Holiday...Sci-Fi!

Nothing says winter holiday like a near-future, sci-fi audiobook that takes place in May! Wait, you were looking for Christmas lights and mistletoe? Well…The Mars Strain does have a well lit, cube observation-room and there is some kissing. 

“—listeners will be intrigued by the premise of this timely story 

and energized by Juliet's tenacity and courage.” 

Audiofile review by S.A.H.

You can pick it up at Audible and, since I just looked it up, a lot of new to me online stores like AudiobookSTORE and Chirp Books!

We’ve colonized Mars, but we never should’ve come back.

When the first astronauts of the Mars Colony returned to Earth, they brought a mysterious, metal box they had found half-buried in the red dirt, called the Mars Cube. The scientists assigned to uncover its secrets tested it, scanned it, tried to blow it up, and everything in between. 

Then they accidentally opened it.  

Biosafety level-4 laboratories, BSL4, hold the most deadly viruses on the Earth, and Juliet handled them daily. Her research at the CDC landed her a position on the Mars Cube Investigative Team in the world’s only BSL-5 lab. The only drawback: Her ex was one of the astronauts that brought back the Cube. 

What was held inside the Cube shouldn’t have gotten out. It shouldn’t have ever been exposed to our planet because the Mars Strain is now loose and killing at a 100 percent mortality rate. Juliet is fighting for our very existence, Jake is working with the Mars Colonists to decipher the Cube’s holographic message for a clue, and someone wants to take over the Mars Program for themselves. They’re all watching the clock, and it's about to run out.

Why this Sci-Fi Thriller WIP?

I’m channeling a sci-fi vibe today because our topic this week is: 

Why this WIP?

WIP is work in progress. Yep, you got it. the work in progress I’m talking about today is my next sci-fi thriller! 

Why this one and not one of my fantasy ones? How do you pick what to work on when you have multiple projects (and no contracted or set timeline for any of them)? Why do you have more than one novel in the works? 

Sci-fi thrillers are pretty much what the label entails: science and a lot of action that makes your heart pound and your palms sweat. With my medical background I can’t help but find that bleeding through, one of my MCs works as a biohacker.

Biohacker, according to healthline, describes it as do-it-yourself-biology. Basically anything people do to alter their health and wellbeing. But…sci-fi here, so my biohacker provides his clients with biologic altering drugs. And after years of altering themselves people are becoming more AI than human.

It’s a bit creepy and exciting with a nice dose of humor provided by the found family and friction, both good and bad, between the MCs. Basically, it’s hella fun to write.

There are days I’m tempted to crack open my recent fantasy WIP. I am a mood reader, after all, and I write with my moods as well so I like to keep at least three WIPs on my laptop. But writing sci-fi uses more of my left side brain and I can geek out and imagine what our future could look like. When I write fantasy it’s right brained all the way—the tear your heart out, leave you emotionally exhausted kind of writing. 

So yeah, I’ll stick to my sci-fi thriller for now. How about you? What’s got your passion going at the moment?

Do I see my book as a musical?

Hmmm….which one of my books would I turn into a musical? Tough topic this week, SFF Seveners! 

It shouldn’t be difficult though, right? I mean, I’ve never been to a live musical. The closest I’ve been would be South Dakota State’s production of Capers and I don’t remember there being music other than some background stuff…I’d label it comedy satire, excellent comedy-satire.

No live stuff, though I am a fan of some classic movie-musicals: My Fair Lady, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Greatest Showman, and about every Disney movie ever. 

But turning one of my books into a musical? I think I’m in Vivien Jackson’s camp on this one…I don’t see it. 

Sci-fi thrillers just don’t make good musicals. When I write sci-fi I definitely see what I’m writing, exactly like a movie. Sometimes when I’m writing I even lean back in my chair and enjoy the show…I just need to remember to make some popcorn when I do that.  

On the other hand...my fantasy writing could be turned into musicals. Awakening the Blades would be equated to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a lot of parallels there. But that movie ended up being a horror/action flick, which I’m totally down for! My second fantasy could be compared to the Lord of the Rings, very epic, large cast of characters, and the balance of the world depends on a single choice. So, I guess if you can picture Gandalf the White belting out tunes then we’ve got somethin’. 

Personally, I’d rather stick to imagining my writing as blockbuster movies. They already play out that way in my head and the music I listen to as I work is 99% instrumental. 

Wait…instrumental…that’s big in musicals too, right? I mean, there’s music everywhere in a musical. It’s happening when the curtain’s shut. It’s chiming when you’re supposed to be sitting down! It’s crescendoing as the scenes are being changed over!! Nooooooo!!! My books could be musicals one day!!!

My panic aside, do you have a favorite read or book that you’d LOVE to see as a musical?