Our
topic this week is whatever is on our minds currently. Confining myself strictly
to the author world, what’s on my mind are cats, dogs and otherworldly
creatures, otherwise known as Pets In Space® 4! It’s my pending new release, on
my birthday next week.
About four years ago, my author friend Pauline B.
Jones and I started this fun project and invited some other science fiction
romance authors to join in. We put together an annual collection of all new
stories featuring action, adventure, romance and a pet of some sort involved in
the story. Sort of like “Lassie in space”. (Not the racier kind of ‘pets’ you
find in some steamy fiction!).
The idea was to find new readers for scifi romance and
to support a worthy cause with a portion of the royalties. Now in our fourth
year, we’ve hit the USA Today Best Seller list twice and been able to give our
charity quite a nice chunk of donations, thanks to our wonderful readers.
Pets
in Space® 4 Anthology Blurb:
For a
limited time only! Pets in Space® 4 is proud to present 13 amazing, original
new stories! Join the adventures as today’s leading Science Fiction Romance
authors take you on a journey to another world. Pets in Space® proudly supports
Hero-Dogs.org, a
non-profit charity that provides service animals to veterans and first
responders in need. Join New York Times, USA TODAY and Award-winning
Bestselling authors S.E. Smith, Anna Hackett, Tiffany Roberts, Veronica Scott,
Pauline Baird Jones, Laurie A. Green, Donna McDonald, Regine Abel, Alexis Glynn
Latner, JC Hay, E.D. Walker, Kyndra Hatch, and Cassandra Chandler for another
exciting Pets in Space® anthology. Get the stories before they are gone!
Proud
supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space® authors have donated over
$7,100 in the past three years to help place specially trained dogs with
veterans and first responders. 10% of all pre-orders and the first month’s
royalties of Pets in Space® 4 will again go to Hero-Dogs.org. Open
your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Pets in Space® 4 today so
together we can continue to assist this worthy charity!
I always
set my Pets In Space® stories on an interstellar cruise liner and have had all
kinds of pets from a cat to an eagle to an alien blend of a tribble and a
red-tailed panda. This year my pet is an alien ‘dog’, named Charrli. Here’s a
bit more about my full length novel in the anthology:
STAR
CRUISE: IDOL’S CURSE (The Sectors SF Romance Series)
An
unusual bequest….
Juli
Shaeffer, the Nebula Zephyr’s cruise director, receives a mysterious bequest
from the estate of a longtime passenger – a lump of rock taken from a reef on
the planet Tahumaroa. Legend states anyone who steals from the ocean gods will
be cursed. The passenger’s will requests the rock be returned to the beach so
his heirs won’t be affected by the bad luck he believed he’d incurred. Juli
doesn’t believe in superstitions and she agrees to carry out this small favor
on the ship’s next stop at the planet in question.
Until
the rock disappears from her office…
When
the rock disappears and reappears in various locations around the ship, and
seems connected to a steadily escalating series of mishaps, Juli turns to Third
Officer Steve Aureli as the only one she feels she can trust. Along with Steve
and his elderly Aunt Dian – a passenger aboard the Nebula Zephyr for this cruise
- she investigates the strange series of malfunctions plaguing the interstellar
luxury liner. Steve and Juli enlist his Aunt Dian’s dog, Charrli, a retired
Sectors Z Corps canine, to help them track the missing rock as it moves about
the ship.
Juli
and Steve must find the rock, hang onto it and transport it to the planet’s
surface, before the alien idol’s curse turns deadly. The attraction between the
two of them grows as the threat to Juli becomes more and more focused. Can she
carry out her task while he keeps her safe from the alien curse? Will the
capricious alien idol bring them good fortune…or disaster?
An excerpt when Juli meets
Charrli:
“We
can give you a ride,” Steve offered. “The side of this road isn’t a good place
for you to be stranded, especially with a storm coming.”
A
gust of cold wind buffeted her to emphasize his remark and she shivered. What
happened to the hot sun of just a few hours ago? Peering at his sporty
groundcar, she hesitated. “I don’t want to be a bother or ruin your date.”
He
laughed. “No bother and it’s not a date. Remember I told you my aunt Dian was
going to be a passenger on the next leg of the cruise? I picked her up this
afternoon and I also have the use of the captain’s personal shuttle, so I can
take you all the way to the Zephyr with us. Plenty of room in this rented car
of mine.”
“Say
no more, I’ll be thrilled to accept your help then. Let me grab my purse.”
Heart unaccountably lighter because he wasn’t on a date, Juli fished her
possessions out of the car, and went to climb in the backseat of his racy red
vehicle, as he held the door for her. Hope
never dies, I guess. Oh, Juli, get over this mad crush. Angry at herself
for her racing pulse and the effect this man invariably had on her, she
stumbled and Steve steadied her with one big hand. Her body tingled a little at
the physical contact.
“I’m
Steve’s Aunt Dian,” said the lady in the front seat, swiveling to study Juli.
She extended her gloved hand.
Juli
tried not to stare. Dian was elderly but wearing full, expertly applied makeup
and her syntho hair was coiffed into a confection of pink and blond a trideo
star might admire, accented with a glittery star-shaped barrette. Her pink and
cream woven suit was by a high end fashion designer, or else a very good
knockoff and she presented an altogether glamorous and retro picture. This is practical, stoic Steve’s aunt? Juli detected no family resemblance although
of course that didn’t mean much. “I’m so happy to meet you and glad you’ll be
sailing with us.”
Next
instant, a barking ball of golden brown fur sailed over the seat, landing in
Juli’s lap with a thud. With a startled scream she tried to fend off the pet,
which fortunately seemed intent on getting into her purse, rather than actually
attacking her personally.
“Charrli,
don’t be rude,” said Dian, snapping her fingers in annoyance. “No one asked you
to do a search and destroy mission on Juli’s belongings. Get back here where
you belong.”
Hand
on the controls, Steve studied Juli. “Do you have a snack in your purse?” he
asked. “Charrli’s a real chow hound.”
“What
an inelegant way to describe my champion purebred miniature Deskaza dog.”
Despite her offended protest, his elderly relative didn’t sound too offended.
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