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Category Archives: SFR
What a Deal!
I’ve been sitting on some news for nearly two weeks, waiting until things were more “official.” My lovely agent Natalie Fischer posted this, so it looks like we’re a go : ) Carina Press made an offer on Bad Girl! Yay!
Excited doesn’t describe how I’ve been feeling for the past twelve days. I simply can’t believe it at times. I know the real work has yet to begin (edits will be coming soon), and I’m sure I’ll question my sanity for ever starting down this road. But for now, all I can say is WOW!
And a huge thanks to my crit partners Sharron and Jody. Because without them there would be no Bad Girl. Without them encouraging me and kicking my butt, I would have quit writing a long time ago. So thank you my friends! You are the best!
OK, back to the wip so I can show Natalie and Carina I’m more than a one hit wonder đ
Whiplash
On the very same day I was making arrangements for our furry friend Holly (previous post), I received the best news in my fledgling career. Never have I laughed and cried so much in the same afternoon, the same hour. I got my head on straight enough to send out emails, but mostly spent the weekend mentally exhausted, weepy, and waiting.
One of my emails resulted in an agent asking to see the full manuscript of my science fiction romance Bad Girl. In a couple of days, I received an update from her that she was half way through and really enjoying the story. I couldn’t believe it. I dared to hope, because that’s what we writers do when we aren’t waiting anxiously or, here’s a thought, writing. The agent made an offer for representation, and after a few more emails and a lovely conversation (she is so nice!), I am pleased to announce I’ve signed with Natalie Fischer of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Yay!
The Universe is never short on surprising, seemingly random events, where the stars align and good fortune befalls us on the heels of such sorrow. Usually, and thankfully, such diametric events don’t occur at the same time, but I’ll take the emotional roller coaster over bland sameness any day. Well, not today. I need to write.
The Accidental Convert
My husband travels a lot. He also reads quite a bit while traveling, due to many hours on airplanes (it takes a good long time to get Outside from here) and being cooped up in hotel rooms when not meeting with colleagues. Quite often, he’ll buy books in airport bookstores. Recently, he returned home with a number of new purchases.
Me (perusing cover with scantily clad female in red leather): Um, Hon? Whatcha reading?
Hubby (dismissively): Some fantasy. It has vampires and werewolves.
Me: Uh huh. It’s an Urban Fantasy, not the stuff you normally read.
Hubby (defensively): It was in the Science Fiction section.
Me: It says on the spine “Urban Fantasy.”
Hubby: That print is too small; I didn’t see it. Anyway, it was in the Science Fiction section.
Me: Yeah, you said that. (I look at the books in his TBR pile) So if your purchase was a “mistake” why did you buy all five books in the series on your next trip?
Hubby (returning to reading book with scantily clad female smooching equally scantily clad male on cover): They’re good. You should try them.
Me (smiling): Uh huh.
I have had a number of Science Fiction Romance and Fantasy Romance and other sort of romance novels on our shelves for months, if not years, and I have yet to convince him that reading them would be worth his while. There are some things he, like many of us, have to “discover” for themselves. So thank you, limited airport bookstore shelves! With any luck, more people will accidentally discover SFR and Fantasy Romance then go on to get their friends and loved ones to give them a try.
Five Reasons to Read Gini Koch’s “Touched By an Alien”
Thanks to another win from a generous Galaxy Express promo giveaway, I got to read Gini Koch’s Touched By an Alien. TBaA is full of action, humor, and hot aliens. And nasty aliens too. Care to guess which one our heroine, Katherine Katt, touches? If you answer “both” you’re right, though she doesn’t touch them for the same reasons : )
But I digress.
Five Reasons to Read TBaA:
1) A smart, funny, take-action heroine. When we first meet Kitty Katt (Yeah, yeah. I know. But Koch does a good job making you forget there are an abundance of “Kitty”s in SFR and UF these days.) she is standing on a street corner when some dude turns into a monster and starts killing people. Kitty doesn’t run, which sort of surprises her. Instead, she attacks the monster. With her pen. At first, you think this woman is insane, but you come to see Kitty as someone who doesn’t run from a fight. Her sense of humor is right up my alley, too. Snark and sarcasm? Oh yeah. But never in a cutting way. Well, mostly : )
2) Hot alien hero. Actually, all the good guy aliens are hot, males and females alike. But one is the obvious hero here. Jeff Martini is gorgeous (of course) and funny, a man on a mission who also knows how to bring out the best in people. He “gets” Kitty from their first meeting and tells her and her parents (more about them later) that he’s going to marry her. She takes it as a player’s line, but finds herself falling for him. Who wouldn’t?
3) Nasty aliens. I won’t go into an explanation here because the story about them, what they are doing on Earth, and why they need to be stopped, is better told by Koch : ) Suffice it to say, these baddies are at the head of the class when it comes to making your skin crawl.
4) The worldbuilding in this story is top notch. The combination of the familiar world to give the reader a solid base and the otherworldliness of the aliens is deftly explained and seamlessly carried throughout the book. Once I accepted the idea of Koch’s world (aliens among us) never did I think “Oh, that couldn’t happen.” Within the context of the story, all the fantastic elements worked well.
5) Kitty’s parents. Angela and Sol Katt play important roles in TBaA. They aren’t just there to give Kitty a hard time about her choice of men, wistfully long for grandchildren, or become pawns in the villains plans. Oh no no no. Who they are and what they do is integral not only to Kitty’s character, but to the story. I love both of them, especially Angela who has a few surprises for her daughter : )
One of the things that I was asked to address about TBaA was the first person POV. I have no problem with first person, and often write in it. Does it limit the reader’s access to information and emotion? Maybe, and I think Koch is a tad guilty of having Kitty figure out complex issues involving the aliens faster than most of us would. But she is the heroine : ) First person is effective by giving you a more visceral connection to the POV character. Plus, by only seeing one side of events, when critical information is revealed we can see if the MC (and therefore we the reader) was right in how they perceived things. First person isn’t for every reader or for every story, but it works well here.
Overall, Touched By an Alien is a well-paced, fun read. Go out and get it. The sequel, Alien Tango, comes out in December. I know what’s going on my Christmas list.
Girding the Summer Loins
Tomorrow is the last day of school. The last day to appreciate the mid afternoon quiet of my house. The last day to sit at the computer and pound out thousands–okay, hundreds…tens?–of uninterrupted words. As much as I love not having to get up and get kids off to school, or get ready for work myself, this free-for-all time of year challenges my self discipline and my organizational skills.
I want to stick to a writing regiment and accomplish my one big goal: Get my SFR WIP done before July 11. Yes, specifically that date, because I will be gone for the month following it. I want to get the first draft done, out to my lovely crit partners, and also allow the story to marinate for that time, unseen and untouched. When I return in August, I will be looking at it with fresher eyes. Well, after I get over the jet lag they’ll be fresher.
I can do this. My kids are old enough that I don’t have to monitor their every move. When I was a kid, we left the house after breakfast, returned for lunch, maybe, went back out, came in for dinner, unless we called to say we were eating at a friend’s, then wandered home when the streetlights came on. Daily adventures and evening exhaustion were normal parts of our summers. I may have my kids follow that plan more than a few times. Except for coming home when the streetlights go on. It doesn’t get dark here until 11pm in the summer, a wee bit too late for the under 16 set.
Between that, camps, and trips, I should be able to keep them busy enough not to hear the dreaded “B” word: Bored. They know what it means if they utter it in my presence. The “C” word: Chores. Husband will be cutting wood for the coming winter, so there will be LOTS of stacking necessary.
That means, the only one I’ll have to closely monitor is myself. I predict more than one mental kick in the butt in my future, but if I can work like a demon until July 11 and get to “The End,” it will be worth it. And yes, dear reader, feel free to kick. Accountability to someone other than yourself is a wonderful source of inspiration. The muse does not like having a sore bottom.
What are your plans/goals for the summer?
Agent Provocateur–Delayed Pimping, Part II
Here’s another installment of a woefully late plug for a story won during a Galaxy Express give away/promo event months and months and months ago. Please don’t hate me, Ms. Gray.
Nathalie Gray’s Agent Provocateur (Red Sage, Sept. 2009) is a fast-paced novella set in 24th century, dystopian Montreal. There has been some kind of Gene War fifty years before, giving rise to much animosity between folks that have been genetically tweaked somewhere in their family line (Misborns) and those who have not (Integers).
The hero, Troy, is a former agent for the State who is serving a sentence in the aftermath of an undercover operation that resulted in the death of a lot of people. Basically, his agency set him up as the fall guy. He’s told he can receive a full pardon if he captures the leader of the Misborns and brings him in. Mercury is to be his partner, but she has other things in mind for our hero. Troy and Mercury start off with rapid-fire banter and sexual attraction that escalates into, well, let’s just say the erotic label is not misleading : ) Troy has no love for anything regarding his former employer. Except for the chance to stay out of prison. And maybe a certain blonde. Mercury is a kick-ass gal who takes no one’s crap, and at the same time is vulnerable and unsure of her growing feelings for Troy.
Twenty-fourth century Montreal is dark and gritty. Your senses are completely engaged through the descriptions of the setting, and it should come as no surprise that the author is also an artist. With that amazing sense of place and time, you might expect info dumps to reveal the world she has created, but no. There is enough detail to set the scenes and keep a reader’s interest without overdoing it. That is a fine balance few writers can claim. Well done, Ms. Gray.
I felt the idea of the relationship going beyond HFN was a little premature, but I could certainly see these two duking it out verbally and physically as they navigate the path to longer-term happiness. Though I’d suggest they keep the first aid kit handy.
Five Reasons to Read Kristin Landon’s Hidden Worlds Trilogy
I have been a follower/fan of The Galaxy Express for a while now, and canât tell you how happy I am that the site exists. Heather Massey does an amazing job promoting Science Fiction Romance. Interviews, reviews, discussions, you get it all at TGE. And giveaways. I have benefited three times from such promotions and have always imagined one of my books being the prize at TGE someday. After this third win, Heather gently reminded me that what I SHOULD do (my emphasis, not hers. Heather is very kind to knuckleheads like me) is give back for my great luck by talking about the books.
Oy. Ever feel like a complete tool? Yeah, that would be me.
I should have done this long ago, and I apologize to Heather at The Galaxy Express and Kristin Landon for being soâŚwell, the only word for it is negligentâŚlazyâŚoblivious. I guess thatâs three words, but they all apply. (I will run another self-flagellating apology when I post about Nathalie Grayâs Agent Provocateur : )
So let me stash the wet noodle for a moment and tell you why you need to read this series.
After the Earth was destroyed by ruthless machine intelligences known as the Cold Minds, the remnants of the human race sought refuge on the Hidden Worlds. For 600 years, the worlds have been protected by Pilot Masters, men who have been bred and trained for this sole purpose. But from a small, insignificant world comes a woman looking to secure her planetâs economic health. A woman who holds the key to a secret the Pilot Masters donât want revealed.
Can you guess what is eventually going to happen? Well, maybe you can, to a degree, but thereâs more to these books than a bunch of evil machines and haughty pilots. Much, much more.
Granted, Iâve only just finished Book Two, The Cold Minds, but I have more than enough to back up a recommendation. I stink at âreviewsâ and decided to take Heatherâs suggestion to make a list. It is a tad vague, but thatâs to avoid spoilers : )
1. Stellar writing. And I donât use âstellarâ in the âitâs about other worldsâ sense. I mean the writing is AMAZING. Ms. Landon has some mad skills in this department. Intricate plotting, incredible detail, well-rounded characters. Iâve read more seasoned authors who canât weave a story nearly as well as she. Brava, madam.
2. Delicious villains. No, not the machines; they are creepy. Not all the humans are the good guys here. The characters are multidimensional and the villains, like all good villains, are heroes of their own stories. You can totally see that, considering the situation they are in. Well, *mostly* see that. There are some real jerks, but jerks youâll love to hate : )
3. Super hero. No, not the Batman or Superman variety. The hero is Iain sen Paolo, one of those haughty pilots. At first, he comes across as a bit over-privileged and self-involved (sorry, Ms. Landon, but he does : ) . But he comes around soon enough. Iain isnât perfect, and he has some issues to deal with, but heâs trying hard to be loyal to his brother pilots (even after they treat him like dirt becauseâoops! That would be telling ; ), save his people, and love the heroine when she is pushing him away.
4. A heroine you can love. Linnea Kiaho is one brave young woman, and tougher than she first appears. She is more than a little naĂŻve about the ways of the rest of the worlds, and unfortunately she gets a harsh lesson all too soon. But saving humanityâand her family back home–is more important to her than dwelling on her own problems. You just want to sit her down and say, âLinnea, honey, sometimes itâs okay to be selfish.â I donât think sheâd listen, though. Itâs not that she is a martyr or does silly things in the name of love and self sacrifice. Linnea is smart, and that, along with her vulnerability and her determination to save her people, makes her a heroine you can root for.
5. Mind boggling world-building. Along with Ms. Landonâs incredible writing talent, you get one of the most complex and detailed universes in SF. Six hundred plus years of history and subsequent human cultures. I would have to put her universe up there with the one in David Weberâs Honor Harrington series. Yes, itâs that well thought out.
Go get this series. Go now. Get all three books and start reading. Then come back here and tell me what you thought. Better yet, tell the author. I hear they love getting fan mail : )
I am about to start Book Three, The Dark Reaches, so my next post might take a bit.
ETA: Finished The Dark Reaches. My take: Whoa and damn! Read this trilogy!
*NEW* SFR Holiday Blitz Winner!!!!
Since the first randomly chosen winner never came forward (unfortunate, but it happens) to claim Ann Somerville’s On Wings, Rising, I exercised my right and duties as Queen and chose another. And yes, this one stuck!
The new winner is Cybercliper! Congrats and I hope you enjoy the story.
Thanks again to all who came by. I hope to see you here now and again.
Joyous Holidays and Happy New Year!
~Cathy
New SFR Holiday Blitz Winner TBA
Well, the original winner of Ann Somerville’s On Wings, Rising never contacted me, so I’ll be choosing another winner later today. This time, I will ensure contact before posting who it is, so it may take a bit. Stay tuned!!!
Thanks again to all who entered. Let’s see who the Fates choose this time…….
SFR Holiday Blitz: And the Winner is……
….going to be announced in just a second.**** IMPORTANT NOTE BELOW****
First, I want to thank everyone who popped over and commented here and on other blogs. The response to this contest was amazing! It was great to see so many folks who already love SFR as well as those who are current SF or romance readers eager to try new kinds of stories. Finding new authors you can fall in love with is a great joy. I can guarantee that somewhere in the SFR universe there will be a story for just about every taste. And more than a few of you also mentioned how fun it was to discover new blogs. Gotta love that!
Speaking of, a big hand to the participating bloggers and the authors whose work so many people
are going to get to enjoy.
And finally, HUGE thanks to Heather over at the Galaxy Express for running the show. I think we’ve convinced her to make this an annual event, and some day I hope my own novel(s) will be among the prizes : ) Thanks, Heather! You rock!
So which of the commenters here won their very own copy of Ann Somerville’s On Wings, Rising? That would be Stephen!!!! Congrats, Stephen!!!! Send your contact info–email, snail mail, I’m not sure which will be needed so send both, if you would : ) –to me cathy AT cathypegau DOT com (using the correct email do-hickies, of course). I’ll pass the info on to Ann and she’ll take it from there.
Thanks again to everyone for participating. Keep SFR and all its great authors in mind when you’re looking for something fun to read. And remember to take a chance on a new author once in a while ; )
Happy Holidays! And Happy Reading!!!
12/14 7pm AK time
****ATTENTION!!!!**** Stephen has yet to contact me!!! If you know Stephen, please tell him to pop over here and send me his info. If he does not do so by MIDNIGHT Eastern Time on Tuesday, Dec. 15, I will choose another commentor!