Top Gun SFR -- Still Flying

In 2014, I stumbled across an ad from fellow Science Fiction Romance/Space Adventure author Pauline Baird Jones, talking about two titles that she'd bundled and dubbed "Top Guns in Time and Space.”

Wait? What? That sounded amazing! I figured Pauline might have just defined the name of a new SFR category.

The stories she bundled were Out of Time, a time-travel/action adventure/romance centering on a World War II flying ace, and The Key, about a female Air Force pilot sent on a dangerous mission beyond the Milky Way galaxy.

I had to learn more, so I asked Pauline if she'd like to stop by Spacefreighters Lounge to talk about Top Gun SFR, and she graciously agreed. You can read that original discussion here: TOP GUN SFR: WHAT IS THIS NEW CATEGORY? 

When I asked her to explain the parameters of Top Gun SFR, Pauline said: “Anything that deals with military pilots seems like a good fit. Because who doesn’t love stories about military pilots? They are pretty amazing.” She also noted that the idea arose when she was talking to friend and fellow author, Cornelia Amiri, about how hard it is to market a stand alone book, so also gives credit to Cornelia for the idea.

So to put it in perspective, Top Gun Science Fiction Romance centers on characters like Han Solo, Jim Kirk, Mal Reynolds, or Starbuck, and not necessarily just pilots, but also ship’s captains, fleet admirals, rogue privateers, crack navigators, or anyone who knows their way around a space vessel and how to use their skills and their ship to the fullest potential.

Well, here we are in 2022 and the idea has come full circle with the release of the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, where we revisit Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell decades later, to learn if his rare talents translate to a new age of 5th generation craft and cutting-edge weaponry systems. We’ve been reminded of that spirit of daring-do once more, of those who fly by instinct and reflex, and have developed a keen intuition – coupled with experience – on how to achieve the impossible.

Top Gun SFR honors this rare and extraordinary vanishing breed. Heroes and heroines who "boldly go where no one has gone before" in spite of the perils and risks to them personally. It may not always be an enemy fleet they contend with – it could be an asteroid field, a massive nebula, the gravitational pull of an alien sun, a dangerous anomaly in the space-time continuum, or any number of hazards they might encounter out in the big, wide universe. This makes for an exciting, heart-pounding read and a wonderful reading adventure.

I thought it might be a good time to revisit the Top Gun SFR theme, so I reached out to Pauline again to see if she’d like to talk more on the subject.

Welcome, Pauline. So glad to have you back on Spacefreighters Lounge. I’d love to get your take on where you think SFR has gone, as a genre, in the last eight years and if you agree that the “Top Gun SFR” tag is still very relevant?

On some levels, the genre has moved away from the “pew-pew” science fiction romance, but for readers who love their “pew-pew,” their space opera and their top gun pilots of space ships, we’re still here. You just have to dig a little harder, drill a little further down.

I personally know the readers are still here for the “pew-pew” books and I’m also seeing some push back from the increasingly explicit content in SFR books. That’s why I created Blush Free Books. I wanted a place for authors and readers to find each other in that vast place between steamy, explicit books and the prim, sweet books.

Blush Free books aren’t prim, they aren’t steamy, but they are romantic and exciting! And you can find some classic “pew-pew” fiction there, too. You can find Blush Free Books at blushfreebooks.com. If you write (or have read) books in the middle, please hop over and submit them for inclusion on the site.

I love this idea! I have to agree that I don’t read SFR just for the sexy times. In many stories, I’d like to see more of the space adventure in my reads, and though the romance is always important, I like the story to be about much more than just the steam.

Could you provide readers with a brief snippet from your work that involves a Top Gun SFR character or situation?

This is a snippet from The Key. Sara is going back into battle after having been shot down a few days earlier in the story.

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Sara wondered if she’d choke or hesitate, but she didn’t have time to think about anything as she dove into the dogfight. It was almost easy. There were so many enemy ships, it was like shooting fish in a barrel—well, probably like it, since she’d never shot fish in a barrel. Or out of one for that matter.

Her bird responded like a trooper, at times it seemed all she had to do was think and it danced out of the way of incoming fire. She cut a swathe through a section of ships, then did a bat turn and made some more of them go away. No question who had the faster ships or best fighter pukes. The gomers attacked in groups of five ships, close flying, which made it easy to take out more than one ship with each shot.

The formation of Dusan craft broke up and tried to reform. One of them took out one of his own guys. A ship tried to play chicken with her and lost.

As she dodged, rolled, spun and fired, her SA, “situational awareness” was so high, she knew where every friendly was and how they were doing. It was odd, but she was used to odd. More squadrons poured out the fighter bay of the Doolittle and the enemy began to fall back. Like dogs after sheep, they wanted to follow, but the Old Man whistled them home to mother. Sara reluctantly turned her nose toward the ship.

She was lined up in the hawk circle, waiting her turn to go in, when the autopilot abruptly engaged and her ship pulled out of formation.

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What a great example of pilot finesse! Have you penned other books that fit the Top Gun SFR tag since 2014 that you’d like to talk about?

My Project Enterprise series continues to grow. I released a new book in the series this year, but probably my most recent “pew-pew” book is COSMIC BOOM from last year. There are several top gun space pilots who get to show off their flying and fighting skills against a myriad of alien enemies.

I’ve always loved your series title – Project Enterprise. To me, that really suggests “top gun SFR.” I’ve read several books in your series, but haven’t caught up to COSMIC BOOM yet, which I hope to do soon. Could you explain a little more about what inspired your series to readers?

Project Enterprise began with The Key, and was meant to just be one book. But readers asked for more and I loved the military aspect of the series. I wanted them to be really out there, far from home and having to rely on their own wits to survive.

As for why the military? I come from men who fought (and some who died) for their country and I love honoring that heritage and legacy. You can find out more about me and my books at paulinebairdjones.com! I hope you’ll stop by and say hi!

Thanks for stopping by Spacefreighters Lounge today to do revisit this topic, Pauline. You always have such fun ideas!