Inherit the Stars: Seeing the Heroine Through the Hero's Eyes

Drea Mennelsohn is the heroine of the upcoming SFR, Inherit the Stars. Since the story is told entirely from the hero, Sair's, POV, she might initially be a bit hard to get to know. After all, everything the reader learns about Drea is filtered through Sair's experience. And Sair owes her a debt--a debt he is forced to accept for the sake of his own survival.

It's a very personal debt he isn't at all keen on paying. 

The captain turned to him, her eyes doing a slow sweep of his body, taking his measure.

“How much?” she asked again.

Sair knew if he wanted to set foot on her ship, he had to show his hand. He reached for the front of his pants and tugged his coin pouch up past the waistband. He didn’t miss her cocked eyebrow before he took it in hand, offering it to her.

She shook her head. “Spill it.”

He poured the pouch’s contents into the cup of his good hand and held it out. It amounted to less than a hundred replas—what he’d stolen from the Ithian guard less what he’d paid the tender.

She perused the pile of gleaming gold markers and scattering of small gems then met his eyes. “It’s not enough.”

“I’ll pay the rest when you get me to my destination.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

He dumped the handful back into the pouch as she turned away. “Then what will it take, Captain?”

She turned back. Her eyes settled on his face before she spoke.

It's just business.

Sure, that's what he keeps telling himself, but the message his body is sending is something else entirely. Despite his traitorous biology, he refuses to let his guard down around the cold, commanding captain.

Even though he secretly admires the aloof Drea.

The captain walked a pace ahead, unconcerned about her exposed back, the picture of confidence. He admired the way her flightsuit snugged her tall, feminine figure. Her heeled boots added even more length to long, agile legs. His eyes moved up the back of her thighs to her hips. Interest spiked, and heat coursed through his body.

Sair glanced away, quelling the thought.

He can't get emotionally involved. He knows that. His life may depend on keeping a clear head.

Especially since Drea Mennelsohn might just be his only ticket to survival.

She's the daughter of famous--and now dead--ship designer, Zaviar Mennelsohn. Her late father's gift to her was her ship, Specter, a unique prototype--the only ship of her kind in existence. Specter can do some pretty amazing things, all thanks to her genius designer and incredibly adept captain. That matters, because the Ithians that Sair is running from are sophisticated cannibals bent on tracking him down, and Drea and Specter may be all that stand between his freedom and ending up on as the main course at an Ithian feast.

As Sair begins to recognize a different side of Drea, he develops feelings for her that only deepen with time. She has no qualms about selflessly putting everything on the line to shield him from the galactic superpower that's snapping at his heels.

Through their connection, he begins to sense her determination to keep him out of Ithian hands goes far beyond mere principle.

But does he dare interpret her actions as true affection?

Drea spoke again, her voice soft. “I meant that with a great deal of affection, Sair. I don’t want you injured.” She stepped forward and brushed his cheek with her hand.

“Drea…”

“Sair.” His name came as a whisper on her lips. “Don’t get off on Helim. It’s not safe.”

Now truly disarmed, he looked into Drea’s eyes. Without conscious effort, his body swayed closer. He pressed his lips softly to hers.

When Sair learns he might not be what Drea is protecting from the Ithians at all, but a secret cargo she's carrying onboard Specter, he's got a new reason to worry. With his headprice soaring, his life is now completely in the hands of a suspected smuggler.

How long will it be before his worth to Drea is less than his escalating bounty? Or is it possible she's grown to care for him far more than any headprice the Ithians could offer?

And if so, what could that cost her?

I hope you enjoyed reading this glimpse of Captain Drea Mennelsohn through Sair's POV. There's a lot more to this ace pilot than meets the eye, as Sair will discover in the course of his quest.

If you enjoyed reading the excerpts, leave a comment telling us which of the three covers you think best captures the Sair-Drea dynamics and why, and we'll enter you in a drawing for a chance to win a gifted Kindle copy of Inherit the Stars Parts I, II and III as they're released. We'll choose a winner next weekend.

Have a great week!

~~~*~~~ 

Pippa's Journal - End of an Era, Start of the New

Mission Success (of a sort)

There are lots of highs and lows in publishing, and you have to take the rough with the smooth. I'm grateful that, in general, the lows haven't been the Gaping Chasms of Disaster, or the Purgatory of Plagiarism, or the Snaring Tendrils of Rights Grabbing Contracts. I count myself damn lucky.

But last week marked the very definite end of an era. Although the digital formats of my debut SciFi romance Keir were removed from all retailers when the publisher was bought out in January 2014, and the last print edition sold in August, the Lyrical Press publication remained listed on Amazon. While I still didn't have Keir ready to republish, it probably did me more good than harm to have the book and its reviews still in place on my author page (though potentially frustrating for those who did want to buy it and couldn't. My apologies).

That changed at the start of this year as edits were in progress, and the new cover art was finalized. I set a tentative re-release for 7th May (what would have been Keir's third book birthday and my anniversary as a published author). With the cover reveal scheduled for 28th January (also a 3rd anniversary, this time for my tenure as a member of Spacefreighters), I had a concern. What if, when I relaunched Keir, my version caused conflict with the still existent Lyrical version? The possibility of copyright issues, or reviews being left on the wrong version even though both would be on my Amazon page, or not being able to ask previous reviewers to repost their reviews to the new version worried me. Call me paranoid. I just like to cover all the bases.

So I contacted Amazon. They weren't a huge amount of help. Firstly, they told me publishing through KDP would not cause any copyright issues with the version already listed, though failed to answer my concerns about the same with a future print edition. Secondly, they told me I'd need to contact the publisher to have it removed. Combining the Lyrical edition with my own to preserve the reviews was not an option.

Now, while Lyrical and I parted ways with no apparent hard feelings, Lyrical had now become a part of Kensington. I wasn't sure if they'd be able to deal with my request, or even if they'd want to. Not really their problem any more. I contacted my former Lyrical boss with trepidation, not even being sure that she'd still be with Kensington.

She didn't exactly respond, but I was cc'd in an email to two other people with her note to the effect of could they fix it. I waited and waited. No further emails. And Keir remained on Amazon.

Ironically, the day after the new cover reveal for Keir when I did my usual daily...okay, I admit it-hourly...check of Amazon, I noticed something missing. It didn't register at first. But a closer look confirmed it. The Lyrical version of Keir had gone.

And so ends the saga of Keir at Lyrical. Although I was happy to see it down as requested and the path completely clear for the relaunch, there's still a pang. My first book. My first publisher. My debut as an author, now gone forever. Also the book that first introduced me to my stellar freelance editor and cover designer Danielle Fine. That debut changed my life, and I shudder to think how different it might have been if Lyrical Press hadn't offered me that contract.

It's the end, but also a new beginning. Ahead lies the relaunch of Keir with a new cover, a new blurb, and a new tagline. And now the series can continue...

Goodreads

Incidentally, I made a point of copying all those Amazon.com reviews, including the links to the reviewers (I didn't do it for the handful of reviews on the other sites). Closer to the launch, I'll be contacting them to ask if they'll repost their reviews to the new version, and I can even send them their review so they can just copy and paste. They may turn me down, but it can't hurt to ask. Right?

Status report

I promised to do some feedback on my marketing plans from January, so I'll do a quick run down.

1. KU. Just under a month after putting all three of my short stories into KDP Select and KU, I've had my first borrow! There's been no change to my sales, other than being a smidge better than December (though I'd hoped for better even without KU). I still have another 60 odd days to go though, and since it's taken a month to get the first borrow, I'm being patient with it.

2. Reading up and researching new marketing. Um, fail. I've not done much. A few articles, and I've had my book launch workshop which had promotion ideas and techniques as part of it. I've implemented some for Keir but not so much for current titles. So this is going to have to be a continuing project. Also I got behind on the book launch homework in the last week due to having guest posts to do for my tour for the print release of Restless In Peaceville and taking a couple of days out to spend with my husband. So I've missed out on some of the brainstorming but still have the lessons downloaded to work through. I would say it was worth the cost.

3. I've not cut any further into my TBR list...and have since added new books. Sigh. I think I might as well give up the idea of getting through them. I've also not managed to write up any reviews for the books I read other than brief recommendations and ratings on Goodreads.

4. New keywords for Tales. There has been a slight rise in downloads, but only back up to the pre-Christmas levels (they dropped significantly November/December). So I'm not convinced the keywords have made any difference. I still need to apply this to my other titles, but I'm actually finding it difficult to assign keywords that I feel might raise the titles' profiles.

5. Keir relaunch. So far, I feel my planning for this is going well, and the cover reveal seemed to go down well too. I splashed out on a little swag to test out moo.com - I designed a double sided bookmark, had them printed two to a postcard, then chopped them up with my guillotine (when I say 'designed' I mean I took Dani Fine's excellent banner and book cover and set them on a background. Not really challenging). The quality was amazing, they arrived two days after I ordered them, and prompted me to order a second lot immediately. Admittedly moo were having a sale (25% off) but even at full price I'd still rate them over Vistaprint (whose shipping charges are frankly a rip off!). I've also ordered a poster print of the cover to give away during the release.

6. Writing. I'm making just over the 250 a day word count that I set myself, though it's generally been in big bursts of 1K followed by several days of nada. But I'm adding words, and that's all that matters. I had hoped to finish the two anthology shorts I was working on by the end of January, but it didn't happen. I still have two months to finish the first.

How are your plans going?

Events

It's begun! The stellar triple launch at Spacefreighters Lounge took off on Monday with the release of Sharon Lynn Fisher's SciFi romance Echo 8.

The print release of my YA paranormal - Restless In Peaceville - takes place next week, but it's already up for pre-order at my publisher's site HERE. This is the first of my books from last year now releasing in paperback, with my SFR Tethered coming 24th March, and superhero romance When Dark Falls 30th June. Woot! The mini tour for the print release of Restless starts tomorrow at my blog. Or you can enter the Goodreads giveaway for a signed copy.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Restless In Peaceville

by Pippa Jay

Giveaway ends February 28, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I have four covers in the Judge a Book By Its Cover contest - yes, FOUR! While the Houston Bay Area RWA also judges the covers, the Readers' Choice part of the contest is now open until the 9th February, and I'd really appreciate your votes if you love my covers. Voting is DEAD simple (hurray for that!). Go HERE. 

Still to come, we have debut SFR novel releases for Laurie A Green and Donna Frelick. Woo hoo! Could this be the most exciting year ever at Spacefreighters Lounge?!

Ping Pong

Good luck and congrats to my fellow co-bloggers as they celebrate their launch or soon-to-launch debuts!

Readying for the Shakedown Launch of my First Novel

MISSION SUCCESS
Fabulous February Triple Launch Update

Inherit the Stars

It appears (after just a teeny bit of panic and angst) that my third of the Fabulous February Triple Launch Party is on schedule and in route to the launch pad! I was able to complete the final edits (puff, puff!) and write the accompanying information sheets for all three parts, and ship everything off to my agent in the last two days. (Whew! *wipes sweaty forehead*)

As of now, it looks like we're a GO for the T-minus February 22 launch date for Inherit the Stars Part I: Flight.

Part II: The Network and Part III: Sacrifice are scheduled to launch just one week later on March 1st!

So needless to say, it's been a very busy couple of weeks! And as a debut author, I'm working through a lot of "firsts." I've had plenty of experience with critique partners, beta readers, and contest judges in the past, but this was my maiden voyage with a couple of honest-to-goodness editors.

I learned a lot from the experience and I so appreciate their professionalism and expertise, and everything they did to bring some of the subtler points out into the light and to refine my characters' thoughts, deeds, words and actions.

There are times the process can get a bit grueling, but I think the end product is going to be well worth the effort. It was a total education! My hats off to Paula Dooley who served as developmental editor, and Danielle Fine who was the line editor (as well as the cover artist for all of the fabulous covers).

I found this quote on Twitter that perfectly sums up my feelings:

Editing is nothing like writing. Writing is like giving birth to 50k+ words. Editing is like getting them through college.
— Carrie Bailey (@PeevishPenman) April 27, 2014

I've also been sticking my toe into the cool waters of the promotion pond lately. (And hey, I have to admit, it's a blast to finally have something to promote!) Here are the links:

Farewell Andromeda Cover Reveal - The Galaxy Express

Why I Wrote This Book: Farewell Andromeda - Pauline Baird Jones Blogher

Farewell Andromeda Announcement - Jessica Subject's Mark of the Stars Blog

SFR with a Twist: Why Write a SFR Solely From the Male POV? - SFR Brigade Blog
Inherit the Stars being the subject of this one. It had a great follow-up discussion.

Inherit the Stars Exclusive Triple Cover Reveal - The Galaxy Express

This month, I'll also be joining a host of other SFR authors as a guest on Anna Hackett Books Blog for the Sci-Fi Romance Authors Month. My scheduled day is February 13th--the day before Valentine's Day! Here's the link to her site: http://annahackettbooks.com/blog

NEW BLURB

Last but certainly not least, here's the brand new shiny blurb for Inherit the Stars, just off the press and still smokin'! Thanks (again) to Paula Dooley for helping to put a very fine point on it!

To escape the merciless Ithian Alliance, Sair, a fugitive slave, makes a desperate deal with Drea Mennelsohn, captain of the prototype ship, Specter. But putting his life in the hands of a woman as mysterious as she is beguiling could turn out to be the biggest mistake of his life, especially when the price on his head begins to escalate.

The daring captain seems to want far more from Sair than just payment for his passage. Though neither can deny the sizzling chemistry and growing bond between them, Sair must soon make an agonizing decision: maintain his own longed-for freedom or become a helpless pawn in an intergalactic coup against a ruthless superpower.

As the truth behind Sair's place in the galaxy and Drea's unique existence are revealed, it becomes clear that they are vital to the success of the coup. But their part in ending the Ithian Alliance may come at a terrible price for Sair: the loss of the remarkable woman he has fallen in love with—and their chance to inherit the stars.

INHERIT THE STARS GETS A NAMESAKE

Along with all the excitement of the upcoming launch, we had an arrival back on January 10th in the form of a black Thoroughbred filly out of our Lion Heart mare, Soulful. This little girl has a star studded pedigree (Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Storm Cat, Stellar Jayne and Relaunch among them!) so I got this crazy idea.

"Wouldn't it be fun if..."

I filed a name claim with the American Jockey Club and two days later our name choice was approved.

So world, meet the OTHER Inherit the Stars. :)

This little girl has a big brother who will have an unofficial birthday (all Thoroughbreds officially turn a year older on January 1) TODAY,~~February 2nd!~~and just a day before the launch of the novel he was named after, Sharon's ECHO 8!

Here he is when he was Inherit the Star's age a little less than a year ago. And note the "falling asteroid" marking on his face that helped us decide on his name--along with being a grandson of Seattle (where the book is set) Slew, and having parents that are Diabolical and Soulful (which is how I'd describe the plot of this fantastic book).

Let me just shout that out again! The long-awaited ECHO 8 releases tomorrow! Don't miss this one!

To celebrate the naming of our new foal, I'm offering a chance to win a free copy of the complete Inherit the Stars e-novel (in other words, all three parts) gifted via Amazon to the first person who comments with the name of their favorite racehorse or the name of their favorite Science Fiction Romance novel in the comments below. We'll choose a winner next weekend and announce it here, so check back if you enter.

2014 SFR GALAXY AWARDS PRESENTED

The SFR Galaxy Awards were announced on Saturday, and there were a host of great winners this year. The presenters for these awards choose novels based on a wide variety of criteria, so it's a lot of fun and provides a showcase for some of the super diverse shiny-ness that is SFR. If you'd like to check out all the winners, click here: 2014 SFR Galaxy Awards

PING PONG

Pippa, kudos, congrats and high five on the shiny new cover for Keir! It's gorgeous, dynamic and it also fits the characters to a T! What a work of art. Squeeeee!

Congrats to both Sharon for this weeks release, and to Donna who is also revving up for her debut release on February 24th, in the form of the brilliant, past RWA(c) Golden Heart Award finalist, Earth-based SFR, Unchained Memory. (And yes, I've already warned her there may be a future foal who will be named after her Interstellar Rescue series!)

Have a great week, everyone!

~~~ * ~~~

February Triple Launch and Fifteen Fun Facts!

February is going to be one busy month here on Spacefreighters Lounge as we celebrate the launch of THREE brand new Science Fiction Romance novels from three of our co-bloggers, one from Sharon Lynn Fisher, a rising star in the SFR universe, and two debut novels from Donna S. Frelick and Laurie A. Green, both of which are the lead book in an upcoming series.

As a special preview for each of these upcoming releases and an introduction to our Fabulous February Triple Launch, we put together a list of Five Fun Facts about each of these novels, and a little more about what went into them.

Ready? Here we go...

First up is Sharon Lynn Fisher's Echo 8, which will release on February 3rd. (It's almost here!)

ECHO 8 FUN FACTS

1

Part of ECHO 8 is set on the old Seattle ferry Kalakala (most recognizable symbol of Seattle until the Space Needle), which has a very colorful history. Coincidentally, after a decade sitting in the Port of Tacoma rusting while waiting for someone to decide what to do with her, she was this past week towed to dry dock for scrapping (which will take place next week, just prior to the release of ECHO 8 on Feb. 3). 

2

This book is about parallel Earths. The same year I started writing it, a Seattle musician named Serena Tideman released a recording of original cello compositions that she performed and recorded aboard the Kalakala while it was moored in Seattle. The name of the recording is "Kalakala: Songs from a Parallel Universe."

3

The hero of ECHO 8 is FBI Special Agent Ross McGinnis. Shortly after I started working on the book, I heard about a real hero, Army Specialist Ross McGinnis, who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for dying to save fellow soldiers from a grenade explosion in Iraq.

4

The heroine of ECHO 8 is Dr. Tess Caufield, a parapsychologist who studied quantum physics. As part of my research, I read a fascinating book about the intersection of psi abilities and quantum physics (ENTANGLE MINDS: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality). The author, Dr. Dean Radin (senior researcher at the Institute of Noetic sciences in California), reviewed parts of ECHO 8 to help ensure my portrayal of the heroine and her work was realistic. 

5

ECHO 8 is hands-down my beta readers' favorite of my books. 

______________________________

Next up is Donna S. Frelick's Unchained Memory which releases on February 24th. It's the first book in the Interstellar Rescue series. Here are the Fun Facts.

UNCHAINED MEMORY FUN FACTS

1

The book begins in Nashville, TN.

2
The book's climactic scene is set in Towson MD, home of Shore Leave, the nation's largest fan-run STAR TREK convention.

3
Asia Burdette, the heroine of the story, likes to run for exercise in Nashville's Centennial Park, which boasts a full-size replica of Athens' ancient Parthenon.  On one of her customary runs, she is stalked by an agent of the black ops bad guys who later try to kidnap her.

4
Ethan Roberts, the hero of the story, gets his exercise at an old-school boxing gym.  It's much safer.

5
Not all of the story takes place on Earth.  This is SFR, after all!

______________________________

The third novel in the February line-up is Laurie A. Green's Inherit the Stars, which has a tentative release date of February 22nd. It's the first book in the Inherited Stars series.

INHERIT THE STARS FUN FACTS

1
The hero, Sair, is an fugitive slave who's wanted by a galactic superpower. The story is told entirely from the hero's point of view. (There's a blog about Laurie's decision to craft the story in this way on The SFR Brigade blog.)

2
Captain Drea Mennelsohn, the heroine, is a professional P2PC--Planet-to-Planet Courier--in other words, she's a futuristic FedEx driver to the stars. (That's her story and she's sticking to it!)

3
The novel has several aliases. The manuscript had alternate titles of Once Upon a Starship and Specter (the name of Drea's ship), and it was a finalist in the 2011 RWA Golden Heart Awards under the title P2PC. The published title--Inherit the Stars--comes directly from a line of dialogue between Sair and Drea.

4
The setting is a distant corner of the Milky Way Galaxy that's rich in Goldilocks planets, and it happens in an era when Earth is just a dimly remembered legend. 

5
The story puts a whole new spin on the term "sexual freedom."


So there's our list of Fun Facts along with a little taste of each of these stories. Watch for more about our Fabulous February Triple Launch in the days and weeks ahead.

~~*~~