There's a New Captain Aboard! Carol Van Natta Takes Charge of the Pets in Space® Dynasty

If you've been keeping up with Science Fiction Romance news, you're probably aware that author Carol Van Natta will be taking the helm of the wonderfully successful Pets in Space® SFR franchise for 2021 and into the future. Carol is well known in the community and among readers as an established and popular author with several wonderful sci-fi romance series.

I wanted to ask Carol a few questions about this big transition and she graciously agreed to do an interview. Read on to hear what the new PISA Captain has to say and if you have anything special you'd like to ask her regarding Pets in Space®, be sure to post them in comments. 

Carol, first of all, many congratulations and kudos on assuming the reins of the Pets in Space® dynasty. Can you talk a little more about how this all came about?

Thanks for your kind words. I'm excited and a bit intimidated at the same time. I have some very stylish shoes to fill.

The transition owes largely to serendipity and friendships. Pauline Baird Jones and Jean Walker (who writes as Veronica Scott) came up with a fabulous concept for Pets in Space®—even the name makes people smile. Add science fiction romance goodness and the excellent charity component, and it's a winner.

In the past (crazy) year, Pauline and Jean began looking for someone to take the helm, as it were, and my name came up via a mutual friend. I love the anthology, the charity, and the possibilities. It was too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, my cats insisted the world desperately needs more stories with felines. Please don't tell them about the stories with non-cat heroes.

As a writer for three of the past five volumes of Pets in Space®, what's your vision for the franchise going forward? Any surprises in store?

Pauline and Jean built a strong foundation and a devoted fan base. I've managed plenty of projects in my career, but never an anthology, so I know I have a learning curve. My plan for Pets in Space® 6 is to keep all the things readers love—favorite and new authors, brand new stories, pets, adventure, and science fiction romance.

I do have a few ideas for the future, but if I told you now, they wouldn't be surprises. 😸

Do you plan to continue with the usual involvement of 9-12 authors and the regular schedule of October releases for future Pets in Space® volumes, or will there be some "changing up" in the usual process? Do you also plan to continue to support the Hero Dogs charity with future releases?

Yes, I will be inviting 9 to 12 authors to participate in each anthology. As with the previous anthologies, some authors will be returning favorites, and some will be new. That number gives readers a nice buffet of stories to choose from without being overwhelming.

Unless the 2020 Calamity Fairy hangs around like a grumpy guest overstaying their visit, Pets in Space® 6 will release in October 2021. The October time frame has been good for the anthology. It will still be a limited edition, too, meaning it will leave the galaxy forever after a few months. It helps us maximize the donation amount for the charity, and quickly returns rights to the authors so they can do whatever they like with their stories.

And we will most definitely keep our relationship with the Hero Dogs charity for as long as they'll have us. Its mission to provide trained service dogs to disabled veterans and first-responders is a perfect match made in the stars for Pets in Space®. As a side note, I understand that you, Laurie, recommend the Hero Dogs charity and support them yourself, so kudos to you, too.

Pets in Space® 2: Embrace the Romance was the only volume ever released in a print version. Do you think any of the future collections might also be produced in a print version?

I am sentimentally fond of my only paperback copy of Pets in Space® 2, but it's a monster. Print books have a page limit, and every subsequent Pets in Space® volume has exceeded it by a goodly amount. I suppose we could print in tiny type and hand out magnifying glasses with each one, but I'm not sure how we'd package that. And the purchase price might be prohibitive, too.

All in all, I won't say "never," but I will say a future print version is unlikely. 

Is there anything else you'd like to say about your new role or the future of Pets in Space?

Please send black tea for me and cat toys to distract my felines. I have a feeling I'm going to need them.

Carol, I have a feeling you and Pets in Space® will have a long and happy voyage ahead. Many congratulations on taking the helm of this dynamic Science Fiction Romance anthology series, and thanks for chatting with us about its no-doubt bright future. 

Thanks for stopping by the Lounge today. 

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If you'd like to learn more about Carol Van Natta, visit her website here: Carol Van Natta

You can also follow Carol at these book-centered sites:  

Goodreads         Bookbub

If you have any thoughts or questions for Carol, 

please post them in comments below. 

Summer of SFR Book Selections

This summer the SFR Station is celebrating Science Fiction Romance.

For my blog today, I'm highlighting just a few of the books that are featured on the site.

My theme this week?

  Covers that Catch the Eye; Blurbs that Capture the Imagination 

I chose books with artwork and descriptions that suggests adventure, intrigue, depth and complexity, whether a space opera adventure or a struggle for survival on an alien planet.

The first was a 2019 SFR Galaxy Awards winner (the last year the awards were presented).

Aftermath
Hathe Series (Book #3)
by Mary Brock Jones
553 pages

War or Peace. It doesn’t matter. There is always an enemy.

Jacquel des Trurains of the planet Hathe knows all about enemies. He’s spent years as a resistance agent battling the Terran invaders of his home world. Now the war is over, but Hathe has been left divided and hurting. Years of oppression have left their mark on every dirtsider who stayed behind. The other Hathians who fled to the moon have now returned to their lost homes, but the greed of a few threatens all of Hathe. Someone has to fix it, and who better than a decorated leader of the Resistance. Jacquel is sent back into battle, but this time it’s to restore his home world. Then Jacquel’s bosses decide he needs help.

A gifted diplomat, Rheia asn Postrova spent the war off-world, playing twisted games to protect the secrets of Hathe. Talk, promise, beg; whatever it took to stop the other worlds betraying Hathe’s schemes to the Terrans. She’s paid her dues to Hathe. All she wants now is to hide in peace. Unfortunately, her boss has other ideas.

Together, Jacquel and Rheia must find a way to heal their home. But Jacquel has lost too many already. Can he risk losing—or loving—one more?

And Rheia has secrets of her own.

Find Aftermath (and other books in the series) on the SFR Station by clicking here

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Pet Trade
Central Galactic Concordance Series
by Carol Van Natta
121 pages

An injured veterinarian and a cyborg with unusual pets must join forces to save their town.

The vast Central Galactic Concordance strictly prohibits genetic experimentation and alteration of humans on any of its 500 member planets. Animals aren’t so lucky.

On a frontier planet, veterinarian Bethnee Bakonin made a home for herself in the frozen north. Her minder talent for healing all kinds of animals would ordinarily assure her success, but her unwilling stint in the shady pet trade industry left her damaged and scared. She works around her limitations as best she can, and rescues pet trade castoffs.

“Volunteered” for a black-box research project, elite forces Jumper Axur Tragon now has dangerous experimental tech in his cybernetic limbs. He escaped and crash-landed a stolen freighter in the northern mountains of a frontier planet, only to discover a secret shipment of designer pets was part of the cargo. Determined to do right by them, he enlists reluctant Bethnee’s aid in caring for them—a definite challenge, considering Bethnee is terrified of him.

When greedy mercenaries come raiding, can Axur and Bethnee work together to overcome their limitations, with help from their unusual pets, and save the day?

It’s a deadly adventure—with pets—in the fringes of space. Grab your copy of Pet Trade today!

Find Pet Trade and other books in the series on the SFR Station by clicking here.

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Last Run of the Ice Duchess
A Takamo Universe Novel
(A tale of the Distan Colonies Book 1)
by Shona Husk
162 pages

Bern Ober is on a discrete mission to the Evron starsystem of the breakaway Distan Colonies to gain support for a band of revolutionaries in the Terran Republic. It is a dangerous mission, but he is a dangerous man.

When Terran operatives capture him, Lady Fortini hires a reluctant smuggler and her starship, the Ice Duchess, to run the Terran blockade and collect him.

Captain Veronik Ayres and her intrepid crew must risk everything to run a gauntlet of warships to rescue the rebel spy. However, getting in is easier than getting out. To get back, the Ice Duchess must slip past the alerted Terran blockade ships or try their luck against the pirate corsairs of the Lotharian stellar coast.


Find Last Run of the Ice Duchess and other books in the series on the SFR Station.

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Stolen Flygt
The Flyght Series (Book #6)
by S. J. Pajonas
282 pages

One last mission to secure her birthright. A frozen world and a sinister conspiracy that may cost her land… and her life.

Vivian will do whatever it takes to finally be victorious in the battle for her family farm. So when her benefactor insists she infiltrate a hostile military base on a treacherous ice planet, she has no choice but to agree. But when two of her crew are apprehended during the operation, her focus shifts to desperate survival.

Outmanned and pinned behind enemy lines, Vivian’s options for escape dwindle. But everything she believes in turns on its head when she makes a shocking discovery in the base’s top-secret lab.

Can Vivian and her team evade a deadly trap to win back her legacy?

Find Stolen Flygt and other books in the series on the SFR Station.

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If you're looking for a great summer SFR read, be sure to check out these books and all the offerings on the SFR Station, where you can browse by author, sub-genre, pairing type, and even use the advanced search feature to narrow your scope. 

For the latest releases in SFR, click here:

SFR Station Science Fiction Romance New Releases

Have a great week!

Why Did We...? The Authors Explain

This week, in a continuing Saturday series of video responses by authors we have a new topic:

Why did we price Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 as we did?

Much thought went into the price point, and the two authors who spearheaded the set weigh in on why the story collection is such a great value for readers.

The interviewer is Narelle Todd of Get My Book Out There.

First up, Pauline Baird Jones:

And now we hear from Veronica Scott:

 

 

In case you missed my previous Monday blog, I also had a response:

 

 

 

I'll close this week's offerings with Carol Van Natta explaining why Hero Dogs is such a wonderful organization for the authors to support:

 

 

And now we're just a little over three weeks away from the release of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 on October 10th!

If you're just finding out about this exciting new collection of Science Fiction Romance stories that feature cuddly--and not so cuddly--pets, here are two related links:

Learn more here. Preorder here.

Thanks for tuning in.







Five Minutes With Authors of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2

Welcome back to our third installment of the Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 authors and their video interviews and responses.

Today we have Michelle Howard, Veronica Scott, and Carol Van Natta, followed by the newest trailer for the collection that I think you'll enjoy!


First up, author Michelle Howard who wrote Wired for Love talks about Love, Action and Animals:

Wired for Love
One scarred soldier, one endangered woman and a four-legged ally everyone counted out.

You can find Michelle on social media here:

Facebook   Twitter   Amazon Author Page

And look for Michelle at the Baltimore Book Festival on Friday, September 22nd.


And now we have author and USA Today HEA contributor Veronica Scott talking about the premise of and characters in her story, Star Cruise: Songbird:

Star Cruise: Songbird
A security officer aboard a spaceship finds his job complicated by his attraction to the interstellar singer he is assigned to protect and the bird he has inherited.

Connect with Veronica Scott here: 

Facebook    Twitter    Amazon Author Page

And here's a full interview with the effervescent Carol Van Natta who dishes on being a part of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, why Hero Dogs is such an important charity, why the collection is such a huge value and what's different about her story, Pet Trade. She is interviewed by Narelle Todd of Get My Book Out There.

Pet Trade
An elite forces veteran crash lands on a frontier planet with a cargo full of designer pets and must seek the help of a talented, but damaged veterinarian to help him save them.

You can connect with Carol Van Natta here: 

Facebook  Amazon Author Page

Check out this shiny new trailer for Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2!

It's just one month until release on October 10th, but yes, you can help us support the Hero Dogs charity right now.

10% of all preorders and the first month’s profits go to Hero-Dogs.org. Hero Dogs raises and trains service dogs and places them free of charge with US Veterans to improve quality of life and restore independence. Learn more about Hero Dogs by visiting the Hero Dogs site here.

I'll be back next Saturday with more video interviews and responses. See you then!