Digital Waterfall - Shades of Farewell Andromeda

Just had to share this. It's a digital waterfall ("Wonderfall") in Singapore's Changi Airport Terminal 2.

In Farewell Andromeda, a similar generated waterfall is featured (see the excerpt below). Though the quaint fall is located in a restaurant on a distant space station and is a bit less chaotic than Singapore Airport's Wonderfall, it's definitely along the same lines. Come see for yourself...

Farewell Andromeda

Excerpt

Deep space charter pilot Tiharra Bell has recently arrived and is on layover at Andromeda Station, a deep space x-tourism spot on the far edge of the Milky Way Galaxy. Located in its business and entertainment section is a restaurant that offers a very unique atmosphere.

Walking through the entrance into the restaurant turned out to be more than my senses had bargained for. To the right of an elegant mahogany reception desk, a waterfall blundered over a rocky cliff high above and freefell through misty rainbows into an aquamarine pool. The only hint that the entire scene was generated rather than tactile was the noise level of the falls being curbed to a murmur instead of a conversation-nullifying roar.

The overlay of huge, split-leaved foliage—also generated—framed the pool and screened the tables beyond. A sensual bouquet wafted on a moist breeze: the sweet-spice of jasmine and monkeypod blooms laced with high-content oxygen. Projected butterflies fluttered by in the brilliant rays of artificial sunshine that pierced the deep emerald shadows. Hidden air controllers simulated soft jungle breezes that played on my skin.

“Table for one?” A hostess intruded into my awe-induced trance.

About Farewell Andromeda

Fresh off a painful jilting, the last thing deep space pilot Tiharra Bell needs is another romance, and certainly not with famous astronomer, Dr. Dane. Yet when she learns “Donner" has a heartbreaking secret, she’s soon willing to risk life and career to alter his fate.

Farewell Andromeda is a novelette -- a short read that packs a punch and delivers a satisfying romantic twist in a way that only science fiction can dish up. It's available in ebook format on Amazon. 

Truth is Stranger than Fiction? What if DEDspace is Real?

Sometimes the fiction we imagine can actually start to look like truth.

I recently came across this site while randomly surfing the web, and immediately thought, "Aha! So my fictional DEDspace [Dark Energy Dimension Space] that certain advanced ships in my Inherited Stars series employ to "gallop about the universe" might actually be a thing!"

I kinda have to love it when some of my wilder fictional ideas later turn out to not be so very wild after all.

Here's a link to the online article I found that was posted on February 1, 2024: 

Quanta Magazine:  In a 'Dark Dimension,' Physicists Search for the Universe's Missing Matter

Apparently, scientists are now starting to explore the hypothesis that Dark Energy and Dark Matter may exist in their own dimension. (Um. Yeah. Exactly! LOL) That may be one way of accounting for approximately 96% of the universe -- the matter and energy that must be out there in order to keep galaxies from coming apart at the seams, but to date hasn't been observable or proven to exist except through mathematics. 

So I have two words to sum up my thoughts on this new discovery. Cool beans! 

To be sure, I didn't get into some of the vastly complex particulars outlined in the article in my books. After all, I write fiction, not scientific papers. I provide an imagined framework for how my advanced ships navigate this DEDspace -- and what the consequences are -- without going into all the quantum mechanics and string theory details. My job as a writer of sci-fi is to entertain and open up an imaginative world to readers, not bore them to tears with pages and pages of scientific explanation. 

As the old adage goes, you don't need to know all the details of how a television works just to sit back and enjoy the show.

To explain how my fictional DEDspace worked without diving in to too much of the nittygritty, I wrote a blog back in June of 2016 (almost eight years ago) titled: 

What is this DEDspace of Which You Speak?

The highlights of that blog are below, or you can read the post in it's entirety by clicking the title link just above (it also discusses the futility of traveling around our galaxy -- or even to the nearest star --  with our current technology and the price that must be paid to access my fictional DEDspace).

______________________________________________ 

Even with the star-hopping that their decidedly advanced technology can manage, allowing them to travel system-to-system in a matter of days and span a number of systems inside a couple of weeks, we're talking months of travel to reach the outlier points of the Milky Way, which is one of their destinations in both stories. And that just wouldn't work. I had to find some form of "Galaxy Express" transit.

And Dark Energy provided that magic carpet.

You see, scientists aren't even sure what Dark Energy is just yet. Only that, in theory, it must exist in order for the universe to work, along with Dark Matter. We can't see it. We can't sense it. We only know that, mathematically, there's something dark and mysterious out there, and it accounts for nearly 68% of the actual universe. Dark Matter makes up an additional 28%.

Nearly ninety-six percent of the universe may be Dark Energy and Dark Matter!

That's a whole lot of something that's nothing!

In order for galaxies to not spin apart, there has to be something they call Dark Matter that accounts for the mass and the gravity that holds it all together, and in order for observations from deep space (which also means deep time) to make sense, there also has to be something stretching the universe apart--and they dubbed that Dark Energy. In tandem, Dark Energy and Dark Matter create the theoretical dynamics that might explain how the universe functions as it does when normal mathematics say it shouldn't function at all. (I'm paraphrasing here.)

When I started researching Dark Energy, the theory that made the most sense to me is that Dark Energy actually exists in another unknown dimension. Okay, I can get my head around that. (And better yet, my muse seemed to latch onto the idea big time.) I'd read theories that some scientists believe there could be up to nine dimensions--though trapped in our mortal bodies, we're only programmed to function within three--height, width, depth. Or maybe four, if you consider time a dimension onto itself.

So Dark Energy may form another dimension--one that we could actually enter if we found a way and a means to access it. And in doing so, we might be able to span huge distances in space by slipping the surly bonds of 3D. But...there's also Dark Matter, which some scientists believe might even provide a galaxy-wide transport system. Other experts are exploring the idea that Dark Energy and Dark Matter are connected. (In my universe, they are, and the combined phenomena is simply referred to as DEDspace, meaning Dark Energy Dimension space.)

Fifteen hundred years in our future, a man named Zaviar Mennelsohn did (or will) discover a way to access DEDspace. Or at least, he will in The Inherited Stars universe.

_______________________________________________

If you have any thoughts or comments about DEDspace, please let me know below. 

Thanks for tuning in. Hope you dock again soon.

SpyDog Secret Revealed (But No Spoilers!)

My latest science fiction romance story, SpyDog, is about to be unleashed on the universe as part of the much-anticipated Pets in Space® 4 collection on October 8th.

(Pay no attention to that author doing cartwheels behind the curtain.)

Yes, I'm a bit excited about my new 30K+ novella and how it has such dramatic tie-ins throughout my series. Today I'll share one of the secrets (but without a side of spoilers).

For starters, here's the Inherited Stars Series blurb that defines the overarching premise behind all the books:

The year is 3500 AD—more or less. No one really keeps track anymore. 

Since the fall of peacekeeper planet, LaGuardia, two centuries before, much has been lost. Few remember that LaGuardia was once known as Draxis. Fewer still have knowledge that Draxis once guarded a spatial vortex—a crossrip in time and space—and passageway to a legendary world called Earth where the human species originated. 

Somewhere, hidden in a forgotten archive, is the written history of the Draxian Universe and the chronicles of the men and women who helped forge a future in the stars.

______________________________________

That "forgotten archive" plays a role in many of the series books, and SpyDog is one of them. But this is hardly the first mention of this mysterious history in books already released.

Here are two snippets, one each from Farewell Andromeda and SpyDog that both involve this important archive, though the stories take place two centuries apart.

Snippet from Farewell Andromeda

Scene Set-Up:
An exchange between two lovers with very different lives--Tiharra Bell, a deep space DEDship charter pilot who has just flown to a remote outpost called Andromeda Station, and Donner Dane, a man of science who lives there. 

Tiharra and Donner may not have long together, and both are dealing with that knowledge in this scene.

[Edited slightly for context.]

________________________________

“The Rathskians outlawed cloning centuries ago,” I reminded him.

His mouth turned down for a moment. “The Duumarakhans.”

“Excuse me?”

“It was the Duumarakhans, the predecessors of the Rathskians, who outlawed cloning. They made it their mission, since their kind had been genetically frozen in time for five hundred generations.” He shook his head. “We’ve forgotten them. So much of our history was lost in the Great Realignment.”

I packed my feelings away, grateful for the temporary distraction. “How do you know this?”

Donner’s eyes brightened. “This station contains an incredibly rare treasure. A complete library of the combined Draxian-Terran history. I’ve had a lot of time on my hands and reading is a passion.” He raised his incredibly brown, incredibly soft eyes to mine. “I have a strong need to understand as much as I can…”

Before I cease to exist, I finished for him mentally.

“This library…” I croaked, trying to turn my thoughts away from the heartache of his demise. “Seems an odd thing to entrust to a remote space station.”

“The information wasn’t brought here. It already existed in this structure’s old databanks. This station has a history too. It played a part in the Great Realignment. Before it was converted for use as an outpost and observatory, it was known as Mona Loa Station.”

“Mona Loa,” I muttered. “Odd name.”

“A loa is a type of spirit in an ancient religion. The designer named all his craft after paranormal entities. He’s the same man, by the way, who invented the first DEDspace drive.”

“Zaviar Mennelsohn?”

“You know of him.”

“From my history classes at Talstar Flight Academy. Mennelsohn also designed the first fully neuro-connective DEDship…”

“Specter,” we said in unison.

We exchanged tentative smiles, ignoring the bleak truth that hovered over us like a thick Terran fog bank.

“I find an odd sense of connection in that,” Donner said. “I live on a space station and you operate a drive created two hundred calendars ago by the same man.”

_________________________________

Snippet from (Pets in Space® 4) SpyDog

Scene Set-Up:
In my upcoming story, readers will discover clues on how the records that Donner refers to may have ended up on MONA Loa Station...or Mona Loa, as it's called two hundred calendars (years) later.

This scene involves a confrontation between Sona, a rare warrior-class Rathskian female who may or may not be an enemy agent, Rigel, a Network agent and SpyDog handler, and Garr, the pilot of the transport who is tasked to extract them from planet Banna, where they were marooned. 

[Edited slightly for context.]

_________________________________

“LaGuardia is the home of the Royal Draxian Archives," Garr said. "The records of our history that the Ithians are desperately trying to erase so they can replace it with their lies about our past. They want to bury the truth. High Queen Katrina was real. Our origins on the planet called Earth is truth. The Flame and the Fire Lords did exist. The vortex they passed through was a reality. It’s all there. All the lost knowledge. All the forgotten centuries. Almost fourteen thousand years of it. And it’s in jeopardy.”

“I know of these archives,” Sona said pensively. “They preserve important history for my people, too. But what does it have to do with us?”

“We’ve been directed to acquire the archives on datacells and deliver the contents to the Network. Before the gigadam Ithians can destroy it forever.”

“And with Commodore Gant missing in action, this is a priority for the Network?” Rigel questioned.

“This may be one of the most important things the Network ever does,” Garr declared. “Whether they succeed or fail with their other plans.”

Rigel considered his words. Yes, there was value in safeguarding important historical records, but it wasn’t his priority. “Why us? Why not send a Network battleship or destroyer to secure this data?”

“Think about it,” Garr grated, showing his impatience. “The Alliance doesn’t realize the Network has a fleet. They can’t show that hand. Not yet. But one small, aging wreck of a transport touching down on LaGuardia isn’t going to attract attention.”

“There’s truth in your words,” Sona conceded, “but it doesn’t change the reality that I must reach the transport to MONA Loa in time.”

“And if I give you my solemn word you’ll get to MONA Loa on schedule?”

“You can’t make that promise.”

“I can and just did.”

Sona blinked. Twice. Slowly.

“Consider this," Garr pressed. "Why would they order me to collect these records if they weren’t going to be delivered straight to MONA Loa? What would be the point?”

Sona shifted her weight. “You are speaking the truth.”

____________________________________

I hope you enjoyed this brief visit to both Farewell Andromeda and my soon-to-be-released SpyDog, in Pets in Space® 4 and how they fit in The Inherited Stars Universe.

As an author, one of the things I enjoy about writing a series is offering subtle and not-so-subtle clues or tie-ins in each new story, and revealing connections to the other works and characters.

Want to see the connection between the series anchor novel, Inherit the Stars and SpyDog? Then grab a free sampler from the Pets in Space® 4 authors that contains original stories, teasers and original artwork. (My contribution is a teaser that shows how the events in SpyDog were initiated in Inherit the Stars.) But hurry! This sampler is only available for a limited time.

FREE Sampler (only available until October 7th!)

Get Farewell Andromeda for 99 cents on Amazon now

PRE-ORDER Pets in Space® 4

And please don't forget that Pets in Space® 4 will again support the wonderful Hero-Dogs.org, the amazing organization that raises, trains and provides service dogs to veterans and first responders. Ten percent of all preorders and first month's royalties of Pets in Space® 4 will go to support Hero Dogs! The last three Pets in Space® collections have raised over $7,100 for this very worthy cause. You can help by pre-ordering today.

Have a wonderful week! And stop back next Monday to discover the inspiration behind the stories from many of the award-winning, bestselling authors of Pets in Space® 4.

Intergalactic Romance Free SFR Book Promotion

I'm still on writing hiatus, but wanted to do a quick post today to let you know that Farewell Andromeda is available via Instafreebie (yes, for free), as a part of a fun promotion with eleven other Sci-Fi Romances this week!

Fellow co-blogger Pippa Jay also has a book in this promotion, so be sure to check out Quick Shot, as well as all the other SFR offerings including books by my peers Pauline Baird Jones (Tangled in Time) and Cara Bristol (Stranded with a Cyborg).

What a great time to grab a book by a new-to-you author or a new story by an author you already love!




Intergalactic Romance Instafreebie

Just click the link above to go to the landing page for all the offered books.

More about Farewell Andromeda
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.

What reviewers have said:

"OMG! This was a genuine gem! Well-written, and a treat to read. To me, the writing was flawless, and I loved the H/h. I'm definitely going to be reading the rest of the series. 5 huge supernova stars!"
--Five star Amazon review by "Mo," April 13, 2017

"I started reading this out of curiosity, and soon couldn't put it down."
--Five star Amazon review by Lisa Pugh, November 6, 2016

"This was a quick read, but it will remain with me for a lot longer. I loved the twists and turns...This is a highly recommended read!"
--Five star Amazon review by "Sol2Sombra," May 3, 2015

My Update

Co-blogger Donna S. Frelick attended the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention this past week, and I'm so excited to hear about all the fun, news, and adventures. Keep your eye out for Donna's upcoming blog on Friday.

My "break from writing" is going well. I've started on my office and general house reorganizing (aka "utter chaos") with carpet cleaning throughout, and meanwhile had a number of new ideas pop into my head (aka "it's working!") for stories and manuscripts.

Meanwhile, the news about Courting Disaster: StarDog2 coming in the October as part of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 collection was unveiled last week here and on my web site. Click the title above to read the details.

I'm pretty excited about this one. There will be a lot more information to follow, but here's the teaser for my story:

What happened after Operation Reset and the fall of the Ithian Alliance? Two of the characters from Inherit the Stars are about to find out when they set a collision course with disaster.

In other news--horse update! A few weeks back I broke a story on this blog about a big win by a Thoroughbred colt we bred, Blazing Away, in the Winnie Vick Memorial at Sunland Park. (Sometimes You Win Big)

Statistically speaking, the odds were stacked against Zinger, as they are against every young Thoroughbred. Industry wide, only about 66% of Thoroughbreds ever make it into their first race, and of those, only about half ever win a race.

Recently, Blazing Away ("Zinger") was entered in another really tough race--against older, faster, more accomplished horses, at least one of which had already placed in a stakes race! (To give you an idea of the quality of the field, two of the horses were sired by Uncle Mo and Tale of Ekati, both who've had offspring qualify for the Kentucky Derby. And one horse was formerly trained by Bob Baffert.)

In addition to the stiff competition, it was Zinger's first start on a new track--SunRay Park--and he had a new jockey.

We were really concerned he was in way over his head, and our only wish was that he run a safe race (and please...don't come in last!), but Zinger once again did us proud, finishing second!

We're so proud of Zinger and so grateful for his accomplishments, we decided to have model portraits done of him and his dam, Blazing Bartok (who we still own). The artist, Sue Kern Thompson, agreed to let me share a few of her professional photos on social media, so here they are with the artist's watermark. Didn't she do an awesome job?

 

Blazing Bartok ("Blaze")



The real Blazing Bartok

___________

 

Blazing Away ("Zinger")



The real Blazing Away ("Zinger") as a weanling

 

 



We're also going to have model portraits done of Soulful and Echo Eight, but it's been a little trickier to find a suitable base model for "Sofie." We're still working on that search, but I'll share photos of the completed project in a later blog.

 

So there's my news and updates for this Monday.

 

Hope you have a great week.



 

What's on my Tree? (Plus Frito Pie Recipe, News and Special Drawing)

I'm doing my holiday post a little early this year, because Spacefreighters Lounge will soon be "Going Rogue" to celebrate and chat up the release of the next Star Wars movie later this week.

So today I've got some holiday goodies to share with Lounge readers. Hope you enjoy the seasonal fun and "surprises."

What's on my Tree this Year?

This year I'm so grateful to have a tree. In all the hustle and bustle of recent holiday seasons, David and I couldn't even remember the last time we put up a tree for the holidays. For 2016, we wanted to break the cycle and return to tradition. So Saturday, we set aside a special "Tree Time" to get our tree up and deck it out.

In doing so, we rediscovered a lot of the treasures that have been stuck away in storage boxes for quite some time. We also found out we probably have enough ornaments to adorn three full-size trees, so at some point in the future, maybe after we build that addition that's been in the planning for decades, we may put up multiple trees.

But for this year, I'm more than happy to have just one!

I know some folks who buy all new ornaments each year or decorate around a theme for the holidays. I think that's really great, but it's so not us. Our ornament are like happy memories that we get to enjoy each time we ferret out the boxes and unpack them.

Let me share some of that nostalgia with you.

First of all, there are the Mexican ornaments. Mom has been gone since 2007, but she lived a good part of her life south of Tucson, Arizona. When I went to visit, we'd often make the 30 mile jaunt down across the border to Nogales, Mexico to look for pottery or rugs or whatever other treasures we might find.

One year we found some beautiful handmade Christmas ornaments. The Christmas stocking and reindeer pictures above are two, and you can see more in some of the other photos--some traditional and some not so. (Like the VW Bug at right.) Every time I went to visit after that, we'd go search for more of the same quaint ornaments...and we'd always find them!

Over the course of about 25 years, I added to my collection until I finally ended up with well over 100 by the time Mom passed. Each one is handmade and unique--and each one

reminds me of Mom and our special trips. So many memories there. So yes, those will always go on our tree.

There are others that hold special memories, too. A set of beautiful snowflakes a friend of my mother's hand crocheted. (You can see one in the photo at left.) It was the same friend who was an avid readers and with whom my Mom first shared some of my early writing. This friend was the first person from outside our family to encourage me with an "always keep writing." So yes, those really are "special snowflakes" and hold a special place on our tree, too.

We also have a set of red and green chile ornaments that Mom handmade for us out of big sparkly beads. They can be hung alone, in pairs, or in threes like mini-ristras. They always make me smile. You can see them in a few of these photos.

It's part of folklore that including a bird's nest in your Christmas tree will bring good luck. We didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to grab a little good fortune, so our tree is adorned with both a nest and a bird.

I also have to mention Sad Llama. I "won" this silly crocheted Llama in a holiday gift exchange long, long ago when I was in my early twenties, so he's aged quite gracefully over the years. He was the little joke gift that nobody wanted and at the end of the exchange, he found his way into my hands. Well, I thought he was actually quite a handsome fellow and wasn't at all put out in getting to take him home. He's probably one of the oldest tree ornaments I now own. He's been a fixture on my tree every since.

We have just a few traditional globe ornaments--one for New Mexico, one for MSU, and one with hummingbirds that's another special reminder of Mom, who loved little hummers and collected hummingbird knickknacks and artwork her entire life.

New Mexico ornament with Mom's handmade chile ornaments.

 

Go Green. (Of course!)

 

Hummingbird ornament.

We also have a few rocking horses and racehorses--neither is a huge surprise, I'm sure. LOL This photo shows a lovely blown glass rocking horse with a sprig of holly on his side.

Our tree topper is a bit non-traditional. It's a green cowboy hat. Ha! No kidding. Although I almost opted in for the new musical Death Star from Hallmark this year, I never did get around to buying one, so our tree is once again decked out Western-style.

And here's the entire tree lit up for the season.

 

Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Hope the season is filled with good times and great memories.

~~~*~~~

A Special Holiday Interview by S.E. Smith

I had the honor of being interviewed by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author S. E. Smith for her December Newsletter. I had so much fun answering her questions! We talked about all sorts of things including what other genres I write, where I find inspiration, and the deets on my pets.

Want to take a peek? S.E. Smith's December Newsletter.
http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/?u=f15e3b9349d068f608992ab26&id=cc098ab3fa

~~~*~~~

Frito Pies for Christmas? Oh My, Yes!

New Mexico traditions for the holidays--or really any time of year--include tamales, posole, biscochito cookies and...Frito pies! Yes, that's Frito as in the crispy corn chip, made into a special hot and spicy treat to warm you up on a wintry day, Southwest style.

No one is completely sure of the origins of Frito pies, but local lore claims they were first invented in the 1960s by Teresa Hernández, who worked at the F. W. Woolworth's lunch counter on Santa Fe plaza in New Mexico. At that time, Frito pies were actually made and served up inside the Frito bags, which were sliced lengthwise and the ingredients poured inside. Modern Frito pies are usually served up in a bowl.

I once asked a former coworker, Annette, for her authentic Frito pie family recipe, and she was happy to write it down for me.

ANNETTE'S SANTA FE FRITO PIE RECIPE

To make red chili and beef mixture, you'll need:

1/2 to 1 pound ground beef (or turkey)
chopped onions (optional)
garlic powder
1 to 2 tablespoons flour
Either frozen red chile or chile powder
2 dashes soy sauce (optional)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Brown the ground beef with onions, garlic, salt and pepper.  Once ground beef is browned, add two dashes of soy sauce (if desired), and 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour and cook for about two minutes. Blend chile (or chile powder and water) in blender. Combine red chile mixture with ground beef mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until it reaches desired thickness.

To prepare Frito Pies, you'll need:

Red chile and ground beef mixture (above)
Fritos
Pinto Beans
Lettuce (chopped)
Tomatoes (chopped)
Onions (chopped)
American cheese (grated)
Sour cream

Spoon heated canned or fresh cooked pinto beans into small to medium size bowls, then fill each bowl with Fritos and pour red chile ground beef mixture (from above) over the Frito chips. Top with cheese, chopped lettuce, onions, tomatoes and/or sour cream.

Dig in and enjoy!

~~~*~~~

Special Surprise Drawing

I come bearing Romulan Ale. No, no! Wrong holiday. Gifts! I come bearing gifts--in a special holiday giveaway drawing--just to say "Thank you and Happy Holidays" to the patrons of Spacefreighters Lounge.

Here are the prizes for the drawing:

• A print copy of Inherit the Stars gifted via Amazon, or if you'd like me to autograph it and include a book mark, I'd be happy to do that too. (That will take longer to receive, so you should probably plan on January.) Inherit the Stars was a LibraryJournal.com pick for Best Books of 2015: E-Originals.

• An e-copy of Inherit the Stars gifted via Amazon

• An e-copy of Farewell Andromeda gifted via Amazon

• An e-copy of Pets in Space gifted via Amazon. A LibraryJournal.com pick for Best Books for 2016: E-Originals Fiction.

• A set of twenty US Postal Service Pets Forever First Class Stamps

To be entered in the drawing, just comment below and include these three things:

1. Which prize or prizes you'd prefer to win ("any prize" works, too). If you're a winner, we want to be sure you're getting something you want.

2. Your first name

3. A contact email, Facebook or Twitter address where we can contact you. (Very important, because we don't like to pass over a winner because we can't reach them.)

4. Bonus (Optional): Tell us about something special on your tree and you'll be entered in the drawing twice.

Winners will be announced next Monday, December 19st. If a winner doesn't claim their prize by contacting me with an address by Friday, December 23th, an alternate winner will be selected. (So please check this blog next Monday!)

 

~~~*~~~

We wish you a very happy holiday, good times with family and friends, and the celebration of your own special traditions.

~~~*~~~   Happy Holidays From Spacefreighters Lounge  ~~~*~~~
 

What is this DEDspace of Which You Speak?

If you've spent any time in the universe of Inherit the Stars or Farewell Andromeda (same universe, 200 years later), then you'll probably remember the references to Dark Energy Drive and DEDspace. But what exactly does that mean?

Like most of my fictional technology, it was based on solid foundation of research with a liberal application of imagination.

You see, in order for certain plot elements in the two stories to work, I had to create some sort of travel or propulsion system that could span vast distances of space (roughly 25,000 light years) in a very short period of time. Just to put that in perspective, our outgoing Voyager sister probes, launched in August and September, 1977, have been traveling outbound for nearly 40 years and have just recently passed beyond the edges of our very own solar system. If they were to reach the nearest star to our own Sun (Alpha Centauri at a mere 4.3 light years away), provided they were even traveling in that direction (which they aren't), it would take tens of thousands of years.

Well, what about New Horizons, the much more advanced probe launched in 2006 that just gave us those spectacular first looks at Pluto after traveling 9-1/2 years to get there at some 36,373 mph (or 58,536 kph). Faster yes, but it would still take NH another 40,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri. Forty thousand years just to reach our neighboring star. And that's at a speed of nearly 37,000 miles per hour!

How about a Space Shuttle? They were really fast, right? Ha! The shuttles traveled at a paltry 17,600 mph. Plan on 165,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri. (Check out: EarthSky.org: Travel Time to Alpha Centauri)

So yeah. Wow! The distances we're talking about are mind-blowing. I had to find a much faster--or more inventive--way to get around the neighborhood in the 35th century and beyond.

Even with the star-hopping that their decidedly advanced technology can manage, allowing them to travel system-to-system in a matter of days and span a number of systems inside a couple of weeks, we're talking months of travel to reach the outlier points of the Milky Way, which is one of their destinations in both stories. And that just wouldn't work. I had to find some form of "Galaxy Express" transit.

And Dark Energy provided that magic carpet.

You see, scientists aren't even sure what Dark Energy is just yet. Only that, in theory, it must exist in order for the universe to work, along with Dark Matter. We can't see it. We can't sense it. We only know that, mathematically, there's something dark and mysterious out there, and it accounts for nearly 68% of the actual universe. Dark Matter makes up an additional 28%.

Nearly ninety-six percent of the universe may be Dark Energy and Dark Matter!

That's a whole lot of something that's nothing!


You see, in order for galaxies to not spin apart, there has to be something they call Dark Matter that accounts for the mass and the gravity that holds it all together, and in order for observations from deep space (which also means deep time) to make sense, there also has to be something stretching the universe apart--and they dubbed that Dark Energy. In tandem, Dark Energy and Dark Matter create the theoretical dynamics that might explain how the universe functions as it does when normal mathematics say it shouldn't function at all. (I'm paraphrasing here.)

When I started researching Dark Energy, the theory that made the most sense to me is that Dark Energy actually exists in another unknown dimension. Okay, I can get my head around that. (And better yet, my muse seemed to latch onto the idea big time.) I'd read theories that some scientists believe there could be up to nine dimensions--though trapped in our mortal bodies, we're only programmed to function within three--height, width, depth. Or maybe four, if you consider time a dimension onto itself.

So Dark Energy may form another dimension--one that we could actually enter if we found a way and a means to access it. And in doing so, we might be able to span huge distances in space by slipping the surly bonds of 3D. But...there's also Dark Matter, which some scientists believe might even provide a galaxy-wide transport system. Other experts are exploring the idea that Dark Energy and Dark Matter are connected. (In my universe, they are, and the combined phenomena is simply referred to as DEDspace, meaning Dark Energy Dimension space.)

Fifteen hundred years in our future, a man named Zaviar Mennelsohn did (or will) discover a way to access DEDspace. Or at least, he will in The Inherited Stars universe.

He built a few prototype ships. The first with a rudimentary Dark Energy Drive was called Phantom. After Phantom, he built two final ships that perfected it, along with other state-of-the-art uh...enhancements--Specter and its big (much, much bigger) sister ship, Spirit. (You may have heard of them?) And two hundred years later, his discovery resulted in specialized deep space shuttles that employ DEDspace to reach exotic locales in the galaxy--or the very edge of it.

But DEDspace is not fun. It takes an iron constitution to pilot in the Great Nothing. It alters the senses and perceptions, and it's downright painful for crew and passengers alike. So it's not a practical way to travel from point A to point Z, even if it is a necessary one. And that's the reason DEDspace isn't exactly a popular place to be in The Inherited Stars universe, and DEDspace travel isn't at all commonplace.

That's why most of the subspecies that inhabit these stories just stick to their system-hopping drives, thank you very much.

More About Dark Matter and Dark Energy (for Those Who Dare)
The Universe's Dark Matter and Dark Energy

Once Upon a Space Station

A Glimpse into the Backstory of The Inherited Stars Series

If you've seen the covers of my novelette, Farewell Andromeda, and The Network, which is Part II of the serialized version of the novel Inherit the Stars, you might have noticed something.

Hey, that space station looks familiar!

The covers seem to share a nearly identical image of some major space hardware.



Indeed they do!

Say hello to Andromeda Station--an astronomy and science outpost at the very edge of the Milky Way Galaxy--and MONA Loa spaceport--a remote, covert operations base. The reason the two stations look identical is because they are, in fact, the same space station--distanced in time by two centuries.

The oddly named MONA Loa is actually a compound name. It represents both the production name given the station by its designer, Zaviar Mennelsohn, a man obsessed with the supernatural, who named all of his creations after paranormal phenomenon. For example, his earlier designs carried names like Banshee, Djinn and Firebird, and more recent productions have names you may already be familiar with--Phantom, Specter and Spirit. In Voodoo mysticism, a "loa" is a spirit who is an intermediary between humanity and a greater power. The MONA acronym was later added by Mennelsohn's son, standing for Mobile Operations for Network Activities.

Though MONA Loa is abandoned after the events described as "Operation Reset" in Inherit the Stars, it is accidently rediscovered (a future story in itself!) and later repurposed as Andromeda Station.

Because one does not simply let a magnificent cast-off space station float idly in the void forever.

The defunct MONA Loa is reclaimed by an investment consortium who intends to make a tidy profit off the legendary spaceport. It is equipped with several high-powered telescopes, other essential astronomy equipment and a state-of-the-art science lab, all housed in the upper hexagonal portion of the structure and available for lease by individuals with hefty grants, governments or major corporations.

The lower portions of the station which once served as quarters and living areas for Network residents now provides hotels, staff housing, restaurants, and entertainment venues for adventurous extreme tourists who seek an exciting vacation destination at the edge of the galaxy.

The docking arms once used to deploy and receive supply ships and covert forces now welcome specialized deep space charter ships designed to cross the vast expanses with an unique drive system developed during the Network heydays. (Another Mennelsohn invention.)

But Andromeda Station has a secret.

Part of the structure's legacy from the former MONA Loa station is a data library that was left secreted away in the memory of its primary central processor--a forgotten history that spans nearly 14,000 years.

A past patiently waiting to be rediscovered.

__________________________________________________



The Inherited Stars Series

The year is 3500 AD—more or less. No one really keeps track anymore. Since the fall of peacekeeper planet, LaGuardia, two centuries before, much has been lost. Few remember that LaGuardia was once known as Draxis. Fewer still have knowledge that Draxis once guarded a spatial vortex—a crossrip in time and space—and passageway to a legendary world called Earth where the human species originated. Somewhere, hidden in a forgotten archive, lie the secrets of all that came before and the chronicles of the men and women who helped forge a future in the stars.

__________________________________________________

 

Have a great week!

~~~*~~~

 

 

Insta-Love or Insta-Attraction?

I've noticed in book reviews recently that a negative buzz word seems to be "Insta-Love." Though I've been well-coached never to respond to reviewers directly, I would like to open up the general concept of Insta-Love to discussion on this blog.

Just like "Mary Jane" was a common buzz word a couple of years ago (meaning a heroine that is immediately likable and able to save the world without possessing the qualities to achieve such), Insta-Love has become a catch-phrase.

But isn't there a difference between Insta-Love and Insta-Attraction? Other than in the Enemies to Lovers trope, shouldn't there be a major (usually internal) reaction between romance protagonists the first time they meet? It's what we call chemistry. A spark. Heat. Sizzle. A slow burn. Sometimes the character misinterprets their feelings as strong dislike (silly romance character), but the powerful reaction is still very much present.

And doesn't that element of strong attraction (or strong reaction) need to be present in romance from the get-go? If the characters' first thought about their intended love interest is "Ho-hum," I don't think the stage is being set for convincing emotional conflict or resolution. But that's just one viewpoint.

So my question to readers is this: If the characters show or think about their attraction upon first encountering one another, does it relegate the story to being a victim of Insta-Love?

Let me stick my neck out a little further. Here's my definition of Insta-Love: If the characters immediately fall in love, show undying devotion and become instantly attached at the hip (or other important body parts) after only an encounter or two, then that's clearly Insta-Love. On the other hand, the characters feeling or showing a strong attraction or reaction is very important to a romantic plot.

So, let me present the beginning of my novelette Farewell Andromeda and ask if you believe the characters have been afflicted by the Insta-Love Bug.

_____________________________

Farewell Andromeda
A female charter pilot encounters a renown male astronomer upon first arriving at the very remote Andromeda Station--a deep space platform for scientific research and X-tourism. (This scene has been condensed for brevity.)

I crash landed into Dr. Dante Dane six steps inside the hatch of Trajectory Virtual Pub 7. I knew his name and a good chunk of his bio before he even spoke. I had the advantage.

But he had the element of surprise. “Dance with me, boonie.”

He had me pegged at a glance. Boonie. Independent deep space charter pilot. Good guess on his part, but an easy one with his IQ. You didn’t get much deeper in space than Andromeda Station—perched on the extreme outer fringes of the Milky Way—and I was still sporting my non-standard issue flight jacket and independent star wings. I’d been making my way to the Station Berthing Office when the Pied Piper of a stiff drink called to me.

Running into Tall, Dark, and Smiling hadn’t really been in my game plan.

He settled his warm hand low on the small of my back, inviting me to accompany him to the packed cydosonic dance floor. A heavy bass thumped beneath the trill of a wild counter-melody. My instincts shouted Abort launch! but my curiosity overrode my internal warning system. I was too flattered by his crafty smile and seeking eyes.

On the dance floor, he turned to face me. “What’s your name, boonie?”

“Captain Bell.”

“Captain.” He made a slight bow. “Less formally known as?”

“Tiharra.”

“Tiara?” That smile again. “Like a princess wears?”

“Tee-hara. Like the Egponna tree.”

“Ah, the Tiharra tree. Egponna Maximus heraldi angelus. Also called the Angel Willow. Known for graceful, weeping foliage that resembles feathered wings.”

“That’s the one.”

“Angel fits you better.” He gave me another generous smile. Nice, even white teeth.

I threw him my patented lopsided smirk. It wasn’t love at first sight, but it was definitely intrigue at first contact.

“This a regular stop for you?” he asked.

“This isn’t a regular stop for anyone.”

“But here you are.”

I nodded. “Fresh out of DEDspace.” My impetuous mission: escape Miko’s bombshell by running to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. “And what brought you way out here?”

He gave a throaty chuckle. “I’m a perpetual resident. Andromeda Station is home. My work is centered on the observatory here.”

Ah, yes. Of course. Everyone knew the Andromeda Galaxy was Dr. Dane’s foremost passion. The last I’d heard, he was working on some universe-shaking discoveries about dark energy in our enormous neighbor.

The rest of the evening was a blur of bodies, booze, and banter. There were a lot of labels I would’ve attached to one of the pre-eminent scientists in the known universe, but party animal wasn’t one of them. So much for pre-judging.

We flirted a bit, laughed a lot, drank even more, and monopolized the dance pad for most of the night. As the music clicked off, the tables emptied, and the exit lights glowed in less-than-subtle suggestion, he asked me the expected question. I mentally punched Miko in the jaw before delivering Dr. Dane—Dante—a regretful negatory.

“Sorry,” I muttered. “Not a good night for me.”

“All evidence to the contrary.” I saw the surprise in his arched brows, which then angled into an unhappy frown. “You had me fooled.”

“You had me forgetting.” I gave a noncommittal shrug and a sad little smile that stood in for a formal apology. “Good night, Doctor.”

He snagged my shoulder as I turned to go. “Are you sure, Tiharra?”

I sighed. Was I? I looked over my shoulder. “I’m sure. It’s…complicated. I enjoyed our time together, but I need some personal space right now.”

Dante moved a half-step closer. “Anything I can do to change your mind?”

I met his hopeful look for a moment then made a general hand sweep of the bar with its ample supply of lonely, lingering females. “There are a lot of other targets here to point your lens at.”

His attention swept over the room before dropping back to me. “I prefer to focus on one subject until I work out all the riddles.”

“This riddle has things she needs to work out on her own, Doctor.”

“Dante,” he corrected.

“Dante.” I drew a deep breath and slowly expelled it. “I’m sorry. This runs deep. I won’t change my mind.”

Though he wasn’t keen on fielding the word no, I didn’t think we’d parted enemies. At least I hoped not.

________________________________

Side note: It's possible the story earned an Insta-Love tag from their second encounter, where Tiharra's reaction to and perceptions about the good doctor are very different. But her change of heart is an important element and hints at the underlying dynamics between the two. (And for the sake of avoiding spoilers, that's all I can say about that.)

Now I'd like to hear from you.

Readers, is this a case of Insta-Love? Yay or nay? It's totally okay if you say 'yes.' Really! I'm very eager to hear your opinions, so don't hold back.

Writers, have you had a story tagged as Insta-Love and do you think it was deserved or not? Why do you think a reviewer labeled it as such and why do you agree or disagree?

There just might be a surprise in it for one random commenter.

Next time, we'll put the first meeting of the protagonists in Inherit the Stars through the gauntlet.

Have a great week!

~~~ * ~~~

#amwriting #reallyIam

Happy Book Birthday to Farewell Andromeda!

The first anniversary of my debut book release (Farewell Andromeda), and with it the launch of my authorly career, happened on January 8th!

Woot! It's a little hard to believe a year has already flown by. (Wait, does this mean I'm no longer a debut author by definition?)

Tihara and Donner's story continues to get good reviews, award nominations and kudos.

There might...possibly...even be a sequel to their story in the works. *wink, wink*

Pippa, I Feel Your Pain

So yes, I am writing. Really, I am.

I'm about to confess something I shouldn't. The Outer Planets is three months behind schedule. Shame, shame, shame. Bad writer, no donut!

As I read Pippa's recent blog A Problem with Pantsing, I found myself nodding my head and muttering in a distinctly Yoda-like fashion, "Yesss, yessss. You know the power of the Dark Side."

I'm a Pantser too. And yes, we're certifiable. I listen to peers (some who have gone on to become huge NYT best sellers), talk about graphing out plot points and dark moments and story climaxes, and my eyes glaze over. It's not that my stories don't have plot points, dark moments and climaxes--or my personal favorite--"over-the-cliff crises"--it's just that I can't sit down and PLAN how these all unfold within the story arc and the plot. It totally kills my creative process. Totally!

So...

I can't use outlines. *Holds up cross to ward off evil entity*

I can't plot with tables. (Dammit Jim, Excel is for numbers!)

I can't use sticky notes or index cards to arrange and re-arrange plot structure on the walls.
For reals? Some people actually have that kind of wall space? Mine's all dedicated to posters and pictures of Star Wars, seashells and T-birds. (Told ya I was random.)

I have attempted all of the above. The result is the same. My creativity goes catatonic.

I'm the worst (or the best, depending on your viewpoint) kind of Pantser there is--a freaking Wild Card Pantser. I have a basic idea who the characters are and where the story is going, and then I turn my muse loose and hang on for dear life. Sometimes some pretty amazing things happen when the ol' muse gets the bit in her teeth and breaks into a gallop, and others times (*cough* the last three weeks *cough*) she's dragging along with her nose on the ground like the Indian pony in End of the Trail.

The problem with pantsing is you tend to ride that headstrong muse right into blind corners and dark alleys (yup, blame it on the muse) and then you have to FIX what you and your overzealous artistic partner broke. And that can be an agonizing and confidence-shattering thing for a writer.

Yeah, I'm kind of at the agonized and confidence-shattered part. But I'm close to wrapping it all up (minus two POVs and three stray plotlines) and sending my novel off to an editor so she can find more even more stuff to fix that I didn't even realize was broken. Yet.

Glamorous life of a writer, que no?

The scary thing is that probably some of your fave authors write exactly the same way Pippa and I do. The creative process is an uniquely individual thing. Ya gotta just go with it and learn to master the beast. *cracks whip*

Maybe I'm Writing a Universe Instead of a Series?

After reading Greta's blog Don't You Love Series, I started doing a lot of pondering about my own. Hmmmm. Maybe what I'm writing isn't so much "series" as it is "universe."

Series tend to be books that are either about the continuing saga of central characters or spin-off characters related to the original central characters. Once the worldbuilding is established in book one, it's carried through the series, with the occasional twists, surprises, and undiscovered truths.

Does The Inherited Stars Series fit that description?

Well, yes and no.

There are no central characters that carry through all the stories. In fact, the first three works--novelette Farewell Andromeda and novels Inherit the Stars and the upcoming The Outer Planets, may seem to share almost nothing in common. They have different characters and take place in very diverse timelines. Are they related? Oh yes! The threads are very subtle but they're definitely there. (No spoilers. I'll leave those for readers to ferret out.)

Likewise, the worldbuilding is different. Inherit the Stars is distant future, set on a prototype starship. Farewell Andromeda takes place two hundred years after Inherit the Stars and happens on a historically-significant, repurposed space station. The Outer Planets is here-and-now with cooler tech. The series doesn't so much build a world as it builds a history. To do that, the "series" will reach far back into our past, and then carry the discoveries into the distant future.

This approach may leave some readers, especially those more accustomed to traditional series, scratching their heads. But it also has some pluses.

1. The first three books can be read in any order with no spoilers and no impact to the overall reading experience. So, yeah. Start anywhere. Be my quest!
2. The first three books are complete stories in themselves. They don't rely on other novels to complete the tale, but compliment other works in building the history of this universe.
3. The books are very different flavors of SFR--a Romantic Mystery set on a space station, a classic Space Opera, and a Near Future Suspense--so there's no sense of "cookie cutter" novels.

How do you write a series description for something like that? Sorta like this...

The year is 3500 AD—more or less. No one really keeps track anymore. Since the fall of peacekeeper planet, LaGuardia, two centuries before, much has been lost. Few remember that LaGuardia was once known as Draxis. Fewer still have knowledge that Draxis once guarded a spatial vortex—a crossrip in time and space—and passageway to a legendary world called Earth where the human species originated. Somewhere, hidden in a forgotten archive, is the written history of the universe and the chronicles of the men and women who helped forge a future in the stars.

Have a fantastic week!

~~~ * ~~~