For those of you who are still hesitating ( or procrastinating ) before reading Book One of my Tartarus Trilogy and are either too busy or---ahem!---too lazy to use the Look Inside feature at www.amazon.com, here's a short selection from Judgment on Tartarus:
That evening, as Rona Scott waited in the ship's Commissary for Tiko to join her for dinner, a red-faced, burly lieutenant with thinning hair stalked in and hurled himself into a chair at a nearby table.
Rona overheard his bitter complaint to his tablemate: "That goddamn Tartar just put me on report again! Once more and I'm busted!"
"You do have all the star-blasted luck, eh, Klasner?"
"I tell you, Mac---that cold-blooded freak has it out for my hide! Hell, I can't make a move without him jumping down my throat, quoting regs like he swallowed the flaring program!"
"Keep it down, will ya, mate?" the other crewman warned him in a low tone, eyes sweeping the Commissary. "Don't snap your bloody stabilizers in here, or you'll get yourself court-martialed!"
"Don't give me that bilge!" Klasner snarled, stubbornly refusing to lower his voice. "Everybody aboard hates the Tartar's flaring guts!"
"Everyone 'cept the Old Man, mate, an' the rest of us don't broadcast the fact all over the bloomin' ship. Hell, I'm not buckin' for a CM even if you are!"
Klasner glowered in sullen silence for a few seconds before growling, "Mark my words, Mac---someday real soon that goddamn Tartar's gonna have a helluva bad accident!"
Rona caught the scarcely-veiled threat; a thrill of alarm coursed through her. Until that very moment, she hadn't realized how high feeling against the ship's Exec ran. The blatant bigotry, accompanied by the implied threat of violence, shocked her to the core. She felt as if something dark and ominous had suddenly invaded Astrella.
copyright@2011 M. R. Tighe
So that was a sneak peek. Why not go to www.amazon.com and see more? All of my Tartarus books are available in paperback and Kindle formats.
Thanks for reading!
MRTighe
Friday, July 26, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Blood Is Blood!
One of the most enigmatic common sayings on the planet Tartarus ( from my Tartarus Trilogy: Judgment on Tartarus, True Son of Tartarus, and Ransom of Tartarus ) is "Blood is blood." So what the heck does that mean?
To a Tartarian, blood is sacred. Blood means life; therefore, blood is not to be spilled lightly. However, there are only two possible punishments for a serious transgression against the Holy Law of Ahn-eld ( Tartarus ): exile or death!
Common criminals who are found deserving of the death penalty are simply poisoned. A derivative of the Dar-tzl plant, otherwise known as the Death Plant, is administered. No blood is spilled.
But if the offender is unlucky enough to be born of the Jaru-alt ( the Noble Class) and is not sentenced to permanent exile from the planet, death comes by public execution. And execution is carried out by means of the Great Blade of Ahn-eld. The ceremonial weapon is a large curved blade, the hilt of which is studded with multi-colored jewels.
Besides being an extremely painful death, execution is humiliating, dishonorable, and bloody. The victim has given up his sacred right to life. This illustrates how seriously Tartarians take severe violations of their sacred Law. You wouldn't wish being born a Jaru-alt on your worst enemy! I guess we should all be glad it's only fiction.
Anyway, keep on reading, and if you're a writer, keep on writing!
MRTighe
To a Tartarian, blood is sacred. Blood means life; therefore, blood is not to be spilled lightly. However, there are only two possible punishments for a serious transgression against the Holy Law of Ahn-eld ( Tartarus ): exile or death!
Common criminals who are found deserving of the death penalty are simply poisoned. A derivative of the Dar-tzl plant, otherwise known as the Death Plant, is administered. No blood is spilled.
But if the offender is unlucky enough to be born of the Jaru-alt ( the Noble Class) and is not sentenced to permanent exile from the planet, death comes by public execution. And execution is carried out by means of the Great Blade of Ahn-eld. The ceremonial weapon is a large curved blade, the hilt of which is studded with multi-colored jewels.
Besides being an extremely painful death, execution is humiliating, dishonorable, and bloody. The victim has given up his sacred right to life. This illustrates how seriously Tartarians take severe violations of their sacred Law. You wouldn't wish being born a Jaru-alt on your worst enemy! I guess we should all be glad it's only fiction.
Anyway, keep on reading, and if you're a writer, keep on writing!
MRTighe
Monday, July 8, 2013
Taking Your Sweet Time
If you'd never baked a pie before, would you rush to enter your first effort in a pie-baking contest? Would you expect a famous design house to scoop up your very first fashion designs? On your first essay into a sport could you be sure of winning a gold medal? I'll bet you're realistic enough to answer a resounding "no" to all three questions.
So I can't figure out why in the Cosmos so many first-time writers with little or no experience and few tools make such a mad dash to publish their work. Why do they fully expect their freshman effort to become a bestseller? Is that realistic? Of course we all have dreams, but to expect instant fulfillment of those dreams is simple self-deception.
In this age of burgeoning technology, everyone and his/her little brother are now capable of coming out with at least an e-book. Before you rush to be published, stop and think through what you are about to do. You want your book, your baby---especially if it's your first book!--- to be superior to all the rest that are out there.
If you work hard, hone your skills, and polish your work until it gleams like the Hope diamond, you stand a chance of actually succeeding. Maybe you'll never write that bestseller, but you won't be embarrassed to admit you are the author of "that" book! You'll make some fans. You'll have greater respect for yourself and your work. And in my opinion that's worth a heck of a lot more than writing the next bestseller.
So keep on writing, and keep on reading!
MRTighe
So I can't figure out why in the Cosmos so many first-time writers with little or no experience and few tools make such a mad dash to publish their work. Why do they fully expect their freshman effort to become a bestseller? Is that realistic? Of course we all have dreams, but to expect instant fulfillment of those dreams is simple self-deception.
In this age of burgeoning technology, everyone and his/her little brother are now capable of coming out with at least an e-book. Before you rush to be published, stop and think through what you are about to do. You want your book, your baby---especially if it's your first book!--- to be superior to all the rest that are out there.
If you work hard, hone your skills, and polish your work until it gleams like the Hope diamond, you stand a chance of actually succeeding. Maybe you'll never write that bestseller, but you won't be embarrassed to admit you are the author of "that" book! You'll make some fans. You'll have greater respect for yourself and your work. And in my opinion that's worth a heck of a lot more than writing the next bestseller.
So keep on writing, and keep on reading!
MRTighe
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