ECHO 8: We have lift-off! (And a giveaway!)

Echo 8, from Tor Books. Action, suspense,
science, and romance!

In a way, it feels like any other day. Maybe it's all the buildup to Seattle's second consecutive Super Bowl, and the collective sob that went up in those closing seconds. Maybe it's all the media coverage I've been following on the demise of the Kalakala, a historic ferry boat that features prominently in ECHO 8. Maybe it's because I wrote this book like five years ago, and wasn't sure it would ever make it into print.

But it did. And I'm thrilled, because this one holds a special place in my heart, and it's the favorite of my beta readers.

If you read Laurie's post last week, you know there have been some interesting synchronicities, to say the least. The most poignant of which, perhaps, is the dismantling of the Kalakala coinciding with the release of ECHO 8. She sat for more than a decade in the Port of Tacoma, taking on water and threatening to disrupt shipping in an important waterway. Then just over a week ago she made her final voyage, and they've been taking her apart piece by piece ever since.

I was sad to see her go after spending so much time researching her for the book. She'd begun to feel like a friend, and she had some really hard luck over her lifetime. But the man who finally put her out of her misery did it with compassion, even arranging a special ceremony when the dismantling began. And the old girl put up a fight to the end! There is some great footage of cranes trying to knock her over in dry dock.

I think part of the reason I empathized with her is that sometimes being an author (especially an author in a niche genre) feels exactly like that. Sometimes it seems like there's every reason in the world we should keel over and give up. But deep down we know we're made of better stuff than that.

By R. M. Calamar (Flickr: Mural of the Kalakala in Port Angeles)
[CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

The Kalakala did pass though, and she did it with dignity. The fellow who basically ended up with her by default (after two separate, failed attempts by other parties to raise funds to restore her) grew just as attached as I did. But he believed she was ready to go and was asking for his help, and he didn't refuse. He spent something like half a million dollars just stabilizing her for that final journey to dry dock.

And out of her ashes (pardon me while I melodramatically mix metaphors) rises ECHO 8. A story about parallel Earths, and on one of them Kalakala lives on.

(But lest things get TOO serious, check out this sci-fi interpretation of the Kalakala's last stand.)

Happy release day, ECHO 8! (And happy birthday to baby ECHO 8 - see Laurie's post yesterday to see who I mean!)

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TWO DEBUTS!

The last week was a very exciting one on two fronts!

First of all, my publishing debut snuck in there a little early! FAREWELL ANDROMEDA made its appearance on January 9th (not 19th, as it had been billed). Now I can really say..."Woohoooo! I'm a published author!"

A little more info:

FAREWELL ANDROMEDA DEBUTED JANUARY 19, 2015!

My Science Fiction Romance novelette delivers a surprising romantic twist--the kind that makes SFR such a fun read!

Here's the blurb:

_________________________

Fresh off a painful jilting, the last thing deep space pilot Tiharra Bell needs is another romantic entanglement. Certainly not with the galaxy’s most famous astronomer-who also happens to be single, inconveniently handsome, and a resident of the remote Andromeda Station. But Tiharra soon discovers two terrible truths about Dr. Dante “Donner” Dane:

1) he’s not the man he appears to be, and

2) he doesn’t have long to live.

Before her fourteen day layover is complete, she’ll put her life and career on the line to protect his heartbreaking secret.

_________________________

And here's the opening line:

I met the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with ten days before he died.

Now, you may wonder, how can this story possibly have a happy ending? Well, that's the beauty of Science Fiction Romance, which can offer all sorts of fascinating twists on a romantic tale.

FAREWELL ANDROMEDA promises more than just a high stakes love story, it also delivers an introduction to The Inherited Stars Series universe. It takes place 200 years after the era depicted in my first novel (set to launch in February), and offers an intriguing glimpse back at what came before without dropping any major spoilers.

And FAREWELL ANDROMEDA really can claim the title of a Far Out Romance. It takes place at the very edge of the Milky Way Galaxy! Tijarra and Donner can't wait to share their story with you.

This debut novelette is approximately 60 pages or just under 17,000 words in length, and is being offered at a special price of only .99 on Amazon, and (OMG, I can't believe I finally get to say this) heeeeeeeeeeeere's the sales link! :D

FAREWELL ANDROMEDA

If you're interested in following along as more novels are announced and released, you can sign up for my newsletter on my author web site or Like my author page on Facebook. (And thank you!)

AND...

Okay, that was fun! But what's Debut #2?

It's THIS...

This little girl is our first and only Thoroughbred foal of 2015. She's black and she's all kinds of adorable. We're so thrilled she arrived safe and healthy (and that goes for Mom too, of course).

If you're wondering what that blue band is around her neck, that's a bandage over the area where the farm gave her an IV to boost her immune system. These newborn foals can be a bit fragile, but getting through the first 48 hours is key, so we're in pretty good shape!

She doesn't have a name yet, but she's the little sister of Echo Eight, who was named for co-blogger Sharon Lynn Fisher's novel that debuts on February 3nd! (I'm tellin' ya, you don't want to miss this one! ECHO 8 is one amazing, Earth-based Science Fiction Romance!) Echo Eight, the novel's namesake, is a strapping yearling now, and probably only a year or so away from his racing debut, should good fortune and good health continue to smile on him.

Our new little girl is a granddaughter of millionaire Stellar Jayne, a great granddaughter of Relaunch, and a relative of Skywalker...so you KNOW she's going to get a Science Fictiony name just like her big brother!

And the rest of her pedigree? She has two Triple Crown winners in four generations being a direct descendant of both Secretariat and Seattle Slew. We had all our fingers and toes crossed for a filly because we wanted to capture her bloodline for our breeding program. We couldn't have been more thrilled when the farm called to tell us we had our filly...and a black one to boot! Her dam, Soulful, filled our order to a T. (Many pats and cookies to "Sofie" ensued.) Now we'll have the option to raise her, race her and add her to our broodmare band in the future. If you want to follow along on both foals, you can Like our farm page on Facebook.

I'll definitely post here when we announce her chosen name...sometime in the next six-eight months.

So it's been one happy, exciting, fast and furious week! And the rest of the year is certainly promising more of the same.

Have a great week!

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