"The Ministry Initiative" Kickstarter Blog Hop, Plus Steampunk Romance Giveaway

The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences authors Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris, in conjunction with Galileo Games, are developing an exciting new Kickstarter project:

Galileo Games and Imagine That! Studios have teamed up to bring you an ambitious steampunk project! The Ministry Initiative is a two-part creative endeavor that will not only premiere new fiction from the steampunk world of the Ministry but also present a brand new role playing game from the makers of Bulldogs! and the ENnie Award winning game Shelter in Place. Thrill to the tales in Ministry Protocol anthology, or join in as an Agent in The Ministry Initiative RPG. Find out more about this endeavor and support the Kickstarter here.

The Galaxy Express is part of the Ministry Initiative Kickstarter Blog Hop (May 22-29) to help spread the word about this project. (To learn more about the authors, see my interview with them.)

Giveaway time!

To enter, leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a Steampunk Romance Ebook Bundle from me, Heather Massey. Tell me about a steampunk/steampunk romance book you enjoyed (or want to read). Or tell me what your weapon of choice/transportation vehicle of choice would be if you were an agent of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences!

Here are the prizes:

Revisiting The Hero's Point-Of-View in Sci-Fi Romance

In When A Romance Is Not A Romance, Rachel Leigh Smith expressed her preference 

…for the male lead to have the majority of the POV scenes. I know I'm in a minority on this and I deal with it. But I feel cheated when I start on something billed as a romance and I find out his POV isn't there.

She goes on to state, 

If you're telling me a book is a romance and all I get is her POV, it's not a romance to me. A romance is about two people falling in love. I want to see BOTH of them on that journey.

While I am of the opinion that a romance can be told from any POV or combination thereof and still be a romance, a story told, say, entirely from the hero's POV would catch my eye simply because it might offer something different or a unique story angle.

I've blogged about the issue of the hero's POV in science fiction romance previously, here and here. Since a bit of time has passed and ushered in more titles, I thought I'd highlight a few books that IMHO are heavy in the hero POV department.

Why I Love Science Fiction Romance

Lately I've been trying to pin down why science fiction romance excites me so much. The reasons are varied, and not easily condensed to one or two reasons. Why is this issue important to me? I want to be able to concisely articulate the reason this subgenre appeals when making book recommendations and/or blogging about it.

It's a challenge because as soon as I come up with one reason my mind is like "Oh wait, there's this too! And don't forget this!" Each element soon snowballs into a chorus of "Pick me! Pick me!" It's one thing to define SFR; quite another to describe its underlying appeal in a handy sound bite.

The issue really came to the forefront when Laurie A. Green of Spacefreighters Lounge sent me a link to a Goodreads discussion about science fiction romance. I knew if I left a comment it would pretty much evolve into the length of a blog post, so I decided to simply go ahead and respond with a post!

The moderator, Michelle, posed this question:

Tell us more about sci fi romance! Why should we read it? How does it differ from normal sci fi or normal romances, apart from the obvious?

I'm going to answer the questions by listing the main things I look forward to in an SFR (in random order):

Next In Line to the King: More SFR Archetypes By Maybelle

[The Galaxy Express is excited to present a series of posts by a Very Special Guest. Her name is Maybelle and she's here all the way from sweet home Alabama to give us her take on archetypes in science fiction romance. This is the third installment of a ten part series. Maybelle's posts will go live Saturday 9 am EST).] Part I Part II

Last time, I told you about the King of the Galaxy. Remember? The one dead set on having that cranky Earth girl as his destined mate? He’s closest to the “chief” in normal archetypal terms (from: The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes and Heroines). Since there can be only one King, according to that busybody Traxian Seer, what other types of Martian guys can a kidnapped Earth girl hook up with?

Exclusive Cover Reveal: MAVEN by S.A. Huchton

I've been keeping an eye out for futuristic undersea adventures in science fiction romance, so when author S.A. Huchton came aboard the Galaxy Express to let me know she had just such a story in the pipeline I was immediately intrigued. MAVEN is a new adult sci-fi romance that takes place beneath the sea and will release on 6/3/13.

I'm excited to present an exclusive cover reveal for S.A. Huchton's MAVEN (The Endure Series #1). Read on for the blurb and an excerpt the author handpicked for TGE passengers!

Book Description: