Meet the #Author - Anna Hackett

Please tell us a bit about yourself:

I’m Anna Hackett and I write action romance stories to thrill, excite and hopefully leave my readers inspired. I write about people overcoming unbeatable odds and achieving seemingly impossible goals to inspire you with the truth that the possibility exists for all of us to do the same.

I blame my parents for my insatiable need to mix action and romance. When I was young, I raided my mother’s romances and as soon as I could reach the shelf, my father’s action adventure thrillers. I love being exhilarated and left just a little breathless. I love car chases, explosions and spaceships…and of course when the boy wins the girl. Oh, and I’m a sucker for that moment when the team is walking in slow motion, shoulder-to-shoulder heading off into battle. I’ve been a sci-fi fan as long as I can remember: Star Wars, Star Trek, BSG, you name it.

I grew up in Australia—running around in the sunny weather and turning my mother’s outdoor furniture into spaceships. As a mining engineer, I’ve traveled the world from icy, subarctic Northern Canada to the heat of Southern Africa. On a work trip a few years ago, I ran out of books to read in the evenings (this was before the days of my beloved Kindle) and I decided I’d have to try writing my own. A passion was born.

I’ve been living in Africa for the last year—yet another adventure—but my hubby, son and I are now headed back to sunny Australia. Oh, and by the time this hits the SFR Brigade blog, I’ll have a new little bundle of joy (another son) in my life! 

Tell us about AT STAR’S END:

First off, today is release day for AT STAR’S END! I am super excited.

AT STAR’S END is a non-stop, action-packed adventure across the galaxy. It’s a good old-fashioned treasure hunt tossed a long way into the future.

A rogue treasure hunter and a rule-loving astro-archeologist team up to find the legendary lost colony of Star’s End…reputed to be the resting place of the last surviving fragment of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Needless to say, the route to get there is hardly straight or safe and these two make sparks fly!

This is the first book in my new PHOENIX ADVENTURES series. There’ll be more action-adventure treasure hunts as the hero of AT STAR’S END, Dathan Phoenix, has two brothers in desperate need of their happily-ever-afters.

What inspired you to write this particular story?:

I’m a huge ancient history fan (I’ve visited Egypt twice) and I love reading about the exploits of treasure hunters, explorers and antiquarians of centuries past. Adventures like that aren’t possible anymore…we’ve either discovered it or the law doesn’t allow it. Then I realized I could write my own treasure hunt, set well into the future, with archeologists and treasure hunters searching for the artifacts that remain of our world.

Oh, and of course, I have this burning need to mix action and romance in all my stories. Put that all together and you get AT STAR’S END.

Please share a favourite snippet from your book:

A quick glance and Eos saw four armed men headed for them.

“Time to go.” Dathan gripped her arm. “Stay low.”

They ran along the line of the roof.

“Up there.” He pointed to some sort of tower topped with a small terrace.

She followed and resisted looking down. She wasn’t afraid of heights but she didn’t love them either.

Suddenly there was the loud roar of engines. Dathan’s salvage ship, the Infinitas, hovered above them. The ship’s body was shaped like a scorpion. A large movable tail was a powerful crane and the two large pincer claws at the front were, she guessed, excellent for in-space salvage.

In the angular synth-glass cockpit at the front she could just make out Zayn at the control screen and Niklas’s large frame leaning over him.

A line fell down in front of them. Dathan clipped the end onto a hook on his belt. “You’ll have to wrap yourself around me.”

She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his neck.

“And the legs. Don’t want to lose you on the way up.”

He helped boost her up and she wrapped her legs around his lean waist.

She forgot all about being chased. As the line retracted and they whizzed upward, she stared into his blue-green eyes.

That handsome, battered face was so compelling. So much life. Adrenaline and the flush of success zinged through her veins. It felt good.

He was hot and hard pressed against her in the most intimate way. If she moved her hips, she’d feel the hard ridge of him settle against the space between her legs.

She was attracted to him. To a man she wasn’t sure she even liked. But he was just so alive, leaped into adventure, into life, in a way she never had.

It had to be the adrenaline making her feel like this. Nothing else.

They jerked to a stop. Niklas hauled them aboard the ship. “You two okay?”

She nodded, releasing Dathan and standing on shaky legs.

“There a reason Eos was wrapped around you like a pleasure worker? You could have used the secondary harness I sent down.”

Her gaze dropped to the second harness rigged to the bottom of the line. She smacked Dathan in the stomach. “Idiot.”

Which comes first for you – a character's looks, personality or name?:

This is a hard question…I think it’s different for each character but most of the time it’s personality. Take Dathan Phoenix for example – I knew he’d be a rogue, a treasure hunter, a loyal brother, a little wild and daring – his name and looks came after.

Any tips for aspiring authors?:

Write, write, write. Write every day. There’s no magic secret to learning to write or to writing more except to sit down and do it.

Questions for fun:

If you had the power of time travel, is there anything you would go back and change? Why/why not?:

No, I don’t think so. I believe everything happens for a reason and we can learn from everything that happens to us. Besides, I wouldn’t want to mess with the time line and accidently change things I didn’t want changed!

What super-power would you choose?: Teleportation. I have far too many frequent flyer miles and have spent far too many hours on planes (and with a toddler). I’d love to zap myself wherever I needed to go.

If you could have three wishes, what would they be?:

Health, wealth and happiness. No, really. Good health for me, my kids, my family and friends. Wealth from doing the things I love to do and so I have the opportunity to give my children fabulous opportunities and experiences, and to help others. Happiness from seeing all my dreams become reality.

Coffee, tea or wine?:

Oh, a tough choice between my beloved red wine and my tea (Earl Grey, hot). I’ll go with tea.

What is your favourite book? (aside from one of your own!):

I don’t have just one! I do have favorite authors which include Nora Roberts, Nalini Singh, Pamela Clare, Wilbur Smith and Matthew Reilly. That said, I am a HUGE Pride and Prejudice fan.

Favourite genre and why?:

Action romance. I find good action romance spread across paranormal romance, science fiction romance and romantic suspense. But I definitely lean toward paranormal and sci-fi. It’s always fun, thrilling, exciting and leaves me inspired.

Favourite colour?: Red. A nice deep wine-red or blood-red, not red like a tomato!

Upcoming news and plans for the future?:

Book #2 of the PHOENIX ADVENTURES will be coming soon. It’s called IN THE DEVIL’S NEBULA.

The last three short stories in my WINDKEEPERS series will be out after Devil’s Nebula. These are action romance with a paranormal background (based on Roman mythology) and feature some sexy brothers.

And I have a brand new action romance series, TEAM 52, coming in the second half of the year. I am SO excited for these books to hit the virtual shelves.

Oh, and a new baby. That’s some pretty big news (-: <Congrats!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us!

So much fun to be here! I love the SFR Brigade and its dedication to all things sci-fi romance.

AT STAR’S END blurb

Dr. Eos Rai has spent a lifetime dedicated to her mother’s dream of finding the long lost Mona Lisa. When Eos uncovers tantalizing evidence of Star’s End—the last known location of the masterpiece—she’s shocked when her employer, the Galactic Institute of Historic Preservation, turn its back on her. Left with no choice, Eos must trust the most notorious treasure hunter in the galaxy; a man she finds infuriating, annoying and far too tempting.

Dathan Phoenix can sniff out relics at a stellar mile. With his brothers by his side, he takes the adventures that suit him and refuses to become a lazy, bitter failure like his father. When the gorgeous Eos Rai comes looking to hire him, he knows she’s trouble, but he’s lured into a hunt that turns into a wild and dangerous adventure. As Eos and Dathan are pushed to their limits, they discover treasure isn’t the only thing they’re drawn to…but how will their desire survive when Dathan demands the Mona Lisa as his payment?

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes | ARe

Where readers can find me:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

SFRB Recommends #12: Terms and Conditions Apply #scifi #sfromance #sfr

Terms and Conditions Apply - by Pippa Jay

Venus Ascendant, a Public Grade space station in the Andromedan Galaxy designed to meet your every desire, be they sunlit beaches or dark BDSM dungeons. Innocent Marie finds herself dumped and alone on Venus Ascendant with no credit for a transmat and the next starship home not due for another hour. But the all-seeing AI isn’t going to leave anyone aboard the space station with their dreams unfulfilled. Marie's boyfriend might not have made it to the station, but there are others willing and able to take on the role - even if they aren’t entirely human.

An entertaining read all around. Marie’s transformation was realistic and the story has some interesting twists. I love the way it played out with the leading man. As an added bonus, I didn’t see the ending coming. Love it when that happens.

Available from Smashwords.

This week's recommendation comes from Sabine Priestley.

Author site: Pippa Jay - Sci-fi and the Supernatural with a Romantic Soul

Ruled by Cool: How Much Science is Too Much?

Hello hello!

So, a quick post today. As some of you will know, I'm an editor as well as a sci fi writer, and that means that I fix a lot of errors. But, being a writer, I also make them.

I've been watching Mythbusters a lot lately. Unfortunately, I don't spend my days firing guns, breaking down doors, fending off wild jellyfish, etcetera, so my understanding of how to do these things is impaired. And Hollywood certainly doesn't help. Did you know, for instance, that bullets don't ricochet and produce sparks? Sure, they do ricochet, but--as frequent readers of Cracked.com may also know--they certainly aren't as fatal as advertised, either. In movies, TV, and a lot of books, one shot means you die.

But what about science fiction? We often talk about matter transporters, Faster Than Light (FTL) travel, fast-growth cloning, and other semi-realistic and sometimes purely fictional technologies. (Yes, I know cloning is real, but we haven't cloned any humans and we haven't sorted out that pesky issue of the telomeres yet.) So when it comes to the little details, do we follow the 'Rule of Cool' (doing whatever seems coolest) or do we try our best to create something realistic? There's a few approaches to this, which I'll outline below.

Approach 1: Whatever is The Coolest

This is what it says on the tin. Ricocheting spark-bullets? Diving through suspiciously close asteroid belts? Ignoring side-effects of a drug treatment? Convenient amnesia? Arguably, this is sloppy writing, but it's also within most readers' comfort zones and is often easy to picture. As well, most readers won't be experts, and most who are will recognize the value of entertainment rather than something that's, well, more rigorous in intent. However, some readers are annoyed by this, and too many scientific errors or historical anachronisms will bounce you right out of a story.

Approach 2: Scientific Rigour

Jack McDevitt stands out as an author who follows this; Charles Sheffield, too. It characterizes a lot of Golden-Age sci fi, but not the pulp sci fi (which tends to follow Approach 1). This is more realistic, and that can be nice, but it can also be bogged down by exposition. Sometimes it's also a bit inaccessible. After all, not all of us who write sci fi are teachers or astronomers. It also involves a lot of research. However, 'getting it right' is really satisfying, and readers often compliment it.

Most sci fi falls into the middle, but there's a skew towards each end. Personally, I think that due to the lack of scientific education, we should be aiming a bit more towards Approach 2, but modifying it. Really, it's okay to have space be silent and sacrifice sparkly bullets and deal with injuries realistically. The thing about Approach 1 is that it arguably makes a story too easy for the characters. Consider Starship Troopers, which is intentionally a satire, and which makes use of Approach 1 very heavily. Consider Alien instead, which was a bit more realistic, and much more difficult for characters to survive.

It's a matter of taste, but consider doing your research very thoroughly before your next story--question the little stuff, too, not just the location of the nearest habitable moon or planet. How would doors work? You don't have to--and shouldn't--explain everything, but a little realism can go a long way.

*****

Thanks for dropping by the nest once again. Don't miss any of the phuquerie. Find Michelle on Twitter, Facebook, and on Tumblr, and find her work on Amazon. Check back on the blog to see when one of the irregular posts has careened onto your feed. This is the one and only SciFiMagpie, over and out! 

5 Ways Rabies Influenced my (Zombie) Romance

by Tara Quan

Once upon a time, I was fortunate enough to have one of those jobs where I was expected only to (a) have a pulse, (b) answer the phone, and (c) track down a place in the United Arab Emirates that sold HRIG (Human Rabies Immunoglobulin). I won’t confirm or deny whether or not I spent any work time writing my novel, but let’s just say I had plenty of brain capacity leftover for plotting.

When writing science fiction, I prefer to base my more pie-in-the-sky ideas on a grain of truth. When I decided writing a fairy tale set in a zombie world was going to be my path to fame and fortune (man was I in for a world of disappointment), I drew inspiration for the Undead Reanimation Virus (URV) from Rabies.

Here are 5 things Rabies and my Undead Reanimation Virus (URV) have in common:

1. Transmission: Rabies is transmitted when infected saliva of a host (a monkey, in the case I dealt with) comes into contact with a patient, most commonly through a bite. Sound familiar?
   
2. Prevention: Rabies is prevented by eliminating hosts, usually through ensuring adequate animal vaccination and educating those at risk to recognize signs of the disease in animals, to include changes in behavior, reduced food and water intake, increased saliva production, violent out bursts, and biting at the slightest provocation. URV is prevented by eliminating zombies, usually through a shot in the head, and educating survivors to recognize signs of zombie-ism, including violent behavior, foaming at the mouth, and excessive biting.
3. Disease Progression: Rabies has an incubation period between 10 days -7 years, though the average is 3-6 weeks. Symptoms include drooling, convulsions, excitability, loss of muscle function, fever, muscle spasms, as well as numbness and tingling. For story purposes, I reduced the incubation period of URV to 24 hours, but the rest of the progression of rabies jived well with zombies, so I kept it as is.
   
4. Treatment: For an unvaccinated patient, rabies is treated by cleaning the wound well with soap and water, followed by an injection of human rabies immunoglobulin at the site of the bite the day it occurred. This provides immediate antibodies until the body can respond to the vaccine by creating antibodies of its own. This injection is followed by 5 doses of the rabies vaccine. Guess how URV-immunoglobulin works.
   
5. Vaccine: Made from inert rabies virus, the vaccine is given to people at high risk to protect them if they are exposed. It can also prevent the disease if it is given to a person after exposure. It should be considered for people who might come into frequent contact with rabies and international travelers. In both Tower in the Woods and Catching Red, Federal Military Agents sent from Washington, D.C. into the wastelands (which I equate with international travel) receive the URV vaccine. Refugees from the wasteland who have been bitten also receive the vaccine as a form of treatment.
   

Catching Red

Scarlet “Red” Ryding is on a mission. To prevent mass suicide, she must fulfill her grandmother’s evil wishes and return posthaste. With knives in hand, she dives headfirst into an abandoned hospital full of zombies. But after getting trapped within, she is forced to accept help from the world’s most dangerous predator—a man.

Covert Agent Marcus Woodsman received strict instructions against interfering in the affairs of nomads. As a spy for the Federal Military Agency, his mandate is to observe and report. But when he finds a little redhead caught in the center of a brain-eater swarm, conscience compels him to put his ax to good use. By the time he realizes this smart-ass scout comes equipped with a world of trouble, it’s too late—he would do anything to keep her safe.

As Red and her Woodsman work together to survive undead, brave a snowstorm, and bring down an evil cult, they learn to laugh, love, and fight for happiness. The second book in Tara Quan’s Undead Fairy Tales series, Catching Red is a post-apocalyptic thriller with a happily ever after.

Buy Links: Consolidated | Amazon | AllRomance | LSBooks | GoodReads

About the Tara Quan

Globetrotter, lover of languages, and romance author, Tara Quan has an addiction for crafting tales with a pinch of spice and a smidgen of kink. Inspired by her travels, Tara enjoys tossing her kick-ass heroines and alpha males into exotic contemporary locales, fantasy worlds, and post-apocalyptic futures. Armed with magical powers or conventional weapons, her characters are guaranteed a suspenseful and sensual ride, as well as their own happily ever after. Learn more at www.taraquan.com 

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