Four Visions, Four Voices: Sharon Lynn Fisher

Last, but certainly not least, we have Sharon Lynn Fisher to wrap up our Four Visions, Four Voices series. Sharon's novel, Ghost Planet, received one of the highest of all honors in 2009 when it was named as a finalist in the RWA Golden Heart competition. (Sharon is probably one of only a very small handful of SFR writers to ever achieve this pinnacle).

How would you classify your SFR? (Space opera, romantic SF, apocalyptic, military SFR, or other.)

I think GHOST PLANET is an “other.” It’s psychological, and character-driven. Rooted in big questions, like what it means to be human, and the boundaries between love and dependence. But don’t get the wrong idea - it does have aliens, action, twists and turns, and sex!

GP also explores the idea of symbiosis in relationships – human relationships, but also the relationship between humans and their environment.

What makes your story "different' or what unique elements would entertain readers?

It’s hard for me to be objective about this, but others have commented GP is sci-fi romance even those who don’t like sci-fi would enjoy. It *is* set on another world. With aliens. But the main characters are psychologists, and people you might meet anywhere.

I think the element that interests readers is watching the main character respond to the discovery she’s not the person (or species) she thought she was. The only person she knows on this new world believes she’s his enemy – and she can’t walk more than thirty or so yards away from him.

Do you have a favorite line from your novel that you can share?

In searching for this I discovered it’s tricky pulling lines out of context and having them sound as nice! Here are a few that I like on their own ...

“I glanced around, irrational and frantic, looking for what, I don’t know - some way out of my situation, a tunnel back to a more comfortable reality.”

“You people really are a malignancy.”

“I was running on pure adrenaline - me, two guns, and two sprigs of some deadly poisonous herb, against...how many guards had Peter said? Thirty?”

Anything else you'd like to share about your work?

I’m wrapping up a rewrite of GHOST PLANET in preparation for submission, and after that I have another project I’m eager to continue. ECHO 8, a near-future romance with both sci-fi and paranormal elements, is a 2009 finalist in RWA’s Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter contest, On the Far Side.

Could you give us a sneak peek at Ghost Planet?

At this point in the story, Elizabeth is just beginning to come out of denial about her new identity...

I followed Murphy in a daze. To anyone in the street I must have looked just like all the other ghosts, striding along behind him, eyes fixed on his back.

I was so tired. All I wanted to do was sleep. Sleep and forget. Sleep and wake up from this nightmare, my limbs tingling and my neck aching from curling up against the hard, narrow transport seat.

The transport would land at the terminal. I would get off. Meet my new supervisor. And I would refuse to leave the terminal until the next transport to Earth.

Or maybe I would shake off the effects of the nightmare quickly. Maybe I’d wake up energized and ready to start my new life.

So many possibilities, once I was no longer dead.

Thanks so much, Sharon, for sharing your thoughts about Ghost Planet, and giving us a taste of your vision and voice in creating this fascinating world.