Hello from K.M. Fawcett

Hello Spacefreighters! I am thrilled Laurie invited me to join the blogging crew! I’ll be posting every other Wednesday on topics like science fiction romance, writing, and my other love--martial arts and self-defense.

Today I want to talk about book covers, but before I do, I should probably introduce myself. I’m K.M. Fawcett, a science fiction romance writer relaunching my career this month after getting my rights back from my publisher for my books in the Survival Race Series. I like writing stories featuring underdogs and fish-out-of-water characters who find their place in the universe. I believe in happy endings and true love conquering all.

My husband—who wants everyone to know he’s the inspiration for all my heroes, who then have to be toned town for believably *grins*—and I own Tenchi Dojo in NJ, where we teach traditional Okinawan karate and kobudo (weapons). I incorporate my martial arts experience into my stories to create strong, kick-ass characters who aren’t afraid to fight for the life and love they deserve.

Now that I have the rights to my books back, I gave them shiny new covers and revised the material, including expanded and new scenes in CAPTIVE from sexy alpha gladiator Max’s point of view! Woot!

I’m super excited for the relaunch of my writing career and for my stories to be back out in the world. Before we peek at CAPTIVE’S new cover created by my cover designer Karri Klawiter, here’s a look at the original. Can you tell what genre this book is? Unfortunately for me, many readers couldn’t.

Some people guessed historical romance, medieval romance, or fantasy romance. Nope. Nope. And nope. How about this cover? What genre is this? Leave your guesses in the comments section.

A rookie cop and an alpha gladiator band together to escape their alien captors in a chilling race for survival and soon discover freedom isn’t all they desire.

Captive is available now at your favorite retailers. You can read the first chapter for free here.

Happy reading!

~ K.M. Fawcett
Romance for the Rebel Heart

A PICTURE WORTH 1000 WORDS

 For reasons altogether too complicated to relate, I’m thinking I may have to redesign the covers for my Interstellar Rescue Series novels. 

Time for an update?

Not the conceptual framework, necessarily, which was developed by artist Jessica Hildreth and works beautifully—colors, formatting, fonts and so on. I don’t I want to change that, because it says what I want it to say: this is Science Fiction Romance. Cool, future-y stuff inside!

The problem I’m having is with the images of the couples that are central to the covers. The original concept was a good one: I wanted to show that the stories I’m telling are about “two against the world;” that the couples on the covers are equal partners in telling their stories. I still believe that’s a good place to start, but I don’t really think the images I’m using convey that concept.

First of all, the concept of “danger” is missing; the couples look entirely too comfortable. Then, there’s little emotional connection between the couples, except for “Rayna” and “Sam” on the Fools Rush In cover, my favorite. And, finally, there were all the problems of finding the right couple in stock images—two people that match the two people in my books.

My favorite, though still not perfect.

I had no choice about the couple that represented Ethan and Asia on the Unchained Memory cover. They were my publisher’s choice, and I still field questions about whether the book is a young adult novel because the models are too young. So I stepped up to do the image search for the next three books and discovered how difficult the task was. The only one I’m satisfied with at all is Fools Rush In, and though “Sam” is perfect, “Rayna” is less so. *Sigh*

Okay, so now I have a different “concept.” (You’ll soon see that working from a concept is part of my problem.) Though it’s true that my couples are equals in their relationships, my heroines most often drive my stories. They are strong, determined women working to overcome a central dilemma with their partners, the heroes. So, why not have them come front and center, with the men slightly in the background? That way I could use (and search for) separate images for each heroine and hero, then layer them. (Or Jessica could—I don’t have the skills.)

But here’s where I’m running into my next obstacle—“concept” vs.“detail” in image searching. All my heroines share certain character traits, even though they may physically look different. I thought if I looked for those character traits, I’d get a variety of physical types to choose from. But no.

I first tried searching for “kickass women” in my stock photo source. No results. (Really?) Okay. Then I tried “strong, active women.” I got lots of images of women lifting weights or running. Hmm. Then I typed in “powerful women.” I got over 37,000 images. At least that was helpful, if you ignored all the images of women imitating the “Rosie the Riveter” bicep curl (thousands). Or women in business suits and high heels (just because). Or women manifesting a “qi” ball (of course, that is power, but not what I’m looking for). Still, I’ve gleaned quite a few images for my preview library of women with the right “look” who might match the physical characteristics of my Asia, Lana, Rayna and Charlie. (Oh, and, of course, of Lael, who will be the heroine of King of Pain, book five of the series.)

As I’ve scanned these photos I’ve seen how the stock image search engine would like me to narrow my focus. The engine names its images “blond woman staring into the sky holding a flag;” “redhead with curls dressed in shorts climbing a hilltop on a sunny day;” “beautiful woman in business suit with briefcase and phone.” If you ever need anything that specific, stock photos have you covered. “Beautiful dark-haired woman looking at you like she’d take your head off if you crossed her” doesn’t seem to be a category.

The more exotic your character, the easier it is to categorize the image, though I’m not sure it’s any easier to find what you’re looking for. I haven’t specified a need for “powerful African-American women” yet for Rayna, or “otherworldly/exotic-looking women” for Lael (who’s a shapeshifter), but I’m sure the search engine will love those qualifiers. However, when I was looking for “sexy Latin men” for my hero Gabriel years ago, I didn’t get as many responses as I’d hoped. Maybe things have changed.

At any rate, looking at handsome men and beautiful women with a potential for gracing your next cover can be a lot more fun than struggling with contracts or staring at a blinking cursor on the screen. So, show me “powerful women # 20,473,” please!

Cheers, Donna

It's nearly there (and some lorikeet pictures)

That picture up there has nothing to do with this post, but a lot of people liked the idea of a dragon suddenly appearing in the sky above the calm waters of Hervey Bay at dawn. I thought you might, too. I bought the dragon picture and incorporated it into one of my own photos.

Anyway, back to the writing business...

I know I sound like a broken record these days, but as I've tried to explain, writing a book is hard work, involving many repetitions and checks. I reckon if I have to suffer, you can, too.

Once the book is written and rewritten and edited and rewritten, then it's time for the cover, and the blurb – the description of the book which will encourage you lot to rush out and buy it. I'm delighted to say that (with a lot of help from my wonderful editor) the blurb is done and dusted.

For the Greater Good

A Human settlement is destroyed and all signs point to an Yrmak raid as Imperial agents Tian Axmar and Brent Walker scour the site for clues. One thing they never expected to find was a survivor, a rare alien feline with unusual talents

As tensions between Humans and Yrmaks ratchet to the point of no return, Tian and Brent must bring all their cyborg skills to bear as they follow a dangerous trail of deception and misdirection. 

The feline, now dubbed Puss and strongly bonded to Tian, holds the key to many of the questions driving the investigation. Unfortunately, that bond drives a wedge between Brent and Tian’s working relationship, leaving Brent with second thoughts about his decision to become a cyborg.

 As the evidence unfolds, it becomes clear that a devious plot to incite an interspecies war will strike at the very heart of the Empire. With lives at risk, there's no time to waste. Racing against the clock, Brent, Tian, and Puss must stop the planned carnage, and this time for Brent and Tian… it’s personal.

-----------------------

That description captures the essence of the book – these are troubled times for Tian and Brent, a situation exacerbated by the cat. On top of that they have a job to do – stop the planned carnage.

Then we have to think about marketing. 

The book's not really a romance. We don't have boy meets girl, problems, HEA. But the personal relationship between Tian and Brent is a major plot arc which complicates their working relationship. I don't think I'll even try to market it as a romance. But it is a planet-hopping space opera, with aliens and an Empire.

Apart from that, there's some pretty tame sex and a bit of colorful language (my books always have  - because that's how my characters act). 

Now for the cover. While I was messing about looking for suitable images I had a peak at cat pictures. I always imagined Puss as an oriental cat like a Siamese, but black, with just a hint of white on her chest – and knock me over with a feather, I found this image. It's a perfect match. Whether my cover designer wants to use it is up to her. But I thought you might like a look.

The book will be available for preorder any minute now. Be warned - the cover will change.

Apart from that here's a few lorikeet shots. They are on a callistemon (bottle brush) enjoying one of their favorite native foods.

 

The Problem with POC Characters #amwriting #scifi #romance

Now, before you think this is some kind of complaint against POC characters, bear with me. It isn't. But it'll take me a while to get to the point.

Back in the summer of 2014, I went to see a film at the cinema a record three times (well, a record for me. I only saw Return of the Jedi twice because my local cinema did a special re-run of the whole trilogy when I was a teen - I was too young to see the first two at the cinema when they originally released). The film was Guardians of the Galaxy. I. LOVED IT! So it wasn't especially deep or thought provoking or hard scifi, but it was fun, spectacular, funny - for me, all round entertaining with explosions, spaceships, aliens, a kickass heroine looking for redemption and a reluctant, somewhat klutzy hero. Perfection! Aside from the problems with getting Gamora merchandise (oh, Disney, really...), I didn't have a single complaint about the entire thing (apart from that killer opening scene, which I now skip every time).

By Source, Fair use,
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42775479

And it inspired me to write a story. I wanted to write a heroine based on Starlord, and what's more a POC heroine. At the time I'd planned to do it as a novel...eventually. But I was already busy preparing Keir for re-release in 2015, and was in the midst of a chaotic and demanding schedule of edits, tours and releases for five titles with my now ex-publishers Breathless and Lycaon. I just didn't have time to get sucked into a novel, so I tapped down a few notes that looked suspiciously like an outline (nope, not me, I'm a pantser, NO outlining!!) I put it aside and got back to work.

Then I spotted a scifi romance anothology call - Touch the Stars. I really wanted to submit to it, but I didn't have time to start something from scratch. What I did have was a 3K sketch of a potential novel.

Lightbulb! It wouldn't take much work to expand the 3K into a 10K short. Then if readers liked it, I could come back to the novel idea later, right? During the expansion, my heroine decided she didn't like much about Starlord other than his outfit and his guns and started nudging me toward Zoe from Firefly as character inspiration (at this point I'm going to admit I've only watched the Firefly series once and the film Serenity maybe five times, so in no way is my heroine claiming to be Zoe nor am I claiming her to be in any way an accurate representation!). The intended humorous play on a cheesy scifi name also wasn't going to work out in the space of 10K, so I dropped it.

Since the anthology hadn't yet found an editor, and Dani and I were already extremely busy with multiple editing projects, I turned to Diane Dooley who had edited my short story Imprint for the Tales from the SFR Brigade anthology. The two stories were similar in style and feel, and I felt Diane had done a fantastic job kicking my butt helping me get Imprint into excellent shape, so I had no doubts she could do the same for this short. At least that way no matter who eventually edited Touch the Stars, I was handing in a polished piece of work. She also helped me pick a better title for it now I'd thrown out the pulp scifi name for my character.

8 free SFR short stories in 1
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So Quickshot was submitted to the anthology by the December 2015 deadline. Then on the 10th January, I received the disappointing news that the anthology had been indefinitely postponed due to too few submissions.

Bummer. But as you know I'm not one to stay down even when knocked down. Dani and I were still working on edits for two projects, and I'd decided to re-release Zombie Girl, my last BP/LP title that I hadn't put back up, for which she did the cover, plus a robbery put a huge spanner in her workload. While I waited for a suitable breathing space to commission a cover, I went searching for stock photos myself.

And here's where the reason for the title comes in. I see a huge number of complaints about lack of diversity in books. But the lack is everywhere, at every level of writing and publishing. Do you know how hard it is to find non-white model stock images, let alone ones that are dressed/posed/armed the way you'd like? And especially for speculative fiction? Bloody hard, that's what. I knew I had a pretty big ask for my heroine - I summed it up to Dani as Zoe from Firefly dressed and armed like Starlord from Guardians of the Galaxy - but even just finding a headshot that would fit was tough going. Even a visit to Mosaic Stock, who specialize in POC models, didn't give me much. I came up with a grand total of five headshots and one potential full body shot that would actually take quite a bit of work to turn into my heroine as I saw her. And the hero was just as bad. I resigned myself in advance to not getting anything remotely close, especially when Dani confirmed the difficulty in getting suitable POC stock images.

But Dani is a miracle worker. As you can see, she came up with something that not only fulfilled my wishlist but surpassed all expectations, that I never thought I'd get (and now I'm sorry I didn't write the whole novel!). Isn't it glorious?! (BTW, you can check out all her work and services HERE.)

A Space Opera Short Story
Goodreads | Webpage
Amazon inc KU 

After investigating the interracial categories on Amazon, I realize I'm even more lucky than I thought. The lack of POC characters on the majority of the covers in that category was frankly depressing. It's not that the books aren't being written or published from the looks of things (though from conversations on Twitter, I believe they're still a minority when it comes to publishing). It would appear it's more the lack of stock images available, a problem I know Greta and Donna have also run into for their books. While I know Mosaic Stock are committed to their vision of providing a wider range of diversity in their stock photos, it's clearly going to take time. I wish the current stock image providers would do the same.

Blurb:
Sal, a legal carrier (just about) of whatever comes her way, puts her trust in just two things: her guns. 

Keeping out from under Imperium eyes—especially those belonging to a certain Ehi Wahu—while making a living, and trying to keep a lover who can tolerate her twitchy trigger fingers, are the extent of her ambitions.

Then a kiss from a passing stranger, and a promise of the biggest score in a long time, tempt her. Devin fulfils more than one need, but he comes with more trouble than one woman can handle. And this time it'll take more than her guns to save her. She'll have to trust a man again.

Quickshot is a space opera short, available for pre-order at Amazon only, with a release date of the 31st March. Warning: over 18s only. Adult content including explicit sex, bad language, and implied violence.

Happenings

You've got just six more days to get Keir for free to read and review from NetGalley HERE.
And six more days to enter the Goodreads giveaway for Keir's Fall.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Keir's Fall

by Pippa Jay

Giveaway ends February 29, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

From the 1st March you can get Keir's Fall from NetGalley HERE to read and review.
Zombie Girl: Dead Awakened is now available to buy from most online retailers, and you can find the links in the right hand side bar.
And lastly, Quickshot is available for pre-order exclusively at Amazon. In 90 days time I'll have to decide whether to go wide or stick with Amazon.
Chook update!
Sadly over holiday, we lost our Leghorn bantam Eowyn (my eldest's chicken, and the white one in the photo). It happened suddenly in the night, so at least she didn't suffer. We're not sure exactly how old she was and there's a huge variation in the predicted age of domestic chickens, so it could have been that - we just don't know.

However, we'd already been looking at more chooks, and this Sunday we picked up four new girls, bringing our total to eight. Mine is the dark brown one with the ruffled feathers (a chocolate frizzle), and I've named her Fizzgig. The 'ginger' one (a buff Pekin) belongs to youngest and got christened Spaghetti. The other two are yet to be named (my older two monsters are still trying to decide). Our original chooks go by the names of Scoop, Chiana, Kyru, and Rush, in case you hadn't been introduced before. :P

Status Update
Rather than reading over my nine days of no social media, I worked on revising and editing Reunion at Kasha-Asor. I really want to hit my deadlines on this one (unlike the last minute chaos of getting Keir out on time and releasing Keir's Fall a month late. Ugh). I am struggling with it. In fact, I've been struggling full stop. I've had another 'why am I doing this?!' phase because every day seems a battle with writing, publishing, and especially marketing. So I'll continue for now with blogging and tweeting, but cut anything else including Facebook. I'll continue writing, but I'll probably publish less. And I'm more set on job hunting. I hope to be back at a non-writing job by the end of this year.
The June project is in first round edits - I made a start on it last week as a break from Reunion, lol. I spend more time editing than anything else, and right now I'm looking at pretty much nonstop editing for the rest of the year. The June project may or may not release in June, but I hope to have print editions for BristolCon in October.
In the meantime, I'd love to know what you think of the cover and blurb for Quickshot. Or maybe you could help suggest some names for our two nameless chickens!
Pippa Jay signing off...