I can't believe how quickly 2018 is passing, and that it's been almost a year already since I last released something. But finally, and after three years in edits (THREE YEARS?!), another chapter in Keir and Quin's adventures will be out. Reunion at Kasha Asor (set directly after Keir: Book One of Redemption) will be available from the 1st of September, but you can pre-order it now from all the main ebook retailers (just click the cover below for the sales links).
So here's an excerpt to tease you with...
The beating rain tore all the warmth from him as he turned, desperate to find a familiar landmark. Behind him, the jagged, broken spur of rock he and Quin had climbed to see S’rano’s distant island stood above the worst of the chaos, its water-drenched black surface gleaming.
Keir wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. But that is not where I directed the gateway...
Panic gripped him, stole his breath. He had focused on their hut, been sure of his target, however new to this talent he might have been. What power had sent him that astray?
The storm answered him with a blinding flash as lightning tore across the skies, matched by the earsplitting crash of thunder. The force of it drove him to his knees on the wet sand, and the sea took its chance to lash at him, almost pulling his legs out from under him. Gasping, soaked, Keir scrabbled for the safety of the nearby trees, but the ocean would not give him up so easily. It snatched at his ankles and ripped the sand from beneath his feet. Keir fell, clawing uselessly for a hold as another wave surged around him. As the ground shifted and washed away beneath him, sand and water filled his mouth. He choked, flailing for purchase, but the waves caught him, dragged him out, flipped him over. Hard rock smacked into his side then scraped his skin, tearing it as the sea threw him against the ridge of stone. For an instant, he surfaced, gasped a breath, before the water sucked him back under.
Blood pounded in his head, drowning out the crash of the sea and storm. His lungs burned. No. Not again.
Paradise isn't always what you expect it to be...
Returning to the island of Kasha-Asor, Quin and Keir need to reconcile a question of trust: of secrets untold and their precarious situation on a planet where Quin has already been betrayed once. Can they find the idyll they seek, or will they be forced to run?
A Travellers Novella and a side story in the Redemption series, Reunion at Kasha-Asor follows on immediately from the events in Keir: Book One of Redemption.
Today I welcome another of the Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 authors, Jessica E. Subject, who is well-known in the science fiction romance community, to tell a story about an adventure she had with skinks!
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I have had at least one pet for as long as I can remember. But, over the years my strangest animal encounters have always been with lizards. I’ve never been grossed out by snakes, lizards, frogs, or any other type of reptile or amphibian. But, they don’t listen the way a dog or cat would.
My grandparents used to live in a house located in a provincial park here in Ontario. Every summer as children, my brother and I visited them there for at least a week. One of the stops we made while there was to the Visitor’s Center. It was far away, and often we had the opportunity to feed the snakes and hold them around our necks. We also would go out to the forest nearby to see what kind of creatures we could find. One day I found two skinks under a log. I was proud of my find and decided to take them back to the Visitor’s Center to see if they could use them in a display. I had them cupped in my hand and held them against my shirt. It didn’t take long before I reached the Visitor’s Center, but when I arrived the skinks were no longer in my hand. They had disappeared. I didn’t remember feeling them slither out of my hands, and became worried that I’d stepped on one or both as I’d made my way out of the forest.
Then I felt one move. It was on my stomach. In fact, both of them were there. They had crawled out of my cupped hands and under my shirt. We managed to get them peeled off my stomach and they were put in a habitat display at the Visitor’s Center. Though, that was the last time I brought any skinks back.
Gib and the Tibbar
A Novella in the Galactic Defenders Series
By Jessica E. Subject
A dedicated Defender to the core, Gib is willing to go to any planet the Galactic Alliance sends him. That is, until he’s sent with his squad to Hemera for their Alorama ceremony, far from any threat of Erebus invasion and with no chance for promotion.
Vilarra has lived on Hemera all her life, working hard in the kitchens of the royal palace until she achieved lead hand. But learning of the universe beyond her world reveals her insignificance and shreds her sense of accomplishment and purpose.
With the help of a furry, little tibbar, Gib is determined to win the affection of Vilarra, prove to her how significant she is to him and the people who depend on her. But will his personal mission be cut short before he has the chance to win her heart?
About the anthology:
The pets are back! Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, featuring twelve of today’s leading Science Fiction Romance authors brings you a dozen original stories written just for you! Join in the fun, from the Dragon Lords of Valdier to a trip aboard award-winning author, Veronica Scott’s Nebula Zephyr to journeying back to Luda where Grim is King, for stories that will take you out of this world! Join New York Times, USA TODAY, and Award-winning authors S.E. Smith, M.K. Eidem, Susan Grant, Michelle Howard, Cara Bristol, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Laurie A. Green, Sabine Priestley, Jessica E. Subject, Carol Van Natta, and Alexis Glynn Latner as they share stories and help out Hero-Dogs.org, a charity that supports our veterans!
10% of the first month’s profits go to Hero-Dogs.org. Hero Dogs raises and trains service dogs and places them free of charge with US Veterans to improve quality of life and restore independence.
EXCERPT:
A small, furry white creature scampered between the Defenders and the fire. Gib yanked his feet back and gasped. He tried to follow the path the animal took, and when it disappeared into the grassy field, he relaxed a little. Not that he was afraid, only startled by the sudden appearance of the critter.
But his watch partner reacted differently. The cowardly Defender stood on his bench, reaching for a low branch on the ropral tree as if to lift himself farther off the ground. “What in Gaspra was that? No one told me about any deadly creatures on this planet.”
Gib laughed and slapped his hand on his lap. “I wouldn’t call the fluffy little thing that raced by us a deadly creature.”
“Okay, Hemera is infested with vermin, then.” Zair examined the area around him before he dared put a foot on the ground.
A high-pitched squeak sounded, and Gib’s surveillance partner returned to reaching for the branches. The little creature stood on its hind legs below Zair’s bench, peeping as if telling him off.
Gib couldn’t hold in his laughter. Not just at the other Defender’s reaction, but also the thoughts running through Zair’s mind, thoughts he’d failed to block in his fear.
“It’s not going to eat you.” Gib shook his head, wondering how his squad mate could see the creature as dangerous. “Would you please get down from there? Defenders are supposed to be brave and fierce. Right now, you’re neither.”
“Go to Gaspra, Mingot. And stay out of my head.” He yanked his plazer from his hip holster and aimed it at the critter. “If I don’t destroy it, it will bring death to everyone on this planet.”
Stepping into the line of fire, Gib yanked the weapon from his squad mate, thankful the safety remained on. “You’re being ridiculous. Besides, if you fire your weapon, you’ll cause a panic. The Hemera will think Erebus have arrived.”
The frightened Defender shook a foot at the creature. “Fine, then. Kick it into the fire. Or you could stomp on it.”
“Don’t you dare!” A Hemera woman burst from the bushes, storming toward Zair like a mother rehn protecting her young. She shoved him off his bench and shouldered past Gib before scooping the noisy creature into her hand. “This is my tibbar, not some kind of vermin.”
“Tibbar? Try nasty rodent that tried to eat me.” Zair smoothed out his uniform but kept his distance from the creature now perched on the woman’s shoulder.
“You’re both on nehbred.” She kicked dirt at them, her pink lips pursed and her dark eyes set in a deadly stare. “You don’t know what you’re talking about when it comes to my pet or my planet.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jessica E. Subject is the author of science fiction romance, mostly alien romances, ranging from sweet to super hot. Sometimes she dabbles in paranormal and contemporary as well, bringing to life a wide variety of characters. In her stories, you could not only meet a sexy alien or two, but also clones and androids. You may be transported to a dystopian world where rebels are fighting to live and love, or to another planet for a romantic rendezvous.
When Jessica is not reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to go to fitness class and walk her Great Pyrenees/Retriever her family adopted from the local animal shelter.
Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at jessicasubject.com.
Today is the first day of December, and for me three major countdowns have begun! One is, of course, Christmas but before that there are two more personal points of excitement. First up, The Force Awakens. Oh, yes! Being a Brit I get to see it a whole day before most of the US (though my Star Wars buddy in Sweden is getting to see it the 16th, and I know that our Laurie here at Spacefreighters is also seeing it the 17th...but I'm a few hours ahead, bwahahaa!)). I could see it one minute after midnight on the 17th here in the UK, but aside from the fact I don't give up my sleep for ANYTHING, I'd be going alone. Instead, I'll be seeing it at a more reasonable time with my two Star Wars loving boys, the daughter I'm hoping to finally convert to the Dark Side, and my long suffering husband (he's banned us from dressing up. Boo! We'll be wearing our SW tees though). I'm both excited and terrified! I've spent the last few days rewatching the original trilogy in the hope of disproving a theory about Luke Skywalker in TFA. >_< I can't bear it if Disney break my heart with this film! But now I only have to wait for a few more days until I know.
But my second countdown is, finally, for the launch of Keir's Fall - the truly overdue sequel to Keir. Woo hoo! It's taken six years from penning the first few words, then one rejection, two publisher closures, the removal of a secondary storyline of 40K, and who knows how many actual rounds of edits since Dani did some earlier work on it a couple of years back before the official edits this year. I tell ya, this is the closest I've come to setting fire to a book and just walking away. The edits were HARD! In the past month it's mostly been one scene - just 9 pages long, a mere 3000 words - that was killing me. But we did it (though Hades knows how my editor stuck with me on this). Keir's Fall will release on the 7th December. One month behind schedule (and about two years late) and with only a few days on pre-order instead of a couple of weeks, with any launch plan abandoned back in October, but it'll be out! I thought I'd never get there. And the bonus is, you're also getting a bit of book three in the back. The actual MS is a disaster zone, but I'd started fixing the opening scene a few days ago and Dani volunteered to go over it. Fortunately it wasn't in too bad a way (after I switched it from the omniscient POV it was originally in to 3rd). I have to admit, there are some really cool things in book three that I can't wait to share, and the opening scene is one of my favourites so I hope you'll enjoy it. Book three is unlikely to release until 2017. I promise it will be worth the wait! So, here's the newly edited blurb for book two - Keir's Fall - and the first of the buy links. If you haven't read book one, that's still on sale for just 99cents/Euros/pence until the end of this month.
Blurb: It's been a year in paradise for Keir and Quin, but now the idyll is over. After Quin falls sick, they return to the hidden sanctuary of Lyagnius, and what she learns there will not only change their lives, but set them on a journey that could separate them forever. When Keir falls victim to a ruthless Nercaandi Empress bent on conquering the galaxy with her cybernetic army, it will take all Quin's diminishing powers and the help of her son to find him. But what waits for her aboard the tyrant's ship will test her strength and the limits of their love, and put everything she cares about at risk. Including Keir. With the galaxy itself about to fall, will she be able to save him?
Happenings Just two more blog posts until I leave the interwebs for my Christmas break! Unfortunately I won't get to post about The Force Awakens until my return on the 5th of January.
With just one week until Christmas, and two until the New Year, I decided to do my annual look back over the last twelve months and what's happened in that time. A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling a bit down about my perceived lack of progress, possibly aggravated by not hitting 50K at NaNoWriMo again. So I sat down and had a count through my various manuscripts and added up words. I was stunned to discover I'd written a not unimpressive 100K plus (and that's not including all the blog posts and, um, tweets that I've done). While I'm always of the opinion I could do better, it's not a shabby total. It includes finishing some older projects, writing new ones start to finish, and others still in progress. Although my working year officially ends today (hubs is home from tomorrow, and my three monsters from Saturday) the possibility of squeezing in a few more words for 2013 is there. Of course, despite what I have scheduled for 2014, I expect myself to exceed that next year. Le sigh.
So, where did I clock up all those words? Here's the list -
Written this year
Revived (SFR) - 22K finished
Halloween themed PNR - 12K finished and with editor
RIP (PNR) - 40K in progress and full requested
Darkfall (decopunk superhero) - added 10K, on submission
Secret project (SFR) - added 2K, finished
Flaming Angel (SF) - 6K, finished and on submission
Reboot (cyberpunk) - 6.5K, finished
Vampire spacepirates (SF) - 2K, in progress
On top of those, I have a dozen other projects at various stages and others that I've edited. I'm currently 5191 words into another SFR short that I will try to finish for year's end, but my aim for then was purely to complete Revived and the Secret Project, which are already done. Anything else is pure bonus.
What else did I achieve this year? Well...
1. I had three short stories for anthologies out on submission - SFR short Imprint to Tales of the SFR Brigade, SF Flaming Angel to an inhouse anthology at Champagne Books, and cyberpunk Reboot to the Sword and Lazer antho. Of those, Imprint was accepted and chosen as the first story in Tales (squee!). Flaming Angel is still pending. Reboot was rejected (just to prove that published authors still get the big R). :P
2. Terms & Conditions Apply, the short story I wrote for Misa Buckley's anthology in 2012 but then self published in November of that year placed second in the GCC RWA Silken Sands Self Published Star Contest.
3. I finally completed and polished Tethered (a SFR I started during one of my four attempts at NaNoWriMo) with thanks to Jessica Subject and Dani Fine. It received two rejections before being contracted by Definition House.
4. Keir's Fall, the sequel to Keir, having been rejected by my publisher is now contracted to Definition House.
5. Keir won a SFR Galaxy Award for Best May to September Romance, became a semi-finalist in The Kindle Book Review's Best Indie Book 2013, and placed 2nd as a finalist in the HOD RWA Aspen Gold Contest. I also celebrated his first book birthday in May with a small online celebration and blue-themed party food.
6. I wrote my first paranormal romance holiday themed short, and in just six days! I then started a Christmas themed SFR. Both are scheduled for release next year - I've already set up sign up forms for the cover reveals and releases. The SFR even has a cover already, despite not being complete, while the PNR is with my editor.
7. I'm currently writing a zombie book. I hate calling it that, because it's not your conventional Hollywood zombie. This was my freaky little NaNoWriMo story, which I had to get out of my head and had no plans to publish. However, Breathless Press offered a critiquing event in mid November for NaNo stories, so I sent my five pages and a synopsis and...GOT A REQUEST FOR THE FULL! Shocked is putting it mildly, lol. So now the pressure is on to finish!
8. On the subject of NaNoWriMo, this was my fourth attempt. I didn't make 50K, but at 35K RIP was my longest so far, and my concern was more to have the complete first draft down, which I did. It's all revisions, details and polishing now.
9. The secret project had been sitting on my computer unfinished for over a year, and will now form part of the Kickstarter campaign for Keir's Fall in January. ;)
10. Gethyon (YA SF) and Tales from the SFR Brigade (SFR Antho) both released in June, and so far have received favourable reviews. They also brought my total of published works up to five.
Wow, it's been an eventful year on the writing side! On the personal side, my eldest started senior school and started wearing my size shoes. She's already stolen a pair of my trainers. >.< In May, I got to meet up with my friend Ian Peaston again and watch him perform at the Brighton Fringe. This time I took hubs along. I celebrated my 20th wedding anniversary in May, and in August hit the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything - 42!
The normal response to discovering my male MC has blue skin used to be “Oh, so like Avatar?” (grrr!) Okay, yes, I fully understand why that comparison leaps to mind. The sad fact is that Keir popped into my head all blue, tattooed and tortured five years before Avatar was even rumoured. How’s that for irony? And, of course, Avatar is hardly the first scifi to have blue aliens either, but that’s usually the one mentioned first.
Diva Plavalaguna - The Fifth Element
The Groske - Doctor Who/Sarah-Jane Adventures
So why blue? I mean apart from it being my favourite colour along with green. Aside from an obsession with a certain magician with woad tattoos (see Stephen Lawhead’s Pendragon Cycle - Merlin) and a fascination with The Nightcrawler from X-Men.
Now blue. Blue is a good colour. Tranquil, which is certainly part of Keir’s personality. Goes with almost anything. And while the Avatar aliens are more sky blue, Keir’s skin is that dark, rich shade of the sky before true dark falls. The blue that’s almost a hint of indigo.
I know the image I first bought for Keir is probably more like the Avatar aliens, but at the time it was the only one I could find that came close, and the expression was perfect. Even though I now have cover art, that image has been with me for so long and has been such a favourite that I’ve kept it, even if it does scream ‘Avatar’!
So Keir is blue. End of. :)
To find out exactly how Keir came by his blue skin, I have a copy of the e-book up for grabs. To enter, tell me how you decide on skin colours and textures for your aliens. And how close to human are they if they’re part of a science fiction romance? Or you can tell me your favourite colour for an alien and why? (Please leave your contact details in the comments. All prizes will be drawn after midnight BST in the UK on the 14th May.) Also there’s a special prize up for grabs on my blog here to celebrate the official release on the 7th May. And if you can't wait to see if you've won a copy, all new titles are 30% off at Lyrical Press for the first week of release. It's also up on Amazon here. :)
The blurb -
Outcast. Cursed. Dying. Is Keir beyond redemption?
For Keirlan de Corizi--the legendary 'Blue Demon' of Adalucien--death seems the only escape from a world where his discolored skin marks him as an oddity and condemns him to life as a pariah. But salvation comes in an unexpected guise: Tarquin Secker, a young woman who can travel the stars with a wave of her hand.
But Quin has secrets of her own. She's spent eternity searching through space and time with a strange band of companions at her back. Defying her friends' counsel, Quin risks her apparent immortality to save Keir. She offers him sanctuary and a new life on her home world, Lyagnius.
When Keir mistakenly unleashes his dormant alien powers and earns instant exile from Quin's home world, will she risk everything to stand by him again?
A stay-at-home mum of three who spent twelve years working as an Analytical Chemist in a Metals and Minerals laboratory, Pippa Jay bases her stories on a lifetime addiction to science-fiction books and films. Somewhere along the line a touch of romance crept into her work and refused to leave. In between torturing her plethora of characters, she spends the odd free moments trying to learn guitar, indulging in freestyle street dance and drinking high-caffeine coffee. Although happily settled in historical Colchester in the UK with her husband of 18 years, she continues to roam the rest of the Universe in her head.
