Meet the Author: Donna S. Frelick

Today, our Monday Meet the Author guest is Donna S. Frelick, who has been a member of the SFR Brigade from day one, and who has an exciting new Science Fiction Romance release coming on June 12th! Welcome, Donna!  


How or why did you first start writing SFR? Any particular inspirations? What are your favorite SF/R movies or television series and why?

This is a long answer because I have to combine two questions. I started out my SFR career writing STAR TREK fan fiction, and I’m still a huge fan of The Original Series. Yes, I can quote scenes and episodes, name characters and shout “Ka-a-a-h-n!” at the skies with the best of them. There was always plenty of love in TOS, but not enough romance. Kirk was forever leaving his women behind because of death or duty. So I felt compelled to write better endings for him in the fan fiction work I published in the nonprofit underground Orion Press, sold online and at SF cons. Good practice for my own novels later, though my Interstellar Rescue series is really more X-FILES (love that one, too!) than TREK.


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

I’m the author of the contemporary SFR Interstellar Rescue series: Unchained Memory (Book 1); Trouble in Mind (Book 2); Fools Rush In (Book 3); and Not Fade Away (Book 4—launching June 12). They are stand-alone novels, each with a different romantic couple, but all set in the same universe. The IR universe is a little different in that it’s largely set here and now. Much of the action, particularly in Unchained Memory and Trouble in Mind, takes place on Earth. That’s why I call it contemporary SFR. But Rescue’s Earth is a kind of “rural backwater” in a very busy galaxy full of slave-trading bad-guy aliens, abolitionist good-guy heroes, and plenty of colorful characters.

Not Fade Away, Interstellar Rescue Book 4, launches June 12, and is on pre-order now on Amazon (see link below). Here’s the blurb:

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.


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

Rafe was silent a moment, then he lifted his hand to touch her face. "I know it’s selfish of me, Charlie, but I’m not a bit sorry we met. I’m just sorry that means you got caught up in . . . all this."

She shook her head. "All this is your life. It's a package deal."

"Midnight murders, slave-trading aliens and all?" he countered.

"Kidnappings, intelligent machines and all," she answered, smiling. Then she took a
chance and laid her heart open. “I don’t know. Could be that means I love you, Rafe. What do you think?” She held her breath and waited for him to find a way out of the bind she’d put him in.

Instead, he pulled her closer. “I think that’s a good thing, Charlie. Because I don’t want to let you go. Nothing could make me leave you now.”


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

The first two books in the Interstellar Rescue series—Unchained Memory (Book 1) and Trouble in Mind (Book 2)—were finalists in the 2012 Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® contest for unpublished manuscripts. Fools Rush In, Interstellar Rescue Book 3, was a 2016 SFR Galaxy Award Winner. I’m very proud of all my book babies!

(By the way, all three of these award-winning novels are currently on sale for only $0.99 each on Amazon for a limited time. Catch up with the series now—see link below!)


How long have you been a member of the SFR Brigade and do you serve any special roles within the community?

I’m proud to say I have been a Brigade member since the organization was just a gleam in Laurie Green’s sparkly eye! I am one of the Brigade’s signature members, but my only special role has been to be a sounding board for Laurie’s fantastic ideas! I think it’s wonderful and amazing how the Brigade has grown over the years to encompass so many authors, styles, interpretations of SFR and visions of the future.


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

I’m a big believer in HEA and the idea that love conquers all, so, yeah, the romance comes first for me. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy playing with SF ideas, in particular, alien cultures and political structure, the scary idea of alien abduction and the hopeful counter of an intergalactic abolitionist movement. I love action, too, and suspense—enough to keep the plot moving. But the focus is always on the relationship at the center of the story.

Not Fade Away, Interstellar Rescue Book 4, available NOW on pre-order!


About the Author
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 an SFR Galaxy Award winner for the third book in the series. She lives on 44 beautiful mountain acres near Asheville NC with her husband and two talkative cats.

Find Donna at:

Website        Blog        Facebook        Twitter    

 

Amazon Author Page      Goodreads Author Page

Join the fun with other fans of the Interstellar Rescue series with exclusive updates, cover reveals and video chats on the Interstellar Rescue Squad Facebook Group Page

SFRB Recommends #81: Driven by Eve Silver

In the harsh Northern Waste where human life is worth little, ice trucker Raina Bowen has learned to keep her eyes open and her knife close at hand. She's spent her life on the run, one step ahead of the megalomaniac who hunts her. All she wants is to stay out of trouble and haul her load of grain to Gladow Station--but trouble finds her in the form of a sexy stranger called Wizard. He has the trucking pass she needs, and she has to drag him out of a brawl with the very people she's trying to hide from in order to get it. She may have rescued him, but Raina's not foolish enough to see Wizard as anything close to helpless. He's hard and honed and full of secrets--secrets that may destroy them both. As they race across the Waste, trying to outrun rival truckers, ice pirates, and the powerful man bent on their destruction, Raina's forced to admit that trouble's found her. And this time, there's nowhere left to run. 

This book was previously published with the author's name as Eve Kenin.

There are plenty of parallels to Mad Max, especially with various vehicles all the time. Only this desert's made of ice, full of its own perils.

The attraction between Raina and Wizard may be instant, but their other feelings take a while to grow and don't feel rushed. Their emotional pasts are complicated, and that makes the way they interact more interesting. The secondary characters are all intriguing and I want to read more about them.

The world Silver builds in Driven is one I want to explore more: it's believable and fascinating. Environmental and cultural details blend in an immersive experience. I read it in one day. 

Author's book site: https://www.evesilver.net/books

This recommendation by Lee Koven.

Here's an older cover you might see on paperbacks: 

Using Classic Sci-fi To Influence New Stories in the Hikoboshi Series by @spajonas

by S.J. Pajonas 

My mom was the first person to hand over a science fiction book to me. I remember that moment when she produced CHILDHOOD’S END by Arthur C. Clarke and said, “I think you’ll enjoy this.” I was already a Star Trek and Star Wars fan, so she knew what I was into. She understood my need to dream amongst the stars. And that book? It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Growing up a child in the 80s and 90s, I spent a lot of time in the library. I can still see in my head our two local libraries, the two places I spent the most time pouring over every book in the science fiction section and hoping for something new to pop out at me. No science fiction book was safe! I read the blurbs on the back cover, and I paged through the first chapter. Each trip, I took home at least three or four books and was back in a week for more. I even joined the Science Fiction Book Club and looked forward to each book sent to me. My appetite was insatiable. 


So it came as no surprise to anyone when I started writing my own science fiction series, The Nogiku Series and The Hikoboshi Series. The advice for most authors is to write what you want to read, and I wanted more adventures in space, preferably with women at the helm. Because you know what all those stories I read as a kid lacked? Women. I rarely saw a three-dimensional woman, someone I could look up to. Yet, those stories still grabbed me, despite the lack of role models. Since deciding to write my own series, I have focused on women while still paying homage to the great authors who came before me.

The series I’m writing now references two of my favorite science fiction stories from my childhood: Phillip K Dick’s BLADE RUNNER/DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? and Isaac Asimov’s Robot Series, THE CAVES OF STEEL THE NAKED SUN, and THE ROBOTS OF DAWN. With androids on the loose in the Hikoboshi Series, it seemed proper to access the classics and use them to guide me. But I thought, “What if my worlds had never read those books? What kinds of things would they do the same? What would they do differently?” 

So I took two paths and made Blade Runner my “positive” guide and The Robot Series my “negative” guide. With lifelike androids who were so human they needed to be tested, the Blade Runner model pushed the story along for my heroine, Yumi. She could never tell who was human, who was android. And her Blade Runner hero, Rin, would devote his career to figuring out the difference. Choosing the opposite of The Robot Series model, the Hikoboshi androids would have no rules or laws that they operated by. It would lead to chaos and upheaval… until the two models could be reversed and go in the opposite directions at the mid-point of the series. 

As someone who loves a good plot twist, this model has been a lot of fun to work with! And I’m sure I’m leaving readers with lots of questions and looking for answers that I look forward to answering as the series progresses. And of course, I’m enjoying referencing my favorite stories from my childhood.

What are your favorite sci-fi classics? Have they influenced your choices of current science fiction to read? Tell me all about them in the comments.

---

S. J. Pajonas is the author of the Nogiku Series and the Hikoboshi Series, both Japan-inspired fiction. She’s a writer, knitter, amateur astrologer, Capricorn, and Japanophile. She loves foxes, owls, sushi, yoga pants, Evernote, and black tea. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing or spending time outside, unless it’s winter. She hates winter. Someday she’ll own a house in both hemispheres so she can avoid the season entirely. She’s a mom to two great kids and lives with her husband and family outside NYC. They have no pets. Yet. When it comes to her work, expect the unexpected. She doesn’t write anything typical. Find her online at http://www.spajonas.com. 

FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT, the third book of the Hikoboshi Series, is now on sale! You can find the first book of the series, CRASH LAND ON KURAI, at https://www.spajonas.com/crash-land-on-kurai/

Why My Characters Don't Say I Love You by @karalockharte

by Kara Lockharte  

In my books, I often avoid having my characters say “I Love You.”

Why?

Because “I love you,” can take on many different meanings and forms.

A man can say “I love you,” to his sister (though if you’re my brother, you’re more likely to say something like, “you actually know what you’re talking about for once!”) and then turn around and say the same words to his girlfriend.

Most likely (at least in my books!) those words will mean completely different things.

Instead, I’d rather have the actions of my characters speak for themselves.

In the first Space Shifters novel, WANTED BY THE WEREWOLF PRINCE, when Prince Ral is trying to win back fighter pilot Captain Skye, does he send her flowers?

Nope.

Candy?

Nope.

Jewelry.

Nope.

Instead, he sends her an envelope. With blueprints for the next generation of deep space fighter jets.

With her name on them.

Because Ral knows fighter pilot Skye, knows precisely how to target her deepest desires.

And by sending her those blueprints, he’s saying to her:

-I don’t care how much it costs (because honestly deep space fighter jets are pretty damn expensive).

-I know who you are, who you truly are.

-I’m going to make a place for you in my life.

It’s also a challenge.

As far as Skye knows, only the Coalition makes those fighter jets.

So if foreign Prince Ral has them, does that mean he stole them?

It’s a conundrum that Skye’s morality won’t let him get away with.

And that’s precisely what Ral’s counting on to bring her back to him.

That’s the kind of gesture that says, I KNOW YOU.

Which for Ral, means I LOVE YOU.

Author Bio:

Kara Lockharte is the author of the Space Shifter Chronicles. She loves writing romances featuring smart heroines and sexy alpha shifters in space.
 

She lives on Planet Earth. Her next release is a sexy dragonshifter PNR, BETROTHED TO THE DRAGON dropping June 12th.

Author Social Media:

Website: karalockharte.com

Facebook Page: facebook.com/karalockharte

Twitter: @karalockharte

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/karalockharte

Bookbub Author Profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kara-lockharte