Here's one version of my early, longer attempts at creating a backcover blurb for Judgment on Tartarus. This synopsis had to be condensed considerably to fit the backcover.
Come aboard the retired battle cruiser Astrella II with idealistic young Ensign Corona Scott as she begins the adventure fated to change her life forever---as well as that of the entire known-Galaxy. Assigned to her first deep-space mission, Rona Scott soon begins to fear that her long-dreamed-of career is in serious jeopardy.
Her new CO, Richard Hughes---the legendary "Hero of the Gorgonian Wars"---has a hair-trigger temper and no sympathy for green crewmembers. His strict ExO, Malkis of Tartarus, lets Rona know right from the start that he has no use for Terran females. Rona is further dismayed to discover that Astrella is a hot-bed of gossip, racial hatred, prejudice, and diabolical intrigue. She struggles to maintain her own high ideals, to keep an open mind, despite the mounting pressure to give in to the prevailing attitude.
The situation aboard Astrella gets progressively worse: a science mission is sabotaged; someone hates the Tartarian ExO badly enough to attempt to kill him; and with no explanation High Command dispatches Astrella to the planet Tartarus. Along the way, the ship is attacked by an old enemy---the dreaded Gorgonians---whose ships haven't been seen for over twelve years.
When Astrella reaches Tartarus, things go from bad to worse. There, Rona Scott is forced to make some life-altering decisions---and the fate of Astrella's captain and crew rests upon the barbaric, bloody outcome of a challenge to mortal combat!
That was it. Believe me, condensing all that verbage to fit into the limited space on a novel's backcover isn't exactly easy. Some things have to be left out; some hard choices have to be made. To see what I mean, compare this with the finished blurb as listed on amazon.com's Judgment on Tartarus page!
All for now,
MRTighe
Showing posts with label Judgment on Tartarus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Judgment on Tartarus. Show all posts
Friday, September 9, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The Waiting Game
I'm waiting as patiently as I can for True Son of Tartarus to be published and available to my readers. That's one of the hardest parts of the publishing process, at least for me. I'm always anxious to find out if my next book will appeal to people as much as Book 1 did. I've done my darnedest to make True Son as good as Judgment ( if not better! ), as good as I possibly can while remaining true to myself, my beliefs, my goals.
For instance, for those who are fans of gritty, militaristic SF with loads of violence and bloodbaths---sorry, but you'll have to look elsewhere. You just aren't going to find those elements in either Judgment on Tartarus or True Son of Tartarus. I have no illusions that every single reader is going to react favorably to my work. Each individual has their own literary tastes. But I truly believe a large audience will appreciate the stories I write.
Of course, some may find them a bit too violent for their tastes; others, not violent enough. Some may find them a bit offensive while others think they're not graphic enough. Obviously, I can never please absolutely everyone, so, as the old saying goes, I have to be true to myself. And as long as I do that I'll be happy with my work---just impatient with the amount of time it takes to learn your reaction!
All for now,
MRTighe
For instance, for those who are fans of gritty, militaristic SF with loads of violence and bloodbaths---sorry, but you'll have to look elsewhere. You just aren't going to find those elements in either Judgment on Tartarus or True Son of Tartarus. I have no illusions that every single reader is going to react favorably to my work. Each individual has their own literary tastes. But I truly believe a large audience will appreciate the stories I write.
Of course, some may find them a bit too violent for their tastes; others, not violent enough. Some may find them a bit offensive while others think they're not graphic enough. Obviously, I can never please absolutely everyone, so, as the old saying goes, I have to be true to myself. And as long as I do that I'll be happy with my work---just impatient with the amount of time it takes to learn your reaction!
All for now,
MRTighe
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Some Questions To Be Answered
Below are some of the questions that will soon be answered in my upcoming SF novel True Son of Tartarus:
Why did Malkis of Tartarus abandon his homeworld?
Why was his father, Kadris, so angry that he irrevocably disowned his only son twenty-seven years later?
How did Malkis and his cousin Shadris become mortal enemies when they had once been the closest of friends?
How did Richard Hughes and Malkis first meet and why did they quickly become rivals and enemies?
How did Hughes first get captaincy of Astrella II? And what did Malkis have to do with that command?
What was Malkis' true reaction when he first met Rona Scott?
Not only will all those questions be answered, but in True Son of Tartarus you will get your first look at the Compact's long-time mortal enemies, the "Gorgonians", as well as your first taste of the famous Battle for Tartarus, the final battle in the Gorgonian Wars.
Hope it sounds like fun!
MRTighe
Why did Malkis of Tartarus abandon his homeworld?
Why was his father, Kadris, so angry that he irrevocably disowned his only son twenty-seven years later?
How did Malkis and his cousin Shadris become mortal enemies when they had once been the closest of friends?
How did Richard Hughes and Malkis first meet and why did they quickly become rivals and enemies?
How did Hughes first get captaincy of Astrella II? And what did Malkis have to do with that command?
What was Malkis' true reaction when he first met Rona Scott?
Not only will all those questions be answered, but in True Son of Tartarus you will get your first look at the Compact's long-time mortal enemies, the "Gorgonians", as well as your first taste of the famous Battle for Tartarus, the final battle in the Gorgonian Wars.
Hope it sounds like fun!
MRTighe
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Themes and Judgments
Sometimes as I write, I get so focused on scenes and characters, etc., that I don't even recognize that a theme is developing until I reread the manuscript ( unless it's so obvious it bops me on the nose! ) For instance, during the recent editing process for True Son of Tartarus, it dawned on me that the inflexibility of Tartarian Law is comparable to the inflexibility of ISS regulations! ( which Malkis used to enforce to the letter while he was Executive Officer of Astrella! )
So I added a line wherein Malkis accuses Fleet Admiral Gutierrez of hypocrisy! He, like most Terrans, takes a very dim view of everything about the planet Tartarus!
Sometimes a major theme is identifiable right from the start of a manuscript. I'm finding this to be true while I'm working on the prequel, Malkis of Tartarus: the theme here---ALONE!
Early on, the marketing-analysis folks at Wheatmark ( my publisher ) advised me to change the title of Book One: Judgment on Tartarus---to use words like star or space in my title. Hmmm! Let's see: Dust-up in Space? Seeing Stars? Starring Outerspace? Lost in ---oh, wait! That's one's already been taken, as have most of the good titles using similar words! And none of them begin to tell a dang thing about my story!
I detest titles that mislead you or that don't even give you a hint of what a book's really about!
So I couldn't change the title of Judgment, I truly couldn't. One of its major themes is---surprise, surprise!---judgment! Having to make judgments, making errors in those judgments, judging other beings ( prejudice ), being judged guilty of a crime, and, yes, even facing the Final Judgment! So how the dickens could I in all honesty CHANGE the title? That just didn't make sense. Sometimes you have to go with your gut and stick up for what you know to be true, no matter what others may think, say, or do.
So stick to your guns, people! Like Davy Crockett said so many years ago: "Be sure you're right, and then go ahead!"
Amen to that!
MRTighe
So I added a line wherein Malkis accuses Fleet Admiral Gutierrez of hypocrisy! He, like most Terrans, takes a very dim view of everything about the planet Tartarus!
Sometimes a major theme is identifiable right from the start of a manuscript. I'm finding this to be true while I'm working on the prequel, Malkis of Tartarus: the theme here---ALONE!
Early on, the marketing-analysis folks at Wheatmark ( my publisher ) advised me to change the title of Book One: Judgment on Tartarus---to use words like star or space in my title. Hmmm! Let's see: Dust-up in Space? Seeing Stars? Starring Outerspace? Lost in ---oh, wait! That's one's already been taken, as have most of the good titles using similar words! And none of them begin to tell a dang thing about my story!
I detest titles that mislead you or that don't even give you a hint of what a book's really about!
So I couldn't change the title of Judgment, I truly couldn't. One of its major themes is---surprise, surprise!---judgment! Having to make judgments, making errors in those judgments, judging other beings ( prejudice ), being judged guilty of a crime, and, yes, even facing the Final Judgment! So how the dickens could I in all honesty CHANGE the title? That just didn't make sense. Sometimes you have to go with your gut and stick up for what you know to be true, no matter what others may think, say, or do.
So stick to your guns, people! Like Davy Crockett said so many years ago: "Be sure you're right, and then go ahead!"
Amen to that!
MRTighe
Friday, January 21, 2011
A Question of Judgment?
Do any of you have questions about the theme/title of Judgment on Tartarus? That's been my book's title right from the rough draft. First, judgment refers to the Laws of Ahn-eld ( Tartarus ), specifically to the death-sentence which can be imposed for violating them. Judgment also refers to pre-judging others---thus the word "prejudice"---a main theme in this novel. As Captain Hughes says, "Bigotry is an age-old Terran fault we haven't outrun by going into space." Astrella holds plenty of evidence as to that fact.
But in Book 1, judgment also refers to the errors in judgment many people in the story make; specifically, Rona Scott, Captain Hughes, and even Malkis of Tartarus make some whopping errors in judgment---and they are the good guys! As they discover, recognizing and owning up to such errors ain't easy---and redressing the consequences is even harder!
That's it for now,
MRTighe
But in Book 1, judgment also refers to the errors in judgment many people in the story make; specifically, Rona Scott, Captain Hughes, and even Malkis of Tartarus make some whopping errors in judgment---and they are the good guys! As they discover, recognizing and owning up to such errors ain't easy---and redressing the consequences is even harder!
That's it for now,
MRTighe
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Tartarus is Hell!
For the benefit of anyone who isn't a big fan of Greek myths, as I obviously am, I should probably explain some of the references in Judgment on Tartarus.Not really necessary to understand the story, but I think it makes it a bit more fun. "Tartarus" is the name of the lower depth of Hell in ancient Greek mythology, Erebus being the first Hell.
Mythologically speaking, the gates of Tartarus were guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus ( sorry, that's not Fluffy from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter book! ) So naturally, in my book the Twin Moons of Tartarus are called Erebus and Cerberus.
The beautiful, idyllic planet I call Cytherea was named after the goddesss of beauty and laughter, Aphrodite ( also known as Cytherea.) And my warlike and strife-prone planet Eris ( not the planetoid in our own solar system ) is named for the god of strife. Of course the Hades/Persephone myth---oh, wait! If I tell you too much, I'll totally give away the main plot of Judgment on Tartarus, won't I?
Sorry, but I really want you to read it for yourself! Have fun!
MRTighe
Mythologically speaking, the gates of Tartarus were guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus ( sorry, that's not Fluffy from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter book! ) So naturally, in my book the Twin Moons of Tartarus are called Erebus and Cerberus.
The beautiful, idyllic planet I call Cytherea was named after the goddesss of beauty and laughter, Aphrodite ( also known as Cytherea.) And my warlike and strife-prone planet Eris ( not the planetoid in our own solar system ) is named for the god of strife. Of course the Hades/Persephone myth---oh, wait! If I tell you too much, I'll totally give away the main plot of Judgment on Tartarus, won't I?
Sorry, but I really want you to read it for yourself! Have fun!
MRTighe
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Perseverance
Hello again!
Most of the online bookstores will have Judgment on Tartarus for sale in mid-Jan. I had the best luck locating the book by title, not author's name. Several copies are already in the hands of eager readers ( or will soon be on their way to them, providing I can get anywhere near the Post Office at this time of year! )
Too early for any feedback yet---I'd rather people took their time to enjoy the book and let it sink in, instead of rushing through it. I know Judgment won't be everyone's cup of tea, but to quote J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, "In order for some people to love it, others must hate it." How true!
On many occasions over the past years, I've been sorely tempted to just chuck the whole dang manuscript and give up. But each time I began re-reading it, I'd think, This is just too good a story to be tossed! And each time I sat down and reworked it, the story only got better! There is something to be said for perseverance, even though the work can often be a royal pain in the, ah---stern section, as Captain Hughes would say.
So I guess the moral of this blog is whatever your endeavors, keep at it and don't give up!
MRTighe
Most of the online bookstores will have Judgment on Tartarus for sale in mid-Jan. I had the best luck locating the book by title, not author's name. Several copies are already in the hands of eager readers ( or will soon be on their way to them, providing I can get anywhere near the Post Office at this time of year! )
Too early for any feedback yet---I'd rather people took their time to enjoy the book and let it sink in, instead of rushing through it. I know Judgment won't be everyone's cup of tea, but to quote J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, "In order for some people to love it, others must hate it." How true!
On many occasions over the past years, I've been sorely tempted to just chuck the whole dang manuscript and give up. But each time I began re-reading it, I'd think, This is just too good a story to be tossed! And each time I sat down and reworked it, the story only got better! There is something to be said for perseverance, even though the work can often be a royal pain in the, ah---stern section, as Captain Hughes would say.
So I guess the moral of this blog is whatever your endeavors, keep at it and don't give up!
MRTighe
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