Introduction: Nina Croft's sci-fi romance Break Out has been extended from its original version and Entangled Publishing has now released it in print. It's great to see publishers making such an investment in this subgenre! Following Nina Croft's guest post are details for a Break Out giveaway. Enjoy! - Heather Massey
The Supporting Cast…
by Nina Croft
Break Out is book one in my Blood Hunter
series, which follows the adventures, romantic and otherwise, of the
crew of the space ship El Cazador de la Sangre (or The
Blood Hunter). The hero of Break Out is Ricardo Sanchez, space
pirate and vampire. I love writing about Rico, but I thought today, I
would spend a little time talking about the other characters from the
book.
One of the things I love best about
writing science fiction is creating the cast of people. And that’s
because there is absolutely no limit but your imagination to who—or
maybe more accurately what—populates your world.
Secondary characters can come in many
forms, side-kicks, best friends, enemies, family, work colleagues...
The crew of El Cazador include most of these categories.
Except maybe family, though I like to think they have come to see
themselves as one nice big happy family—most of the time.
I’ve spent a lot of time getting to
know them better, giving them lives and hopes and needs of their own.
I have to be a little careful though, because they’re a stroppy lot
and most of them would take over if they could. I have to tell them
be patient, and if you’re very good, then one day I’ll give you a
book of your own.
Okay, so who are the crew of El
Cazador. Most people who end up on board are hiding or running
from something. So they all have interesting pasts and I’ve tried
to use that. Anyway here they are:
Tannis
is part snake, part human, all bitch! She’s the Captain of El
Cazador.
She’s also Rico’s best friend—really at the start of the
book—his only friend as he’s always been a loner. Tannis is a GM
or genetically modified, she’s mostly human but with a little bit
of snake DNA in there (doesn’t show much except she’s long and
thin, with luminescent skin and yellow eyes). She’s fiercely loyal
to her crew but more than a little mercenary and has an annoying (or
so Rico thinks) tendency to sarcasm when she should be providing
sympathy.
Janey
looks after the ships computers, hacks into everyone else’s, and
comes up with really nifty gadgets. I’m a technophobe (along
with the rest of the crew of El
Cazador) so I don’t really
understand what she does—but she’s very good at it. She’s also
perfect—perfect hair, clothes, make-up—she’s the sort of woman
you’d hate if she wasn’t so nice.
Daisy
is the co-pilot. She’s another GM, but she has plant DNA, and
she’s green, and I mean totally green, like green hair, green
skin, green eyes. She can actually photosynthesis, which is really
cool, though she prefers eating proper food. She’s crazy about
flying and will pinch Rico’s pilot’s seat every chance she gets.
She also dresses like a mini Rico and follows him round “like a
puppy” (Rico’s words—he says he finds this annoying, but I
think he secretly likes it.)
Al
is the cabin boy. Al is a bit of a mystery. They picked him up
starving on an out of the way planet a few months ago. Apart from
that, they don’t know much about him except that he’s terrified
of Rico (which drives Rico spare—it’s not as if he makes a habit
out of eating the crew—he has some standards).
Finally
the Trog – the secretive and reclusive engineer. In fact, he’s
so secretive and reclusive that even I don’t know much about him.
What is he hiding?
So there they are. Book two in the Blood
Hunter series focuses on the story of Al, the cabin ‘boy’ and
book three on Tannis, the captain.
Book four? Well I haven’t quite
decided yet. I have a few contenders, but who do you think would make
an interesting addition to the crew? Let me know for a chance to win
an ecopy of
Break Out. (All comments will also be entered into a draw
at the end of October—details
on my site.)
SFR Brigade visitors can check back on Monday, October 1 to see if you won the giveaway here!
Break Out – Blurb
The year is 3048, Earth is no longer
habitable, and man has fled to the stars where they’ve discovered
the secret of immortality—Meridian. Unfortunately, the radioactive
mineral is exorbitantly expensive and only available to a select few.
A new class comprised of the super rich and immortal soon evolves.
The Collective, as they’re called, rule the
universe.
Two-thousand-year-old Ricardo Sanchez, vampire and rogue
pilot of the space cruiser, El Cazador, can’t resist two things:
gorgeous women and impossible jobs. When beautiful Skylar Rossaria
approaches him to break a prisoner out of the Collective’s maximum
security prison on Trakis One, Rico jumps at the chance. Being hunted
by the Collective has never been so dangerous–or so fun!
About the author:
Nina Croft grew up in the north of
England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years
working as a volunteer in Zambia, which left her with a love of the
sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years
mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but
has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a
remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain.
Nina writes all types of romance often
mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.
Find me at:
