SFR Holiday Blitz Winners

The SFR Brigade winners are

Prize Pack #1 – Flchen1

Prize Pack #2 – AnnaM.

Prize Pack #2 – Kanchb

Congratulations! Winners, I’ve notified you by email and you’ll receive your prizes soon.

Many thanks to everyone who entered and to all the fabulous authors for their generosity.

See you again next year!

The 2012 SFR Holiday Blitz is Here! Win Free Sci-Fi Romance Ebooks

Event icon by Kanaxa

[Edited 12/29/12 to add: This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered!]

A group of bloggers and authors have teamed up this holiday season so you can enter for a chance to win a variety of science fiction romance ebooks—all for free!

 The SFR Brigade has 3 prize packs up for grabs:

Prize pack #1

DREMIKS – Cassandra Davis

AN UNEXPECTED RETURN – Jessica E. Subject

ONCE UPON A TIME IN SPACE – Heather Massey

Prize pack #2

THE CRYSTAL WARRIOR – Maree Anderson

SPACEPORT: KAYLA’S HUNTER - Anne Kane

FEY LIGHTS – Liana Brooks

Prize pack #3

BLUE GALAXY – Diane Dooley

BLUE NEBULA – Diane Dooley

THE WATCHMAKER’S LADY – Heather Massey

How to enter

Leave a comment with the following information:

* Your preferred format—PDF, ePub, or .mobi (We’ll do our best to accommodate your first choice, but it’s possible the default format will be PDF.)

* Your email (e.g., janeloves_sfr “at” gmail.com)

Deadline to enter: 12 midnight PST on Friday, December 28, 2012

The fun’s not over yet! Leave comments at the following blogs for more chances to win science fiction romance ebook titles:

The Galaxy Express

Spacefreighters Lounge

Smart Girls Love SciFi & Paranormal Romance

Thanks for coming!

Amazon Tag Party 12/20/2012

Welcome to the monthly SFR Brigade's Amazon Tag Party. Please find the list of this week's participating titles below. All you need to do is click on the title and it will take you to the relevant Amazon page. Happy Tagging!

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)

6. Please also click the 'Like' button next to the title.

7. If you could also take a moment to 'Like' the author's Amazon page too, that would be awesome. :)

PLEASE NOTE! There's been some mention on Twitter by Liana Brooks and Jo-Anne Kenrick about 'malicious' tags , such as 'boycott', 'too expensive' and even 'delete'. While people are obviously entitled to their opinion, suggesting that a book should be tagged 'delete' is just plain nasty. If you happen to see any tags of this kind on a book during the tag party, please could you mention it in the comments and/or if you see a way to report it, then do so. Thank you.

Tropes, Trollops, & Truths of Science Fiction & Fantasy

Tropes, Trollops, & Truths of Science Fiction & Fantasy 
Online class begins Mon, Dec 10, 2012

Learning the history, tropes, trends, and truths of our genre helps us become better writers. This class is great for any writer who uses science fiction, fantasy, paranormal/romance, alternate history, alternate future, near future, horror, steampunk, etc.

These genres, esp fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal, science fiction, dystopic fantasy, and more are hot genres on today's market. In this class we'll explore our specific genre and how it developed and what the current market trends are. We'll have guest speakers, popular authors in the genres, and contests to win free 3 chapter critiques.

If you have any questions, please email me at pat.hauldren (at) tx.rr.com or alleypat (at) gmail.com

Thank you and see you tomorrow in class!
Alley (Pat Hauldren)
www.pathauldren.com

SFR Holiday Blitz: Call For Book Prize Contributions

I’m gearing up for the annual SFR Holiday Blitz, a multi-blog, multi-author science fiction romance giveaway extravaganza! The event will launch on Sunday, December 23 and will last for five days. Readers can enter at each participating blog for a chance to win a variety of SFR titles.

I’m a little pressed for time this year, so I’m here to invite authors to contribute book prizes for the event.

Like last year’s event, all of the book prizes will be digital (winner’s choice of format). This approach will make the giveaway accessible for a wide group of readers.

Therefore, if you can contribute an ebook prize, the book will need to be available in the following formats:

PDF

ePub

mobi

Eligible science fiction romances include stories with a romance (main plot or subplot) with a Happily Ever After or Happily For Now. All heat levels and tech-based settings are welcome.

Disclaimer: If I decline a contribution it’s because I have a concern that the book isn’t SFR. (Unlikely to happen, but given the public nature of this forum I need to include this disclaimer.)

Once the winners are picked, the bloggers will forward the winners' emails to the authors. The authors will then send the book prizes to the winners.

If you’re interested in participating, please send the book title via your official author email to sfrgalaxy “at” gmail.com by December 12, 2012. Subject line: Holiday Blitz 2012 (to clarify, the only people I’ll be sharing your email with is the bloggers on a need-to-know basis).

Four blogs will be involved (I had to scale down this year because of time constraints):

The Galaxy Express

SFR Brigade

Spacefreighters Lounge

Smart Girls Love SciFi & Paranormal Romance

Finally, if you’d like to help promote the event and want a copy of the event icon, you can grab a copy here or let me know and I’ll send you the file.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me: sfrgalaxy “at” gmail.com

Thanks for your support!

Amazon Tag Party 11/29/2012

Welcome to the monthly SFR Brigade's Amazon Tag Party. Please find the list of this week's participating titles below. All you need to do is click on the title and it will take you to the relevant Amazon page. Happy Tagging!

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)

6. Please also click the 'Like' button next to the title.

7. If you could also take a moment to 'Like' the author's Amazon page too, that would be awesome. :)

PLEASE NOTE! There's been some mention on Twitter by Liana Brooks and Jo-Anne Kenrick about 'malicious' tags , such as 'boycott', 'too expensive' and even 'delete'. While people are obviously entitled to their opinion, suggesting that a book should be tagged 'delete' is just plain nasty. If you happen to see any tags of this kind on a book during the tag party, please could you mention it in the comments and/or if you see a way to report it, then do so. Thank you.

A GALACTIC HOLIDAY Spotlight At RT Book Reviews

[cross-posting from The Galaxy Express]

I joined forces with authors Stacy Gail, Sasha Summers, and Anna Hackett to spotlight A GALACTIC HOLIDAY (Carina Press) at the RT Book Reviews blog! This title is a holiday themed science fiction romance anthology. Since these types of releases are still pretty rare I'm excited about the chance to showcase it in collaboration with RT. Happy reading!

*Science in Science Fiction online class begins Dec 3

*Science in Science Fiction is an online class about the history of science fiction (and fantasy) and how it impacts what we write today. The class is sponsored by SavvyAuthors.com (here is the SA page for the class) and is located at  or you can see it on my website. Hope to see you there! Alley

50% Rebate Sale at All Romance Ebooks

All Romance Ebooks is having a Cyber Monday 50% rebate sale, which includes science fiction romance titles! I love it when retailers make this subgenre more accessible. If you have a moment and could tweet the news, that'd be great!

THE BLACKSMITH'S LOVER Selected For You Gotta Read Reviews Cover Contest

You Gotta Read Reviews is holding their annual cover contest and voting has begun. Red Sage Publishing entered my cover for THE BLACKSMITH'S LOVER and it was selected (#19)! It's an honor just to be nominated, but if you feel it's worthy of your vote, you can click here to give it a nod.

Authors hold auction for victims of Sandy

Authors hold auction for victims of Sandy

You can help victims of Hurricane Sandy by bidding on these literary items by best selling authors.

Quarterly Library Update!

Attention SFR Brigade! All hands on deck.

It's time to update our library. If your work is published or will be published before March 2013 please email me at liana(dot)brooks1 [at] gmail (dot) com

Subject: SFR Brigade Library - Name

Title
Author Name
Sub-genre (Action/Adventure, Anthology, Comedy, Cyberpunk/Spec, Military, Near Future, Paranormal, Simply Romance, Space Opera, -or- NOT ROMANCE)
Heat Rating (Sweet, Hot, Erotic)
LINK - If I don't have the link, I won't go hunting for one.

So... your entry(ies) should look like

To: Liana
Subject: SFR Brigade Library -ME!

JANE DOE
Liana Brooks
Near Future
Sweet
http://www.lianabrooks.com/2008/01/jane-doe.html

Thanks!
ME!

If your book is coming out before March 2013 and you would like to schedule a cover release, release day party, or other SFR Brigade fun around your launch, please talk to our calendar coordinator Pippa Jay Green. The Brigade would like to help you launch in style, but we can't read minds (although our R&D department assures me it'll happen soon!).

My goal is to have the library updated before December 1st so we can promote SFR Brigade books over the Holiday season. After all, books are the perfect gift!
- Liana

Blogging At RT Book Reviews About Working Heroines

I'm blogging at RT Book Reviews about working heroines in science fiction romance. The more I thought about the issue, the more I realized that what SFR heroines do for a living has seriously strong appeal for me. It's yet another reason to celebrate this subgenre!

Class: Creative Science Fiction Sat Nov 10

DFW authors Pat (Alley) Hauldren & Gerald Warfield are presenting a class:

CREATIVE SCIENCE FICTION: HISTORY, CLICHES, TROPES, MARKETS on
SAT NOV 10 @11 am at the TCC NW campus.

FREE and open to the public!

Visit TCC's all day Creative Writing Workshop sponsored by Tarrant County Community College NW Campus. See you there!

For more info, email Alley: alleypat@gmail.com or www.pathauldren.com

**Please share this info**

See you there!

Romantic Times Nominee!!!

Congratulations to Gini Koch for her 2012 Romantic Times nomination for ALIEN DIPLOMACY in the Urban Fantasy Protagonist section.

 Go, Gini!!!

You can check out the other RT category nominees here.

Teaching @ TCC NW Nov 10

Teaching @ TCC NW Nov 10

Pat Hauldren (Alley) and Gerald Warfield will be presenting "Creative Science Fiction" at the TCC NW Campus in Fort Worth, TX, this Sat. Nov 10 at 11am. Come for the whole day for the Marine Creek Creative Writing Conference at TCC NW Campus!

email me for more info: alleypat@gmail.com

Nicole Leclerq's book is out!

Touched by Madness is the first book
in the Erin Holland series. Will Erin
remain normal? Or give herself up
to an ancient being more powerful
thank she could imagine?

Student makes good!

One of my students in the Urban Fantasy class I taught in The Hague last year, Nicole Leclerq, has her book published!

TOUCHED BY MADNESS is out, published by Ragz Books.

Touched by Madness is a wonderfully chilling read! Go buy it, review it, and let us know what you think!

Alley
www.pathauldren.com

Amazon Tag Party 10/25/2012

Welcome to the monthly SFR Brigade's Amazon Tag Party. Please find the list of this week's participating titles below. All you need to do is click on the title and it will take you to the relevant Amazon page. Happy Tagging!

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)

6. Please also click the 'Like' button next to the title.

7. If you could also take a moment to 'Like' the author's Amazon page too, that would be awesome. :)

PLEASE NOTE! There's been some mention on Twitter by Liana Brooks and Jo-Anne Kenrick about 'malicious' tags , such as 'boycott', 'too expensive' and even 'delete'. While people are obviously entitled to their opinion, suggesting that a book should be tagged 'delete' is just plain nasty. If you happen to see any tags of this kind on a book during the tag party, please could you mention it in the comments and/or if you see a way to report it, then do so. Thank you.

GHOST PLANET Spotlight At Heroes & Heartbreakers

My "First Look" post about Sharon Lynn Fisher's GHOST PLANET is live at Heroes and Heartbreakers!

The "First Look" feature is a way for bloggers to share an interesting tidbit about forthcoming books. GHOST PLANET sure gave me plenty to choose from, but I decided to zero in on the story's intriguing high concept premise. It kept me riveted, I tell you.

Happy reading!

Writing Contest for students: Cassini Scientist for a Day

Writing Contest for students: Cassini Scientist for a Day
Students grades 5-12 are encouraged to become a scientist for a day with this essay contest about Saturn.

Up, up and away! (One last time...)

I grew up on comic books, devouring the adventures of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman like candy. There were a lot of heroes I loved to follow, from Green Arrow to the Avengers to the X-Men, all of them taking place in a world something like our own but just *that* bit different. And by different I mean twisted enough to allow the existence of superheroes.

When I started writing the first in the "Blaze of Glory" trilogy I wanted to show a reason why superheroes would exist and battle on an almost daily basis with the good guys always winning but never quite managing to keep the bad guys in jail. And the bad boys (and girls) always somehow escaping to fight another day while the good citizens continued to work around this nonstop destruction and fighting. It took a bit of time to figure out the reason but I got it - all the fights were fixed!

By the time I got to the third book in the trilogy, "Heroes Lost and Found" releasing October 2nd, I knew there had to be some sort of final end in sight for our intrepid team of supers who had managed to break their chains and earn their freedom from their captors - a resolution and, in a way, a new life ahead of them. Which brings us to the final fight, the final battle for Jo and Hunter as they figure out who they are, where they are going and how they're going to get there.
And which heroes are going to be lost along the way and which ones will rise to the challenge...

Heroes Lost and Found, Blaze of Glory, Book 3

Jo Tanis is still recovering from her near-death experience in Las Vegas when she receives a mysterious postcard from Harris Limox, who claims to have a promising lead on the whereabouts of the Controller. Over her boyfriend/guardian Hunter’s objections, she sets off to a sleepy Oregon town to ferret out the truth.

The Controller is more than just a disgruntled super. He’s a rogue Guardian who was presumed dead and is now armed with a slew of high-tech hardware that not only makes him physically superior to the supers—and therefore almost impossible to destroy—he’s got the ability to detonate the implants in the back of all supers’ necks.

In Oregon, Jo meets a surviving Alpha super, Kit Masters, whose wild plan to capture the Controller could put an entire town of innocents at risk. But instead of successfully talking her former idol out of his disastrous bid to regain former glory, Jo finds herself betrayed and trapped in her worst nightmare.

Fight her former teammates, or die.

This is it - the final fight. Lex Luthor vs. Superman, the Joker vs. Batman, Hulk vs.... well, everyone! Who lives, who dies and who gets to live happily ever after...

And who is, in the end, a superhero.

*****
RT Book Reviews says:
Heroes Lost and Found: 4 out of 5 stars "Brisk and playful, Nantus achieves the perfect balance between romance and explosive action..."

Heroes Without, Monsters Within: 4 out of 5 stars "This sequel … surpasses the storytelling of the original. Nantus knows how to work with setting; the scenes in Las Vegas are vivid and accurate while the supers' secret lair is homey and comfortable."

Blaze of Glory: 3 out of 5 stars “Nantus has crafted a superhero novel for the 21st century with a spunky, stubborn heroine...”

Why not grab them all and have the complete series on hand?

NEW CLASS » *Urban Fantasy

Pat Hauldren » *Urban Fantasy

Delve into the underworld of the paranormal/urban fantasy writing with this online class that starts Monday, Oct 1, 2012. Tell them Alley sent ya!

Amazon Tag Party 09/27/2012

Welcome to the monthly SFR Brigade's Amazon Tag Party. Please find the list of this week's participating titles below. All you need to do is click on the title and it will take you to the relevant Amazon page. Happy Tagging!

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)

6. Please also click the 'Like' button next to the title.

7. If you could also take a moment to 'Like' the author's Amazon page too, that would be awesome. :)

PLEASE NOTE! There's been some mention on Twitter by Liana Brooks and Jo-Anne Kenrick about 'malicious' tags , such as 'boycott', 'too expensive' and even 'delete'. While people are obviously entitled to their opinion, suggesting that a book should be tagged 'delete' is just plain nasty. If you happen to see any tags of this kind on a book during the tag party, please could you mention it in the comments and/or if you see a way to report it, then do so. Thank you.

Guest Post By BREAK OUT Author Nina Croft, Plus Giveaway

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:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

SFR Brigade Anthology in the Works

It's official!

An SFR Brigade anthology, TALES FROM THE SFR BRIGADE, is a go! The preliminary editorial staff will consist of 'Cali Hicks as the Editor-in-Chief, Paula Diane Dooley as the Developmental Editor, and Laurie Green as the Editor-at-Large.  As we get closer to publication, we'll be calling for help from the Brigade for copy-editing and promotion (and anything else that pops up.)

Please note: The anthology is open to SFRB members ONLY. The submission guidelines are posted under our "files" tab on the SFR Brigade Facebook Group, but we'll post them here for those who don't have Facebook.

Deadline for story submission is January 1, 2013 and open to ALL SFR from flash to novelettes up to 15k, with a heat level up to steamy. Please read the guidelines below and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Good luck everyone!

GUIDELINES

TALES FROM THE SFR BRIGADE is an anthology of science fiction romance stories written by Brigadiers. Submissions may be up to 15,000 words, open to all heat levels up to steamy. No erotica please. YA stories welcome. All submissions will be anonymously evaluated for inclusion in the anthology. (See formatting.)

Before submission, please run all stories past beta readers and polish as much as possible.

If you would like to submit a story please send an email to: Sfrpreview@gmail.com. Make sure to include "SFR Brigade Anthology" in the subject line. Include in email body a cover letter with contact information, links to blog/web page, word count and heat level, and attached file.

Deadline for submission is January 1, 2013. The anthology is tentatively scheduled for release in the late Spring 2013, final publish date TBA. This will be offered as a free e-book for the express purposes of building the SFRB brand and cross-marketing our authors. Inclusion in this anthology is open to SFR Brigade members only! By submitting for inclusion into the anthology, authors are granting the SFR Brigade the worldwide rights to publish their story in this anthology. Authors will retain all rights to their work.

This will be an all-volunteer compiled anthology. The anthology will be a free e-book highlighting the work of the SFR Brigade, cross-marketing Brigadiers, and raising brand awareness of the SFR Brigade. Authors whose stories are accepted for publication will have a one-paragraph bio at the end of their story along with a link to the author’s blog or web page. The SFR Brigade will be highlighted at the end of the book with links.

Formatting: Please keep formatting to a minimum. Do not use tabs to indent paragraphs. Do not embed fonts. Do not include art. Scene/POV breaks should be marked with three consecutive asterisks without spaces, centered. Any special characters will be removed as will any formatting. Files may be submitted in DOC (.doc preferred or .docx) or RTF format.

Harper Voyager Seeking Unagented Manuscripts

The sci-fi imprint of HaperCollins, Harper Voyager, is taking unagented sci-fi and fantasy submissions October 1st through 14th. They are looking for manuscripts between 70,000 and 120,000 words. YA is accepted.

Previously published works will be considered if the author has retained rights.

Polish up your work, and good luck!

Cover Reveal for IRON GUNS, BLAZING HEARTS at The Galaxy Express

I have exciting sci-fi romance cover news to share! IRON GUNS, BLAZING HEARTS, my forthcoming Western steampunk romance release from Lyrical Press, now has a cover--and it's digitally illustrated!

Visit The Galaxy Express to check out the amazing work of artist Christine Griffin. I'd share it here, but as of this writing, I currently have a cover reveal exclusive. :)

Thanks for celebrating with me!

"Blaze of Glory" - FREE!

You heard it here, folks!

Samhain Publishing has decided to make the first book in my superhero trilogy, "Blaze of Glory", FREE from September 1 - 14th.

*****
Saving the world is easy for a superhero—unless you’re a fraud.

Jo Tanis is a superhero, fighting evil on the city streets, using her ability to feed off electromagnetic energy and fire off charges—and it’s all just a show. The Agency captures her and others like her when their powers begin to manifest, pitting them against each other in staged, gladiatorial fights. An explosive implant on the back of her neck assures she’ll keep right on smiling for the camera and beating up the bad guys.

When Earth comes under attack, suddenly the show becomes deadly real. Unable to deal with a real alien, the “supers” are falling in droves. Millions of innocent civilians are going to die…unless Jo can cobble together a team from among the fake heroes and villains the Agency enslaved. Including Hunter, who not only promises to show her how to deactivate the implants, but seems to know more than he should about how the mysterious Agency operates.

Forcing a rag-tag bunch of former enemies to work together is the least of Jo’s problems. The trick is determining if Hunter is friend or foe—and becoming the hero everyone thought she was before the world is destroyed for real.
*****

Here are the links!

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Sony

Apple

Samhain

If you've been waiting to try out the series now's a great time to check it out!

The second book is also available and the last book, "Heroes Lost and Found" will be out in October - but why not grab the first one now and start reading?

;)

Amazon Tag Party - 08/30/2012

Welcome to the monthly SFR Brigade's Amazon Tag Party. Please find the list of this week's participating titles below. All you need to do is click on the title and it will take you to the relevant Amazon page. Happy Tagging!

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)

6. Please also click the 'Like' button next to the title.

7. If you could also take a moment to 'Like' the author's Amazon page too, that would be awesome. :)

PLEASE NOTE! There's been some mention on Twitter by Liana Brooks and Jo-Anne Kenrick about 'malicious' tags , such as 'boycott', 'too expensive' and even 'delete'. While people are obviously entitled to their opinion, suggesting that a book should be tagged 'delete' is just plain nasty. If you happen to see any tags of this kind on a book during the tag party, please could you mention it in the comments and/or if you see a way to report it, then do so. Thank you.

How Does Your Reader Read?

Dear Brigaders,
I'm trying to find out how readers read, find, and review books. If you could take a moment to invite your blog readers and Twitter followers to fill in this quick questionnaire I'd appreciate it. I'll leave the poll open until next week, and then post results once I've looked at all the data. The more readers who take this poll, the more accurate the results.

Thank you!
Liana

One small step against Piracy?

A short while ago, author Allie Ritch did a post on ways for people to have free reads without using pirate sites and ripping off authors and publishers. You can read the post here. In it, she lists some alternative places to get legally free reads, such as Smashwords and All Romance eBooks. So I had a thought. It won't stop pirating, and it won't stop people resorting to them, but perhaps if we could list a page of free reads here on the SFR Brigade blog, and make a joint effort to promote it, perhaps we can dissuade some of those readers from going for illegal copies. I'd like to know your thoughts. My idea is to have a page on this blog where we can list Brigade members permanently free reads, whatever the genre (the more, the merrier in my view), and to list sites or Goodread groups where giveaways are listed. Temporarily free reads such as special promotions or short term codes/vouchers could be listed in the comments on the page, and deleted as they expire. I'm happy to co-ordinate and list free titles/sites, but if we could all work to promote it, and if all the admins could occassionally check in to delete out-of-date comments, that would help. I know it won't stop pirating or the people who do it, but if we can redirect a few readers to legitimate sites, it's got to be worth doing? What are your thoughts?

Please welcome our newest recruits to the SFR Brigade!

We hope many of them will soon be joining us on the Science Fiction Romance Brigade Facebook Pages. I've included web site or blog links for those who send the addresses. Help support our new members by saying hello and/or visiting their sites.

Angela Renee


C. B. Williams


Carly Fall


Casey Wyatt


Crystal Lee


Karen Mueller


Leah Petersen


Lorelei Orion


Lyla Bardan


Siana Wineland

Amazon Tag Party - 07/26/2012

Welcome to the monthly SFR Brigade's Amazon Tag Party. Please find the list of this week's participating titles below. All you need to do is click on the title and it will take you to the relevant Amazon page. Happy Tagging!

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)

6. Please also click the 'Like' button next to the title.

7. If you could also take a moment to 'Like' the author's Amazon page too, that would be awesome. :)

Guest Blogging At Ex Libris About Steampunk Romance, Plus Giveaway

Stella of the blog Ex Libris is spotlighting steampunk romance this month! I'm excited to be a guest blogger on the topic with my post, "Steampunk Romance: It's Not Just Fantastical--It's Fantastic!"

When developing the post, I realized that my love of steampunk romance has very deep roots, and it's an experience I haven't even blogged about elsewhere yet. It's wild to think about how certain early experiences can influence us decades later.

While there, you can enter for a chance to win a copy of my erotic clockpunk romances THE WATCHMAKER'S LADY and THE BLACKSMITH'S LOVER.

Thanks for reading!

Melisse Aires Blogs About Self-Publishing SFR, Plus Free Kindle Ebook

I invite you to check out a guest post by Melisse Aires at The Galaxy Express where she shares her intriguing discoveries about self-publishing two of her science fiction romance titles.

Plus, visit Amazon to grab a free Kindle ebook copy of her latest novella, ALIEN BLOOD. Freebie offer ends July 15, 2012.

THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF FUTURISTIC ROMANCE Is Coming Soon!

Fellow Brigaders, I come bearing news regarding THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF FUTURISTIC ROMANCE. This sci-fi romance paperback anthology from Running Press is edited by Trisha Telep and has a release date of January 2013.

Featured authors include Linnea Sinclair, Jess Granger, Susan Sizemore, C.L. Wilson, Charlene Teglia, Bianca D'Arc, and more!

I haven't been able to uncover all of the authors involved--are there any right here at SFR Brigade? If so, we'd love to hear from you and I invite you to share a bit about your story at The Galaxy Express.

This anthology has been a long time coming and it seems as though the release date has already been pushed back once. Therefore, I'm asking that we use the combined force of our social networks to get out the word about this release and let Running Press and Trisha Telep know we want it!

Thanks so much for your help!

Where'd all the pets go?

Cosmic Kitties? Astro Dogs? Where are you?

Stop by The Writer Limits, where I talk about pets in space-based SF (or lack thereof).

http://thewriterlimitsauthors.blogspot.com/2012/07/hairy-characters.html

Pat Hauldren » Next class: The science in science fiction

Pat Hauldren » Next class: The science in science fiction

Learn how science and science fiction have grown up together and influence each other, as well as how we as SF/F writers can use (or avoid) tropes and cliches. Stars July 9. See you there!

Alley
www.alleypat.com

Chinese Women Have All The Fun

Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut, or "taikonaut", landed in Mongolia today after 9 days in space. First of all, congratulations Yang. Second. . .jealous! So, so jealous. 

Ever since I heard everyone in Firefly speaking Mandarin, I've been interested in China's space program. And it's pretty impressive. They're charging along with plans for a space station (squee!) and even a manned trip to the moon in 2016 (nerdgasm!)

My novel Red Ice, which will be coming out later this year, actually features a hero of Chinese descent. What do you think the future of China in space will look like? Just as important, what do you think the future of China in space fiction will look like?

BUTTONOMICS by Pat Hauldren

BUTTONOMICS by Pat Hauldren

a fun and funny way to be a healthier writer

Amazon Tag Party - 06/28/2012

Welcome to the monthly SFR Brigade's Amazon Tag Party. Please find the list of this week's participating titles below. All you need to do is click on the title and it will take you to the relevant Amazon page. Happy Tagging!

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)

6. Please also click the 'Like' button next to the title.

The Lords of Space...

.

or A Hard Man is Good to Find

Either way I love a man in a military uniform.  There is something about the way the clothes hug his strong form creating an air of dignity and quiet strength.

See the words Navy Diver on the rim of his underwear?
Yep he's military!

No disrespect to the women who serve as well.  But when I fantasize, I tend to be the only female in the picture.  Still, I digress. For me, a strong alpha hero man in military uniform is like Adonis in space, his beauty will both allure and capture your heart.  That's probably why I write Military Scifi Romance.  Military Scifi Romance is so nichey that it would barely cover an eighth of a page on search at Amazon.  And when I was invited to join the SFR Brigade, I knew I had found my home.  I love it not only for its obvious military overtones but here we writers of this small yet potent subgenre are appreciated for who we are-- true lovers of science fiction.

Military fiction, once the bastion of male writers such as W.E.B. Griffin and Tom Clancy, now enjoy a feminine touch with equally strong characters and engaging plot lines by such notables as Suzanne Brockmann and Marliss Melton- who tend to lean towards what many publishers categorize as Romantic Suspense or what I call Military Romance novels.

Still we can't forget about authors who write specifically in this subgenre like fellow brigade members Linnea Sinclair and D.L. Jackson.  Their novels prove to me that I am not alone in my obsession.

Speaking of which, though I've never served (a stint in ROTC in high school doesn't count), it's always hard not to include some aspect of military life in my fiction.  It doesn't mean all of my stories have soldiers in it, it just means when it fits I let my inner commando shine through.

For example in my book, Kybernatia- Gabrielle Burle, project manager for the development of the planet, was forced out of her job under a veil of secrecy.  In the course of her investigation she discovers one man connected to that same planet was forced out of his job as well.  Determined to discover the truth, she seeks out that man who has since abandoned that life for a quieter one in the midwest.

Okay so where does the military come in you ask?  That's a surprise but I can give you a sneak peek to sort of whet your appetite.

An Excerpt from 'Kybernatia'

The Mark One Investigation and Discovery Vessel pulled slowly into high orbit around Monoceros 4.>   After two days’ journey from her central post, arrived with a full complement of instruments and crew ready to perform a non-invasive survey of the planet and its people.
>

“Sir,” the specialist said, turning to face the Captain.

“Yes?” Captain Alley Ferrato stood rigid, overlooking her post at the center console on the bridge.
“We are in orbit around Monoceros 4.”

“Very well. Maintain course and begin shipboard scans.”

“Aye aye, ma’am.”

“Open forward shields,” Alley ordered.

The blast shields at the front of the bridge opened up, exposing a brilliant golden-brown planet.

“Release forward probes,” Alley said to the science officer as she took in the magnificent view.
“Releasing forward probes.”

As the probes dashed out toward the planet, they immediately began to send back information.

“Status report?” asked Alley, sitting down in her chair. This was always her favorite part of any mission, the capture of information for knowledge’s sake.

“All scans are coming back normal, Captain. This is an Earth-like planet.”

“Very well. Transfer probes to low orbit and send one out to scan their closest settlement.”

“Aye, sir. Probes are altering position,” the science officer said as she tapped the screen at her station.

Suddenly, her eyes grew wide.  She bolted upright. “Captain, I think you need to come see this,” she said as she stared into the view scanner at her station.

Walking over to the panel, Alley forced herself to take her eyes off of the brilliant planet.  “What is it?”


“You’re not going to believe this,” she said, pointing to the data on the screen.

“My God.”

End Excerpt...

Okay so there were no hotties in this peek but I did give you military!  If you would like to read more...

Kybernatia is available now at Decadent Publishing and Amazon.com.  http://www.amazon.com/Kybernatia-ebook/dp/B004ZH3O9S/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340828442&sr=1-1&keywords=kybernatia

Bio- 

Clare Dargin is an author who lives in the midwest with her family.  She loves gardening, animals of all sorts and comic cons.  She writes all the time and loves hearing from fans, friends and admirers.  The re-release of her first Military Scifi Romance, “Cold Warriors” will be available soon from Decadent Publishing.

You can find her on the web at www.claresblog2thehaven.blogspot.com

Also her work Speculative Sky is now available in print at Amazon

The SFR Brigade Midsummer Blog Hop - Winners and Findings

I'm very pleased to announce the winners of the grand prizes are:

Sue B with a comment on Pauline Baird Jones's blog for her choice of a Kindle Touch/Nook Touch

Cheryl Corbin with a comment on Cathy Pegau's blog for the collection of sfr titles and the Anabanana Gift Card

Huge congrats to them both and we hope you enjoy them.

Some of the individual blog winners were:

Jessica Subject - BookAttict

Hywela Lyn - Diane

Mixed Book Bag - Anna M

Sue Ann Bowling - Maryellen Brady

Kitty Roads - Shadow

Pippa Jay - Krista

Imogene Nix - BookAttict 

AR Norris - Pam - VanillaOrchids

Cathy Pegau - Diana

Findings:

First, a huge thank you to everyone who took part. For those who donated to the prizes, an extra thank you. Special thanks go to Heather Massey, Laurie Green, Janet Miller, Jaleta Clegg and PI Barrington who all contributed despite not taking part. You are AWESOME!

However, I must also say a huge apology to Natalie Wright, who's link somehow got cut from the inlinkz during the event. I'm still no clearer on how this happened, and I'm mortified. In the future I'll remember to copy the master list right at the start and use it to double check links during the hop. Also I think it might be wise to draft a volunteer to independently check the links.

Overall, everyone seems to have had a positive experience. I'm very happy to be sent any thoughts, suggestions and criticisms for ways to improve future events (yes, I am considering doing this again). The general conscensus appears to be that:

1. The event should take place over more than one day. Not only would this give visitors more time to hear about the event and stop by to comment, but also solve some of the complications due to participants being in different time zones. Two upcoming hops I know about are running over 3 or 4 days, which would probably work better.

2. There were technical issues with the inlinkz code, and I had to ask a few people to link back to the central list on the Brigade site. For future hops, I'd draft two basic hop posts with the inlinkz and required information for Blogger and Wordpress sites. It might also be an idea for participants to post before the official start of the hop so we can catch any problems early.

3. I need to appoint a second to double check all the links so that any mistakes I make/miss are caught.

4. Maybe try to find more venues to promote the event. I don't really want to spend any of the donations on paid advertising, or ask anyone to donate for that reason. So, if anyone has any suggestions on how and where we might be able to promote (and is willing to volunteer to do so) please let me know.

5. A lot of comments didn't qualify for the draw because they DID NOT LEAVE CONTACT DETAILS! I know most of you did state in your posts that we needed that information, but perhaps next time we need to make it clear that no email address = no entry in the draw. I think we all had enough to do with getting organized and posted etc without playing hunt the email.

6. There seemed to be some interest in producting a solstice-themed sfr anthology. Would anyone be interested in that idea? Maybe we could each write a themed short story to give away as part of the event? I know Liana Brooks did just that.

So how did you find the hop? Anything you'd like to add? Suggestions as to when to hold the next one? Prizes? Themes? Don't be afraid to shout out in the comments. Or if you'd rather do it in private, my email is pippajaygreen(at)gmail(dot)com.

Recognizing Our Newest Brigade Members

It's been a while since we announced our latest round of new members, and membership has really jumped since that time!

Please take a moment to welcome our many new recruits!

__________________________________

Ab Gayle

Andrea Cardinalle Vetter

Astrid Cooper

Beverly Rae

Bonnie Hill-Burgess

Brain Collier

Cara Michaels

Charisma Knight

Cindy Woolf

Cricket Starr

Cynthianna Matthews

Dahlia DeWinters

Debra Soles

Deborah B. Wright

Donna McDonald

Echo Myst

Heidi Ruby Miller

Helene M. Provost

Janet Miller

Janice Seagraves

Jayme Evans

Jeff Goldberg

Jenna Bennett

Joely Sue Burkhart

Kara Griffin

Karen Mueller Bryson

Kat Mancos

Kayelle Allen

Kh LeMoyne

Kiernan Kelly

Kitty Roads

Kylie Breakey

Leah Petersen

Linda Andrews

Linda Robinett

Linda Walker-Reducer

Lisa Omstead

Lynne Kensington

Maggie Nash

Miriam Newman

Monica Enderle Pierce

Mystic Kat

Natalie Wright

P. I. Barrington

R. Stone

Silvia Violet

Sue Ann Bowling

Stefan Barterczyk

Stephanie Burkhart

Stormie Kent

Taryn Noelle

T. C. Archer

T. K. Anthony

Wendy Burke