It's Here! Pets in Space® 5 has Launched!

You know it must be October when the NEWEST Pets in Space collection arrives. 

And, yes. It's heeeeere!

PETS IN SPACE® 5

It’s time for an escape! Pets in Space® 5 is back for the fifth amazing year! Escape to new worlds with twelve of today’s top Science Fiction Romance authors. They have written 12 original, never-before-released stories filled with action, adventure, suspense, humor, and romance that will take you out of this world. The giving doesn’t stop there. For the fifth year, Pets in Space® will be donating a portion of the first month proceeds to Hero-Dogs.org, a non-profit charity that supports our veterans and First Responders. If you are ready to forget the world around you and make a difference while you are having fun, grab your copy before it’s gone!

OUR CHARITY: HERO-DOGS.ORG

Proud supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space® authors have donated over $15,300 in the past four years to help place specially trained dogs with veterans and first responders. 10% of all pre-orders and the first month’s royalties of Pets in Space® 5 will again go to Hero-Dogs.org. Open your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Pets in Space® 5 today so together we can continue to assist this worthy charity! 

https://www.hero-dogs.org/ 

MORE ABOUT PETS IN SPACE® 5

This volume includes twelve new stories from a dozen different ongoing science fiction romance series! The stories generally range from novella to novel length (so it will keep you in great reading for quite some time!) written by the following science fiction romance authors: S.E. Smith, Michelle Diener, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Laurie A. Green, Carol Van Natta, Regine Abel, Alexis Glynn Latner, JC Hay, Kyndra Hatch, Cassandra Chandler and Leslie Chase.

Ready to grab your copy? You can find Pets in Space® 5 here:

AMAZON   |   AMAZON UK   |   AMAZON CA

AMAZON AU   |   KOBO   |   APPLE BOOKS

NOOK   |   GOOGLEPLAY

Enjoy the adventures!

Sneak Peek at Juggernaut from Pets in Space® 5 - Releasing Tomorrow!

My upcoming release, Juggernaut, will be a part of the much anticipated and eagerly awaited Pets in Space® 5 which releases tomorrow, October 6th! (Which in Amazon time means pre-orders could start hitting any hour now!)

My story involves a very unusual setting for a science fiction romance. It’s underground. As a matter of fact, most of the story is set inside an ancient lava tube.

Here's a snippet to give you a first glimpse:

Scene Set-Up

Lieutenant Commander Dekessa "Dek" Garr is on watch at a highly secure area--Site D--that her team protects. A few teens from the nearby resort town of Sarcassius have wandered down the beach and approached the site where they encountered the protective infrasound barrier surrounding Site D. The barrier repelled them, but the kids haven't yet left the area, and Dek is maintaining a watch from her hidden perch in the lava rock outside the lava tube to be sure they do.

“Dek,” Major Remm’s voice intruded into her thoughts. “Commander needs you to see you in SecCom. Now.”

She replied subvocally, her com equipment translating the muscle movement in her throat and mouth. “Give me five. Targets penetrated barrier and have retreated. Need to ensure they exit the area.”

“Sergeant Garr is en route to relieve you.”

Dek’s attention remained on the teens until the slight reverberation of the steel circ-stairs below clued her in to the man’s arrival. The kids out on the beach wouldn’t hear him, but it peeved her that Garr was often so lax in the stealth department.

“Hey, cuz,” he subvoced.

Dek grimaced. Cuz. Ancient tradition behind the LaGuardian four-letter surnames meant she and Sergeant Garr had shared ancestors at some point on the planet’s timeline. But if they were cousins, it was probably something like sixty times removed. And it sure hadn’t deterred her junior team member from hitting on her. Which, in her assessment, made him not only bungling, but completely unprofessional.

“Coming up behind you.”

Like I could miss you.

Dekessa waited until the sergeant settled into his watch beside her then pushed away from the rock to descend the stairs. “Be sure those kids are okay.”

“Right. Hey, loan me your vid, cuz. I left mine in my quarters.”

Bumbling, unprofessional, and forgetful.

Dek gave an impatient sigh and tossed him her vid unit.

“What, no kiss before you go?” he taunted as she started down the steps.

“Put a hatch on it.”

His subvocal laughter echoed inside her head. If the ComCenter picked up his pointless chatter, they didn’t verbally reprimand him.

When Dek reached the bottom step, she turned left and headed into the maw of darkness.

The commander’s office occupied an alcove of the great cave her team called home—in reality a massive lava tube. In ancient times, glowing magma had carved stark horizontal grooves into the curved walls and left lavacicles hanging from areas of the ceiling where molten rock had once dripped. Eons later, wind and huge waves had brought in megatons of sand from the beach outside, covering much of the jumbled basalt floor and providing easily navigable paths through the cavity. The floor sloped downward from the entrance point, but mid-cave, the incline leveled off into an area free of large rocky outcroppings.

This was where most of the infrastructure huddled: the quarters, mess, detention cells, and security command office—or SecCom—where their commander had transformed a couple of temp structures into his makeshift office complex. Dekessa passed the modular staff barracks and mess hall and made her way across the smooth sand path to his location.

A breach in the rock ceiling high above the complex illuminated the underground lair in daylight hours. The opening had been sealed by a plasma barrier, allowing light to pass, but not weather or the prying eyes of air- or spaceborne spy craft.

Their overlord enemies, the Ithian Alliance, were always watching. Especially this planet.

_____________________________

As before, a portion of all pre-orders and first month's sales will go to support the wonderful Hero-Dogs charity. If you haven't yet reserved your copy, please consider pre-ordering your copy now so you'll get it the moment it hits! Remember this huge volume is only available for a limited time and then it's gone forever.

You can see all the available vendors for the collection by clicking here: Pets in Space® 5

I'll be back with the official release announcement tomorrow! See you then.

COPYCAT TRICK EARNS TREATS

So, in my weekly scan of the world’s offerings of fascinating factoids and weird science snippets, I came across this little story of Ebisu, the imitative cat, and her owner, Japanese animal trainer Fumi Higaki.

It seems that Ebisu, like my own oldest kitty, Shadow, is highly motivated by food, so she allows Higaki to undertake “training” with her, as long as treats are involved. She will sit on command and pay attention to what follows, which, as any cat owner knows, is miracle enough. But what makes Ebisu worthy of scientific study is that she has learned how to imitate her owner’s movements when asked to do so. If Higaki twirls in place, Ebisu will twirl in place. If Higaki stands on tiptoe and reaches for the ceiling, Ebisu rears up on her hind legs and “begs.” If Higaki touches a box, Ebisu delicately places her paw on the same box. If Higaki, strokes the box with her cheek, Ebisu does the same.

Sometimes it takes a minute before the cat copies the human action, but in my opinion that’s only Ebisu doing what cats do: considering whether it’s worth her time to do what the human suggests. If either of my cats were the subject of the experiment, she would have been gone long before, treat or no treat, thinking, what madness is this?

The amazing thing here is that Ebisu has not been trained to do any specific action. She’s seeing her owner do the actions for the first time and copying them simply because she knows doing what Higaki does will earn her a treat. The method is called the Do As I Do paradigm, and is used with dogs also. The ability to mimic in this way is only known to exist in higher animals, such as apes, dolphins, and killer whales, in addition to dogs. Ebisu and Higaki were part of a formal study conducted over eight months in 2019 by animal behavior researcher Claudia Fugazza and published earlier this month in the journal Animal Cognition, which showed for the first time that cats can imitate human actions, too.

(Really, this should be no surprise. Research has shown that cats in feral colonies don’t meow to communicate with each other. That’s something they reserve for communication with humans. Humans talk, so cats figure they have to “talk,” too, to get what they want. Some are better at this than others, especially at dinner time.)

Higaki reports that it took Ebisu five months to learn the Do As I Do system of imitating her actions. Then Fugazza came in to video the experiment. Ebisu wasn’t perfect in her responses (she was a cat, after all; she had a reputation to uphold), but through 18 trials, which included the actions described above, as well as opening a drawer and mouthing a toy, she succeeded 81% of the time.

Unfortunately, the study can’t be replicated with Ebisu. The 11-year-old cat sadly passed away from kidney-disease early this year. But Higaki continues to participate in behavioral studies with her canine trainees, and Fugazza remains hopeful someone will attempt to build on the foundation Ebisu provided with further feline studies. Maybe one of you out there has a talented tabby who can contribute to science!

In the meantime, take a look at Ebisu doing her copycat thing.

 

Cheers, Donna

*Information for this post provided by: “Extremely Good Cat Learns to Copy Human Movements,” by Ed Cara, Gizmodo Science, 9/30/2020, https://gizmodo.com/extremely-good-cat-learns-to-copy-human-movements-1845219499

We're in the Final Countdown!

I've been sharing news and previews all year, but now I'm super excited that release day for Pets in Space® 5 is next week. Next week! 

Tuesday, October 6th! 

This anthology has been firming up over the last year-- and what a year it's been? KnowwhatImean? We can't wait to "unleash" this latest Pets in Space® collection on the universe. (See what I did there?)

Today I'm going to share my impressions of one of my peers' stories, because now that I have my advanced copy, my read-through of the collection (which, by the way, is massive!) has begun. I can tell you right off the bat that this volume is looking to be ah-maz-ing!

Here's my take on one of the stories and more information on the other works in the volume to give you a closer glimpse at the collection.

GALACTIC SEARCH AND RESCUE
Central Galactic Concordance Series
By Carol Van Natta

Rescuers Taz and Rylando can’t let their forbidden attraction get in the way of saving lives. When a planetary disaster turns deadly, can they save an entire town... and each other?

Subcaptain Taz Correa, telekinetic talent and first-responder in the military’s underfunded and overworked Galactic Search and Rescue division, hides her unprofessional attraction for teammate Rylando and his unorthodox team of animal assistants. When catastrophe strikes a politically important town, Taz, Rylando, and his animals are the only rescuers left to respond.

Subcaptain Rylando Dalroinn loves his telepathic connection to his animals, but wants a heart connection with teammate Taz. Unfortunately, not only is it against the rules, but he doesn’t know how to tell her. And in GSAR, rescue missions always come first.

Kaz lives her worst nightmare when trapped underground with the animals in a hidden room set to blow sky high. Everything Rylando loves is in peril, and now he’s at the mercy of people who aren’t just victims.

If Taz, Rylando, and the animals can’t find their way to save each other fast and neutralize the threat, the whole town will become a disaster statistic.

I decided to read this story first because I was intrigued by the rescue team aspects (especially involving K-9 and OtherCreatures-9 team members) and pseudo-military details that I tend to relate to.

I found the world-building and situation-related politics in this high-risk rescue mission very detailed and realistic. The scenes involving their work were wonderfully detailed without sacrificing the pace, and the team makes use of some extremely sophisticated future tech. 

The rescue team at the center of the story involves two characters that are very relatable and authentic in their thoughts and actions, as well as the other members of their team--one human and an array of clever, talented, well-trained--not to mention lovable--creatures (and by lovable, I mean you just want to throw your arms around them and hug them to pieces) who work with them. In spite of their competence they have been dropped into a situation that is impossible, at best, as forces of corruption, greed, animosity and other undisclosed motivations--as well as nature itself--threaten to bring them down.

I can't wait to dive into all the other stories! 

Here's a quick run down of what's in store in the eleven other Pets in Space stories. 

THE KING’S QUEST
Dragon Lords of Valdier Series Short Story
by S.E. Smith
A playful trick leads to love for a Goddess, but will the King she falls in love with accept her for who she really is? 

DARK AMBITIONS
A Class 5 Novella
By Michelle Diener
When a planetary exploration trip takes a dangerous turn, a human woman and her powerful AI friend will need all their skills to come to the rescue.

STAR CRUISE: RETURN VOYAGE
The Sectors SF Romance Series
By Veronica Scott
She survived the worst interstellar shipping disaster in history as a child but can she survive the RETURN VOYAGE as an adult?

GENERAL’S HOLIDAY
Project Enterprise Series
By Pauline Baird Jones
A General is ready for another fight—this time for the woman he loves.

JUGGERNAUT
The Inherited Stars Series
By Laurie A. Green
A security commander must decide if she can trust a mysterious stranger and his bioengineered StarDog when the secret underground site she protects is threatened.

REAPER
Xian Warriors Series
By Regine Abel
With time running out, a woman accepts her fate only to find hope in the genetically engineered warrior created by her captors.

PASTFINDERS
Starways Series
By Alexis Glynn Latner
A woman’s psychic gift might be the catalyst needed to save the life of the man she loves—in an ancient archaeological site that contains a stupendous discovery.

MITTENS NOT INCLUDED
TriSystems: Smugglers Series
By JC Hay
He craved order and discipline to help his life make sense. She offered him cats instead.

FINDING MOGHA
Before The Fall Series
By Kyndra Hatch
A human’s effort to save a sentient being takes her straight into the path of a Korthan warrior.

RATE OF RETURN
The Department of Homeworld Security Series
By Cassandra Chandler
Falling for an Earthling sends an alien and his adorable, six-legged pet in a tailspin.

GLITCH
Crashland Colony Romance Series
By Leslie Chase
An alien pirate and a human find love in the shadow of disaster.

I'll be posting further story commentary on my website blog in the coming week if you want to read the follow-ups there: Laurie A. Green - Escape to the Stars

Pets in Space® 5 is supporting Hero Dogs!

Please remember our charity, because 10% of the royalties for all pre-orders and the first month's sales will go to support Hero-Dogs. This organization raises, trains and places--free of charge--service animals with disabled veterans and first responders to improve their quality of life. 

Our anthology is all about how pets can enrich the lives of our characters, but can you imagine what a difference a real life service dog and trusted companion can make in the lives of those who have sacrificed to serve their country and communities?

This is your chance to make a difference and enjoy several great reads in the bargain. 

You can pre-order Pets in Space® 5 now so you're one of the first to get it on release day and have your purchase count for Hero Dogs! You can read more and find all vendor links on the Pets in Space website << by clicking here.

Have a great week!