Interview With COLLISION Author Berinn Rae, Plus Giveaway

Author Berinn Rae and genre fiction go way back, and she's channeled her interests into a science fiction romance saga called the Colliding Worlds Trilogy. This trilogy falls under the alien invasion category (see my post about it here). In these stories, planet Earth is in the crossfire of two galactic adversaries. Click here for descriptions and free excerpts of the first two books, COLLISION and IMPLOSION.

I invited Berinn Rae aboard so we could pick her brain about comic books, her writing style, and tattooed aliens. A giveaway follows the interview, so read on!

The Galaxy Express: Finish this sentence: My name is Berinn Rae and I like to…

Berinn Rae: Write, read, fly, and get into shenanigans (in no particular order).

TGE: Your bio states that in the past you had “…the small town’s largest (and only) comic book collection…” What are your top three favorite comic books series?

BR: Tough question! I’ve always been more of a Marvel Girl (as opposed to DC or Indie, although I love ALL comics), so my collection tilts toward the Marvel Universe (and yes, Stan Lee is my superhero). Off the top of my mind, I’d go with The Uncanny X-Men, G.I. Joe, and Conan the Barbarian. All three have plenty of action, tortured heroes, and strong storylines.

TGE: What was the inspiration for the Colliding Worlds trilogy?

Where Are All The Alien Invasion Sci-Fi Romances?

Via author Jody Wallace, I discovered an interesting tweet by has_bookpushers. She was seeking “…a gritty, dark alien invasion romance.” From her various tweets, I gathered she didn’t want “barbarian” style heroes involved in MARS NEEDS WOMEN stories or romances involving copious alien tentacles. I couldn’t quite determine if one of her stipulations included an alien hero, but I’m bringing it up anyway because it ties into the topic.

To summarize, a reader wants a gritty, dark, and epic alien invasion science fiction romance. Presumably, the invaded planet is Earth. Possibly featuring an alien hero. And I’m guessing a story with at least a 50-50 SF to romance ratio—more romance than a romantic SF story would supply. No chest-thumping barbarians or hentai tentacle action, check.

So when Ms. Wallace tweeted at me, I began thinking about title possibilities. Unfortunately, the more I thought, the more I began to suspect that the type of story has_bookpushers wanted was few and far between. Extremely few and far between. Kind of surprising given the popularity of space opera and military SF in various mediums.

As I reflected further, many issues came to mind regarding this type of story (which I also want to read, by the way!). First, if one is going to tell an alien invasion story with a prominent romance, the process involves several key ingredients. I’m going to present them in random order.

Androids & The Brainy Heroines Who Love Them - A Guest Post by Aubrey Watt

[When Aubrey Watt alerted me to PARAGON, her new sci-fi romance about a neuroscientist who falls in love with the android she helped create, I was like "Where do I sign?!!" I love brainy heroines and android characters, so the combination is like catnip to me. I invited the author aboard to blog about science fiction romances she's enjoyed, particularly as they relate to PARAGON. Extra bonus: following the post is a giveaway!]

Hi everyone! I’m Aubrey Watt, and I want to thank The Galaxy Express for having me here! I just released my first full-length science fiction romance novel Paragon. I’m giving away one free copy to a lucky commenter on this site!

I was inspired to write Paragon after reading the book Wired by Douglas E. Richards and falling in love with the character of Kira. Although I mostly write erotic romance, I wanted to tell an action story about a smart, sexy protagonist. At the same time, I was waist-deep in philosophy, reading about the hard problem of consciousness in cognitive science while taking Stanford’s online class in artificial intelligence. From this unlikely combination the character of Chal Davidson was born. She is a neuroscientist who helps to create an android prototype at a secret military base. Alan (the prototype) must learn everything from the beginning – how to talk, how to feel, and especially how to love. 

Interview With S.E. Gilchrist, Author of LEGEND BEYOND THE STARS

As you may have heard, Harlequin Australia launched Escape Publishing, a digital-first imprint. Great news for readers and authors, but I admit to having doubts they’d really publish sci-fi romance despite their submission guidelines listing “science fiction romance” as a category they’d consider.

Well, I was happy to be proven wrong. Author S.E. Gilchrist has two SFRs with Escape and I invited her aboard so we could learn more about her work. Being published is a longtime dream of hers and the bonus for us is that her chosen subgenre is SFR.

LEGEND BEYOND THE STARS was released by Escape in January 2013. I just love those larger-than-life titles! Enjoy the cover and blurb:

Seeking redemption from a mission gone terribly wrong, Captain Alana Knight volunteers to aid a dangerous operation to transport colonists between Earth and alien traders.

But on board the spaceship, she learns of a galactic war raging for power. A power that can be transformed into a terrible weapon.

When the colonists are betrayed and sold, Alana’s mission is re-defined. Nothing will stop her from keeping those in her care safe and finding a passage home. But her new captor is nothing like she expects…

Commander Tarak El Rajan is human, male and equally determined to retain his payload. With his race on the brink of extinction he is under strict orders to transport all females to the planet Isla for research purposes.

In a world of uncertainty, where the wrong decision could mean the death of an entire race, the last thing either of these two soldiers expects or needs is to fall in love.

And now for my interview with S.E. Gilchrist!

SFR News & Links For March 2013

Yay, another busy month for science fiction romance! Here’s a roundup of this month’s releases and new. 

New releases

TIN CAT – Misa Buckley

 

A year after the accident that put her in a wheelchair, Amber Gerald has more or less gotten used to living with her impairment. It doesn’t make a difference to running a comic book store anyway, and the customers have been the best support group she could have wished for.

When she rescues an abandoned cat, Amber has no idea that she’s interfering in the mad scheme of a time travelling bank robber. Or that the man that walks into her store dressed like Blade is about to become her bodyguard.

Between being an unwitting owner of an android cat and falling for a cybernetic bounty hunter, Amber finds her life a whole new level of weird as science fiction becomes a very real factual threat.

TANGLED INDULGENCE (Celestial Surrender #3; erotic; space opera) - Tina Christopher