It's a Pet (in Space) Parade! Check Out these Stellar Sidekicks

In the science fiction romance universe, stories sometimes involve more than just the heroes or heroines. Occasionally, the main characters have a help, hindrance, or sidekick that takes the form of a unique animal companion.

The non-human companions in one particular collection of books are important enough to be named in the title. Today, I'd like to introduce you to a few of the pawed, winged and ??? players from Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2--now a USA TODAY Bestseller!

All the pet sketches shown below were created by the very talented Nyssa Junea.

Story: Wired for Love
Species: Dog
Breed: Belgian Malinois
Name: Bogan
Unique trait: K9

In Wired for Love, author Michelle Howard knew exactly what her pet choice would be. A K9! After doing a bit of research, she decided the Belgian Malinois would be the perfect breed because of their beauty, agility and suitability as a K9 dog. Putting a trained K9 in a science fiction story required a bit of creativity but worked out well. Hunter was a former soldier and war hero who wanted nothing to do with his old military life. Dedicated K9, Bogan, changes that with his sudden appearance in Hunter's world.

Story: Star Cruise: Songbird
Species: Bird
Breed: Alien Eagle
Name: Valkyr
Unique trait: Telepathic Raptor Warbird

Veronica Scott's inspiration for Valkyr was a real parrot she'd actually once met. As a very young bird, the parrot had lived through the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and been passed down through two generations of family members since. But a parrot wasn't right for the story Veronica wanted to tell, so she thought back to one of her favorite Andre Norton science fiction books, The Beastmaster. The military hero in the story had a team of telepathic animals, one of those being an African eagle. Veronica decided to make her hero a Special Forces officer who’d inherited a special telepathic warbird from his own planet. The heroine of the story is a futuristic pop star inspired by Adele, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Lady GaGa and other popular singers. When the hero is assigned as her bodyguard while she's on tour aboard the starliner Nebula Zephyr, you can be sure things are going to get interesting.


When it comes to Carol Van Natta's story, Pet Trade, there are 17 pets to choose from! I'm going to feature two of the most notable in our crazy pet parade.

Story: Pet Trade
Species: Dog based?
Breed: Foo Dog
Name: Shiza
Unique trait: Designer pet

In author Carol Van Natta's Central Galactic Concordance, the pet trade is unhindered in creating fantasy animals from myth and legend for profit. Foo lions (or fu lions, if you prefer) inspired by old Chinese tales of the magical creatures are one of the high dollar animals they create. The pet trade's version of the "breed" is small, cute, and mainly dog with a curly mane and square jaw (holding many teeth, just like the fantasy creature that inspired it). Ex-Jumper Axur Tragon ends up with the Foo Dog when he crashes in the frozen north on a frontier planet. For all his lazy charm, he is designed to protect children--and pets--and has the means to do so.

Story: Pet Trade
Species: Insufficient Data!
Breed: Chimera
Name: Kivo
Unique trait: Intelligent and possibly empathic

Carol Van Natta's Kivo is a chimera, but not the one drawn from popular mythology. In the pet trade, the term refers to any creature they’ve designed out of their fevered imaginations. Kivo is a hodge-podge of unusual features--bat-like ears, carnivore teeth, six legs, two tails! Veterinarian and pet trade specialist Bethnee Bakonin is an animal-affinity healer who could ply her trade anywhere in the galaxy, but she has good reasons for hiding out on a backwater world. So does Axur, as it turns out, and that makes for some smokin' conflict in the story.

Story: Time Trap
Species: Bird
Breed: Parrot
Name: Sir Rupert
Unique trait: Time traveler with special abilities

When Pauline Baird Jones picked a parrot as the pet for her story, she learned all sorts of fascinating facts about parrots, such as "there are about 372 different types of parrots" and "parrots are believed to be one of the most intelligent of birds" and "some parrots can live for over 80 years!" and "parrots have four toes per foot that are arranged for maximum grip" and even "the combination of toes and beak make them dextrous climbers." There are many different names for parrots including the kea, kaka and kakapo. (Say THAT three times, real fast!) Sadly, nearly 30% of the world’s population of parrots now face extinction because of habitat destruction and poaching for the pet trade. However, Sir Rupert did not become an agent for the Time Rebellion because of poaching or habitat destruction. He just likes kicking Time Service tush! *big Parrot grin* *which probably isn't possible, but if Sir Rupert could grin, he'd be grinning here*

Story:  Rescued by the Cyborg
Species: Cat
Breed: Domestic kitten
Name: Mittzi
Unique trait: Being soft, fluffy and adorable

Cara Bristol like dogs, but she's always been more of cat person. When she was invited to write for the original Pets In Space anthology, her first instinct was to write about a cat. As it happened, the pet in the first collection ended up being a robotic dog named Sparky. In Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, she decided to go with her first instinct and make the story pet a little kitten named Mittzi. Her real-life cat, Hannah, approves, although Cara suspect she thinks she should be the star! (But Cara believes if Hannah were ever to go to space, she’d sleep through most of the journey!)

Story: Mascot
Species: Hugwort
Breed: Plantimal
Name: Jesse Greenfinger
Unique trait: Almost indestructible

In all the various stories with brave, quirky, heroic and mischievous pets Alexis Glynn Latner's may have been the most unusual. Jesse Greenfinger is a plantimal - a genetically engineered combination of plant and animal genes both from Earth and an ill-fated colony world called Planet Green. Jesse's species is called hugworts. With genetic good reason, they look like nothing so much as enchanted morning glories. They are mobile, affectionate, as curious as cats, clean, and space-hardy: perfect pets for space places. Indeed, Jesse is the mascot for the deep space station which is the setting of the story, Mascot. At one point Jesse climbs a station ladder; this hugwort has places to go and things to do (and a few secrets of its own).

Story: Courting Disaster
Species: Dog, cat and other
Breed: StarDog
Name: Luna
Unique trait: Bio-engineered starship mascot, and...?

Luna is a StarDog, like Katrina before her. She was created to serve as the perfect mascot and pest exterminator on starships...but it turns out that wasn't the only purpose for the dog-cat-weasel-mongoose bio-constructs. They also have other talents, and Luna's unique abilities may come in very handy when Captain Jagger and Ketsia Tayah end up on a dangerous mission through the rogue-infested dark nebula known as the Bradley Rift. When the hero and heroine fall into enemy hands, will one smart little StarDog be able to save the day?

__________

So now that you've met a few of the pets from Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, we'll hope you'll want to jump aboard and grab a copy of the book. Will this help convince you?

Yes! The book hit the USA TODAY Bestseller list the first week it was published! All the authors are very appreciative of the support of readers and the science fiction romance community for helping make this happen.

We'd also like to note that 10% of the first month's profits (which includes all preorders) will go to support the wonderful Hero Dogs organization that provides service dogs free of charge to military veterans. Just a reminder that the window will be closing on Veterans Day, in about three more weeks.

Find Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 at your favorite vendor by clicking here.

Thanks for joining us today for this special Pets (-in-Space-) Parade!

TOP FIVE RULES FOR FICTIONAL FIDOS

(Or Creating Memorable Furry Characters--Like Happy Here)

I’m stepping out of my kennel a bit on this topic, dear readers. After all, I’m not the Spacefreighters blogger with a second Pets In Space anthology on preorder right now (that would be Laurie). But I do feature a Belgian shepherd mix therapy dog in my latest novel, Not Fade Away, Book 4, Interstellar Rescue Series. (Available November 14 from INK’d Press.)

I had to pitch this novel to my agent/publisher, since our original contract was just for the first three books in the series. But before she agreed to write a new, expanded contract for future books, Michelle said, “So, you have a therapy dog in this one. The dog survives, right?”

I assured her the dog was alive and well at the end of the book.

“Good,” she said. “Because if not that would have been a deal-breaker.”

Which made me think there are distinct rules for writing about companion animals in novels, particularly if you ever hope to sell those novels to romance readers. Here are my Top Five Rules for Fictional Fidos (or Fluffies or whatever):

          1)The animal MUST survive. Kill everyone else in the book if you have to, but don’t kill the dog or the cat. Most of us have never forgiven Disney for OLD YELLER.

          2)The animal must have a purpose. Like anything else in a novel, Fido or Fluffy should be integral to the story, rather than be window-dressing. At the very least, the companion animal should illustrate something about your hero or heroine (beyond the fact that he or she is an animal lover). In a book I just read, a blind bulldog symbolized the spirit of its owner, who had recently recovered her sight. Maybe, like Happy in Not Fade Away, the dog has an actual job. Maybe like many novel felines, the cat helps solve the mystery. Or maybe the pet provides a silent partner for dialogue with the hero or heroine.

          3)The animal must have its own personality. Anyone with a pet knows every cat or dog is unique, with its own quirks, its likes and dislikes, its body language and means of communicating. The animal character should be just as vivid in its own way as any of your secondary characters. That means it has to be consistent, too—the same dog on Page One and on Page 300, unless you’ve given it a reason to change.

     4)The animal must be present and/or accounted for. If your heroine has a cat, your heroine always has a cat. I discovered this when writing the first novel in my Interstellar Rescue series, Unchained Memory. When the heroine, Asia, is attacked by unknown assailants on what is supposed to be a weekend trip and is forced to go on the run, her cat J.J. is left at home. I had to let the readers know she’d made arrangements for her friend to take care of him. Because Rule Number One. Similarly, Happy is in nearly every scene of Not Fade Away; he and his owner, Charlie, the heroine, are very close. I had to let the reader know where he is when important things happen.

          5) And, finally, the animal must cement the bond between hero and heroine by approving of the relationship (and vice versa). That is, the animal must like his owner’s lover and the lover must like the animal, if not at first, then certainly by the end of the book. Rafe, the hero of Not Fade Away, is distrustful of Happy at first. He’s never been around a dog of Happy’s size. But Rafe’s father, suffering from dementia, takes to Happy right away. And, of course, Charlie loves the dog. It doesn’t take long for Rafe to come around—and for the dog to include Rafe in his circle of protection.

So, there you have it, my list of the Top Five Rules for Fictional Fidos. Got any others you’d like to share?

Cheers,

Donna

PETS IN S-P-A-A-A-A-C-E!

The Russians had Laika, the first dog in space. NASA had HAM, the chimpanzee, who not only rode atop his rocket, but actually manipulated some of the controls. Jim Kirk was inundated with tribbles. Jonesy the cat survived ALIEN. Linnea Sinclair’s SFR heroes included cat-like furzels. And even STAR TREK’s Data had Spot.

Humans on Earth seldom go anywhere without their pets, and it looks like we won’t be going into space without them, either. Even when resources are limited—air, water, food, warmth carefully calculated and apportioned as it would be on a starship or in a hostile alien environment—we humans will always make some accommodation for our pets.

In some cases, the expenditure of resources is justified by their usefulness. Cats or small dogs kill the rodents that always seem to hitchhike on ships or in storage containers. No reason that would change in space, really. Rats are wily critters. Dogs of all sizes serve as security, alerting their owners to the presence of strangers, be they humans or aliens. Larger dogs serve as protection from the same.

But we all know that’s not the real reason we’d bring those pets along. A dog, cat or furzel represents home, family, community, sometimes the only piece of those things we have when we are alone and away from the people who love us. It’s no surprise that soldiers so often adopt stray mutts in war zones, or prisoners make pets of friendly mice. The animals offer comfort and love unconditionally. Well, except for cats, who have standards.

There’s another reason for keeping pets around, of course. They make us laugh. Daily, sometimes hourly. Goofy dogs. Acrobatic cats. Mice racing in a maze. Celebrated jumping frogs. They bring relief from the stress of everyday life with their craziness—and the greater the stress, the more they are needed. No wonder cat videos are so popular on the Internet.

The heroine of my first book, Unchained Memory, has a cat, The Outlaw Jesse James, JJ for short. He is all she has left of “family,” since she lost hers in a tragic accident at the beginning of the book. He and the hero take to each other right away, a good sign.

It’s a symbol of their essential rootlessness that the hero and heroine of my second book, Trouble in Mind, are without pets. They have to find their “home” and “family” in each other. Maybe they’ll get a dog or cat sometime in the future.

In my third book, Fools Rush In, Captain Sam Murphy’s home is his ship, the Shadowhawk, and his family is his crew. The ’hawk has a menagerie of small dogs and cats aboard, to keep down the population of veers, naked, two-tailed rodent-like creatures that haunt the cargo bays. My independent heroine, Rayna Carver, has to adjust to this homey environment.

Finally, in my work-in-progress, Follow the Sun, a dog takes a more major role, as the sidekick and therapy partner of my heroine. Happy has the most success in reaching an old man with dementia who may know the location of an alien doomsday weapon.

So pets can perform the same function in our stories that they perform in our lives: working at useful jobs, providing aid and comfort, standing in for home and family, cementing the bonds of community. Who is your favorite pet in space? And do you have pet characters in your stories?

UNCHAINED MEMORY COUNTING DOWN!

Looking for that early Christmas gift for an SFR- loving friend? Somehow missed the first book in my Interstellar Rescue series? Well, it's your lucky day, 'cuz Unchained Memory is only $0.99 for a limited time on Amazon NOW! Hurry, because the price goes up to $1.99 on Sunday, November 22 at 7:00 p.m. And by Friday, November 27 at 3:00 a.m. the countdown ends and the price reverts to its regular $2.99.  Click HERE to get your best deal!

Cheers, Donna 

Cheers, Donna