AKC just informed me that today is National Dog Day. Okay. Sounds like a great time to make introductions! (Although National Cat, Weasel and Mongoose Day would work too! heh heh)
My "pet" in Pets in Space® 4 which releases October 8th, will mark the third "StarDog" series story I've written for three of the four successive anthologies. In reality, the volume is more of a novella "collection" than a mere anthology, because these are some pretty hefty stories...not just shorts! The entire volume will be nearly 1,500 pages long or about the size of five full novels! All for about the cost of a cup of coffee!
Ahoy! Days and days (if not
weeks) of reading enjoyment ahead for ya'll!
So let me introduce my latest "cutest little sidekick in the galaxy."
Meet Maura the SpyDog
Did you see my quiz on my
Facebook Author Page? If so, did you guess right? (Someone guessed that my pet probably had feline qualities--and they were partially right!)
Maura may be the craftiest and most resourceful pet yet, because she's a SpyDog, which is a special StarDog upgrade created to work as partner with a deep cover spy. Maura is enhanced in a number of ways from other StarDogs which were bio-engineered to be ship's mascots and companion animals. She's still made up of the same canine-feline-weasel-mongoose genetics, but she has keen intelligence and the ability to communicate with her handler (though not via telepathy).
Their ability to dialogue over short distances is essential to mission performance, but this upgrade and the technology it involves actually makes for an unexpected twist in the story.
But no spoilers!
Like all highly-intelligent creatures, Maura can also have her idiosyncrasies. Here's a snippet from the story that showcases a bit of the interaction between the spirited little SpyDog and her deep-cover agent/handler, Rigel Blackline. These two partners have a galaxy-altering mission to perform, and crossing paths with a possible enemy asset along the way--a legendary warrior-class female Rathskian--is about to add a whole new level of dynamics to their important quest!
_______________________
Excerpt from "SpyDog"
(a novella of over 30,000 words)
To be released October 8, 2019 as part of Pets in Space® 4
Scene Set-Up
While performing his Network mission, Rigel Blackline has encountered an enigmatic warrior-class female Rathskian--a member of the enemy Ithian Alliance. But she claims to be on the side of the Network, and though Rigel is skeptical he agrees to team up with her to find a way off the planet where they're both stranded, while secretly planning to turn her over to his superiors as an enemy asset.
The Rathskian gave him a questioning look. “Why have we stopped?”
“I need to wait for instructions.”
She looked around the empty hangar doubtfully. “How will they contact you here?”
“They’ll find a way.”
The little StarDog poked her head out and Rigel waved her out of the bag. She slithered free and bounced around—
“Happy! Happy!”—before fixing her attention on the woman.
“Friend?”
“Not friend.”
“Your StarDog’s name is Maura?” the Rathskian asked, kneeling and reaching out to gently run her fingers through his partner’s thick fur.
Had he called her by name? “Yes.”
“Hello, Maura,” she whispered to the StarDog. “I am Sona.”
He made a mental note of it—the Rathskians didn’t use surnames—to run through the Network’s database later. Hopefully, he’d be getting an update soon.
Maura gave one of her contented feline purrs, nestling her head against Sona’s chin to cuddle when the Rathski sat down. Then she made two quick turns in Sona’s lap and flopped onto her back.
“Belly rub?”
“She can’t hear you.”
She didn’t need to. Sona smiled and stroked the StarDog’s silky belly. His partner’s eyes closed in bliss.
Rigel threw the tiny beast a covert frown.
“Don’t overdo it, pard. Make her work for your trust.”
The StarDog wrinkled her nose at him and sneezed, her scoffing reply coming through loud and clear.
“Maura knows.”
_______________________
The artist who created my SpyDog image must have been somewhat telepathic themselves, because they created Maura in one of her favorite poses--begging for a belly rub. It suits her so perfectly!
Naturally, Maura is also very proud to be a part of supporting
Hero-Dogs, a non-profit that provides service animals for disabled veterans and first responders. Ten percent of all pre-order and first month sales of
Pets in Space® 4 will go to benefit Hero-Dogs. Did you know the three prior Pets in Space volumes have resulted in $7,100 in donations? We're hoping to make this a banner year for our contribution!
Maura hopes this is the best year ever! After all, StarDogs, SpyDogs and Hero-Dogs all share a common mission--assisting their human counterparts in wonderful ways.
and you can also
and also be sure to tour
Hero-Dogs online site
to see all the great work they're doing!
Have a great week!
Well, it was a very lively discussion for a while on
the forum, until it degenerated into the old debates about “what is SFR, really”
and “do enough people actually write it” (both questions which have been answered
over and over in our own Science Fiction Romance Brigade). Then somebody began
to hurl insults about how romance is nothing but “trash,” (on a romance forum?) until the moderator was
forced to call a halt and the RWA® president felt compelled to remind people to
play nice.
I recently had a chance to give a video tour of my
workspace and do an author interview for the LoveRomanceReads blog. I won’t be
taking the v-blog universe by storm, but it was fun anyway!
