would be like to live as a different person of a different ethnicity, in a strange land - all while living with the threat of a violent death hanging over you if you get caught. As well as throwing in a murder mystery to round everything out! (There may be a few odd jokes as well!)

Anyway, I hope people enjoy it and as always to all of you, be good or don't get caught!

Cheers, Greg.

More Book Cover Designs

 Hi Guys,

Okay, just having a little fun with Deep Dream. So take a look!

So this, or a variant will be the cover for the next Barton Villa. That's Dee Wallace by the way. and pretty close to how I imagined her, just a little hotter!

A couple of versions for the other novel I'm working on - "A Ghost Of A Chance" It's a steampunk fantasy in case you couldn't guess!

And while I was looking for covers for Moody Rockers - an urban sci fi, I somehow created this! Hell if I know how! But here's something closer to the actual cover:

Damn this thing is fun!!!

Cheers, Greg.

Freaksville is Coming Along Nicely

Hi Guys,

 

 

Just thought I'd write a short post to tell you that, no, I haven't been just simply sitting on my arse, twiddling my thumbs all this time. (Just some of it!) In fact I've been busy writing two different novels - oh the perils of being a pantster! 

The first is "A Ghost Of A Chance" which is about an astral traveler in a steampunk world who discovers all the strange troubles his talent can get him in. At the moment I'm a little bit blocked on it, which is why the second book, "Freaksville" is coming along a little faster. Freaksville is an urban fantasy set in New Zealand about an engineer trapped in a community full of nyads, dryads and - you guessed it - faeries. It also skirts the boundaries between urban fantasy and urban sci fi which means it may end up being classed as science fantasy. (Oh, it also has a six legged cat!)

But what I really wanted to talk about was a new art program I've recently discovered. And maybe I'm a little behind the times, but it is wondrous. It's called Deep Dream AI, and as the name suggests, it actually has an AI generating images for you based on how you describe the image you want. And it is stunning! It does beautiful pictures, though it has problems. Number one unfortunately is that it can't do wings, which is why I had to tinker a little with the image above. (And there's more to do yet - this is just a draft!)

What blows me away though, is that the computer generates these images all by itself based purely on a few words you give it. Now that truly is science fiction!

Anyway if you've got a few spare moments, I'd recommend hopping over to the site, and taking a look. It has a limited free offer - probably about fifteen or so images you can experiment with - but unfortunately after that you have to pay. But it's well worth just seeing the brave new world of computing arriving in front of you.

(I just hope AI's don't start writing books - or I'll be in trouble!)

Other than that, I really haven't got a lot else to report. But as usual I wish you guys all the best. And as always, be good or don't get caught!

Cheers, Greg.

Byson Darious: The Man, The Myth The Unicorn!

 Hi Guys,

Happy New Year all. (Yeah, it's been a slow start to the year for me!) 

But I've been busy. Ever since I finished the first draft of Bound off around Christmas, I've been more or less head down in the book, editing and revising. A book that grew out to a hundred and seventy one thousand words! Every time I thought I was done, I realized there was just a little something more I needed to add. Still finally - yesterday - it's done.

Bound is a light-hearted epic fantasy about Byson Darious, an apothecary trying to live a simple life, but whose family seem to want to drag him into their own troubles - or get him to dig them out of them. And mixed in with that Byson has his own secret - that he has bound himself to a unicorn to gain a little more magic of his own. Naturally that has it's own unexpected consequences! But in the end, as the world is falling into ruin, it may be the very thing that's needed - naturally!

Anyway it's gone up and I'm glad. I'd almost begun to think for a while that I would never finish it. Now I can turn my thoughts to other things for a while - like getting the back yard cut back some more. A lot more. And solving the riddle of the ages - why when I threw out lawn seed on a patch of ground a few months ago, did only clover grow? I think it's magic! A curse. Or the cats did it - which is fairly much the same thing!

Also I have another pile of books in various stages of completion waiting for me to finally get round to finishing, and as usual I have no idea which I want to get to first. But I suppose there's no shortage of them to throw myself into. (That's a good thing, right?!)

Anyway I hope all of you are well and enjoying life in 2023. And as always be good or don't get caught!

Cheers, Greg.