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!

Release Day Eve: Lost Serenity #scifi #adventure

Happy Release Day Eve to Lost Serenity! And boy, I never thought we'd get here. It's been a long, dry, hard haul since the release of the last main book in the series - Keir's Fall back in 2017 - with the last side story - A Merry-traxian Christmas - officially released 2019.

And now the latest story comes out tomorrow, with the main book three due in edits in June and hopefully releasing later this year. So I won't be keeping you hanging for long. Because, oh yes, Lost Serenity ends with a cliff-hanger!

Now, while I didn't struggle with a title on this one, since I had a discarded one to reuse, this story brought up the issue of trigger warnings.

Now, I have certain things that I will not read and that get an author put on my DNR (Do Not Read) list instantly if there's some graphic content I haven't been warned about. And maybe that's not always the author's fault, because we can't think of everything. Plus trigger warnings vary for people, I get that. With Lost Serenity, one of the main themes in the story is something that would not cause me acute distress if I read it in another book - well, not entirely true as it would depend how invested I am in the character and how it affects them - but I am well aware that what upsets one person may be the thing that devastates another.

When I raised the discussion in an author group, there were mixed responses which didn't help me decide one way or the other. I know specific things that upset some of my author friends and have caused them to leave or never become invested in a franchise. Others think trigger warnings are unnecessary and/or overkill, and never/rarely use them. I have three books where I've warned about explicit, violent, and/or gory content because...well, they are actually things that would bother me or, as a mum, concern me if my kids were to read them (that said, two of them have read my zombie stories). But putting one on this particular story might be big spoilers. What to do?!

There was controversy on Twitter (isn't there always?!) back in January where an author not only publicly refused to put trigger warnings on their work but specifically set out an essay in their Author's Note about why they would never, and telling readers not to be a Karen. Well, I decided that's just not me. So Lost Serenity has a trigger warning and spoilers be damned...

How could a moment's anger destroy so much happiness?

It is a question that will haunt him. When an old enemy comes to Kasha-Asor to kidnap their daughter, armed with a weapon that could end everything, Keir is forced to leave an injured Quin on Lyagnius. But his quest for a cure and their missing daughter will come at a terrible cost.

Book #2.5 of the Redemption series. Releases 20th March, 2021 (pre-order available now)

Trigger warning: the loss of a child.

In the meantime, I'd be interested to know why and what trigger warnings you've put on books, or why you don't.

Critter Update

My furred and feathered friends are all doing well, though I think they'd like it to be sunnier, warmer, and dryer, much like myself. Astrid is looking particularly fed up.

Writing Update

I'm still trying to iron out some issues with a paranormal short that will be part of my holiday collection. One day I might finish the Easter one and be able to publish the set. One day... Book three of my Redemption series will go to my editor in June, come what may.

TROUBLE IN MIND BLASTS OFF TODAY!

WE HAVE LIFTOFF! Yes, today is Launch Day for Trouble in Mind, Book Two in my Interstellar Rescue series! Lana and Gabriel, my alien-busting, hot-loving, action-oriented heroine and hero meet the world today at last! 

The early reviewers have been more than kind: FOUR STARS from RT Book Reviews, FIVE STARS from Riley Moreland at Smart Girls Love Sci Fi (and her own Whiskey with My Book blog), FIVE STARS from Kat Smith at Nerd Girl Official, FIVE STARS from Kim at Crystal’s Many Reviewers and a rave review from Publishers’ Weekly!

If you have your book on pre-order, you can start reading now. If not, you can get your copy on Amazon right away!

In the meantime, check out these links for reviews, guest posts and excerpts today and tomorrow:

Already up:--Anna Durand’s Spunk and Hunks blog—book spotlight and excerpt

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                  --Science Fiction Romance Brigade blog—Special excerpt!

Tomorrow:--Pauline Baird Jones Life Happens. A Lot. blog—Why I Wrote Trouble in Mind.
 

            --Trouble in Mind by Donna S. Frelick Release Party on Facebook—Sharon Lynn   Fisher, Lea Kirk and a bunch of other authors will be joining me for trivia contests, giveaways and lots of virtual fun tomorrow night from 6:00-10:00 p.m. EST on Facebook. Just grab your favorite adult beverage and get online in your comfy clothes and fuzzy slippers—it’ll be a blast!

And don’t forget to reward yourself for all that clicking! I’m giving away a $50 Amazon Gift Card to one lucky winner through the Rafflecopter giveaway HERE. Enter for your chance to win! The giveaway runs through the end of March.

As always, thanks, everybody, for all your support. We writers can’t do it without you readers. And when you read and review, you make us want to work even harder!

Cheers, Donna

 

Crafting a Tyrant - The Artwork #scifi #romance #spaceopera

One of the things I love about being an author is cover art. I've never had a cover I've hated, although another bonus of going indie now is having total creative control over artwork (even when limited by budget, stock photos, and the skill of the designer. I'm fortunate that the last of those is not in any way a limitation!). I didn't really have a clear idea of what I wanted for the cover of Keir's Fall to begin with - my cover designer Danielle Fine had sent me several layouts for Keir's cover (you can see those on an earlier post here), so that had somewhat decided the style of subsequent book covers, text etc - but that was it.

A Science Fiction Romance Novel
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As far as putting the main antagonist - Tyra-Lee - on the cover of book two, my only real inspiration for her was from this stock photo I spotted very early on when looking for cover ideas back when Keir was first published with Lyrical Press. Up until this point, I only had the image in my head of Tyra-Lee's very earliest appearance as Sylvi in a Doctor Who fanfic, as albino with spikes of white hair. But I found this image really striking, and certainly gave off the 'how dare you' kind of vibe that I could see Tyra-Lee giving anyone who tried to cross her.

However, most of the credit for the cover to Keir's Fall has to go to Dani. The original few drafts for Keir's Fall were pretty much the same - a couple of variations of the woman playing Tyra-Lee, and three or four variations of the lower image on the front. This is the one I went for.

A Science Fiction Romance Novel
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Available from...
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But at the time, I didn't realize quite how much of a transformation Tyra-Lee herself had undergone in the process. This is how Dani changed a fairly normal model shot into a Nercaandi tyrant.

Quite a transformation, right? So now you have some idea of the amount of work that goes into putting together a book cover. Not just the layout and text and images, but how much is needed for just a single element in the cover - to change a human being into an alien. Gives you an idea of why books about aliens often don't feature the aliens themselves...

Need some new cover art or marketing images? You can find Danielle Fine at her website http://daniellefine.com or on Twitter as @DanielleFine1. I don't need to tell you she comes highly recommended by me (psst, her cover for Keir is a finalist in the 2015 EPIC Ariana Cover Awards too).

Happenings

Keir's Fall officially released yesterday, and you can find it at any of the retail links below the book cover in the post above or in the right hand side bar. Print will be coming as soon as I've received and checked over the proof copy. Don't forget, Keir is only 99 cents/Euros/pence right now, but only until the end of December. There's also a print edition of Keir being given away at Goodreads.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Keir

by Pippa Jay

Giveaway ends January 07, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

It's just nine days until I see The Force Awakens! Woot! Next week is my last post at Spacefreighters Lounge until the New Year as I take an extended internet break for Christmas and getting some reading done. I'll be posting more about the crafting of a tyrant over at my own blog on Thursday HERE, talking about the inspiration behind Tyra-Lee's characters. Next week at Spacefreighters, I'll be summing up the past year with all its ups and downs.

Pippa Jay signing off...