Starry Night Blog Hop: The Eternal Stars

Welcome to Spacefreighters Lounge 

and the Starry Nights Midsummer Blog Hop. 

We're glad you're here.

There are challenges to writing a Near Future Science Fiction Romance. Since the story takes place in the next couple of decades--a time frame well within the lifetime of most readers--it's a lot like writing a contemporary romance...with cooler tech.

Because the near future is so close to happening, today's technology is constantly catching up with the story, which then requires tweaks and updates, and sometimes even major revisions. But there's one timeless aspect that's universal in many SFR stories--and maybe romance stories in general.

Space...the stars...are fascinating to behold.

This excerpt from my second novel, The Outer Planets, takes place onboard a planetary research vessel bound for Jupiter and Saturn on a great mission of discovery. The NSS Robert Bradley has an unique observation deck...and a couple of trespassing protagonists who couldn't resist the allure of a Starry Night.

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April 2040
NSS Robert Bradley
Science Deck

"Looks like we have the place all to ourselves. Come over here. There's something I want you to see."

Mitch showed Lissa to the small platform lift at the center of the Science Deck. She gave him an uncertain glance, then stepped on. He joined her, activating the controls.

The lift carried them down through a circular hatch, the aperture closing above them with a whisper. Lissa’s breath caught. The POD! She gazed out at the stars, billions of them, scattered across the void.

The Planetary Observation Deck was enclosed in plass--transparent plasma. Glass thick enough to hold out the vacuum would have been too heavy and too prone to distortion, but the plasma barrier made it seem as if nothing came between them and a sweeping vista of space. Without atmosphere to distort the light, the stars looked like showers of colored sparks burning tiny holes in the night. White. Red. Blue. Yellow. Orange. They floated in their quiet eternity beyond the plass and below the transparent floor.

Lissa looked up at the reassuring bulk of the ship, just to be certain they hadn’t somehow been set adrift from the Bradley.

Mitch took her elbow and pointed out a large red ball below the port bow. "There's Jupiter."

"It’s getting close now."

He gripped the railing surrounding the POD platform. "Just two more weeks to orbit."

Following his lead, Lissa curled her fingers around the cool steel. "This is like going for a space walk without the suit."

"That was the idea." He smiled and gestured starboard. "See that small, hazy patch? I think we're seeing another galaxy."

"Maybe Andromeda...over two and a half million light years from Earth.”

“And it took the light that long to reach us. It’s like looking back through time."

"Doesn't that give you goosebumps?"

Mitch turned his head, his eyes seeking hers. "It does."

She smiled and twirled in a very slow pirouette, taking in the star-loaded panorama. Was it Mitch or the champagne making her feel so giddy?

"Make a wish," he said, and grinned at her questioning look. "It's tradition. On Earth we wish on the first star we see at night. But out here…" He swept his arm in a wide arc. "Take your pick."

Lissa found a bright, blue-white star off the port side. "That one." She closed her eyes and wished that somehow, in spite of her secret, tonight would be the night she’d hoped for.

She opened her eyes to find him standing right in front of her, a soft smile playing on his mouth. "I won't ask what you wished for. I want it to come true."

From the throatiness of his voice, she had a feeling he already knew. She lifted her face when he shifted closer. His mouth lowered to hers. She cupped his jaw and lost herself in the warm press of his lips, before she eased back and broke their connection. Then: “I was married.”

His mouth quirked and he nodded. “That’s not in your bio.”

“The marriage was annulled.” Lissa raised her chin. “Legally, it never happened.” She searched his eyes before forming the question that had to be asked, “Does it matter?”

“No.” He licked his lips, adding, “As long as you’re not married now.”

"No.  Not now." Lissa swallowed around the lump rising in her throat. "Technically...not ever."

He took her hand and stepped beside her to gaze out at the star-filled void. “I guess neither of us has had much luck with marriage.”

Lissa stroked her thumb over his and leaned closer. “Is this a good time to ask what happened with your fiancé?”

His shoulders rose and fell when he drew a deep breath. “I mentioned I caught her in bed with another man.” He paused, his fingers flexing gently against hers. “What I didn’t say was that man was my brother.”

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Thanks for joining me here at Spacefreighters Lounge--and the deck of the Robert Bradley--for the Starry Night blog hop.

We'll be offering a $10 Amazon e-Gift Card as an individual prize here on Spacefreighters Lounge. Just leave a comment below and tell us which of the planets (or moons) in our solar system is your favorite and why. We'll post the winner at the end of the blog hop, so be sure to check back.

Enter the Rafflecopter (link at bottom) for a chance to win these other GREAT prizes!

1st Prize
$100 Amazon or B&N gift card plus 41 e-books! 
Tales from the SFR Brigade, Heart of Stone, Her Cyborg Awakes, Anja's Star, Silver Strife, Corwint Series 4 Book Gift Pack, Earth's Requiem, Alien Blood, Starwoman's Sanctuary, one book from Jessica E. Subject's SFR backlist (ONE ebook title out of the following: Alien Adoration, Alien Admirer, Alien Lover, An Unexpected Return, Another Night Another Planet, Celestial Seduction, Crash Landing, Hey Santa, His Alien Virgin, Made For Her, Never Gonna Let You Go, Never Gonna Desert You, Never Gonna Say Goodbye, Satin Sheets in Space, Sudden Breakaway, or Unknown Futures), LodeStar Series Books 1-3 (Stark Pleasure, Creed of Pleasure and Captive of Pleasure), Reunion trilogy, Terms & Conditions Apply, Wreck of the Nebula Dream, Starheart, Kuralon Rescue, A Matter of Trust, Earth's Blood, Roman's Gold, Wolf Born, The Marann, Nightfall, Unrequited, Butterman Time Travel Inc., Legend Beyond the Stars, Hathor's Legacy: Outcast, Removed, Midwinter Crisis, Shlyer: Finding Home, Boyfriend's Brother, Surviving the Trap, Captive, Tower in the Woods, Catching Red.

2nd Prize 
$50 Amazon or B&N gift card plus 28 e-books! 
Tales from the SFR Brigade, Heart of Stone, Her Cyborg Awakes, Anja's Star, Silver Strife, Corwint Series 4 Book Gift Pack, Earth's Requiem, Alien Blood, Starwoman's Sanctuary, Tangled In Time, Terms & Conditions Apply, Escape from Zulaire, Lana's Comet, Heart's Bounty, Glad Hands, Nikolai, The Trial of Tompa Lee, The Tribulations of Tompa Lee, The Midas Rush, Prime Obsession, Daughters of Suralia, Morning Star, Hey Santa, Tower in the Woods, Catching Red.

3rd Prize
Three separate winners! 
Each receive $25 Amazon or B&N gift card plus 11 ebooks
Tales from the SFR Brigade, Heart of Stone, Her Cyborg Awakes, Anja's Star, Corwint Series 4 Book Gift Pack, Hey Santa, Tower in the Woods, Catching Red.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pippa's Journal - 6/18/14

I swear I had something really insightful and meaningful to share with you this week. Okay, I'm lying. I keep coming up blank. With everything that I have on, trying to come up with a blog post is just one thing too many for my poor fried brain to deal with. And that's not likely to change. But I have plenty of excitement to share!


Last week I revealed the cover for my scifi romance novella Tethered. This story has been a long time coming!

What do you think? It has a bit of a Star Wars look I feel, and considering what a huge influence the original trilogy had on me (Luke Skywalker was my first crush, lol), I suppose that's kind of appropriate. I can't wait for release day. Woot!

Tethered has been a long time coming, considering I entered the blurb into the SFR Brigade pitch contest back in January 2012. Wow. Although I hadn't finished writing it then. Last summer, Tethered was contracted by Definition House, but when they unfortunately had to close their doors in January 2014, I thought Tethered would stay homeless. Yay to Breathless Press for picking it up. Otherwise I could never introduce you to Tyree and Zander. It'll release on the 25th July.

Last week I finally sent off the re-edits for Keir to my freelance editor. Along with the edits for my paranormal short releasing in October, my poor beleaguered editor is about to be hit with my cover art form for that one too. How I love to keep her busy! 

This week the pre-edits for my superhero romance When Dark Falls also went back to my editor at Breathless Press, while I received the final cover art for my YA supernatural novella Restless In Peaceville. That will be revealed on the 27th June, just after the Midsummer blog hop. It's all go! I'm also working on an angel story for a holiday submission call with BP. I had planned to do Camp NaNoWriMo in July and use it to finish  the three short stories I have in progress (more zombies for Lycaon Press, the angel story for Breathless, and maybe one of the other shorts still sitting in my files). But since I'll have edits for WDF and Tethered releasing, perhaps I'm expecting a bit too much. My three monsters will be home from school from mid-July for seven weeks, and with two book releases in that time, there may simply not be enough hours in the day. 

Happenings

Starry Nights are coming! The SFR Brigade's 3rd Midsummer blog hop kicks off on the 21st June, and boy do we have some stellar prizes for you.

1st $100 Amazon or B&N gift card, plus 42 ebook bundle

2nd $50 Amazon or B&N gift card plus 33 ebook bundle

3rd 3 winners will each win a $25 Amazon or B&N gift card, plus an 11 ebook bundle

And that's not including some of the individual prizes being offered on some blogs taking part. Laurie will be posting here at Spacefreighters Lounge, while I'm back on my own blog at Adventures in Scifi with a quote from my favourite scifi TV program and an excerpt. Stop by the Brigade blog HERE from the 21st to find the full list of participants and the book bundle details. It's going to be a blast! A huge thank you to everyone participating, and to those who donated to the grand prizes. We couldn't do this event without your support!

The Sci-fi Romance Quarterly is asking for review copies of new SFR books being released, and Heather also chats about promotional options for SFR authors. Check out the details HERE. 

Do You Know This Book?!?! The SFR Brigade received a request to find a book mentioned on R. Lee Smith's website - 

"I read a book once in which the alien hero kept his reproductive apparatus in the palms of his hands. As a priest sworn to celibacy, he went gloved throughout the story, but it was obvious he was falling in love with the human heroine. At the end of the book, as she stood on the landing dock with her ship behind her, ready to fly away forever, she looked him in the eye and held out her hand. He took his glove off and shook it. It was sex; he knew it; she knew it; no one else knew it, but it wasn’t anyone else’s business."

If you think you know the book or title, or perhaps you're part of a group/site where you might be able to pass on the question, please do and let us know. We're now all dying of curiosity to find out what this book is!

Donna blogged about her path to publication over at the Firebirds website HERE. Well worth a read, especially for aspiring authors. The publishing industry is still in a big state of flux, and this will give you an idea of what might lie in the future.

Ping Pong

Donna, loved the review of Edge of Tomorrow. Sounds an improvement on the last Cruise film I saw - Oblivion - which left me dissatisfied. 

Sharon, sleep deprivation is definitely making my head feel like it's full of dandelion fluff, that's for sure! But I really do believe in the best promotion being the next book, and the more prolific and perhaps varied we are with our titles, the more I hope one of our writerly seeds gets found and picked up. As long as no one decides we are weeds!

Laurie, disappointments suck. There's no getting around that, and personally I feel we're allowed to wallow in it for a while. To regret, or to wish it hadn't gone like that. But after the bad start to the year, I am trying to see set backs merely as redirection to a better path. After all, my year has pretty much turned around, so I've actually seen it in action. Never give up - never surrender!