Meet the Author Monday: Susan Grant

Today I'd like to introduce you to author Susan Grant, who has long been a part of the science fiction romance community and is a member of the SFR Brigade. Susan, thanks so much for joining us as our Monday Meet the Author feature today!


How or why did you first start writing SFR? Any particular inspirations?

I was an astronaut wanna-be—still am! From my earliest memories, I dreamed about going into space, exploring other worlds. I was a book worm as a kid, like many of us authors were. The Sword of Shannara, Childhood’s End, Dragon Riders of Pern, and The Wind’s Four Quarters were favorites. It makes sense that I ended up writing sci-fi romance because I love science fiction and having a great romance as part of the plot.

I call myself the accidental sci-fi romance author because I did, in fact, not set out to write such a story. Back when I was first seeking publication—1997 or so—these were rare books to find. Only Justine Dare and a few others were writing them. I wrote my first sci-fi romance, The Star King, in 1998 as a book of the heart (a hero and heroine in their 40s, and he was an alien! My agent pretty much passed out, hearing of such an out-of-the-box storyline). But a publisher was interested in my first book—Once a Pirate, a time travel romance—and after winning a contest with The Star King, the prize was a face-to-face meet with that editor. I pitched The Star King, he loved the premise, and ended up buying both books in a two-book deal. He encouraged me to keep going with the Star series, and so I did. Happily, the rest is history.


How many SFR books have you published and what are the titles?

I think I’m up to 19 or 20 by now, not counting boxed sets. They’re all listed conveniently at this link: Author Susan Grant Book List


Can you give us a quick blurb on your most recent or upcoming title?

WARLEADER just came out!

Here’s the blurb:

Admiral Brit Bandar is the Coalition's greatest starship commander. The outlaw known as the Scourge of the Borderlands taunted her in a galactic game of cat and mouse for years, but she never caught him. Now they’re supposed to make peace AND serve together on the same starship? Not so easy to do when your sworn enemy turns out to be the hottest piece you've ever seen.

Warleader Finn Rorkken doesn't care how many medals “Stone-Heart” Bandar has. He's going to show her what it's like to be pursued and caught by a master. Intergalactic peace is on the line, and if she wants his obedience, she'll have to pay his price. Challenge accepted, Admiral.

Welcome to the Borderlands, where rules are meant to be broken...


Give us a brief snippet of a favorite scene or passage from your work.

From Warleader… An early scene with Finn and Brit. In a gender flip of sorts, she’s invited him to her quarters for a glass of wine, and suddenly Finn realizes he doesn’t have a thing to wear! :)

Finn threw open the door to his wardrobe to find a fresh pair of skivvies. He’d been given a stack of them, brand new, along with new socks and undershirts. It hit him how little he owned, not counting his Triad-issued gear. There was his old Imperial Navy uniform, if one could call it that—a threadbare, mended collection of little more than rags and leather. Another pair of old leather pants hung next to a pair of cloth trousers, a vest, and several faded shirts. None of it would impress a woman like Brit Bandar. She was a class above him—several classes.

You own nothing but rags, Rorkken! Except, maybe, for his Cloudan tunic.

He grasped its luxurious sleeve, examining the condition of the garment. It was silver and white, shot through with threads of pure sapphire. The fitted piece allowed for the breadth of his shoulders and was entirely handmade, no advanced tech inside or out. As a pirate, he’d had no need for a uniform, but for the times he had to make an appearance—or an impression—he’d worn this, his finest article of clothing. With the Cloudan belted over his leathers, sword hanging from his belt, and polished boots, he’d been able to maintain the image of prosperity even in the lean times between raids when the coffers had run low. It was during one of those lean times, before he owned the tunic, that he’d saved the leader of a rogue encampment in the Cloudlands. In thanks, the man had gifted Finn and his crew with varied treasures, including the tunic, tailored specifically to him. Nothing lasted long in a pirate’s hands—valuable goods sold and bartered—but Finn had never let go of the Cloudan. He was too freepin’ sentimental. The day he’d received it, he was called a hero. That didn’t happen often—all right, not ever. The tunic was a way of hanging on to the memory. Aye, and he looked good in it, too.

The garb of a pirate king.

Bandar will laugh her ass off if you show up at her door dressed in that.


Have any of your books received any special recognition? What and where?

I’ve been blessed to have had my books win or be nominated for many awards. I have finaled four times in the RWA Rita contest and won once. Across from where I sit at my desk I see six gorgeous Prism awards catching sun rays on the windowsill. My books have been honored with best of the year nods by Library Journal and Booklist. I even won a Daphne DuMaurier Award for romantic suspense. The recognition is great, but knowing that readers love your stories is the best kind of award.


Do you have any other upcoming new releases?

Hunting the Warlord’s Daughter, The Borderlands Book # 2, comes out in January!

Author Bio

Susan's childhood dreams of becoming a space explorer fizzled when she found out that calculus was involved. Luckily, she didn’t need math skills to fly jets—or to create space stories in her head, first for herself, then for friends, and now for readers everywhere.

A New York Times/USA Today bestselling author and a military veteran, Susan won the prestigious RITA® Award for her book Contact, a sci-fi aviation-thriller romance.

Find Susan Grant here:

Author Website
Facebook Author Page
Bookbub
Goodreads
Linked In
Twitter

SFRB Recommends #87: Warleader by Susan Grant

Finn Rorkken is an infamous Drakken warleader.

Brit Bandar is the Coalition's greatest military commander.

Now they're forced to serve together on the same starship.

The mission: diplomacy.

The objective: keeping the peace.

Not so easy to do when your sworn enemy is living next door.

Welcome to the Borderlands, where rules are meant to be broken…


A decade ago, I read Moonstruck by Susan Grant, and the story and characters utterly captivated me, so I was very excited to see a brand new release largely based on the original story, but with an all new title and awesome new cover.

Admiral Brit “Stone-Heart” Bandar is a tough-as-nails military leader who is secretly struggling with a past tragedy. Unfortunately, her new orders from the Coalition will test her toleration to the breaking point.

Finn Rorkken is a warleader for the opposing side, once known as the Scourge of the Borderlands, but now being given an unexpected new mission--serve at the side of the very enemy he once matched wits with.

I found this enemies-to-lovers tale between two strong-willed characters with a galaxy of barriers to overcome, a compelling, action-packed and memorable read, with some well-timed gems of humor. Warleader is the first book in the Borderlands Series.

This recommendation is by Laurie A. Green
Book site: Warleader

Motives In Science Fiction by @CorrinaLawson

by Corrina Lawson

Science fiction and mysteries have always been intertwined. And, though some who love those genres would deny it, relationships and romance have always been a large part of them.

                                

Let’s break them down.

Science fiction is a search to explain the unknown, to peer into the unknowable future and use it to project the present. It’s the genre of possibilities.

Combine science fiction with a mystery, and the questions become explicit.

And, because the solution to those mysteries are bound up in how humans (and other intelligences) relate to one another, relationships and even romances have always been part of them too.

I grew up reading science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, and a few romances, and, naturally, I tossed all three into the pot when I set down to write my first steampunk mystery, The Curse of the Brimstone Contract.

There were several direct influences. My writing owes something to the science fiction mysteries of Isaac Asimov, particularly  Lije Bailey/R. Daneel Olivaw detective stories. Asimov, of course, was drawing on the tradition of the Holmes/Watson partnership. (Of course, I read the complete Sherlock Holmes as a young teen as well. Thank you, Arthur Conan Doyle.)

But what really cemented my love of science fiction mysteries was the discovery of the late Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy stories. In this alternate world, where Richard Lionheart reigned far longer, an alternate timeline that also features magic spun out through the centuries, leading to the roughly Victorian-era of Lord Darcy, detective to the Duke of Normandy, and his assistant, forensic sorcerer, Sean O'Lochlainn.

.

 And, yes, forensic sorcerer is as cool as it sounds, basically a scientific approach to magic. The Lord Darcy books are collected in one great big volume nw, so they should be easy to find still. Garrett died before he could write more than that collection, however. :sigh: However, his stories do feature romance in a subtle way, one between Lord Darcy and a foreign spy, another, more explicit, between Darcy and a noblewoman with a penchant for mysteries.

As I’m a believer that the stories we adore in our formative years shape our fiction, it was perhaps not surprising that when I created a steampunk world, I started with my own Sherlock Holmes analog, one Gregor Sherringford. (His last name being one of Conan’s Doyle’s rejected first names for Holmes.)

The first novel in the Steampunk Detectives, The Curse of the Brimstone Contract, introduced Joan Krieger, our narrator, and my own version of Watson. Joan is where I veered far outside the lines of my influences. She’s more than a simple assistant: she’s a seamstress, a dressmaker intent on remaking the world through fashion, who has a natural curiosity and drive to become more than what society says she should be. Working against her is her class, her gender, and her religion, Jewish. 

Gregor Sherringford is also a departure from Holmes, that consummate loner. He has a living mother, and noble family that he avoids. This is partially his natural reserved inclination and partially because Gregor never possessed a powerful mage gift, as his parents’ hoped.

But also it’s because Gregor’s mother is Indian and Gregor’s place in the rigid class society of the peers of the realm is uneasy.

That makes Gregor naturally empathic to those of society who are prevented from standing up for themselves because of prejudice. Gregor, being Gregor, would deny the empathy and insists that solving mysteries is the only way to feed his active mind.

As would the original Holmes.

But Doyle’s Holmes had nothing but sneers for the nobility who endanger innocent lives or take advantage of others. Original Holmes admires those who stand up for themselves, even if they need a little help doing so, like the young heiress in The Adventure of the Speckled Band or, more famously, “the late Irene Adler of dubious and questionable memory.” It’s clear in A Scandal in Bohemia where Holmes’ sympathy resides.

Doyle’s Holmes is a champion, if your cause is just, no matter the odds against you. That’s what I wanted Gregor Sherringford to be as well.

Like the original Holmes, Gregor does not like admitting he has emotions. Except, of course, where Joan Krieger is concerned.

In Curse of the Brimstone Contract, I blended science fiction and mystery in a search for those killing the clients of Joan’s dress shop via magical attack. There is a growing romance between Joan and Gregor as well. For Joan, Gregor is a person who sees her true self, who views her as worthy as any peer. For Gregor, Joan is someone immensely gifted, someone not intimidated by his reserve, someone who innately trusts him to do what’s right, even under dire circumstances.

But it’s not an easy relationship, given their differences in class and religion. To explore those, I knew the sequel had to bring in Gregor’s family, via the family estate at Lotus Hall.

And, so, science fiction, mystery, and romance entwine once again in A Hanging at Lotus Hall. The science fiction comes from the meld of steam technology with magic, producing such things as a flying carriage and automated doors. The mystery comes from a locked-room murder committed by a mage within Lotus Hall. 

The romance comes from Joan’s collision with the noble family of the Dukes of Bennington. Like many families, including her own, they are hiding secrets, sometimes, deadly ones, leading Joan not only unsure whether she belongs, but who she can trust with her life.

The external mystery had to reflect the internal problems between Joan and Gregor. Oddly, that led me to including not one but two other romantic subplots in the book, though not as fully developed as Joan and Gregor’s romance.

Add thwarted love to a desire for power, and it’s a heady combination for my ultimate villain.

Because even in science fiction, the motives are going to remain…human. 

888

Follow Corrina Lawson: 

Website: www.corrina-lawson.com 

Newsletter sign-up: https://corrina-lawson.com/newsletter/

Curse of the Brimstone Contract available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0755C8WZF/

Hanging at Lotus Hall releases February 5, 2019. 

SFRB Recommends #86: The Rule of Luck by Catherine Cerveny

Year 2950. Humanity has survived devastating climate shifts and four world wars, coming out stronger and smarter than ever. Incredible technology is available to all, and enhancements to appearance, intelligence, and physical ability are commonplace.

In this future, Felicia Sevigny has built her fame reading the futures of others.

Alexei Petriv, the most dangerous man in the TriSystem, will trust only Felicia to read his cards. But the future she sees is darker than either of them could ever have imagined. A future that pits them against an all-knowing government, almost superhuman criminals, and something from Felicia's past that she could never have predicted, but that could be the key to saving -- or destroying -- them all. 

This series starts with fantastic worldbuilding. Felicia is fighting for her reproductive rights, and finds that the truth about her blacklisting is far more complicated than she was led to believe. In light of this, should she fight her biology? Is it destiny?

The action is clear and fast-paced. I love the philosophical questions this series raises, and look forward to reading further. 

This recommendation by Lee Koven.
Book site: The Rule of Luck

Today Is The Day! Pets In Space 3 is Live! #PetsInSpace

Pets in Space 3 is live! It's finally here!

Join us as we unveil eleven original, never-before-published action-filled romances that will heat your blood and warm your heart! New York Times, USA Today, Award-winning and Science Fiction Romance Brigade authors S.E. Smith, Anna Hackett, Ruby Lionsdrake, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Carol Van Natta, Tiffany Roberts, Alexis Glynn Latner, E D Walker, JC Hay, and Kyndra Hatch combine their love for Science Fiction Romance and pets to bring readers sexy, action-packed romances while helping our favorite charity.

Proud supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space™ authors have donated over $4,400 in the past two years to help place specially trained dogs with veterans. Open your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space™ 3 today!

Meet the Author Monday: Lauren C. Teffeau

This week for Meet the Author Monday we're introducing debut SFR author Lauren C. Teffeau, who has an exciting new book out from publisher Angry Robot. Welcome, Lauren!


How or why did you first start writing SFR? Any particular inspirations?

I’ve always loved science fiction, and I’ve always loved romance, so I try to combine them whenever I can! Over the years, I’ve written a number of short stories that have been published in a variety of professional and semipro speculative fiction magazines and anthologies, but found that I couldn't really do justice to all the nuances of a romantic relationship in 2,000 to 7,500 words. So when I do write short and include romantic elements, I’m usually dealing with already established relationships.

With my novel length work, I have a lot more room to develop the characters and their emotional arcs but not at the cost of world building and story action—at least that's what I was going for with my debut novel Implanted. In the book, I’m dealing with some of my favorite tropes: (neural implant mediated) telepathy, forced proximity, and partners both in and out of the relationship context.


Can you give a quick blurb on your most recent SFR title?

Sure! Implanted was released August 7th from Angry Robot. It mashes up cyberpunk with solarpunk, and includes a mix of high-tech gadgets, light espionage, romance, and hard questions about the future.

When college student Emery Driscoll is blackmailed into being a courier for a clandestine organisation, she’s cut off from the neural implant community which binds the domed city of New Worth together. Her new employer exploits her rare condition which allows her to carry encoded data in her blood, and train her to transport secrets throughout the troubled city. New Worth is on the brink of Emergence – freedom from the dome – but not everyone wants to leave. Then a data drop goes bad, and Emery is caught between factions: those who want her blood, and those who just want her dead. To survive she'll have to confront her old life and the people she left behind. So long as she can convince them she’s still alive.


When writing, which comes first for you – the romance or the other elements of the story?

Usually—though not always—the story world will come to me first, but almost immediately on the heels of that, I’m looking for two characters whose romantic arc can run parallel with the larger story. Once the world is built, it’s a lot easier for me to just focus on the romantic pairings in subsequent books, whether it’s a prequel, sequel, or standalone set in the same milieu.


Give us a brief snippet of a favorite scene or passage from your work.

Rik simply lets the silence build, the connection between us alive with feeling. Synching can be surprisingly intimate, depending on how a user customizes their implant settings. The length of delay between thought and message. Whether or not nonverbals should be broadcasted. The priority of the interaction over other tasks and contacts. We’ve become so attuned to one another over the years, now our connection practically vibrates with what’s left unsaid. My doubts, his certainty, yes, but also a desire for more – a strange sort of friction as we run up against the limitations of our current configuration, like a snail that’s outgrown its shell.

“This. This is why we have to meet.”


Have any of your books received any special recognition? What and Where?

Not yet! The book has only been out since August of this year, but hope springs eternal that people will love it. Though it was featured at the 2018 European Speed Reading Championship, and the winner said he couldn’t wait to read it more slowly so he could better savor it the second time through. ;)


Where’s your favorite place to write? Do you have a dedicated writer’s cave?

While I do a lot of stuff in my home office, it tends to be more administrative work instead of creative work. There, I’m writing blog posts or sending emails or critiquing manuscripts. Real writing gets done at my favorite coffee shop—I have a couple I rotate through—where I draft by hand in my journal or mark-up printouts of my latest WIP. There’s something about the white noise of the espresso machines that sets my mind to whirling. Plus the caffeine certainly doesn’t hurt!


What are your favorite SFR movies or television series and why?

While the worlds of Star Wars and Star Trek are pretty much obligatory, I also love The Fifth Element with Milla Jovovich and Bruce Willis. I’m also a sucker for the first Matrix movie.


About the Author

Photo credit Kim Jew Photography
Studios

Lauren C. Teffeau was born and raised on the East Coast, educated in the South, and employed in the Midwest. Lauren now lives and dreams in the Southwest. When she was younger, she poked around in the back of wardrobes, tried to walk through mirrors, and always kept an eye out for secret passages, fairy rings, and messages from aliens. Now, she writes to cope with her ordinary existence. Besides the obligatory bachelor’s degree in English, she also holds a master’s degree in Mass Communication and spent a few years toiling as a researcher in academia. Her short fiction can be found in a variety of speculative fiction magazines and anthologies. She is also an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a PAN member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), and a member of the Land of Enchantment Romance Authors (LERA). Implanted from Angry Robot Books is her first novel.

To learn more, please visit laurencteffeau.com.


You can find Implanted here:

Angry Robot | Amazon.com | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble 

Book Depository | IndieBound | Goodreads

SFRB Recommends #85: Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

Marketing manager Katherine "Kitty" Katt had just finished a day on jury duty. When she stepped out of the Pueblo Caliente courthouse, all she was thinking about was the work she had to get caught up on. Then her attention was caught by a fight between a couple that looked like it was about to turn ugly. But ugly didn't even begin to cover it when the "man" suddenly transformed into a huge, winged monster right out of a grade Z science fiction movie and went on a deadly killing spree. In hindsight, Kitty realized she probably should have panicked and run screaming the way everyone around her was doing. Instead she sprinted into action to take down the alien.

In the middle of all the screeching and the ensuing chaos, a hunk in an Armani suit suddenly appeared beside her, introduced himself as Jeff Martini with "the agency," and then insisted on leading her to a nearby limo to talk to his "boss." And that was how Kitty's new life among the aliens began...

You can tell that the book is quite tongue-in-cheek with the heroine's name. This novel is a madcap caper that should appeal to fans of Men in Black. Kitty constantly has to come up with creative solutions to alien problems while juggling her amazing and interfering parents. Add in "Armani hunk" Jeff Martini's courtship (he decides right off that he wants to marry her), and I've no idea how Kitty is supposed to know if she's coming or going.

The action scenes are intense, bonkers, and slapstick. Despite that and the overall lighthearted feel, the book does touch on some more serious themes. The world and backstory are carefully peeled back in layers: each revelation makes sense and fits neatly into the action.

This recommendation by Lee Koven.

Book site: Gini Koch's Bookstore

Meet the Author Monday: JC Hay

Today, we're featuring author JC Hay, who is not only a long-time member of the SFR Brigade, but also an award-winning SFR writer who will be one of the eleven featured authors in the upcoming Pets in Space 3: Embrace the Passion anthology! Welcome to Meet the Author Monday, JC!


How many SFR Books have you published and what are the titles? Can you give a quick blurb on your most recent or upcoming title?

At the moment, I’ve got seven titles out and an eighth that is out of print. The bulk are split between two series: Corporate Services, my gritty, cyberpunk romance series (Dubai Double Cross, Mumbai Manhunt, and South Seas Salvation), and TriSystems: Rangers, which is military romance in space, with soldiers who are empathically bonded to their Wolves (Inouye and Grenville). There’s also Flare: Team Corona, which was part of 2017’s “Great Space Race” project, and Hearts and Minds, a stand-alone space opera romance with psychics, pirates, and space-vikings.

As for an upcoming title – one of my favorite side characters from the TriSystems: Rangers stories, Commander Penzak, is getting his own happily ever after in the anthology Pets In Space 3: Embrace the Passion. Here’s the blurb:

Loss casts a shadow you can’t outrun…

Commander Rafe Penzak is tired of jockeying a desk. With only months left before his forced retirement from the rangers, he decides to bend a few rules for one last mission: follow up on intelligence that vicious criminals have found the ranch that supplies the rangers’ umbra wolves. He’s ready to confront the reminder of his wolf’s death, but nothing in the Three Systems could prepare him for the spitfire who runs the farm.

Veterinarian Nafisi Sultana has run her wolf breeding program her way since the death of her husband. The last thing she wants is another ranger taking up space, correcting her methods, or being underfoot. But she can’t miss the pain and sorrow that haunts the greying commander, and her need to heal others pulls her into his orbit despite the agonizing memories he wakes in her.

With storms, raiders, and a renegade wolf pup driving them together, Nafisi and Rafe have to set aside their damaged past, or they’ll never be able to save something they both want more—a future.


When writing, which comes first for you – the romance or the other elements of the story?

That’s a chicken and egg question for me; with my series I know a lot of the setting elements and how they play into the various characters stories but I can’t begin to plot until I know what the wound is at the heart of the romance; the reason why they think they don’t deserve love, and the thing they’ll turn away from love in order to protect. Once I know that, the core of their romantic arc, then the rest of the story tends to fit into place around it.


Have any of your books received any special recognition? What and Where?

South Seas Salvation (the third of my cyberpunk books) is a 2107 SFR Galaxy Award Winner! I love my horribly broken, unapologetic hacker, and to see other people loved her as much as I do means the world to me.


Where’s your favorite place to write? Do you have a dedicated writer’s cave?

I have a dedicated writing space in the house – it was even featured on Authors in Space earlier this year – It’s got my dictation set up, and my lovely, clicky keyboard. That said, I also have a smaller tablet that I use when I need a change of scenery or have to jot down to the coffee shop for a while.


What are your favorite SFR movies or television series and why?

We’re really living in a feast-time for great sci-fi television, especially if you like a bit of romance sprinkled in. Killjoys is amazing, and Dutch is one of those wonderful characters that I wish I’d written. That said, my favorites are still the classics – Babylon 5 gave us John and Delenn, which made me laugh, cry, and scream in equal measure. I watched B5 when it first started airing, and it’s still one of my favorite series, years later.

Another series I really loved was Farscape, again because the romantic arc at its heart was so good. Aeryn Sun and John Crichton are probably my favorite Enemies to Lovers arc on television, and it’s part of why I love that particular trope so much.

About the Author

SFR Galaxy Award Winner JC Hay writes romantic science fiction and cyberpunk where the relationships matter as much as the tech. After all, the coolest gadgets in the world are useless without someone to share them.

In addition to Romance Writers of America, he is also a proud member of the SFR Brigade (for Science Fiction Romance), the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal Romance chapter, and RWA’s Published Author Network.


Upcoming Release!

Pets in Space™ is back!

Join us as we unveil eleven original, never-before-published action-filled romances that will heat your blood and warm your heart! New York Times, USA Today and Award-winning authors S.E. Smith, Anna Hackett, Ruby Lionsdrake, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Carol Van Natta, Tiffany Roberts, Alexis Glynn Latner, E D Walker, JC Hay, and Kyndra Hatch combine their love for Science Fiction Romance and pets to bring readers sexy, action-packed romances while helping our favorite charity.

Proud supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space™ authors have donated over $4,400 in the past two years to help place specially trained dogs with veterans. Open your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space™ 3 today!

Amazon   |   iBooks   |   Kobo   |   Google Play 

Here’s my Amazon author page: Author JC Hay

If you’d like a taste of my TriSystems: Rangers series before Pets in Space 3 releases, the first two books can be found at your favorite e-tailer:

Inouye (book 1)           Grenville (book 2)

SFRB Recommends #84: Dustwalker by Tiffany Roberts #sfr

Cheyenne, Wyoming. At least a hundred years from now. The southwestern United States is dust. A giant desert, thanks to a probably nuclear war. Also, there are humanoid robots, called "synths," running around and having lives. Odd lives, in that they don't age or anything, but lives nonetheless.

Lara Brooks scavenges the desert for her living, bringing bits of scrap back to Cheyenne to trade for food. When her trade partners don't remain viable, she's set to starve. When she dances one night, a synth named Ronin is oddly moved by the sight. He proposes he protect and feed her in exchange for watching her dance. A romance develops between them, one forbidden by the human-hating ruler of the city, a synth called Warlord. How they can make a life together? And what would such a life mean?


Dustwalker asks questions about what we consider human and offers some potential answers. The plot points are neatly tied together: questions from the first half are resolved in thoughtful ways, including the villain's motivations. He's both abhorrent and sympathetic, and all of his actions make a twisted kind of sense. It's great when you can easily see yourself making the same choices the bad guys do.

The world of Dustwalker is captivating. The authors kept the scope small, so they could concentrate on the details. The reader gets a gritty picture of the desert that reminds them of Mad Max, but they won't miss anything if they're unfamiliar with that franchise. The world is a lot bigger than the action, and I'd love to know if there are other pockets of humanity or synths still alive, and what stories they would have to tell me.


Author/book site: Tiffany Roberts' books
This recommendation by Lee Koven.

#PetsInSpace 3 Preorder is Live!

Pets in Space™ is back! Join us as we unveil eleven original, never-before-published action-filled romances that will heat your blood and warm your heart! New York Times, USA Today and Award-winning authors S.E. Smith, Anna Hackett, Ruby Lionsdrake, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Carol Van Natta, Tiffany Roberts, Alexis Glynn Latner, E D Walker, JC Hay, and Kyndra Hatch combine their love for Science Fiction Romance and pets to bring readers sexy, action-packed romances while helping our favorite charity. Proud supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space™ authors have donated over $4,400 in the past two years to help place specially trained dogs with veterans. Open your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space™ 3 today!

I do believe all of these authors are members of the Science Fiction Romance Brigade! The SFRB is awesome and we thank you readers for following our blog through the years. :)

Preorder is live and 10% of all pre-orders (plus the first month's profits) go to Hero-Dogs.org! Buy links below.

 

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STORY OVERVIEWS:

HEART OF THE CAT: Sarafin Warriors Series
By S.E. Smith
Can love bridge the gap between a wounded alien warrior and the reclusive human woman who holds the future of his species inside her?
  
DESERT HUNTER: Galactic Gladiators Series
By Anna Hackett
Among the desert sands of an alien world, a man with secrets to hide finds himself face to face with the one woman who can bring him to his knees.

QUASHI: Mandrake Company Series
By Ruby Lionsdrake
Alien fur balls, a handsome doctor, and a little white lie create havoc for a young woman who only wanted a job.

STAR CRUISE: MYSTERY DANCER: The Sectors SF Romance Series
By Veronica Scott
A long-lost princess and her three-eyed cat seek refuge on the Nebula Zephyr only to catch the attention of an inquisitive Security Officer.

OPERATION ARK: Project Enterprise Series
By Pauline Baird Jones
A not quite routine mission to return rescued prisoners to their home worlds turns deadly for unlikely allies, a USMC Sergeant and a raised-by-robots pirate. Is the Sergeant’s unusual pet the wild card that will save or doom them?

CATS OF WAR: A Central Galactic Concordance Novella
by Carol Van Natta
A disgraced military Sub-Captain, a repair technician with secrets, and two special cats must save the day when trouble erupts at an important factory.

HUNTER OF THE TIDE: The Kraken #3
By Tiffany Roberts
Nearly broke by betrayal, a human discovers solace—and a chance for love—among the creatures he once hunted, but he must overcome prejudice and inhibition to claim the female he desires.

STARWAY
By Alexis Glynn Latner
A lonely interstellar pilot and a passenger’s mistreated consort find each other in an interstellar hotel that offers everything to satisfy its guests’ desires—even desires they didn’t know they had.

THE BAJO CATS OF ANTEROS XII
By E D Walker
Two ex-lovers, stranded in space, have to save a pair of kittens with hazardous powers before the local drug cartel catches up to them.

SHADOW OF THE PAST
By JC Hay
On a world of perpetual night, an aging ranger and a widowed veterinarian need to put aside their past to protect a pack of wolves... and their future.

AFTER THE FALL
By Kyndra Hatch
The Invaders took everything worth living for. Could an Invader show him how to live again?

***

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

iBooks

Nook

Kobo

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Happy Reading!
Kyndra Hatch

SFRB Recommends 83: The Lamplighter's Love by Delphine Dryden

Mary has trained for years to become the next Lamplighter of London. When her chance comes, however, she realizes the massive difference engines of the Lampworkers' guild would be a cold substitute indeed for the passion she's begun to explore with the current Lamplighter, Nicholas.

But Fate, it seems, is determined to separate them. A rival threatens to upset all Mary's hopes and dreams within the guild, and with her newfound love. Even as snow blankets London in readiness for Christmas, intrigue blazes in the secret labyrinths of the Lampworkers’ guild below.

Through bitter deception and scorching erotic discovery, Mary and Nicholas must find a way to shine a light on a new future—one they can spend together.


Nicholas and Mary are both unusual heroes: their skill is that they are excellent at abstraction, logistics, and running systems. Today's they'd probably be math professors or highly paid software engineers. The system they use is an imaginative take on a steampunk computer. They are well-matched and their romance tender.

This story has so many original world ideas. I'd love to spend more time in said world. Nicholas, starved for human companionship and the outside world, delights in the bits he does experience, and his joy and wonder are infectious.

And yes, it's a Christmas story that I'm recommending in July. Enjoy!


Book site: Delphine Dryden - The Lamplighter's Love
This recommendation by Lee Koven.

What Makes Me Write a Series Instead of a Standalone Book? by @CarmenWBuxton

by Carmen Webster Buxton

Many readers love books that occur in a series. For some genres, it’s almost required. For mystery writers, it makes a lot of sense to create a detective—either a pro or an amateur—and then write each book about a different crime, but with the same protagonist. The detective can travel, so setting can vary, and other characters can be added as needed. With other genres, it’s not nearly as common to have the same protagonist in every book. 

I created my own universe with my ThreeCon books, but those books are a series only in the sense that the rules of my made-up history of Earth and the galaxy apply to all the books. Specific galactic-level events are referenced in several books, but no character appears in more than one book. 

Previously, the only series I had published where the same characters appeared was the two Haven books, The Sixth Discipline and No Safe Haven. Both books are set on the planet Haven, with a nine-year gap between the end of Book 1 and the start of Book 2; both stories have many of the same characters in common. The reason there are two Haven books is because when Ran-Del’s story started in my head, it spread to encompass other story lines. When I was done writing the first draft, the page count was much too big for one book, so I split the story in two. I could do that because there was a logical breaking point, with enough resolution to end that book, but one big outstanding question remaining for Book 2.

But now I’m publishing Book 2 of what will be a 3-book science fiction romance series, all three books set (mostly) on the planet Wakanreo, and all three involving the same characters.  As with the Haven books, these books weren’t conceived as a series. It’s merely that once the characters existed in my head, they kept doing stuff, so I kept writing it all down.  I actually had a very rough draft of both Alien Vows (Book 2) and Alien Skies (Book 3) finished before I published Alien Bonds (Book 1). I had to do a substantial rewrite of Alien Vows because of the changes I had made when rewriting the first draft of Alien Bonds. Once Alien Vows is out, I’ll be doing the same kind of rewrite on Alien Skies.

Some romance writers create a series where the books share a theme, like a common setting, or all being tied to one occupation (such as Mindy Klasky’s baseball-themed Diamond Brides series). Others might be family-oriented, with brothers as the protagonists (brotherhood seems to be the most common family relationship on which to base a romance series; a search on Amazon for “romance series brothers” yields many surnames including: Hunter, Bradford, Beckett, McGavin, Cocker, Cynfell, Stone, and Darcy).

Romance is tricky to write with the same characters in a series, because the plot is focused so much on the development of the relationship between the two main characters. If the relationship already exists when the story starts, can you still call it a romance? I think so, but the relationship still needs to be each story’s focus, and it needs to develop or change in some way.  Certainly, Diana Gabaldon manages to keep the relationship front and center in her Outlander series, in spite of the ground (and time) her characters cover.

My readers sometimes express in reviews their hope that the book they are reviewing will be the first in a series, that those characters’ stories will continue. Usually, I have to tell them no, because if the story is over in my head, then it’s over. But with the Wakanreo books, I can finally say yes, the story will continue! 

Bio:  Carmen Webster Buxton spent her youth reading every book published by Ursula LeGuin, Robert Heinlein, and Georgette Heyer. This combination of far-future worlds, alien cultures, and old-fashioned courting customs influenced her writing and that shows in most of her books

Links:

Carmen's blog/website: http://carmenspage.blogspot.com/

Carmen's Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Carmen-Webster-Buxton/e/B004V8MM8U/

Carmen on ​Twitter:​ ​ https://twitter.com/CarmenWBuxton ​

Carmen's ​Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/carmenwebster.buxton

Buy link for ALIEN BONDS, my latest release   ​: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07959BHM4