Starquest Update
It is 2.10 in the morning as I write these words of triumph. I have just finished the final draft of volume six of the planned twelve volume series of STARQUEST.
For the record, complete first drafts now exist for
01 STARQUEST: SPACE PIRATES of ANDROMEDA
02 STARQUEST: SECRET AGENTS of the GALAXY
03 STARQUEST: CATBURGLAR in the CONSTELLATIONS
04 STARQUEST: OUTLAW of the OUTER STARS
05 STARQUEST: SCOURGE of the SPACEWAYS
06 STARQUEST: SPACEMAN in the IRON MASK
I am pausing to crow to any reader kind enough to read these words before I pen with first sentence of the next volume:
07 STARQUEST: PIRATE KING of STAR PATROL
To be sure, at first I meant this to be a homage (read: slavish plagiarism) of a certain famous franchise recently and horribly denatured and mocked by a certain giant mouse corporation, once the best story tellers and fairytale-spinners of America.
But the tale grew in the telling, and involves more space pirates that I first suspected, not to mention eerie and eldritch powers drifting in interstellar darkness more reminiscent of Lovecraft than of Lucas.
The spiritual crusaders are called Templars, and meant to mimic the mood of Medieval chivalry rather than Samurai honor or Taoist mysticism.
Like the stoics of old, Templars regard the stars as sacred, created beings of a higher order, a host whose influence shapes fate. There are no midichlorians in this version.
I also invented reasons for robots to be mostly humanoid, and programmed with human personalities: and the tale is set in the future, not the past, in M31, the great galaxy of Andromeda. Why invent galaxies when the real ones are already strange and unique?
If I fail to be as unoriginal as I first aimed, I am not sure if this may be a hidden form of success.
As ever, whether the project pleases or fails, each reader is sole judge and court of last resort, from which there is no appeal.
Enough! Back to work! These late nights are my homage to my beloved readers.