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.

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.

Conway - Ancient Space Travelling Humans In The Tropics Space Opera - On The Way.

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd let you know that I haven't been completely bone idle this past month or so. (I tried to be, but people and especially the cats wouldn't allow it!)

So this is the next book coming off the press - probably very shortly since it's already been through it's main revisions and edits. It's another ancient humans  from the stars space opera book - I sort of like that theme - with a few tweaks from other books. It may be slightly heavier than the Barton Villa books, and it's somewhat cynical about governments and rule (I'm just feeling that way a little lately!)

But the cover from 123RF looks glorious. Wierdest space craft I've ever seen and I love it! Actually it's supposed to be a shuttle - a futuristic steampunk space shuttle?! It took me a fair bit to get it looking like that by the way. This is the original image I purchased:

 

 

The original brilliant image is by 3000AD

And this is the first time ever the AGFA filter in Photoscape has actually been useful for me! But it gave me the start of the green grass. Then I had to use practically every other filter there was to bring up the colour and vibrancy and add some sky. It took me ages. But I love the result! It's not bad for a blind man! (At least until my cataract surgery in a few months!) 

But here's the thing - why shouldn't space craft be colourful?! Especially alien ones?! Why do they have to follow the set layout of colours and shapes - mostly metallic cylinders with pointed noses and stubby wings that the world seems to dictate? I'm not sure what the design language of this image is - kitchen utensil perhaps? - it looks to me like on of those old style loose tea brewing spoons - but I hope 3000AD has a few more of these coming!

Anyway the book is on the way, and hopefully not long after that I'll be able to actually see the computer screen again!

Cheers, Greg.

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So A Funny Thing Happened ... !

Hi Guys,

 

 

Yes, you guessed it - the Barton Villa bug grabbed me again! This is the problem with being a pantster - I never know what I'm going to write next.

But I'm really happy with this book. I'd missed that crazy island and it's characters, even after I had so successfully ended the previous trilogy by sending everyone off to Mars to live happily ever after. It's a little like that old sweat shirt you put away in the closet which you think you'll never wear again because it's a bit faded and maybe it's got a loose thread here and there. And then one day you find youself thinking about it and pulling it out because you really liked it.

So that's what happened to me. But as I swung into it again, I decided that I had to make a few changes. For a start I didn't want to bring Moncrief Jones out of retirement - I mean the man's been shot, beaten up, in a car crash and suffered numerous other horrid injuries. It's getting old. So I thought I should let him be. At least for now. (But who knows, there could be another good beating in his future!)

I also wanted it to be a harder, edgier sort of book. More a Sam Watson type story - and you know she's always ready with her gun - and it's trained on the bad guy's nuts!!!

The other thing I did was to go back to the racism theme I explored in book three. I don't know why exactly but something about all the Black Lives Matter protests and the police killing of George Floyd etc, has really got under my skin a little. You can't watch that horrible event and not think to yourself, just what the hell is he doing? It just goes on and on. Also the John Griffin story - Black Like Me - has stayed with me for a long time. Not just the experience of a white reporter medically altering himself to appear black and experience life as such, but the reaction he got after what he'd done was revealed. It really is a thought provoking story. So I returned to that and made the bad guys the white supremacists who had united into a world wide movement. (Something about that feels horribly close to the bone lately.)

The other thing I should mention is that us sci fi writers are supposed to pose questions about the future etc and of course various technological advances coming. The genetic manipulation needed to change a person's skin colour from white to black or any other colour of the rainbow, is probably only five to ten years away. The ethics involved in doing so however are light years beyond us!

So just think - what are you going to do when your son or your daughter comes to you one day and says - I want to be black / or white / or yellow? Makes you think, doesn't it!

Anyway that's where the book comes from, and I hope people enjoy it.

Cheers, Greg.

Barton Villa Flies Off Into The Sunset

Hi Guys,

Well Barton Villa Welcomes You 3 has made it to the digital shelves, and sadly it marks the end of the series. But I think it's the funniest and possibly the most biting from a social commentary perspective. It has a few words to say about racism, sexism and empowerment - which wasn't really the point of the book but just sort of came out in it. Personally I think it's the job of speculative fiction to delve into these areas from time to time.

I'm going to miss these books. They've been a roller coaster of fun as I've written them - which is probably part of why I've written them so quickly. The other part is of course the Corona Virus lock down, which has freed up a lot of time and also killed my television viewing, since half the shows I watch have died in a hurry!

I hope you've all found the time provided by the pandemic lock down productive and that none of you have become ill.

One of the things I have noticed during this time has been the way certain political leaders have risen to the challenge. Our own PM Jacinda has turned out to be an inspiration which surprised me a little. I didn't vote for her, her politics are different to mine, but she's impressed me enormously. I think the things we all need at times like this are people who get to the heart of the matter, tell it straight and actually seem to care about the people they lead. Not that I'm a cynic (yeah right!) but I've seldom encountered that in most politicians. I still won't vote for her because I'm a dyed in the wool green voter, but I appreciate what she's done for New Zealand. And who knows, maybe she'll come over to the green point of view and then I will!

Anyway, the third and final books out, and I hope you enjoy it. And remember - always keep your Nazi's spayed and neutered!

Cheers, Greg.

Barton Villa 2 Meets the Press!

Hi Guys,

Just a quick post to let you know that the sequel to Barton Villa Welcomes You is now out - as of yesterday. As you can see it has the catchy title of Barton Villa Welcomes You 2! (I wonder what the title for the third one will be?!!!)

I hope you're all doing well with your various home detentions and social distancing. And while I'm here I thought I'd just give two quick thoughts on it.

First, I'm not at all sure about taking Chloroquine despite what seems to be being said in some quarters. Because when someone says what's the harm - the harm is obvious. For the taker personally, Chloroquine can cause fits and seizures, heart rhythm problems and death. Yes it can kill you. And it's also been the culprit of a couple of murder mystery books, because one of the other effects it can cause is schizophrenic type symptoms such as hearing voices. It should only be taken under medical supervision.

The next problem of course is that it's a drug needed to treat malaria and lupus, so while someone's taking it to potentially treat corona virus, someone else may not be getting the dose they need to actually protect them from another serious illness.

Last of course, whatever its effectiveness may be found to be, it doesn't mean you can forego the social distancing and rigorous personal hygiene measures. It's not a substitute.

However two substances have been found to have some benefit against colds - and roughly fifteen percent of common colds are caused by various members of the coronavirus family. Vitamin C and Zinc. They won't prevent a cold but they have been found to be beneficial in reducing the duration of one by about a day. It may not be much and it may not be anything at all in the case of this particular illness, but when someone says "what harm can it do?" the answer is in almost all cases, none. So now may be the time to get out the multivitamins. And if you have a condition (they're very rare) in which zinc or Vitamin C in large quantities can be dangerous to you, naturally consult your doctor first.)

The second piece of information I have for you, is about diabetes, which studies have now shown is a co-morbidity in over forty percent of coronavirus deaths. However the studies were done in some poorer necks of the woods where medical care is known to be less than perfect. And thus far I haven't yet been able to find any studies that show whether it's diabetes itself that's the problem or poorly managed / un-managed diabetes. Until we know this my advice is simple - if you have diabetes, now is the time to get it completely under control. Do your tests, check with the doctors and make sure you're taking all your meds as and when you should.

I hope that that's perhaps of some interest / value to you

Good luck to all of us.

Cheers, Greg.

Barton Villa Takes To The Press

Hi Guys,

So March nears it's shocking end and this coronavirus outbreak has exploded into something I don't think anyone saw coming. Certainly not me. And now we in New Zealand are in our second day of lock down, and crossing our fingers that when the four weeks are up this nightmare will be under control. But as worrying as it is for us, when I look at the unfolding horror on the telly, I know it must be a thousand times worse for so many of you. And all I can do is wish you and your loved ones all the best and hope that the measures being taken by our various governments will bring things under control.

In the meantime I have another book out, Barton Villa Welcomes You, which is a sort of light-hearted space opera set mostly in the South Pacific, which oddly enough doesn't involve aliens, UFOs or epic space battles. But it is set on what may be the strangest tropical island ever imagined. I hope it brings some cheer to you all in these difficult times.

Here's the blurb:


Barton Villa Welcomes You:

There is a tropical island in the South Pacific where the millionaires frolic in the sun. Secretly. Because they're the ones that don't want to be seen. An island where traffic gives way to ducks, the world's richest people ride old scooters over the dirt track roads, and where leatherback turtles have a protected hatching ground – even though none have ever been seen.

It is an island from which alien spaceships come and go – though no one ever reports them – and of course there are no aliens.

And it's also an island which the ever watchful eyes of NovATA have noticed. Which the boss of the alien hunting agency has set his greedy heart on. And which an art forger and an intelligence officer will have to protect. If they can.

But then of course there's the vital question. What will the aliens – who don't exist – do?


Cheers, and best of wishes to you all, Greg.