Outer Planets: The Cutting Room -- Final Chapter

This will be the final installment of Greg and Elena's scenes from the cutting room floor of my upcoming novel, The Outer Planets. These two individuals will remain pivotal supporting characters in the novel, but their personal relationship will not make it into the final text. (As I mentioned before, they may have their own spin-off story at some future date. I'm still mulling that idea.)

If you want to catch up on the two previous Cutting Room posts, you can read them HERE and HERE.

To recap these characters' roles:

 Meet "Chief" Greg Farr, the head of security on the planetary exploration vessel NSS Robert Bradley. He's also an inspector in the RCMP--Royal Canadian Mounted Police. So, yes...he's a Mountie in spaaaaaaace.

 His love interest? Elena Stevens, a wise-cracking, happy-go-lucky med tech (the futuristic equivalent of a nurse-slash-physician's assistant) in the ship's Medical section, more popularly known as Med Bay. Elena is Hispanic and hails from San Antonio, Texas. (She's also a huge Spurs fan. Yeah, I'm making a gamble that the Spurs are still alive and kickin' in the early 2040s.)

*     *     *

Greg hadn’t seen Elena for three days when she stepped onto the lift that morning and gave him an uncertain smile.

            “Hi,” he said.

            “Hello, yourself.”

            When he didn’t—couldn’t—say anything more, Elena leaned against the back wall of the unit, dropping her head and the smile. Greg fought the urge to gather her in his arms and breathe in the scent of her hair. He knew what happened between them had no rationale, but he couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened at all.

            Before he was fully aware his body was in motion, he had pressed the HOLD button on the lift panel.

            Her head came up, questions in her eyes.

            Greg moved to stand in front of her. “Talk to me.”

            She straightened, folding her arms across her chest defensively but didn’t avoid his eyes. “I don’t know where to start.”

            He tried to read her body language and failed. "Just talk."  

            "Okay." Elena’s arms unfolded and eased down to her sides. She never looked away. “I know you needed me. I needed you, too. I guess it’s a little late to second guess ourselves, now. It happened.”

            "Yeah." Greg studied the generous bow of her lips and the intelligence in her dark eyes. He’d crossed a line, broken through a wall, recklessly and without a plan. He was on the other side now, in that place where right and wrong blurred, deep in a purgatory he once believed he should avoid at any cost.

            And it was costing him.

            Greg reached out to brace his hand against the wall, leaning in. “’Lena,” he whispered, shaking his head.

The cold, wary steel in her eyes warmed a degree. “We made a mistake, Greg. We’re human.”

He moved his hand from the wall to cup her cheek. “We are.”

“Don't you wish you could just erase it from your memory banks?”

“Never.”

He lowered his mouth and she met him halfway. It was a soft, slow meeting of souls. His fingertips settled lightly on her throat, feeling her pulse jump against his touch. She reached for his free hand, threaded her fingers with his and gently squeezed. 

She was the first to break contact, eyes closed and mouth still parted when she tucked her head beneath his chin. “This can’t happen again.”

He nuzzled her hair. “I know.”

“I’m running late,” she breathed.

“Me, too.” His hand trailed from her neck to her shoulder and down her arm before he broke contact and stepped away to release the HOLD button.

When the lift stopped on Main she moved to the seal and angled her head his way. “See you around. Chief.”

“You bet. Stevens.” The right side of his mouth curved up in a half-smile and he watched her beat a quick tempo toward Med Bay. The lift seal closed, leaving him alone.

*     *     *

This was actually one of my favorite scenes between Greg and Elena.

Greg is a man of few words. He speaks exactly eighteen in this exchange, but the subtext and his internally monologue serves to fill in the blanks.

Elena is still processing their encounter. Though she's mentally trying to chalk it up to "just one of those things" it's apparent she's struggling with the aftermath.

These are two disciplined, ethical individuals who both put a high value on morality and now must deal with the emotional consequences of breaking their own rules.

Though I'm sad to see this personal interaction go, I agreed it was distracting from the main mystery and suspense of the primary plot line. The novel was too "busy" and required a sound trim to better focus on the essential elements. 

Seven Weeks of the Season Holiday Celebration

Happy Holidays! Right up until the third week of December, 

random commenters on selected posts will be chosen to receive special gifts.

 It's our thanks to you for visiting Spacefreighters Lounge.

We didn't have any outside comments on last week's post, so I'll sweeten the pot for this week. A random commenter will receive the special gift package with both week's prizes. 

Good luck and have a great week!

~~ * ~~

MY SCIENCE FICTION BECOMES SCIENCE FACT!

Science fiction writers are in the business of predicting the future. It must be no surprise to the best of them—William Gibson writing about cybernetics, perhaps, or Ursula LeGuin about the fluidity of sexual relationships—when some of their predictions come true right before their eyes.

I must admit I never expected it to happen to me, though. My grasp of current science and technology is tenuous at best. In my writing, they support the story in a purely functional way. If I need something to make the story go, I make it up and try to align it with what I know of the rules of STEM.

The exoskeleton leg brace as I envisioned it (Fortis detail).

So it was with a little device I invented for a STAR TREK fanfic novella called Children of Haole published with Orion Press back in the mid-1990’s. In the story, Enterprise captain James T. Kirk injures his knee—badly—but, of course, must return to action much sooner than Doctor McCoy would like. So McCoy slaps a powered brace on the leg, essentially a light robotic exoskeleton that will take the weight of the body as Kirk moves. As far as I knew, nothing like this existed at the time, though massive exoskeletal robots had certainly been envisioned in other SF settings.

Now this week I’m watching a marvelous series called BREAKTHROUGH on the National Geographic channel. The episode “More Than Human” hosted by Paul Giamatti, dealt with how technology is extending the capability of the human body. And what do I see but my little exoskeleton brace come to life! In the real world the invention is the Lockheed Martin Fortis Exoskelton and extends the reach of both arms and legs, allowing the user to hold heavy equipment for long hours, to scramble over rough terrain or to lift big loads. 

According to Trish Aelker, exoskeleton technology program manager at Lockheed Martin, the device could have many applications in industry or emergency services. On the show, one man demonstrated using the exoskeleton (it should have a cooler name, like “XOS” or something) to use the extremely heavy “Jaws of Life” to open a crushed car door in seconds. It could also go a long way toward reducing the physical disparities between male and female workers, EMTs or soldiers in the field.

Or, I don’t know, it could be used to help a starship captain with an injured knee slog through a swamp to rescue a damsel in distress. (Well, she wasn’t exactly a damsel, and she wasn’t exactly in distress—you’d have to read the book.)

As for further predictions—it would be really cool if my “jump nodes” system of interstellar travel worked out within my lifetime. But only if the part about the bad-guy aliens using the nodes to abduct us wasn’t true. Let’s just say all that is totally fiction, okay? It’s too scary to contemplate, otherwise.

Cheers, Donna

Jaleta Clegg's favourite character

Jaleta Clegg joins us this week to tell us all about her favourite character.

One of my favorite side characters is Paltronis. She showed up briefly in book three of my series, Poisoned Pawn. She was so much fun, I kept finding ways to bring her back until she became a main character. But there was more to her story, much more than what showed up in the books. She intrigued me enough to want to write side stories explaining who she is, where she came from, and how she got to be who she is at the end of the series.

If I could sit down and interview her at the start of the series when she's just starting her career with Lowell, these are some of the questions I want answered:

If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?

A whole day to myself? I'd go crazy. I need something to do. I'd probably spend the day sparring with someone. Or practicing on the firing range. Or maybe I'd go for a really long run. The only times I've ever had time on my hands were the week I spent in the infirmary recovering from several broken bones and the couple of weeks I've spent in the brig. But I didn't pick those fights. I was just finishing them. I never had free time, not really. I grew up on a communal farm. I was out picking vegetables and pulling weeds as soon as I was old enough to walk. It was work or starve. The Patrol was my way out. I don't think I know how to just enjoy myself.

What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? How about after they've known you for a while?

You're kidding, right? Do I make you nervous? I thought so. I'm an expert at hand-to-hand combat. I'm supposed to intimidate people. That's what Lowell wants me to do. He says it's what I excel at. I stand around and make people nervous so he can get them to spill all their secrets. It's not what I expected when I signed up to work for the undercover division of the Patrol. I'm not good at pretending. But I am good at scaring people. Most people get more scared as they get to know me. I know too many ways to disable and kill people. It's what I'm good at. Talking to people? Not so good.

Do you think you've turned out the way your parents expected?

Paltronis: I have no idea. The farm where I grew up was a commune run by the government. My parents could have been any of the forty-three adults in the compound. Or none of them. I don't know and I don't really care if I ever find out or not. I'm out of that life. The Patrol is my life now.

What's the worst thing that's happened in your life?

I thought it was getting expelled from the Academy. I picked too many fights, broke too many bones. They deserved it, but the CO at the Academy didn't see it that way. He had me arrested. That's when I met Tayvis. He recruited me for Lowell. So I guess you could say getting locked up was the best thing that's ever happened to me. Not that working for Lowell is all happy songs and flowers, but it means I get to work with Tayvis now and then. That all by itself is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Who is Tayvis?

Just another officer who works for Lowell. He's a sector commander, works undercover. He isn't just a bodyguard, like me. He's smart, an agent Lowell sends in when things get rough. I worked with him on a couple of missions. I'd love to work with him more often, but like I said, I don't do undercover work. He does.

Are you lying to yourself about something? What is it?

Why would I lie about anything? I'm an open book. Don't look at me that way. My relationship with Tayvis is purely professional. There is nothing personal between us. If there were, I'd have to transfer. Lowell doesn't let his agents get involved with each other. I've said too much. Just believe me when I say we're only friends. Besides, I'm not sure he feels the same way. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Paltronis, an officer of the Patrol, can kill you seven different ways. Using only her pinkie. But she didn't start out that way. Where did she get her start? Second Chances tells one chapter of her story, how she met Tayvis and was recruited to join Lowell's organization.

Second Chances is available in print in the collection, Soul Windows, on Amazon

Second Chances is available in ebook format at Smashwords, free with the code DE23P

Second Chances is now available as an audiobook download - I'll send the link when I have it.

Find more of Jaleta Clegg's characters on her webpage - http://www.jaletac.com

Time And RelateD Inspiration in Space #amwriting #scifi #romance #DoctorWho

Yes, the title is a very bad play on TARDIS, the Doctor's famous time travelling machine. But since that's what this post is about...

Most Fridays I try to post a random fact to my Facebook fanpage and Twitter related to my books or myself as an author. Lately they've been related to Keir's Fall as I (hopefully) approach release. It reminded me that the main antagonists started life many years ago when I was a teen, in a Doctor Who story I wrote called Gamehouse, (and many, many years before I ever heard the term 'fanfic'). That reminder led me to dig out an old diary filled with fragments of that fanfic and others (1989 for those curious). FYI I've never (willingly) thrown away anything I've written, though some things have been lost or accidentally destroyed over time (I have folders and notebooks and big boxes of all those things).

I've been watching Doctor Who since I was three years old. Yeah, I can be sure of that because I remember the episode very clearly. That was way back before the benefit of repeats, before iPlayer, before video even. It was Jon Pertwee's last story, and something I blame my spider phobia on: Planet of the Spiders. Theoretically, though, Tom Baker (4th) was the Who I grew up with, and 'my' companion was Sarah Jane Smith (the now sadly deceased Elizabeth Sladen), who didn't merely scream in the right places and flatter the Doctor. She had spunk! 

So I've seen a lot of Who's evolution. I was one of those who cried when the series was cancelled and felt my world had come to an end. But it did inspire me to do something about it, and to do something positive as a writer. With DW off screen, I finally sat down and completed my first ever novel (after dozens of unfinished works): A Doctor Who story featuring the 7th Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), but with a new companion called Quin. Some people might recognize the name. ;) That story was called Shadowshaper. It not only featured the first incarnation of Quin (who went on to be the heroine in several uncompleted stories before Keir) but the sentaic and Rulk as well. The original machine-typed manuscript, along with that rejection letter and some of my own character sketches, now sits on my bookshelf, hand-bound by a friend's dad who knew how to put proper old-fashioned books together. 

I don't know that it qualifies as fan fiction being as I actually submitted it to WH Allen, the then publisher of DW books, and written it in keeping with the final series and current canon. It got rejected but with a wonderfully detailed critique from the publisher. At age 18, that was huge - a publisher telling me they liked it (I'd broken a couple of central laws like (deliberately) leaving out the then companion Ace and revealing some of the Doctor's inner thoughts - a then definite no-no!). Maybe I'll get around to posting it on WattPad one day... My main epiphany with that book though was actually finishing something, an achievement not to be repeated for another twenty years when I finally wrote Keir. >.<

And new Who? Well, I had my doubts about Christopher Eccleston despite my elation at seeing the series return, but he did a damn fine job of bringing it back. I never liked Billy Piper, and the romance between her and Ten was the one thing that ruined it for me (Donna Noble was my favourite companion, and I've yet to fall in love with any since). But I guess DW had to grow up and evolve like the older generations of fans, and needed to draw new ones if it was going to continue. I think it did a great job. I'll admit my devotion died somewhat during the Matt Smith era.I dunno. Maybe it was him being the first Who actor actually younger than me. Maybe it was the awkward love triangle with the Ponds. Whatever, it was the first time in Who history that I skipped watching episodes.

Bur while the Matt Smith fangirls might have abandoned ship at his departure, I was over the moon to see Peter Capaldi take over. Much more my idea of the Doctor. Maybe I have a bit of a thing for older men but I adored him as the Angel Islington in the BBC TV adaptation of Neverwhere. And Missy? Adore her! Finally a Master who really is just evil and kills without hesitation.

Will I always be a Who fan? Who knows? :P But without it, I have to wonder if I'd have ever finished a whole book and tried to get it published in the first place. 

Status update
I have round three of Keir's Fall still in progress. Are you sick of me saying that yet? Round one of Reunion is almost done - really almost. I've left it to focus on KF again. Round one of my proposed June release is still with Dani. 

Happenings
The Goodreads giveaway for a print edition of When Dark Falls is still open until the end of November.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

When Dark Falls

by Pippa Jay

Giveaway ends November 30, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

In preparation for the release of Keir's Fall, Keir (Book One) is now reduced to $0.99/99 Euros/99p across all digital platforms (it's $1 at All Romance eBooks because they work by percentage discount there rather than setting a price) until the end of the year.

Goodreads | Available from... Amazon | All Romance eBooks

Kobo | iTunes | B&N | Smashwords

Print available from... 

Amazon | B&N | CreateSpace

The Book Depository

And to finish, my Venus Ascendant novella (currently under the working title of Revived) came second in the Paranormal/Speculative Fiction/Urban Fantasy category of LERA's Rebecca contest. This is my first win in the Rebecca after three years of entering it. I'm chuffed! I'm also proud to be sharing the category with fellow Brigader Lea Kirk who took third place with her scifi romance Prophecy (releasing 12th January 2016 but already available for pre-order). Revived will be releasing sometime in 2016 (sorry, I'll give you a date as soon as I can get my act together!)

Before I sign off, I'm going to share the first promo image for Keir's Fall, from my very talented cover designer, editor, and sanity saver Danielle Fine. Enjoy!