Pets In Space 5 and Titanic On My Mind

Our topic this week is whatever is on our mind. Aside from current politics and the COVID pandemic, neither of which I'm discussing here, I'm excited about the impending release of the 5th annual Pets In Space anthology! Especially since I'm the co-creator of this anthology concept and we're in our fifth year...

I recently wrote a post for my own blog on why I decided to write STAR CRUISE: RETURN VOYAGE for this year's anthology, plus an excerpt and here's that discussion:

Every year it’s a fun challenge for me to figure out my alien pet for the annual Pets In Space® anthology. Some years the choice of a pet is driven by a plot I already have in mind and other years the plot arises from the development of the pet and its attributes.

This year I went into the whole process fascinated by the Afghan hound. I’d seen snippets of the big national kennel show on the news and watched an Afghan hound prance by the camera. No offense to the aficionados of this dog breed but I find them to appear a bit alien just the way they are, so the animal made a good jumping off point for a PISA pet. I decided Verlaine the Tajikka Hound would have some vaguely equine characteristics as well, like black hooves and a somewhat horselike face. Our artist did his usual fabulous job in creating Verlaine for me. (The animal just seemed to require an aristocratic name, doesn’t he?!).

I like to make my PISA story into my annual entry in my STAR CRUISE series as well, located on the interstellar luxury liner Nebula Zephyr. I enjoy revisiting some of my characters from previous STAR CRUISE stories and I feel the concept of a huge cruise ship gives me plenty of latitude for telling a variety of stories. My next challenge for 2020 was what would bring such a sizable animal onto the ship as a pet? This past year there had been so many true stories about people bringing odd animals onto airplanes as service animals and I read about someone who had a miniature horse they wanted to travel with! Since I visualize Verlaine as being about the size of a very small horse that seemed perfect to me. So he became a genuine service animal of the far future.

But who would need such an animal to support them on a trip on a big luxury liner?

Enter Gianna Nadenoft, who survived the wreck of the interstellar cruise liner Nebula Dream in my very first published scifi romance novel. She was a (precocious) child of three at the time of the events in Wreck of the Nebula Dream so I felt it was a safe assumption she’d have had post-traumatic stress symptoms of various kinds and might have needed a service animal to help her cope with life after the wreck. Now she’s determined to travel the stars to her brother’s wedding and reunite with old friends but hasn’t left her own planet in the twenty or so years since the wreck. So of course she travels with Verlaine on my new cruise ship, Nebula Zephyr.

It was a fun opportunity for me to revisit the original story and to ‘see’ the events through the eyes of a child, and then to figure out what her private agenda might be in forcing herself to travel on the Nebula Zephyr as an adult. And oh WOW, did I have to check myself to make sure I typed the correct ship name every time! I’d previously established that the two vessels were sister ships in overall design, hence the similar names.  Dream was destroyed, Zephyr sails on…

Wreck of the Nebula Dream was loosely based on the 1912 sinking of the Titanic and Titanic inspired some of the futuristic conspiracy theories about the Dream and the Zephyr which are a minor plot point in the current novel. There actually is a theory that instead of the Titanic sinking on that icy cold night, her sister ship the Olympic sank and that everyone from the builders to the owners was covering up the fact. Why anyone would do that, I’m not entirely sure but I came up with a justification for my novel. After all, the essence of a conspiracy theory is whispers about a sort of plausible explanation, right? No matter how thin!

Over the years I’ve received some snarky comments about my original book’s title, basically to the effect it isn’t a true “wreck” because it happened in space yadda yadda yadda. I greatly enjoyed having Gianna speak to that very point early in this book! (And I picked the title for the first book because it was based on an actual wreck. Plus it’s a dramatic, evocative title…)

I also enjoyed dropping in a few references to other things in my Sectors universe throughout this story, not enough to annoy anyone who hasn’t read my other books, I hope, but…for example there’s a nod to the Khagrish, who are the evil alien scientists in my Badari Warrior series.

The PISA authors try to make the pets an integral part of the story we’re writing for the anthology, not just “and she had a dog” walk-ons, so I had to really think through the events that would occur to make sure I gave Verlaine enough to do to be a substantive supporting character. Hopefully I succeeded!

He did make an immediate connection point between Gianna and Lt. Trevor Hanson, the hero, who has PTSD issues of his own, stemming from his prior military service. Now Trevor’s a security officer aboard the Nebula Zephyr, charged by his captain to make sure Gianna reaches her destination with a minimum of stress.

Here’s an excerpt, with Captain Fleming giving Trevor his unusual assignment.

A yeoman was waiting for him. “Captain Fleming wants to see you in the wardroom. This way.”

Trevor followed the other through the short corridor and was left outside the conference room to key the arrival button and receive permission to enter. Stepping across the threshold, he saluted. “Lt. Trevor Hanson reporting as ordered, sir.”

The captain was seated at the head of the table, drinking real Terran coffee from the battered mug which bore the crest of his last battleship command. “At ease, Hanson. Get yourself some coffee and come sit down. I have a special assignment for you on this leg of the cruise.”

He wasn’t thirsty but no one refused the captain’s invitation and especially not when the beverage on offer was the rare and costly real coffee. Trevor picked up a Nebula Zephyr mug, filled it, spurned the sugar and cinna spice, preferring to drink it black, and joined the captain. His curiosity coiled in his gut. Highly unusual for Fleming himself to skip protocol and give orders directly to any crew member. He was a firm believer in the chain of command and military protocol, even now, commanding a cruise ship.

The captain was staring at the big vid screens which showed the planetary system the ship was fast approaching, a series of reddish tinted jewels scattered across the black velvet of the galaxy, circling the yellow sun in the eternal rhythm decreed by astrophysics and the laws of the universe.

Trevor sipped the strong coffee and waited.

“What do you know about the wreck of the Nebula Dream?” Fleming asked, still watching the planets.

Pop quiz time I guess. “Worst passenger ship disaster in the history of the Sectors, thousands of lives lost, heroics by a Special Forces officer who happened to be aboard and saved hundreds. We had a module on it when I was in training, sir, mostly regarding the decisions made by the soldier. One of those ‘what would you do in his place’ type classes.”

“Nick Jameson,” Fleming said, supplying the name of the officer under discussion. “His decisions in what regard?”

“At each point, I guess. To stay on the ship, to use what is politely called classified means to contact rescue ships, and to fight the enemy when they boarded.” Remembering more details as he talked, Trevor added, “Guy was gutsy, smart and lucky. Oh and the cruise liner was way off course, in enemy territory. May I ask why the interest, sir?”

“We’re a sister ship, did you know that? Not the exact design but close, and of course we have different engines. No one uses the Yeatter unstable technology nowadays, not if the shipbuilders are sane.” Fleming sat upright. “What do you know about the survivors? The ones specifically who were with Jameson?”

Suspecting the discussion was getting closer to whatever point Fleming was driving at, Trevor shook his head. “Two women, a D’nvannae Brother, couple of kids…oh and a Mellurean Mind but I believe she died on board.”

“The main reason we’re in this system is to pick up a woman named Gianna Nadenoft,” Fleming said. “She was a very little girl when Nick Jameson saved her life on the Nebula Dream and she hasn’t flown in space since her father brought her home after the rescue.”

Trevor absorbed the information and asked the obvious question. “May I ask why she’s traveling now then, sir?”

“Her brother is getting married on Xcelon Four and she’s agreed to attend and be a bridesmaid.”

Obviously the lady would be a celebrity passenger. The Sectors’ fascination with the tragedy of the Nebula Dream never went away. But what was his role in this? Maybe the Cruise Director should be here, not him. Trevor abhorred being unclear on mission parameters and right now he didn’t see his role in this discussion or the woman’s travel plans.

The captain stared at him over the lip of his mug. “Ms. Nadenoft apparently has PTSD resulting from the events on board the Nebula Dream and this trip is going to be a huge challenge for her. She does have a service animal.”

Now Trevor had a sinking feeling and the captain’s next words confirmed his suspicion. 

PETS IN SPACE® 5 ANTHOLOGY BLURB:

It’s time for an escape! Pets in Space® 5 is back for the fifth amazing year! Escape to new worlds with twelve of today’s top Science Fiction Romance authors. They have written 12 original, never-before-released stories filled with action, adventure, suspense, humor, and romance that will take you out of this world. The giving doesn’t stop there. For the fifth year, Pets in Space® will be donating a portion of the first month proceeds to Hero-Dogs.org, a non-profit charity that supports our veterans and First Responders. If you are ready to forget the world around you and make a difference while you are having fun, grab your copy before it’s gone!

STAR CRUISE RETURN VOYAGE blurb: Gianna Nadenoft is a reclusive survivor of one of the worst interstellar cruise ship disasters in the history of the Sectors. Now a renowned artist, she hasn’t left her home planet in decades, not since returning there after the wreck as a traumatized three-year-old. With her service animal at her side, she’s going to attempt to travel across the star systems to attend her brother’s wedding and reunite with her fellow survivors.

Trevor Hanson is a security officer aboard the cruise liner Nebula Zephyr with his own traumatic past as a former Special Forces soldier and prisoner of war. He’s assigned to provide personal protection to Gianna during her time aboard the ship but soon finds his interest turning from professional to romantic.

Onboard the Nebula Zephyr, powerful enemies are watching Gianna and making plans to seize this rare opportunity to gain access to her and the secrets they believe she’s still keeping about the wreck. Can Trevor overcome his personal demons and rise to the occasion to save Gianna from the danger waiting on his ship, or will she slip through his fingers and suffer a terrible fate deferred from her last disastrous voyage? 

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The award winning first book Wreck of the Nebula Dream ("Titanic in space...") and Star Survivor, the sequel featuring Khevan and Twilka are available at all major ebook sellers...

What World May Be

In no way can I tell you where I got the bug put into my author brain, but here it is. We can dissect it if you wish.

The bug has many legs. It's tiny and hard to see, but it likes to talk. It says that the way to build a believable world/universe/magic system is to limit your change to one major concept. In UF that's easy. Magic happens. The details of how/why/consequences are where the interesting stuff comes in. In SF(R) the major accepted thing is generally space flight. Then it's a matter of what happens when our heroes encounter aliens or aliens encounter them or what happens when the onboard computer says, "I'm sorry, Dave. I afraid I can't do that."

For the most part, the broad strokes don't need a lot of research in my experience. It's the details that do. Take the space flight thing. We're in a space ship! We're getting away from the bad guys! Until they blow out our engine (right before you take the shot that destroys them - thanks for that.) And now we're adrift. We're inside a solar system. So hey! Solar sail! No problem! Uh. Wait. So. Exactly WHAT can I use as a solar sail? Oh hey look. NASA has a position paper out about a theoretical new kind of sail called an e-sail. Hey. That looks cool! So. How fast could we go with that? How far?

Funny. That summary white paper can't answer those questions. And neither can I. So off to ask people with actual training. You do know there are Reddits and forums and message boards where actual rocket scientists hang out? There're even a bunch on Facebook. A few of them will point and laugh when I ask newbie questions, but 99% of the folks really want the rest of us to be science-literate and will offer encyclopedic answers to questions about what kind of acceleration can I expect a ship to put on with a sail blah, blah, red giant, post helium flash, blah. 

Jeffe saw that question go up in one forum and can attest to the awesome answers I got from a handful of really bright people. Made me wish the solar sail figured into more of the story, but alas. We have aliens to vanquish yet. 

Yes. Searching the interwebs for stuff first is the right thing to do - I do find that I can usually garner a broad base understanding of something like nano - technology, but when it comes to how someone would harness nanotech to weaponize it, I didn't have anyone to ask. I had to read and read and then make some guesses. Guesses that I might have gotten dead wrong (though no one has said anything about it yet if I did.) 

And there's the other thing the bug likes to whisper. Don't get so caught up in the research and in being RIGHT that you sacrifice story. Readers will forgive a lot if they're shown a good time inside a story. 

So sure. Research. But make sure you get out there after those villians at great cost to your heroes and heroines. 

New #SciFi Release TWO AGAINST THE STARS Exclusive Excerpt

Cover Art by Fiona Jayde

First though, congratulations to Jeffe on her RITA Award this week - yay!!!

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I just released a new science fiction romance this week, Two Against the Stars, so instead of flash fiction, I'll share an excerpt.

The story:

Empathic priestess Carialle has escaped the evil Amarotu Combine, but she’s hardly out of danger. Not when she risks everything to rescue a drugged man from a crooked veterans’ clinic. By lulling the clinic staff to sleep, she reveals her powers. And once again, criminals are after her and her rescuer.

Marcus Valerian, a wounded Special Forces veteran, never expected to have his life threatened by the clinic that’s supposed to help ex-soldiers like him. But when he wakes from a drugged state to find a lovely woman urging him to run–he does. In his family’s remote fishing cabin, he suffers the agony of withdrawal, soothed only by her powers.

In their idyllic hideaway, the two also discover a nova-hot attraction flaring. But can they stay alive long enough for it to become more? Not if the Combine has anything to say–they are not giving up until Marcus is dead and Carialle is their weapon.

The Excerpt – The Heroine catches her first glimpse of the hero and learns of her employer’s deadly schemes:

…she heard a commotion outside. Hastily she gathered up her tools and supplies and directed her robo cart into the corridor. Coming toward her was Mrs. Trang, talking to an officious man dressed all in white, while behind them was an anti grav litter escorted by four husky orderlies. Peters and Matikian trailed behind. The patient on the litter was shouting incoherently, fighting the restraints, cursing. He seemed to be in the grip of a delusion about being captured by Mawreg, the deadliest enemy of the Sectors civilization, against whom war was constantly being waged.

Appalled both by the man’s violent behavior and the cruel way he was restrained, Carialle flattened herself against the wall and watched as the litter was floated into the room, rocking precariously from the vehement struggles of the ill man. It took all four of the attendants to transfer him to the bed and shackle him tightly to the rails, as Peters slid the medical unit over the lower half of the patient’s body. Matikan jabbed an inject into the man’s neck with a force that made Carialle wince. He enjoyed that.

The patient convulsed and collapsed, going limp against his bonds.

“I’d keep him well under control,” the man in charge said. “Fully sedated. For his own good,” he added with a wink.

“Yes, doctor, of course.” Mrs. Trang was all smiles as she agreed with the suggested course of treatment.

Carialle was shocked to find the owner’s aura full of the bright green of greed, banded with the rusty red of evil and the corroded gold of improperly used power. She lingered to watch the patient as the others left the room, inhaling sharply as her still active senses ‘read’ him.

At his core was the blue fire of a true warrior of Thuun. His aura blazed with it.

Small patches of the dull gray intruded around the edges of the flames, probably from the inject he’d been given. The flames were distorted in a disturbing fashion she’d never seen before, blurry. Odd pools of oily black drifted in the center of his aura, three of them, walled off from each other by twisted knots of  bright white so glaring she had to shut down her observation, which had never happened to her before.

“Hey, you ok?”

She jumped as Peters tapped her shoulder. “Sorry, I—I was surprised at how agitated the man was when he was brought him in.”

“Yeah, the patients are usually a lot farther gone by the time we get them. He’s a big prize.”

“What do you mean?” Disturbed by her vision of the blue flames, as well as those mysterious black pools confined by the white lights, Carialle kept walking toward the next area she was due to clean. Mustn’t appear to be slacking off, especially with the owner on the premises.

“Sweetie, what do you think Mrs. Trang is running here?” Peters kept pace with her.

Puzzled, she said, “A rehab clinic.”

He shook his head. “Yeah sure, in the other part of the building. Over here, she keeps them alive so she can scrape their veterans’ benefits. And she takes the payments for all the fancy therapy, nutritious foods, supplemental meds and special care they’re supposed to be receiving. Nice little racket. Her and the doc are in it together. He directs suitable patients her way and she gives him a kickback.”  Peters leaned closer, as if the way to her reluctant heart was to share his employer’s secrets with her. “This new guy ain’t even supposed to be here. He was Special Forces, badly injured in action, then got himself tortured by the Mawreg before he was rescued. The military ran him through rejuve regeneration to fix his body but his mind is fucked up.  He was supposed to go to a fancy, high end rehab clinic on the eastern continent but Trang and the doc diverted him here.  Forged the records. No one will ever know he existed. Much less find him.”

“Why?” Horrified, she exerted pressure to keep him talking for once. This new patient wasn’t her problem, not at all, but the glimpse of the blue flames rattled her to the core. Assisting a warrior of Thuun was the highest duty of a priestess. But I’m not a priestess and he can’t be a warrior of my god—he’s human. I don’t know him, I owe him nothing. But despite her frantic denials, she was under a compulsion to understand the situation more fully.

“Special Forces are awarded a more generous pension than these other poor bastards who were regular military, maybe five times as much. What she really wants from our new resident though is his veterans’ acres. He’s entitled to prime real estate, courtesy of the grateful Sectors.”

“How will she acquire land meant to be his?”

“The drug she gives them, toranquidol? It destroys the mind over time but there’s a point in the process where free will is gone but the victim retains certain functions. She can make them do anything she wants. She’s gotten rich off of having these poor bastards change their wills, sign over property, you name it. Even married one or two of them along the way for the death benefit and life insurance payouts. He’ll sign the forms to give her the veterans acres.” Peters chuckled, sounding as if he admired Mrs. Trang’s ingenuity at scamming. “I guess what the Sectors authorities don’t know won’t hurt them. I mean, who cares, right?”

“But don’t the patients’ families—”

Peters shook his head. “She and the doc pick their targets carefully. No family, no one to ask awkward questions. Or interfere.”

So what’s Carialle – a fugitive herself -  going to do about this?

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Cute Pets Transcend Genre

So our topic today is whether genres can actually ever be declared 'dead'. Since I never really pursued a career in traditional publishing, at least not to the extent of trying to get an agent, doing pitches at conferences and/or submitting tons of books over the transom, etc., I've never run into that declaration. Not directed at me anyway. Carina Press published two of my ancient Egyptian stories and then pivoted away from "Ancient World" romance - hopefully not because of ME LOL - so I just happily self published and the books have done quite well. They certainly have an audience, for whom I'm very grateful. As far as my main genre, science fiction romance, I've always self published so I could care less if someone somewhere thinks they can't sell it, therefore it's 'dead' to them. My readers and I beg to differ!

Another related thought is that sometimes a genre is 'dead', like Western movies, for example, and then someone has a brilliant idea how to twist the tropes and presto, the genre is re-energized. Case in point would be HBO's "Westworld", which combines the Wild West and science fiction.

Yes, this is one of the 'pets'! Very scifi!

I had a killer migraine yesterday and am operating on a mere four hours of sleep as a result, so I'm kind of out of inspiration now on this topic. Eight fellow SFR authors and I did however release the Pets in Space anthology last week, combining science fiction, romance and heroic pets who save the day. I believe cute pets can rise above any genre - think Lassie for cozies, Rintintin for Westerns, tribbles for science fiction, Astro for cartoons (or Scooby Doo for that matter)....so here are artist Nyssa Juneau's renderings for our nine pets and if you haven't snatched up your copy (figuratively speaking as it's ebook only), what are you waiting for?

We've been hovering in the low 200's in Amazon Kindle all week, which is fun. Thanks to everyone who has bought the book!

And we're donating 10% of the first month's royalties to Hero Dogs Inc., service dogs for veterans...

NOTE: Not a children's book, despite the cute creatures!

Here's the book's blurb:

Even an alien needs a pet…

Join the adventure as nine pet loving sci-fi romance authors take you out of this world and pull you into their action-packed stories filled with suspense, laughter, and romance. The alien pets have an agenda that will capture the hearts of those they touch. Follow along as they work side by side to help stop a genetically-engineered creature from destroying the Earth to finding a lost dragon; life is never the same after their pets decide to get involved. Can the animals win the day or will the stars shine just a little less brightly?

New York Times, USA TODAY, Award Winning, and Best selling authors have eight original, never-released stories and one expanded story giving readers nine amazing adventures that will capture your imagination and help a worthy charity. Come join us as we take you on nine amazing adventures that will change the way you look at your pet!

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My terrestrial cat Jake

It's Fall Play Ball Excerpt from Trapped on Talonque

Tiny confession: we're supposed to do flash fiction about the equinox, I think. I'm not a real big fan of writing flash fiction nor am I well versed in the intricacies of the equinox PLUS I did a flash fiction with the titles of classic books just a couple of weeks ago in this very space. Moving merrily onward, I'm flash fictioned OUT.

(Saturday SFF7 person is a bit rebellious this week. Been having visual migraines the last couple of days, which are kind of stressful.)

So here's an exclusive excerpt from my latest novel Trapped on Talonque, in which the heroes are observing the local ball game, sapiche. They have to learn to play, well enough to win and save not only their lives, but also the alien sleeping beauty. (Ball game=football=Fall, right? Unless you want me to talk to you about the eleven seasons of "Making the Team" about the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders that I've been bingewatching lately....but so, I'm staying in the theme of Fall. Somewhat.)

Fall is my favorite time of the year!

The story:

Will an alien sleeping beauty awaken to save him, or destroy everyone around her?

When a Sectors Special Forces soldier and his team crash land on an alien planet, they’re taken captive and given a challenge–win at the violent ball game of sapiche and live. Lose, and they die, sending a mysterious, alien beauty to an even uglier fate. To survive, these soldiers must win the game and find a way to free the dangerous prisoner from her locked chamber.

Nate Reilly and his team are in deep trouble. Prisoners on a backward alien planet, they’re brought before an alien ‘goddess’, sleeping in her high tech seclusion. Nate is astonished when she awakes and establishes a psychic link with him. But her news is not good–he and his men must win a brutal challenge set by their captors, or they will die. She’ll give her aid, but in the end their courage and strength must win the contest.

Bithia sleeps in her chamber, as she has for thousands of years, since her own people unaccountably left her there. Viewed as a goddess by her captors, she must hide her ancient secrets to survive. But only the bravest of men may free her. Can she use her psychic powers to keep Nate and his men alive long enough to help her escape, or will her only hope of freedom die with them?

The excerpt:

The ensuing game was exciting, engaging Nate’s attention despite the circumstances. Opposing teams of four players each strove to capture a black leather ball as it shot at random, apparently, from one of the wall openings. The men fought to ram the sphere into one of the openings on the other side of the court. The other team did its best to steal the ball and inflict maximum damage on the other players in the process. Violence and aggression met with roaring approval from the crowd.

The game progressed rapidly, limited to three scores. Whenever one team or the other managed to get three balls into the wall despite the defenders’ best efforts, the proceedings came to a halt. The winning team paraded around the court, arms held high, accepting the cheers of the crowd, eventually moving out of sight into the holding area under the amphitheater. The four members of the losing team were dragged to the middle of the sand and knelt in a line, facing the king and queen.

As the last man on the winning team left the arena, a complete hush fell over the crowd. A quartet of black-clad priestesses escorted by guards marched onto the court. Moving quickly, each woman looped a heavy golden chain over the head of an unresisting player before leading him out through a different exit. Servants carried anyone too injured to walk.

Groundskeepers emerged to rake the sand, hiding the bloodstains from the rough play of the previous round. The crowds fell to animated chatter and wagering, coins changing hands. Servants brought the nobility refreshments. Harsh-voiced vendors hawked food and drink on the commoners’ side. At first nothing was offered to the prisoners, although their guards accepted free drinks from vendors willingly enough. Later in the afternoon, as the games continued, two servants appeared with flagons of watered wine. 

“Doesn’t bode well for the losers, you think?” Thom asked as the same grim ending repeated after each round.

Nate shook his head. “Our captor has to be showing this to us for a reason. Are you paying close attention? I’m watching for any kind of strategy at work, or is victory obtained primarily by brute force? I thought I noticed a pattern to the passing, especially when the red team was working their last ball.”

“You think we’re going to be the visiting team?”

Nate sighed and stretched as far as the chains allowed, settling on the bench with a satisfied chuckle as he realized the guards were getting nervous. “Not today, I hope. But why else drag us out here?”

“Reminds me of soccer, or Betyran tisba,” Haranda said, clearly enjoying himself.

“You play?” Nate asked.

“Tisba. I was lead wing on the varsity team at the Star Guard Academy, two years running.”

“Don’t get cocky,” Thom said. “I don’t think you had the same kind of rules. The Sectors Star Guard generally doesn’t want its recruits killing each other. These guys are out for blood.”

The day stretched on. Nate watched four more matches, each as rapid and as brutally played as the first two. The final match was played late in the afternoon, and the team in red shirts and shorts was clearly the crowd favorite as the chanting rose to a high volume. “Do you think Kalgitr is the team name or the guy who scored the goal?”

“I’m guessing the man. He’s a bruiser, all right.”

Nate nodded. “Plays dirty too. I think he broke the other guy’s arm.”

“Win at all costs or die,” Thom said. “Nice rules.”

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Take A Pinch of This Genre and A Spoonful of That Genre

I don't really give much time or thought to the intricacies of genre, except when I'm trying to pick the best  classification codes and key words for my book at a vendor. I want to help the readers find my book and have a fairly good mutual expectation going on as to what they'll be reading from me. I hope they'll enjoy the story and not be disappointed.

I think I write science fiction romance with adventure.  Or maybe it's space opera with space marines and romantic elements... Or else ancient Egyptian paranormal fantasy romance with adventure. Unless we're calling it Ancient World Romance with fantasy elements. Luckily I guess, no one is trying to slot my books on any shelves at their local bookstore! The world doesn't have nice, neat boundaries any more, if indeed it ever did. I usually have some mythical, mystical or fantastical elements in my scifi romances. While there's no science fiction in my ancient Egyptian tales, they sure can't be classified as 'historical romance" because I take a lot of liberties with details (but backed with in-depth research so I know what I'm changing) and proudly so state ahead of time. Fantasy! Or maybe Paranormal....

I'm livin' in the wide open frontier of book genre classification and loving it! (Except for certain vendors/promo sites/contests who stubbornly do not have a science fiction romance or romance=> science fiction category. I mean, how hard IS that???)

Here's my latest new release, Hostage To The Stars, just out this past week, primarily scifi romance/adventure/suspense with a touch of mystical at one point.

He rescued her from space pirates … but can he keep them both safe from the far greater evil stalking a deserted planet?

Space travel without Kidnap & Ransom insurance? Not a good idea. University instructor and researcher Sara Bridges can’t afford it, so when pirates board her cruise liner, she’s taken captive along with the mistress of a wealthy man, and brought to a deserted planet. When a military extraction team sent to rescue the mistress refuses to take Sara too, she’s left to the mercies of a retired Special Forces soldier, along as consultant.

Reluctantly reactivated and coerced into signing up for the rescue operation to the planet Farduccir where he once was deployed,  Sgt. Johnny Danver just wants to get the job done. But when the team leader leaves one captured woman behind, he breaks away to rescue her himself.

As Johnny and Sara traverse the barren landscape, heading for an abandoned base where they hope to call Sectors Command for help, they find villages destroyed by battle and stripped of all inhabitants. A lone survivor tells a horrific tale of the Sectors’ alien enemy, the Mawreg, returning after being pushed out …

Searching for evidence to give the military, Johnny is captured. He regains consciousness in a Mawreg cage–with Sara next to him. Death is preferable to what the aliens will do to them… And even if they do escape their captors, can they alert the military in time to prevent another invasion of the Sectors?

Standalone sequel to Mission To Mahjundar (mild spoilers for Mahjundar in this story.)

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