Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Interview With CHAOS STATION Authors Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen



Authors of SFR are always surprising us with something new. This is certainly true of Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen. They launched a new m/m space opera series this month called Chaos Station. Not only that, they have a spiffy site with handy information about the series.

CHAOS STATION (Carina Press) is the first book:


“You’re not real. Felix Ingesson is dead.”

The war with the alien stin is over, but Felix Ingesson has given up on seeing his lover, Zander Anatolius, ever again. Zander’s military file is sealed tighter than an airlock. A former prisoner of war, Felix is attempting a much quieter life keeping his ship, the Chaos, aloft. He almost succeeds, until Zander walks on board and insists that Felix isn’t real.

A retired, broken super soldier, Zander is reeling from the aftereffects of his experimental training and wants nothing more than to disappear and wait for insanity to claim him. Then he sees footage of a friend and ally—a super soldier like him—murdering an entire security squad with her bare hands and a cold, dead look in her eyes. He never expected to find Felix, the man he’d thought dead for years, on the ship he hired to track her down.

Working with Felix to rescue his teammate is a dream come true…and a nightmare. Zander has no exit strategy that will leave Felix unscathed—or his own heart unbroken.

Click here to read the Chapter 1 excerpt.
 
Book two, LONELY SHORE, will release May 25, 2015. Enjoy the cover and blurb:

Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly #6 Now Available!

Don't be shy--click here to grab your copy of Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly #6, a free e-zine brought to you by KS Augustin, Diane Dooley, and me!

Cover design by Misa Buckley
This issue includes an article about sci-fi romance films by author Donna S. Frelick, a free short story by Amanda C. Davis, "Engineering the Heroes of Our Dreams" by regular contributor Charlee Allden, 13 reviews, a slew of new releases, sci-fi romance Sneak Peeks from authors Maeve Alpin and Charlee Allden, and much, much more!

Joyfully yours,
Heather

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Cosmic Laughs & Love: Comedic SFR Film Trailers


Our Cosmic Laughs & Love event with guest authors Lucy Woodhull, Jody Wallace, and Lorain O'Neil will now go out in a blaze of glory with the following trailers from a few comedic science fiction romance films. Share them with someone you love, or hog them all to yourself! Thanks for joining us!

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED

THE ICE PIRATES


CODEPENDENT LESBIAN SPACE ALIEN SEEKS SAME


EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY

Cosmic Laughs & Love Film Spotlight: HEARTBEEPS, A Comedic SFR Film So Bad, It’s Actually Kinda Not Good At All


[Introduction: I first blogged about HEARTBEEPS back in 2011. This film is so bizarre and inadvertently funny I figured I'd unleash a revamped post about it for TGE's Cosmic Laughs & Love event. You're welcome!]

HEARTBEEPS (1981), starring Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters, has got to be one of the worst science fiction romance films ever made. Possibly also one of the worst comedies ever to hit the silver screen. I can’t even describe how bad this film is. Painfully bad. You-won’t-forgive-yourself-in-the-morning bad. In fact, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, although on second thought, it might come in handy if Earth needs to ward off an alien invasion using cringeworthy cinema.

Cosmic Laughs & Love: A Jody Wallace Cattification of J.L. Hilton’s STELLARNET REBEL

Attention those who are one with their cats and also those that don’t have cats or even those of you who don’t care for cats! Meankitty and Typing Slave (a.k.a. me, Jody Wallace) would like you to behold the cattification of J.L. Hilton’s STELLARNET REBEL. It’s the cat’s meow!

[This cattification is on loan from jodywallace.com and re-posted with permission.]

STELLARCAT POUNCE by JL Mewton

Friday, March 27, 2015

Cosmic Laughs & Love: Steampunk Romances That Will Tickle Your Funny Bone



There's a side of steampunk romance that's larger-than-life and over the top, aspects that lend themselves to tales with humorous elements. This genre includes so many fun gadgets and characters that inevitably some of them are going to be funny as well! Plus, quite a few stories feature "opposites attract" hero and heroine pairings, which is a gold mine of both conflict and humor.

As part of this week's Cosmic Laughs & Love event, I'm going to highlight a few steampunk romances that will tickle your funny bone.

Cosmic Laughs & Love: Jody Wallace’s Newsy Newsletter

Check out my newsletter, yo!
If you would like to receive the relatively short, kitty laden, mostly typo free newsletters of Jody Wallace, which arrive on a schedule so erratic you may not even receive one until 2016 (but it's totally worth waiting for), you can sign up at: https://madmimi.com/signups/104974/join. Newsletter subscribers receive perks such as exclusive excerpts, terrible recipes, free books, and bad advice from Meankitty.

Cosmic Laughs & Love: Comedic SFR Link Roundup



For Cosmic Laughs & Love week, I rounded up various posts regarding comedic sci-fi romances in books and films. Enjoy!

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Cosmic Laughs & Love: A Jody Wallace Cattification of Cathy Pegau’s RULEBREAKER

Ahoy, cat lovers! Meankitty and Typing Slave (a.k.a. me, Jody Wallace) are here to regale you with the purrfect cattification of Cathy Pegau’s RULEBREAKER. Why? because lesbian cat romances are better than catnip, litter boxes, and a sunny perch all rolled into one.

[This cattification is on loan from jodywallace.com and re-posted with permission.]

DROOLBREAKER by Cathy Pegau

Cosmic Laughs & Love: The Cosmos Will Never Be The Same, Earthling--Writing Humorous Sexy Sci-Fi by Lorain O'Neil


The Cosmos Will Never Be The Same, Earthling--Writing Humorous Sexy Sci-Fi by Lorain O'Neil


When it comes to humorous romantic sci-fi scenes, I think they’re at their best when there’s a hunky alien H and a feisty human h. With the inherent contrast, it’s always fun to show the alien’s flummoxed shock at regular ol’ human behavior and language. In my novel Firecrystal Deep I have a scene where human Alexandra sneaks off to a distant moon filled with dangerous Spidur creatures. There, Alex accidentally initiates communication back to her hunky alien H, Suzerain Zackarn, ruler of half the galaxy (the Demesdom). Needless to say, Zackarn is not too happy with his little Earth human’s behavior, but Alexandra is having none of it:

Cosmic Laughs & Love: Exclusive Excerpt From Jody Wallace's FAR GALAXIES

For your reading pleasure, here’s an exclusive excerpt from Jody Wallace’s forthcoming interactive sci-fi romance spoof FAR GALAXIES (The Adventures of Mari Shu #3). As an added bonus, this excerpt is totally free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whatta bargain!

FAR GALAXIES - Excerpt

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Cosmic Laughs & Love Book Spotlight: FIRECRYSTAL DEEP by Lorain O'Neil


FIRECRYSTAL DEEP by Lorain O'Neil is a humorous sci-fi romance with a heavenly twist!


Cosmic Laughs & Love: Love Is a Many Cybernetic Thing by Lucy Woodhull, Plus Giveaway

Love Is a Many Cybernetic Thing by Lucy Woodhull

Love. It makes one think of flowers, hearts, and dystopias. Or maybe it's just me who thinks of it that way. Growing up, I was crazy for sci-fi shows and the romance that went hand-in-pod with them. Here's a list of my favorite childhood out-of-this-world romances.

- Buck Rogers and Wilma Deering, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Was there a girl alive who didn't want to be Erin Gray in that show? The floofy hair, the satin jumpsuits? I still want a satin jumpsuit, damn it! And Buck was the dreamiest hunk with an orange tan since George Hamilton. Le sigh.

Cosmic Laughs & Love Book Spotlight: FAR GALAXIES by Jody Wallace


FAR GALAXIES, coming soon to an ebook venue near you, is the third installment of Jody Wallace's interactive and spooferific sci-fi romance series The Adventures of Mari Shu. Behold the cover and blurb for this cosmically cracktastic story!


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Cosmic Laughs & Love: A Jody Wallace Cattification of Jenna Bennett’s FORTUNE’S HERO

Greetings, fellow feline fanatics! Meankitty and Typing Slave (a.k.a. me, Jody Wallace) are here to present the official (and most likely only) cattification of Jenna Bennett’s sci-fi romance FORTUNE’S HERO. Because seriously, there aren’t enough cat images in the world. Truth!

[This cattification is on loan from jodywallace.com and re-posted with permission.]

Cosmic Laughs & Love: A Space Himbo Saved My Life by Lucy Woodhull

I grew up geeking out.  My dad is a huge fan of Star Trek (the original, thank you--he does not truck with with the British guy playing the Frenchman). Personally, for me, Jean-Luc Picard can get it forever.  So it was natural for me to write a fun sci-fi romance featuring a hot alien man and the badass lady who reluctantly falls for him. Thus, my book Ragnar and Juliet was born.

Cosmic Laughs & Love: A Special Comedic SFR Event

Welcome to Cosmic Laughs & Love! From March 24-28, 2015, it’s going to be all comedic SFR at The Galaxy Express, all the time! Well, almost all the time. Some of us need to sleep, you know. And whistle. And take out the trash. Maybe even listen to a purring cat now and then.

Guest Authors

The Galaxy Express welcomes authors Lucy Woodhull, Jody Wallace, and Lorain O’Neil aboard because not only do they all have the letter “l” in their names, but they also write humorous science fiction romances!

Cosmic Laughs & Love will feature 3 posts per day. During this event, you’ll be entertained with the following fun:

Sunday, March 22, 2015

A Totally Random Sci-Fi Romance Link Roundup

I was scrolling through my TGE to-do list and kept discovering links to items I hadn't yet included in any blog posts. To achieve some closure, I decided to bundle them into this post. There is no rhyme or reason to this list. Some items are only tangentially related to sci-fi romance. Now let's see what I had squirreled away!

The blurb for a comic called TRANSMEET seems to indicate romantic SF or SFR. I've got a copy and just need to get around to reading it!
In the not so distant future, teleportation has connected the entire world. While technology amazes humankind…human life expectancy is very short and the ones alive suddenly develop health problems at a very young age… In this scenario, we follow the relationship between Eward and Claris. He, a young man living in Barcelona. She, a prodigy scientist working in Tokyo. Eward hates technology, always having problems when dealing with it. Claris on the other hand loves technology, a scientist with a very particular objective working on a secret project to extend human life expectancy. In this world ruled by megacorporations, Claris and Eward will have to break rules, turn down protocols... making us wonder: What is the limit to love?
***

Thursday, March 19, 2015

I Love The Variety In Sci-Fi Romance!



Science fiction romance offers an incredible amount of variety that never ceases to amaze me. Here's a snapshot of the worlds I've visited recently:

CORE PUNCH (Pauline Baird Jones) - futuristic New Orleans; alien police officer hero and Earthling heroine; plot is fueled by a Katrina-level hurricane disaster

HAKUSAN ANGEL (Alex Powell) - cyberpunk; giant fighting machines; features bioengineered heroine and hotshot pilot heroine

A CAPTAIN AND A CORSET (Mary Wine) - alternate history England and Russia; hero and heroine are steampunk wormhole "Navigators"

RAVEN'S AWAKENING (Sherri L. King) - begins on contemporary Earth and then journeys to distant planets; heroine has a secret identity and hero is a shapeshifter; the story holds appeal for fans of JUPITER ASCENDING

See the wonderful variety? That's not even counting things like heat level (the first two are "sweet" and the other two are more erotic), authorial style, character personalities, story length, and theme. And yet they definitely share two common core elements: a science fictional setting and a romance.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Two Possible Sci-Fi Romances



I was recently having fun perusing Bold Strokes Books' catalog. In addition to downloading samples of books by authors Gun Brooke and Gabrielle Goldsby, I discovered two other titles that seem like they could potentially fall under the sci-fi romance umbrella, or at least hold appeal for SFR readers. The first is already out and the second is forthcoming:



Sunday, March 15, 2015

Blogging at Coffee Time Romance Steampunk Page

My Coffee Time Romance steampunk column this month is about an interesting theme I discovered in a steampunk romance. It prompted me to take a closer look at my pop culture conditioning regarding weapons and violence in fiction. Not a bad day's work for a steampunk romance, eh?

Joyfully yours,
Heather

SilkWords To Offer Gaming Features


SilkWords, a "Pick Your Path to Romance" site featuring interactive erotic stories, is rolling out some new, fun features and I have a press release with more details (full disclosure: I have a story with SilkWords):



SilkWords Introduces Gaming Features
to Boost Interactivity and Social Sharing

Bellevue, WA (March 15, 2015)SilkWords LLC, a woman-owned and operated publisher that offers high quality interactive romance and erotica, this week launched a suite of gaming features to boost interactivity and social sharing.

“Almost exactly a year ago we launched the first version of SilkWords.com, which grew very much from our gaming roots,” said Keri Multerer, SilkWords partner and publisher. Multerer’s husband, Boyd Multerer — the design and development muscle behind the brand — founded Microsoft Xbox Live and is the former development director for Xbox One.

“At launch,” Keri continued, “our brand of branched fiction blended romance and erotica with light gaming functionality. With this launch, we’re taking that game feel to the next level, while continuing to offer the same high-quality content our readers expect.”

The new features include a game currency (heart tokens) for purchasing stories, and badges to reward readers for engaging with the site and interacting with other readers. Heart tokens can be purchased, or they can be earned for actions like becoming a member, signing up for the SilkWords newsletter, and promoting stories on social media. Badges are status rewards, given to readers who reach thresholds of reading and sharing. (The Social Butterfly and Top Reader badges, for example.)

"Our goal with these updates is two-fold,” said Sharon Fisher, SilkWords editorial director and partner (also a Tor Books sci-fi romance author). “We want to boost the level of interaction on the site, and we want to incentivize our readers to share the content they love. It’s part of our phased approach to expanding our SilkWords reader community.”

SilkWords timed the launch to follow soon after its first anniversary, as well as the release of the Fifty Shades of Grey major motion picture. Erotic fiction continues to thrive as a genre, with popular authors struggling to release stories fast enough to satisfy reader appetites. (See http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/61926-scratch-that-itch.html.)  

“Erotica and branched fiction really are a match made in heaven,” said Keri. “We like to think of SilkWords as ‘fifty shades your way.’ By making choices throughout each story, our readers can choose to experience this popular form of fiction at the level most appealing and most comfortable for them. It’s a great way to experiment with reading different heat levels.”

In addition to Pick Your Path stories, SilkWords offers Reader Vote stories, which allow readers to collaborate with authors during story creation. SilkWords will also soon be introducing its first Shared World stories, where authors will create traditional, linear stories set in a story world developed specifically for SilkWords.

SilkWords LLC (www.silkwords.com) is the go-to source for interactive romance and erotic fiction. With gorgeous custom covers and a clean, sophisticated design, our site offers a secure, upscale reading environment and an enthusiastic reader community.

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If you’d like more information about SilkWords, email Keri Multerer (keri "at" silkwords DOT com).