Hi, I’m Donna S. Frelick, and for those of
you who don’t know me, I write Romance at the Edge of Space and Time, most
notably the Interstellar Rescue
series of SFR novels.
Now, you might think that “edge” would mean
the far boundaries of the deep galaxy, where so much of space adventure happens—distant
planets, uncharted systems, wormholes to nowhere you’d want to be. And, yes,
some of what I write takes my readers to those parts unknown. In Fools Rush In, the third novel in my
stand-alone series, (and a 2016 SFR Galaxy Award winner), my characters spend
all their time on that final frontier, a familiar one for fans of space opera.
But there is another kind of boundary at
which different worlds may meet. On one side of this invisible frontier, the
world we think we know seems familiar and “normal.” We go to our jobs, we live
our lives and the future seems predictable.
On the other side of that boundary,
what I call “the edge of space and time,” what Rod Serling called “The Twilight Zone,” what others might
have called “The Fringe,” contemporary SFR, or material
for “The X Files,” the world is
turned upside down. Aliens are real. Earth is a backwater, unaware a battle
rages in the stars overhead. Between interstellar slavers and those who would
end the evil trade. Between those who would exploit Earth and those who would
save it.
The heroine of my latest novel, home care
nurse Charlie McIntyre, crosses that invisible boundary without knowing it when
she takes on a new client and his handsome son. Here’s the blurb for Not
Fade Away, Interstellar Rescue Series Book 4, launching June 12.
Earth
shielded his secrets--
Until
her love unlocked his heart.
Rescue
agent Rafe Gordon is human, though Earth has never been his home. But when his legendary
father Del becomes the target of alien assassins, Rafe must hide the
dementia-debilitated hero in the small mountain town where the old man was born—Masey,
North Carolina, USA, Earth.
Home
care nurse Charlie McIntyre and her therapy dog, Happy, have never had such
challenging clients before. Del’s otherworldly “episodes” are not explained by
his diagnosis, making Charlie question everything about her mysterious charge
and his dangerously attractive son. Rafe has the answers she needs, but Charlie
will have to break through his wall of secrets to get them.
As
the heat rises between Charlie and Rafe, the deadly alien hunters circle
closer. The light they seek to extinguish flickers in the gloom of Del’s fading
mind—the memory of a planet-killer that threatens to enslave the galaxy.
This
excerpt from Not Fade Away shows a
moment when Charlie begins to realize she may be standing on that edge—one she
never knew was there before.
Above
them the sky was full of stars, the cross-section of the Milky Way slashing
through the diamond-studded dome overhead. There was no moon tonight to detract
from this heart-stopping view of the heavens; no lights from nearby towns; no
fire built against the cold. It might be just the two of them, the only humans
on Earth, looking up at that magnificent display of creative power.
“It’s
beautiful up here. Quiet.” Though Rafe’s voice was nothing more than a soft murmur,
it seemed loud in that place.
“Mmm.”
It was a while before Charlie said what she said next. “Just think of all those
stars. Maybe all those other worlds circling them. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to
go there? To see what’s out there in all that wide space? What would it be
like?”
Beside
her, Rafe tensed. “Don’t you imagine long ago the tribal people in Africa stood
on the western shore and looked across the ocean wondering what was on the
other side before the slavers came for them? Be careful what you wish for.”
She
sat up to look at him. Even in the darkness she could see his features had
hardened, his jaw clenching, his lips compressing as in pain.
“Well,
that was quite a jump.” She tried to keep her tone light. “What are you talking
about?”
“There’s
a scientist—Stephen Hawking—ever heard of him?” When she nodded, he went on.
“He said once that you should pray Earth never does encounter alien beings.
They will almost certainly be more advanced than you and out to do you harm.”
She
noted the use of “you,” not “we” or “us.” Her pulse kicked up, and she shivered
inside her warm jacket. Had she spent the evening with some kind of UFO nut?
She
smiled, trying to distract him. “You sound like you have direct experience, Klaatu.”
He
didn’t smile back. “Don’t need experience to agree with the guy. Maybe I just
don’t like the idea of something snatching us up off this sweet little planet.”
“But there could be good aliens, couldn’t
there?” She was optimistic enough to believe it. Of course, there would be
differences in alien civilizations—of culture and language. Of technology. Of
biology, certainly. But there would always be good and evil, in any society.
“Like E.T. Or Superman?”
His
brows came together in a frown. “Not the kind of aliens I’m talking about. I
don’t think.”
Donna S. Frelick has been a journalist, a
Peace Corps Volunteer and an author of STAR TREK fan fiction. She was an RWA®
Golden Heart® Double Finalist in 2012 for the first two novels in her contemporary
SFR Interstellar Rescue series, and a
2016 SFR Galaxy Award Winner for the third book in the series, Fools Rush In.
Join the fun with other fans of the Interstellar Rescue series with
exclusive updates, cover reveals and video chats on the
