Monday, April 30, 2012
SFR Brigade Midsummer Blog Hop - April Update
Just a quick update on the forthcoming hop before my book tour starts, so you don't think it's been forgotten. Firstly, thank you to everyone who has signed up so far, and for all the offers of help, particularly on the promotion side. And thanks to those who have put the Blog Hop button on their blogs. Secondly, Heather Massey at The Galaxy Express has kindly offered to post about the hop and put a list of participants on her site. However, she does need the list before the end of May so can I encourage those of you who are interested but have yet to sign up to do so as quickly as possible? I know a few people are a bit hesitant because of technical details - if you're concerned about scheduling a post or adding the inlinkz tool please feel free to contact me. Most issues (if it's Blogger) I can help with, although I struggle a little with Wordpress.
I've been tweeting about the sign up at regular intervals and will be back to promote the hop as soon as my tour's over. I will be emailing everyone on the list so far with further details at that time. Meanwhile, give me a shout if you need anything regarding the hop. :)
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Amazon Tag Party - 04/26/2012
A brief step by step guide:
1.Go to the Amazon buy page (links provided below)
2.Scroll down to the 'Tags Customers Associate with this Product' header. Please be aware that not all the tags show up on the books - you will need to click 'show all (number of) tags' to see the full list. There's also a limit to how many tags you can agree with - 15 - so choose wisely my young apprentice!
3.Look for these tags: SFR, Scifi Romance, SF Romance, Science Fiction Romance and Paranormal Romance - please feel free to add any extra tags you feel are appropriate to the work (i.e. Space Opera, Military SF, etc.)
4.If the tags are already there, just click on them to add your 'vote'
5.You can also type into the 'your tags' box to add your own (no need to save the page, just type and add)
For those wishing to submit their titles for tagging, a sign-up list will be open from Monday to Wednesday of each week for you to enter your own title for tagging (look for the tab in the SFR Brigade pages above). The criteria for signing up are:
1. It must be on Amazon
2. It must be SFR (includes Steampunk, Apocalyptic, Futuristic, Space Opera, Near Future, YA SFR and all the other subgenres that fall under that SFR umbrella.)
3. Must be written by a Brigader
4.Must have tags already added for taggers to agree with.
5.Priority will be given to new titles and/or those not tagged in recent weeks. Please try to give everyone a chance to have their title highlighted. List numbers will be restricted, otherwise it commits other members to spending a considerable amount of time tagging.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Amazon Tagging Party - Trial Run
Please note - there is apparently a limit to how many tags someone can agree with, so choose your tags with care. :)
Friday, April 20, 2012
Battle Stations!
Do you know how long it's been since our last tag party? A long, long time.
The Brigade had a tradition of hosting a Tag Party on Thursdays. Tags are those little words and phrases that help Amazon's search engine sort through all the titles.
Any idea how many titles Amazon has? It's in the millions for print books and now over 800K for Kindle. Wow. Tagging gets us noticed on the search engine - makes it easier for the reader to find us amongst the teeming masses. (And, yes, I'm quoting a tag party there.)
Tagged books also give us a good idea of what's out there to read, and gives us an open comments forum for fun (spoiler free!) talk about the books. You're not required to buy or review the books, but you'll probably find yourself adding books to your TBR pile.
From the Twitter chatter, there's a lot of interest in getting this going again. All we need is some victims, and some volunteers willing to click a few buttons. A party host who is willing to organize everything and write the actual Tag Party post would be wonderful to.
Thursdays are in the middle of the week, everyone has a busy life, so let's put this to a vote.
If YAY, would you be interested in hosting?
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Sharing The Joys of SFR at USA Today's HEA Blog
HEA is run by author Joyce Lamb. How cool that she facilitated bringing SFR to a whole new audience of romance readers!
I invite you to visit and share your favorite SFR reads in the comment section as this is a great chance to increase exposure for our beloved subgenre. (FYI, in the video I also share news about my latest Red Sage release, THE WATCHMAKER'S LADY).
Have a great day!
Monday, April 16, 2012
New Member, Kathleen Scott
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Blogging at Heroes & Heartbreakers About Veronica Scott's WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM
If you haven't already grabbed a digital copy of this title, at the time of this post it's still only 99 cents at Amazon and B&N.
Happy reading!
Two people, too many secrets. Can love flourish?
Yay! My SFR eBook is now available from Desert Breeze Publishing!
BLURB
Fredrica Casales, relieved her participation as an undercover agent for the Imperial Guardians is over, strives to rebuild the trust she's lost with Captain Noah Bonney. But the terrorist plot was only the start of their journey. Now the Daring Star and Lady Victory crews must rescue the scientist who holds the Telomere cure before the very stability of the Galaxy unravels.
If that wasn't enough, Fredrica must work with her former Imperial contact, Jace McCree. As for Jace, he tries to keep a promise he made long ago, but as his sister grows sicker he's conflicted as to what decision he needs to make, and what to reveal. As they cross the Galaxy, battle rogue Watchers, and fight soul sucking space creatures, both Fredrica and Jace must come to terms with their regrets and decide whether to open their hearts. But fate has its own timeline, and not always at the convenient time.
EXCERPT
Jace's trepidation increased as Lady Victory detached from the port's docking bay with Jetta aboard. From the Imperial space station's sky-bridge he observed the Port Launch Unit maneuver the large, squid-like vessel out to open space. Three guiding shuttles worked in unison to push the huge vessel as if it were a marshmallow floating in water. Helpless and adrift at the moment, he was unsure what to do or how to act. From behind him his father, Scott McCree, growled.
"We shouldn't have let her leave, Jace."
Without looking back at him Jace said, "We shouldn't have kept it a secret so long, Father." He turned. "She should have been told when she came of age."
Scott reared on him and clamped his jaw. Jace cocked his chin, to face his father's wrath for what he knew to be the truth. Scott's anger flashed and then settled. He knew the truth himself. The blood rose and then drained out of his face.
"How was I supposed to tell her?" he muttered after moment, the pain clear in his expression.
Jace's memories flashed to the long ago day, barely out of childhood. "It doesn't matter the how. She should've known. Now who knows what will happen or how she'll take it when she finds out." He checked the time. "I have to board Daring Star. Will you be joining the journey?"
"No. It would seem too conspicuous to follow now. How would I explain it?" He touched Jace's upper arm and squeezed. "I'm sorry to have this fall on you. I pray it is not what we think. I will head out to their lands and try to find out what has provoked this change. I'll send you communications as soon as I discover anything."
"I'll protect her as best I can. I'll find a way to tell her when we land on Stratlin."
Purchase Links
Amazon, All Romance, Sony Reader, and soon to be on B&N and Kobo
Saturday, April 14, 2012
SFR Brigade Library Updates
**ETA** The question about advertising on the SFR Brigade blog through tag parties and other options is not letting authors pick multiple options, please list them under "other" while we get this bug sorted out. Thanks!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Alien Love Song
"Boy, you're an alien,
Your touch so foreign,
It's supernatural, Extraterrestrial."
-Katy Perry, E.T.
I love that song. Why? Because I'm a sci-fi writer that's why; and what could be better than a sci-fi writer but a sci-fi romance writer? Okay I admit it, my previous work could be considered scant in the romance department, but I've since changed my ways. I've let my inner alien sex fiend persona out—well not completely, I still pretty much write sweet level romance but still there's that temptation when some good looking alien dude speeds by on his wing fighter. Why? What can it be that drives or draws us to someone or something not quite human?
"You're not like the others,
Futuristic lover,
Different DNA"
Once again Katy nails it. That "Different DNA" is where the attraction lies. It's exciting, it's thrilling, it's downright dangerous. Just as with the vampire/werewolf/daemon/shapshifter/zombie romantic obsession is based upon the forbidden and taboo, so too is the alien love connection. They may not give you roses on Valentine's Day but hey if you're dating an alien, you're not in it for the flowers. You're in it because you're bored with your earthly boyfriend and looking for something…different and an alien lover is about as different as you can get. They're sexy in a slightly kinky sort of way, odd but fun. And they drive a kickass muscle car! It can go from zero to light speed in less than a nanosecond, do space calisthenics, and still give you a luxury ride or a shaky thrill seeker kind of jaunt. Either way it's a trip.
Not only that, but when you're talking alien, there's that DNA thing again and whatever corresponding behavior that goes along with it. You don't know what he's going to do to you or how he's going to do it.
Decades ago, I read a wonderful book entitled The Girl with the Jade Green Eyes by John Boyd and it had a wonderfully different concept of love and sex. The beautiful alien woman castrated men for reproduction, but the human man she loved and who adored her received a different type of intercourse: she shared her mind, the most intimate communion she could give him, more important than sex and much more romantic as well. You got the idea of love, real love, deep and soul changing. It was an amazing moment when he realized that. After all these years I still remember that scene vividly.
Your alien lover, at least on paper at this point, can be evil, good, or just unfathomable in their dissimilarity to you, your heroine, and the reader. As long as he's sexy, well, I guess that's universal--literally.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Release Day for Refugees On Urloon!
Under normal circumstances, Svana, non-military maintenance crew, and Captain Liam Ringel, a highly respected military instructor, would never have crossed paths. A sudden anomaly, however, thrusts them into deep space where they are rescued by the inhabitants of an exotic and isolated waterworld, Urloon.
“We are lost?” Lost in deep space. A death sentence. “Think so. We’ll know more when the computers come back online.” The news was not good and did not get better after the computers came back on. They were deep in uncharted space, and there was no way to know if the jumpstream that had dumped them here would return them to Confederated system space. Though they tried around the clock, they were unable to communicate with anyone. Their small damaged ship was truly alone. They had enough supplies to last for perhaps sixty days. After that, the ship’s fuel would be gone, and they would die in deep space. Captain Ringel wouldn’t let them give up. They continued with repairs and communication but the mood was quiet, with bursts of anger. The crew was so young. Svana mourned for their lost futures, and for her own daughter, so far away, whom she would never see again. Many nights, Svana held a weeping young one in her arms, giving what comfort she could. Going about rote chores in her supply room, Svana heard a shout from her open com. She climbed the ladder as fast as she could. The entire bridge was in a shouting, laughing uproar. Their distress signal had reached someone. Captain Ringel was talking to the contact in the small conference room. Svana waited with the crew for him to come out, hoping for good news, for a future. “Urloon. It reached a planet called Urloon,” Lu, one of the junior engineers, said. “Isn’t that a First World Planet? I remember learning something about Urloon in first school,” another crew member said. A com tech’s finger glided over the com board. “Yes. Urloon. Settled by first wave Terran settlers but was left isolated for centuries while Terra fought the Terran Civil War. Water… Wow! Water-adapted humans live in domes in the warm seas. They adapted themselves at the DNA level to bare young already adapted to the sea.” Captain Ringel came back onto the crowded bridge and his smile was blinding. “Urloon, a former Terran colony out on the Rim, is sending a rescue ship. They will be here within twelve days.” There were twenty days left of life support. The crew erupted into joyous shouts, leaping and laughing so the floor shook. In the tumult Captain Ringel’s gaze caught her own. He nodded slightly, and Svana knew it was an acknowledgment of the work they had done together. |
Friday, April 6, 2012
Release Day for Scotch Broom
The Witches of Galdorheim follows Kat and her too-cute half-vamp brother, Rune, as they search for her frozen father's family, have a run-in with a forest elemental who's majorly ticked off at one of the witches, and travel to the Otherworld in the Scottish Highlands only to be set on by a has-been winter goddess.
These books are for younger readers, but adult fans of books like Harry Potter can enjoy them as well. Learn more about the series on my website.
End of pitch. Here are the covers, loglines, and some buy links:
BAD SPELLING - Book 1 of The Witches of Galdorheim Series
A klutzy witch, a shaman's curse, a quest to save her family. Can Kat find her magic in time?
Amazon Kindle or MuseItUp Bookstore
MIDNIGHT OIL - Book 2 of the Witches of Galdorheim Series
Shipwrecked on a legendary island, how can a witch rescue her boyfriend if she can’t even phone home?
Amazon Kindle or MuseItUp Bookstore
SCOTCH BROOM - Book 3 of The Witches of Galdorheim Series
A magical trip to Stonehenge lands a witch in the Otherworld where an ancient goddess is up to no good.
Amazon Kindle or MuseItUp Bookstore
Happy Release Day to EVEN VILLAINS FALL IN LOVE
If you participate in Six Sentence Sunday or SF&F Saturday you've already seen snippets, if don't participate the snippets are up on my website.
Thanks for reading! :)
Website: http://www.lianabrooks.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/LianaBrooks
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Beauty in Ruins: GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: P.I. Barrington (author of ...
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Ongoing SFR Giveaways & A Steampunk Romance Free Kindle Ebook
Note there is Speculative Fiction category.
Monday, April 2, 2012
New Member, P.I. Barrington
SFR Brigade Bases of Operation
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New Releases in SciFi/Fantasy/Paranormal Romance for OCT 9 - I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking quite a few as I prepare these posts LOL). ‘AB’ denotes audiobook a...2 days ago
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All Eyes on Our Suffering Neighbors in the South - I know I’m not the only one who is shocked and grieved at what our fellow citizens are going through in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene. M...4 days ago
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Pets in Space 8 by Various Authors - Rocket through the multiverses brimming with heart-pounding escapades, swoon-worthy romances, and the best pet sidekicks ever! The post Pets in Space 8 b...1 year ago
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1000 Deaths and Time to Remember - It's time to remember the power of who we really are. Continue reading → The post 1000 Deaths and Time to Remember appeared first on Sabine Priestley .1 year ago
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Vortex (Cyborg Force 3) available for preorder - Release date: October 20, 2022. Preorder now. Her dream job is becoming her worst nightmare. Attorney Tempest Waters jumps at the chance to make a differen...2 years ago
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How Many Years Published? #scifi #paranormal #romance - While I generally mark my publishing anniversary as the 7th May 2012 - being the release date of my debit novel *Keir* with Lyrical Press - it's not str...3 years ago
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Unexpected Betrayals @Liza0Connor - Unexpected Betrayals by Liza O’Connor Blurb Mary Campbell was tired of servicing half the town. Ever since she reached puberty at the age of twelve, a...4 years ago
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Tayrym is late! #WeWriWa from TAYRYM #GalacticDefenders #scifiromance #MMromance #NewAdult - Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warriors post! Hello! Thank you to everyone who stopped by to read my post last weekend! Today, I’m going to share the s...6 years ago