New spaceship – Hotspur

Visualization is critical for me while working through a story. At the end of Parley, Sterra’s Gift ran into substantial problems. Without turning this into a spoiler, Liam, Nick and Marny found themselves in need of a new ship for Smuggler’s Dilemma. The ship they end up finding is an old British sloop class spaceship called the Hotspur. If you recall this name but can’t quite place it, this is the name of a sloop from the book Hornblower and the Hotspur. from the Horatio Hornblower historical fiction series. If you haven’t read any of the Hornblower books, don’t dismiss this just because it’s historical fiction, these books are wonderfully written, and extremely enjoyable.

The Hotspur is a 300 tonne ship, or about three times the size of Sterra’s Gift. It has two living decks with a tween deck (area between the two decks where there is machinery, electronics, pipe chases, etc. There is also a bilge that you’d hope Liam could avoid, but if you have been keeping up, you know there is always something bad going on down there.

I worked with the artist Roberto Gabriel Garcia to do the initial sketches of the ship and the two decks. I haven’t decided on if these pictures will actually go into the book, Smuggler’s Dilemma at this point.