HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY TO MY GUY

No long-winded post today about science fiction or world affairs. I just want to use this platform to wish my wonderful, supportive husband a happy 70th birthday! We'll be celebrating with a big party this weekend (though his actual birthday is July 25), so I'm a little busy today, but I didn't want to waste the opportunity to give him the credit he's due for having my back in this crazy writing life I've chosen. We've been together for two-thirds of those 70 years, and he's put up with a lot. And still looks good! So, thank you, honey, and Happy Birthday to you!

Happy 70th birthday to you, Graeme Frelick!

AFTER THE FLOOD: A NEAR-FUTURE SF TALE

Sienna watched the reeds for movement.

 May, 2052

Sienna watched the reeds for movement. She could see for miles in this drowned land. Much of what had once stood here—homes, stores, office buildings, gas stations—had been swept away by storm and flood. Over and over again, until the wetlands had come to reclaim the mud and rubble. Now only the wild things lived here. The things she hunted. The things that hunted her.

On the raised causeway that led past what remained of the city, the big shots reclined in their vehicles and let the comps guide them to their destinations. Holograms assaulted their senses from the very air around them, exhorting them to do their duty to God and Nation, to be fruitful and multiply, to buy and spend. Sienna could see the holos from here, even though she was a long way from the causeway. She ignored them. The people in those cars might as well live on another planet for all she had in common with them.

She certainly wouldn’t be multiplying. She had vowed to die before she would allow herself to be taken by the slavers coming up from the South to steal fertile women off the streets. So she had taken a year’s worth of pelts and scavenging treasures to pay for the illegal operation upstate that ensured she could never get pregnant. Now she would never be burdened with a child she couldn’t feed. And she was safe from bio-slavery.

The air around her already shimmered with heat, though the sun was barely above the horizon. The hazy sky told her it would be a scorcher today, a day to seek the shade in her home in one of the few concrete structures that still stood on higher ground. But first she had to find meat—a deer or a pig, if she was lucky, a groundhog or a muskrat if she wasn’t. She had learned the hard way that the shellfish that thrived in the swamp weren’t safe to eat. They were rotten, contaminated by poisons in the soil and water. She let them be.

The AR-50 rested easily in her hands, a weapon she was used to carrying. It wasn’t ideal for hunting—it often made a mess of a smaller target—but there were other reasons to pack the cheap automatic. Armed gangs and the police roamed the streets; feral pigs ran in herds in the swamp. Guns, unlike food or shelter or other basics, were easy to get. And though she lived with others, she hunted alone.

A splash off to her right caused her to whip around. But she saw nothing. No deer, no birds. A prickle of awareness raised the hair on the back of her neck. There were other things in the swamp that sometimes needed killing, wilder, more dangerous things.

When she heard the first coyote yip, she knew she might be in trouble. It was close, and on the right side, where she’d heard the splash. She eased silently to the left and back toward a raised tuft of grass. But an answering call came from even closer; the pack was circling. Then she heard the unmistakable sounds of something running through the knee-high water, splashing and grunting. The pack was after its prey now, yipping and warbling in the high, feverish calls that meant breakfast would soon be served. Coyotes never hunted strong, healthy individuals. Whatever they were after was wounded or sick or too young to survive. Not worth fighting them for it.

The chase ended almost before it began, with a high-pitched scream cut short and the triumphant coyote-party howls that always followed a kill. A feral human then. Sienna could tell from the scream. One of the many young ones that scraped out a life in the wetlands after those that were forced to bear them dumped them here. The series of foster homes where Sienna had grown up had been a horror show, but at least she hadn’t had to fight off coyotes. Just predatory males.

She cursed. The hunting in this part of the wetland would be ruined for the rest of the morning. All the prey would have gone to ground in the commotion. She decided to head back. Better to be hungry another day than dead.

She took the time to scan the marsh again as she slogged through the mud. Over on the causeway, the cars drove on, oblivious to the life-and-death struggle below them. In the sky, the holos filled the air with color and sound. “Only You can Save this Nation! Do your Duty Now!”

This mini-short story is a work of fiction in the long tradition of science fiction that places the issues of the present in the context of the future. Everything in it is directly extrapolated from the headlines of today. If the world I describe is not one you wish to live in, well, I don’t blame you. Me neither. Check the last line.

In hopes of change,

Donna

 

 

KING OF PAIN RELEASE DAY!

 It's finally release day for the fifth and final book in my Interstellar Rescue science fiction romance series, King of Pain: Interstellar Rescue Series Book 5! Get your digital copy to read on Kindle or any of its related apps NOW on Amazon for only $2.99! Or, if you prefer to read a book you can hold in your hands, the paperback is available for only $15.99. Message me here or on my Facebook page and I'll send you a signed bookplate to put in your book!

And, as always, I humbly ask that if you enjoy the read, you post a review of the book on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or BookBub. Reviews are an author's lifeblood, an encouragement to other readers to pick up the book. 

So, enjoy your holidays by reading (and reviewing) a new book!

Cheers, Donna

KING OF PAIN ON PREORDER!

Cover artist Jessica Hildreth's work!

 

The fifth book in my Interstellar Rescue series is available for preorder now on Amazon for a December 14 release date. Click here to make sure you get your ebook for Christmas (and for all your book-reading friends!).  Check out the blurb!

One planet, two worlds. And only Fate could unite them.

Trevyn Dar was once a Hunter of Thrane, feared throughout the galaxy as the son of the Butcher of Four Systems. But he clawed his way free of that bloody legacy to find his true path, as captain of a ship serving the anti-slavery goals of the Interstellar Council of Abolition and Rescue.

Lael Saphora is Hinarr, shapeshifter, sharing her skin with a snow cat Companion, but, like all her people, hunted, and oppressed because she lacks the telepathic skills of the genetic Thranes of her home planet. Since she witnessed the brutal death of her father as a child, Lael has been fighting for her people. She leads the Uprising against the iron grip of the Thrane Ruling Houses.

When Trevyn receives unusual orders from Rescue to seize a ship smuggling weapons for slavers, he discovers the darkly compelling Lael at the helm—no slaver, but a political prisoner, whose extradition to Thrane means torture and death. His journey to uncover what’s behind her false arrest takes him back to a home planet he had hoped to never see again, reveals an ugly conspiracy at the heart of Rescue, and rips open old wounds. But Trevyn and Lael share a common past, and only love can heal two hearts broken by an ancient pain.

 

King of Pain: Interstellar Rescue Series Book Five available for preorder on Amazon Now!

MEET TREVYN, KING OF PAIN

It’s taken two years to finish King of Pain: Interstellar Rescue Series Book 5, the latest novel in my SFR series. And it all began with Trevyn Dar, the book’s alien hero.

Trevyn is Thrane, one of a race of telepaths feared throughout the galaxy for their history of bloody conquest and brutal use of their psy talents. Worse, he was once a Hunter, part of a family of hired killers that terrorized the galaxy.

We first met Trevyn in Trouble in Mind: Interstellar Rescue Series Book 2, where he was one of two alien brothers hunting the boy Jack, son of Ethan and Asia. We learned that Trevyn is Gabriel Cruz’s half-brother, not a true villain at all, really, but a victim of his older brother Kinnian’s abuse. Throughout that book, he tried to mitigate Kinnian’s violence in whatever way he could, and, in the end, [spoiler alert] he helped rescue the heroine, Lana, and together he and Gabriel killed Kinnian.

He made a reappearance in Not Fade Away: Interstellar Rescue Series Book 4, by which time he’d taken over the family starship, renamed it the Blood’s Honor, and signed on to work for the Interstellar Council for Abolition and Rescue. It hadn’t been easy, but he was trying to distance himself from the past imposed on him by his father, the Butcher of Four Systems, and his brother Kinnian.

Trevyn Dar, troubled hero of King of Pain

The problem is that Trevyn still carries a lot of weight from a childhood of abuse and ridicule, and tons of guilt from his years trying (and failing) to curb the worst of Kinnian’s bloodthirst. He’s ripe for a serious reckoning with his past, and the emotional healing that only love can bring. It means he must return to his home planet of Thrane, tangle with and defeat some heavy villains, and bond with the love of his life. That journey is at the heart of King of Pain.

From the time I first conceived of the brothers Trevyn and Kinnian for Trouble in Mind, I modeled Trevyn on Boromir’s younger brother Faramir from Tolkien’s LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. When you meet Faramir outside the context of his family (and particularly his father, Denethor), it’s clear he’s a hero—loyal, brave, worthy. His men love him and follow him without question. But Denethor can see none of these qualities; he’s verbally abusive and dismissive, respecting only the older son Boromir. Boromir is kind to his younger brother, but he’s not around to protect him from the madness of their father. Such a lot there to inspire!

So, of course, I took all that inspiration and twisted it. What if Trevyn’s father wasn’t insane, just insanely cruel? And expected the same from his sons? Kinnian, the older son, is cut from the same cloth, learning his lessons in brutality eagerly. But Trevyn, from a young age, is more sensitive and suffers under first his father’s, then his brother’s, savagery. Like Faramir, however, he bears up under all that abuse and emerges from it stronger. He is, at his core, unbreakable.

My heroine, Lael, is immediately attracted to that strength and determination in Trevyn. He never gives up, no matter what his enemies or the icy, mountainous planet of Thrane throw at him, and long before the mating bond begins to form, Lael admires and respects this Thrane from the once-hated House of Dar.

King of Pain: Interstellar Rescue Series Book 5 is in revisions now and the cover is being designed. I hope to publish in December. Take a look at the blurb:

One planet, two worlds. And only Fate could unite them.

Trevyn Dar was once a Hunter of Thrane, feared throughout the galaxy as son of the Butcher of Four Systems and brother of a commander of the murderous Blood Legion. But he clawed his way free of that bloody legacy to find his true path, as captain of a ship serving the anti-slavery goals of the Interstellar Council of Abolition and Rescue.

Lael Saphora is Hinarr, shapeshifter, sharing her skin with a snow cat Companion, but, like all her people, hated, hunted, and oppressed because she lacks the telepathic skills of the genetic Thranes of her home planet. Since she witnessed the brutal death of her father as a child, Lael has been fighting for her people. She leads the Uprising, a movement dedicated to overthrowing the iron grip of the Thrane Ruling Houses.

When Trevyn receives unusual orders from Rescue to seize a ship smuggling weapons for slavers, he discovers the darkly compelling Lael at the helm—no slaver, but a political prisoner, whose extradition to Thrane means torture and certain execution. His journey to uncover what’s behind her false arrest takes him back to a home planet he had hoped to never see again, reveals an ugly conspiracy at the center of an organization he had made his new home, and rips open old wounds. But Trevyn and Lael share a common past, and, ultimately, only love can heal two hearts broken by an ancient pain.

Cheers, Donna

 

 

 

TAXING KING OF PAIN DRAFT NEARS 'THE END'

After much longer than usual, I’m finally approaching the end of my working draft of King of Pain: Interstellar Rescue Series Book Five. The story of Thrane Hunter-turned-Rescue agent Trevyn Dar and shapeshifter Lael Saphora was a tough one to craft during a worldwide pandemic—for a lot of reasons—and it will need plenty of revision. But at least I’ll soon be able to put a tentative “The End” to the first draft. Hallelujah!

Why has this book, which will probably be the final novel in my Interstellar Rescue series, been such a bear to write? Well, I don’t think I’m the only author who has struggled during the pandemic to focus on my work. Even well-known professionals have noted how difficult it’s been to write while the world burns. (The pandemic isn’t the only disaster we’re dealing with, after all.) Fiction, like other forms of creativity, requires emotional space, which is pretty hard to come by when you’re busy thinking about lockdown, full ICUs, politics, climate change, wildfires, hurricanes, floods and all the rest of it. I’d like to think of my work as an escape to another world, but it just doesn’t work that way.

Then, too, I set myself a major challenge in several ways with this particular story. For the first time, I set the story on an alien planet, rather than on Earth or in space. Thrane is the home planet of the humanoid telepathic species I’ve introduced in previous novels, so I had a head start on developing the alien culture. Still, I’m more comfortable here on terra firma or on a starship.

My hero, Trevyn, was a good bad guy in Book Two of the series, Trouble in Mind. The alien half-brother of the hero of that book, Gabriel, he suffered under the abuse of his brutal older sibling, Kinnian, until he broke free and helped Gabriel kill Kinnian and save the heroine, Lana.

So, Trevyn is not your usual kind of alpha male hero. He’s carrying more than the normal amount of baggage—guilt, self-loathing, a fear of his family’s inherited darkness. The challenge for me as a writer is to help him carry that load without crippling his confidence. He still has to kick some serious ass, after all, and fight the good fight, too. He made a start on transforming from a bad guy to a good guy in Trouble in Mind. But in King of Pain, Trevyn finally has to overcome his past and rise above it, not just at the end of the novel, but throughout, so we can love him as the romantic hero.

My heroine, Lael, is a snowcat shapeshifter.

My heroine, Lael, too, is a challenge. I’ve never written a shapeshifting character before, though I’ve read plenty of books featuring shapeshifters. (Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changling series is one of my favorites.) I wanted to make sure to be consistent with the features of the Hinarr culture Lael comes from, the details of shifting (like, what happens with clothes and weapons?) and so on. What aspects of her character transfer to her snowcat Companion? And, how, exactly, do you translate the thinking process of a sentient, but non-speaking, creature, like the Companion, without making it sound like a Disney nature voiceover?

There will be pay-offs, of course. These two are meant to be together, like all my Interstellar Rescue couples. They meet the criteria for fated lovers, enemies to lovers and even a kind of Romeo and Juliet-type story, though with a happy ending. Trevyn and Lael are just making me work for their Happy Ever After!

In fact, they have enough problems of their own, you wouldn’t think they would need a villain to make their book life difficult. But, no, every hero and heroine need a good villain (or two). King of Pain has been a challenge in this way, too, because it started from a Big Idea. (Science fiction as a genre suffers from this problem—the concepts, or the technology, often overshadow the characters.) My Big Idea had to do with the telepathic Thranes who rule the planet and the shapeshifting Hinarr, a severely oppressed minority who lack telepathic skills. The Thranes call them “Ghosts,” due to their lack of telepathy, and consider them mentally deficient. They believe the Hinarr are inferior, useful only for menial labor, and a legitimate prey for hunting in their snowcat form.

The Hinarr, however, are no longer content to play the role of the downtrodden of Thrane. They are fighting back via an underground resistance movement, the Uprising, of which Lael is a leader.

This makes for great conflict, but only in a general way. Just like STAR WAR’s Empire needs Darth Vader, my Ruling Houses of Thrane (and the murderous Blood Legion behind them) need an actual person to embody their evil intent. That person should have goals in opposition to those of my hero and heroine. He (it happens to be a he) should have a clear motivation beyond just “power” or “hatred of the Hinarr.” Given those things, the conflict between my central characters will arise naturally.

So, yes, the Primary Ruler of Thrane, Mennon, is one villain of the book, as is a Brother of the Blood Legion named Avet Van-Del, who hunts Trevyn and Lael through most of the novel. But, as I’ve discovered in the act of writing, the biggest villain, the one who should receive the most attention, is the one pulling the strings of these lesser bad guys. And, as some critics of my last book have pointed out, when it comes time for this villain’s demise, I really have to beat him flat. My readers need the satisfaction of seeing that bad guy get his just deserts.

So, you see, I have lots to work on in the next few weeks. And that’s not even accounting for finding the right images for the cover. Or honing the dang blurb. Oy! Wish me luck!

Cheers, Donna