Showing posts with label science fiction romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction romance. Show all posts

Thursday, January 22, 2015

One for the Ladies

 
By Jessica E. Subject
While Unknown Futures is not the first story I wrote an F/F love scene in, it is my first story where the two women end up together in the end.
When I decided to write Unknown Futures, it was originally supposed to be a sequel to Celestial Seduction, carrying on Carrie and Frey’s story. But it didn’t work. I couldn’t think of a plot that would work. Instead I made them minor characters in a new 1Night Stand story. I’d already written two, and wanted to try something different. The line has everything imaginable in terms of plots, but there weren’t any F/F romances at the time. I decided to challenge myself and have my next 1Night Stand story introduce two females looking for love. Challenge being the key word.
But then I thought to myself, I don’t have a penis. If there’s one thing I know, it’s my body. I know what I like, where I like to be touched, and what parts of love-making bring me the most pleasure. I don’t know what sensations men feel during sex, but I do for women. I don’t have to worry about the unknown penis, the unfamiliar male point of view. I can do this!
I have written more F/F stories since Unknown Futures and have been
involved in some events relating to Lesbian Fiction. Every January, KT Grant, a fellow Decadent author,  hosts the Lesbian Fiction Appreciation Event. Plus, Anastasia Vitsky, another Decadent author, hosts Love Spanks in February, where participating authors write a short F/F romance (which may or may not involve spanking) for readers to check out for FREE. There are all kinds of giveaways, too. So, if you have not ready any F/F stories, or have read only one that just didn’t float your boat, I hope you will check out these events the showcase a wide range of fiction with two heroines. You may find something you DO like.

Oh, and if you want to try out Unknown Futures, it’s only 99¢ for the month of January. Here’s an excerpt...

“Miss Jewel Barnaby?”
Her eyes darted toward the tall, austere man in surprise, nervous tension knotting her shoulders. She almost didn’t respond. No one had called her Jewel since she’d left the hospital two years ago. Instead they called her ugly, freak, or monster. The doctors had done all they could, but despite the several surgeries and multiple, painful skin grafts, everyone in Prescott, Ontario would always know her as the girl who was splashed in the face with acid on the biggest night of her teenage life.
They’d been in his garage, grabbing blankets for the after-prom party. When he’d tried to get fresh with her, she’d had to tell him, a jock through and through, she wouldn’t sleep with him, that she’d preferred women. But he didn’t take no for an answer. Pinned against his truck, her heart racing in panic, she kneed him in the groin. Doubled over, he’d grabbed sulfuric acid from a shelf behind him and splashed it in her face. Everything after that moment became a blur until she woke up in a hospital, groggy with painkillers, a tube stuck down her throat. She couldn’t see a thing with the bandages covering her eyes, but felt and heard her mother by her side.
From then on, some of her neighbors looked at her with disgust, sympathy, or fear. Others glanced away when she passed, as if she didn’t exist, including her old friends.
The chauffeur simply smiled at her as he reached for her two oversized suitcases. His professional, impassive demeanor calmed some of the butterflies dancing in her stomach.
Standing on the curb, she stared down the road, sure neighbors spied out their windows, wondering why a limo would be picking her up. I need a break from this place. As she slid over the leather seat of the Ford Excursion limousine, her stomach tightened. Madame Evangeline’s text had been brief. Pack for two weeks. The limo will meet you in front of your building in an hour. She’d had no time to do anything but change and throw clothes in a suitcase.
Until now. Had applying to 1Night Stand really been a good idea? She could end up with her date running away, screaming. And why had Madame Evangeline told her to pack for two weeks when her date was only supposed to last one night?

Unknown Futures
a 1Night Stand story
by Jessica E. Subject
Lesbian Science Fiction Romance
ISBN: 978-1613331842

Attacked as a young adult, Jewel is left scarred and alone. She applies to the 1 Night Stand service, believing no one can see past her appearance to love her. But she doesn’t expect to be sent to a space station where her date could be any number of unusual alien species.

Flavia left everything behind to be one of five humans working for the Space Service space station. Extremely homesick, she is excited to learn she will be a guide to a woman from Earth visiting the station for a couple days. She is immediately drawn to the petite woman, seeing past her scars to her true inner beauty, stirring unforeseen desires.

Unfortunately, Jewel is there for a date which Flavia hasn’t been told about. Can she contain her lust and simply show her a good time? Or will she let her desire lead them into an unknown future?

SALE!! Unknown Futures is $0.99 for the month of January from


Bio:
Jessica Subject is the author of contemporary and science fiction romance, ranging from sweet to erotic. In her stories, you could meet clones, or a sexy alien or two. You may even be transported to another planet for a romantic rendezvous. 
When Jessica isn't reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to get out and walk. Fast. But she just may slow down if there is a waterfall nearby.
Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at jessicasubject.com and on twitter @jsubject.




Thursday, July 18, 2013

Escaping from Earth

Interview with Ava from Another Night, Another Planet


Hi Ava, thanks so much for joining us today. I know you’re about to leave for another tour aboard Star Spirit, so I’ll just take a little of your time. To start, please tell us a bit about yourself.
Ava [sits in her chair, her foot bouncing]: Um, there’s not much to say. I live on Earth, but spend most of my time aboard the mother traveler, Star Spirit, cleaning rooms for the wealthy people onboard.
Can you tell us about Nate?
Ava: Nate? What’s he got to do with this? He’s an ex-boyfriend who I thought I loved. And then one day, he just left, without a word. I haven’t seen him in a few years.
What was your thought when you first met him?
Ava: I felt sorry for him. He was an orphan and didn’t have any friends. We started out as friends and then became lovers. And it hurt so much when I didn’t hear from him again.
What was your favorite thing about him?
Ava: He treated me like I was the most precious thing in the world. Until he left.
What is your greatest fear?
Ava: Being stuck as a housekeeper for the rest of my life. I mean, it’s great money, but I’d like to settle down one day, have a family.
What is your greatest strength? Weakness?
Ava: My greatest strength is that I’m hard-working. And my weakness would be my hope for true love. I mean, it’s hard to believe it exists with everything I see on Star Spirit.
What is your favorite color?
Ava: Red.
If you could vacation anywhere in the universe, where would you go?
Ava: I don’t know. I see many planets while working on Star Spirit. I guess I’d go someplace the mother travelers haven’t taken me to yet.
If you met Nate again and could spend an entire day with him, where would you go and what would you do?
Ava: I don’t think I’d want to go anywhere with him. He hurt me so much. I guess if I did see him again, I’d want to know why he left without telling me.
Boxers or Briefs?
Ava: I don’t wear either.
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Ava: Chocolate all the way.
I agree! Thank you for visiting with us today!
Ava: Thank you. Now, I must get going before I’m late for the launch.

Another Night, Another Planet
A 1Night Stand / Elatia story
By Jessica E. Subject
Erotic Sci-Fi Romance
ISBN: 978-1613335413
Limited by status…
Ava is a housekeeper aboard Star Spirit, a luxury cruise ship travelling between the Milky Way and the Belvarian System. Coming from a middle-class family on Earth, she is considered by passengers as nothing more than an object to be tossed away when they’re done with her.
Shunned because of his lineage…
Banned from several planets across the universe, Nate struggles to run his interstellar shipping business. But the DNA of an exterminated race runs through his blood, giving him a diluted form of their powers, and leaving him labeled as a terrorist.
Both searching for the one…
Through her 1Night Stand dating service, Madame Evangeline matches these two together for a celestial escape on the pleasure planet, Elatia.
Will Ava and Nate find what they’re looking for, or will their date be just another night on another planet?

Available from Decadent Publishing and other eBook retailers.

Bio:
Jessica Subject is the author of contemporary and science fiction romance, ranging from sweet to erotica. In her stories, you could meet clones, or a sexy alien or two. You may even be transported to another planet for a romantic rendezvous. 
When Jessica isn't reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to get out and walk. Fast. But she just may slow down if there is a waterfall nearby.
Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at jessicasubject.com and on twitter @jsubject.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Worldbuilding in Science Fiction

Buy Mako's Bounty HERE

by Diane Dooley
One of the most enjoyable things about writing science fiction is the opportunity to create brand new worlds out of figments of your imagination. When my kids were younger one of my favorite things to do was take their enormous box of lego and build a world for them to play in.  Some of their favorites were: Jurassic safari park (just add dinosaurs), high rise city (just add King Kong) and alien worlds (just add broken toys for aliens.) I kinda miss those days, so now my extraneous imagination is focused on building worlds in words.

In Mako’s Bounty, my 1Night Stand novella from Decadent Publishing, I create two different worlds. One is the tough and gritty world of mining colonies in the asteroid belt, from which my two protagonists hail. This world was inspired by the mining and steel town where I grew up in Scotland. At one point I lived in a flat where the view from my bedroom window was a futuristic-looking steel works: blast furnaces, massive buildings, cooling towers and a strange purple-orange glow to the sky. It didn’t take too much of a twist to imagine it as a far future industrial space colony, one in which industrial production is the only view anyone sees, even if they don’t have such a thing as a bedroom window.
  
The other world I create is Earth - as experienced by someone who was born and brought up in a mining colony on a large asteroid. Earth, as experienced by Mako, is based on a trip I once took to the Caribbean. Even for me, an Earth-dweller, the sights, sounds and smells of the Caribbean was an alien experience. How much more so would it be for a person more used to cold rock, darkness and low-gravity? How could water be that impossible shade of blue? Those torrential downpours every afternoon that left the air wet, heavy and succulent. The incredible ferocity and tenacity of the biting insects. These experiences were hard for me to absorb; for Mako, they threaten to completely overwhelm her underdeveloped senses.

Mako Dolan is a bounty hunter, who has been unsuccessfully chasing the space pirate, Vin Sainte, for months. She has finally lured him into a trap - a honey trap. In this excerpt Vin reminds Mako where they both come from, while gently introducing her to the pleasures of the senses:

“Do you remember? In the colony school? When the adults set a new production record or discovered a rich vein to mine, do you remember how the kids would get a treat?”
“Oh, yes! We got a Chocoflava Bar. I used to break mine up into tiny pieces and try to make it last as long as possible.”
He half smiled. “I did, too. Open up, Makiko. This is the real thing. Chocolate.” She took a small, brown square between her teeth. “Don’t bite down. Let it melt slowly.”
Flavor drenched her mouth in thick, rich bursts of creamy deliciousness. “Mm, so good.” She swallowed and licked her lips, wanting more. “I’ll never eat a Chocoflava Bar again.” Soft fabric wiped her chin.
“That’s enough for now.” He pulled her to standing, then sat back in his chair, tugging her onto his lap. “You’re lucky, you know.” He kissed her. “It’s a thing for Earthers, to try and catch a spacer on their first visit. They like to introduce us to the pleasures of the senses. Some of them go too far. Spacers have gone into comas, even died, from the overload. One lost his mind, I heard, getting fucked by a beautiful woman near one of the pyramids in Egypt after drinking a bottle of the world’s most expensive wine. It was too much for him.”
Not the worst way to go. Better than an asteroid collision. Better than getting stabbed trying to take down a bounty. She rested her head on his shoulder, listening to his soft voice, wishing there was more time to talk with him and hear his stories.
“Earthers dine out on their tales of what they do to us. I’ll be much gentler with you, sweet Makiko. I won’t give you more than you can handle.”

World building starts with an experience, whether it be a memory, an image or a first taste. What was the view from your bedroom window? Have your senses ever been overwhelmed by an experience? These things are important. For from such things, entire worlds can be born.  
Mako’s Bounty is available here, from Decadent Publishing, and from all the usual e-book stores.

Diane Dooley writes romance, science fiction and horror; short stories, novellas and novels. You can catch up with her on her blog, Facebook or Twitter. She also blogs at Contact: Infinite Futures and is a regular contributor to The Galaxy Express.
Her website is the best place to find her books and their buy links. Her blog is the best spot to find her short stories. They are listed here.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Ingredients for a 1Night Stand

Buy Intergalactic Heat HERE!

by Jessica E. Subject
I admit it. I’m a 1Night Stand addict. Not only do I write these stories, but I also buy them and read them. You can check my read and to-read list on Goodreads to confirm this if you want. The thing I like about this line at Decadent, is that the stories are all SO different. Of all those I’ve read, I honestly can’t say that I could compare one to another. Yes, they all involve a one-night stand between the parties involved, and with a little magic from Madame Evangeline, one night may lead to many more. But, the characters range from regular humans, to shifters, vampires, aliens, and more. And the dates occur all over the Earth and beyond. Some are more memorable than others, and all a treat to read. Hats off to everyone involved in this series.
So, I’m going to tell you how I create a 1Night Stand story. I’m sure every author involved in this line has their own formula for writing one of these stories, but here’s mine:

ONE – Take a character who feels out of place in society, whether born this way, or as a result of something that has happened in their life. This is a character who is not usually the life of the party, but content to stand back and watch. Or perhaps they might not even be at the party, content to be on their own. And sometimes, they just want to break free. Here are examples from my stories:
Frey (Celestial Seduction) – He’s an alien from the planet Ginnun. On his own planet, he is not supposed to feel emotions, but he does. On Earth, he does not look the same as us, with his blue shimmery skin, but he is able to create a human image to disguise himself.
Tamara (Beneath the Starry Sky) – She has Alopecia Areata, an auto-immune disease that has caused her to lose her hair. She wears a wig, but has lost her confidence.
Jewel (Unknown Futures) – She has acid burn scars all over her face.
Danyka (Satin Sheets in Space) – She is taller than most guys she knows and has radiant red hair, causing her to stand out in a crowd when she doesn’t want to.
Paige (Sudden Breakaway) – As a member of the Space Service, she lives in the shadows recruiting others, but she does not have time for a life.

TWO – Add another character or characters with issues of their own. This character is usually more outgoing, and in some cases, set up on the 1Night Stand by someone else. Here are the other halves:
Carrie (Celestial Seduction) – She is a pediatric nurse, but is also unable to have children.
Josh (Beneath the Starry Sky) – He is a former sci-fi television star with his own secrets making him want to leave the limelight.
Flavia (Unknown Futures) – She is one of only a few beings from Earth working on the Space Service space station. And she is very homesick.
Galan – An alien wanting to settle down. But he also has to think of his brother, and shipmate, Volan.
Jared – A former Marine who is now the guardian of his preschool-aged niece and nephew.

THREE – Add in an interesting location, whether it be a cave in the woods, a spaceship, a space station, or even a hockey game.

FOUR – Include intense attraction but some hesitation.

FIVE – Sprinkle in some of Madame Evangeline’s magic, and you have the beginnings of a 1Night Stand story.
I have five 1Night Stand stories out there now, with plans for more. And I’m so happy to say that you can find my first five in the print anthology, Intergalactic Heat.

Giveaway!!
For your chance to WIN swag from all five of my 1Night Stand stories, tell me what you think is an important ingredient in a romance story. Contest is international. Winner will be announced December 31, 2012. Good luck!

A date on a space station? Alien lovers? Madame Evangeline, owner of the exclusive 1Night Stand dating service is known to be magical in fulfilling the ideal dates of her clients, but she’s outdone herself this time, bring together beings from Earth and beyond. As long as applicants are willing to let go of their pasts and open their hearts and minds, she will find their perfect match, whether they be a former sci-fi television star, a nurse, an employee of the Space Service, a former Marine, or even an extraterrestrial. Because everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after…

Buy Links:


Excerpt from Beneath the Starry Sky – MF Contemporary Erotic Romance
She’d held onto so much hope for this date, and nothing had gone right. She still didn’t know who this guy was. Yet, he’d already rejected her with his expression. This is the last date Im going on, unless Im lucky enough for my hair to grow back.

His gaze never left her, making her even more humiliated. “You’re….”
“What? Ugly? Bald?”

He shook his head. “No, I was going to say my date. I’ve been so busy lately and Madame Evangeline had to send me a reminder.”

She paused at the Frenchwoman’s name. Could this hunk of a man really be her date? Didn’t matter. He wouldn’t want her now. “Well, surprise! I’m damaged goods, so you might as well leave and ask her for a refund.”

As she slumped to the floor, more tears streamed down her face. Why is life so unfair? She’d worked hard all of her life, never taking shortcuts or the easy way out. Not an outcast or popular, she’d been friends with everyone in school and college. And healthy. She’d taken extra care to eat properly in order to avoid being diagnosed with diabetes, like her parents.

Since that fateful day when she’d discovered her two, oval-shaped bald patches, she’d been dumped by her fiancĂ© and lost all of her hair, along with any chance to find love and have a family vanishing. Kids were out of the question. Sure, their chances of inheriting alopecia were unlikely, but on the chance they did, they’d hate her for passing her faulty genetics on to them. She couldn’t live with that. She’d be alone. Forever.

Excerpt from Satin Sheets in Space – MFM Science Fiction Erotic Romance
She had her eyes closed, her lips pressed against his, when the sensation started. First, a tingling in her hands and feet, as he swept his digits deep inside her. The buzz spread up her arms and legs until it engulfed her entire body. She no longer sensed the ground below her.

The man continued to drive his fingers into her core with vigor, ridding her of the urge to pull away and find out what was happening to her. She landed with a thud, feeling returning to her limbs. Nothing stopped the man who held her, though. He continued to ravage her mouth, her jaw, her neck, keeping her pressed against the wall.

But something felt different. Gone was the hard brick pressing through her corset and against her skin. She reached behind to brush her hand along the surface. Soft. Almost like cushioned satin.

With a whimper, she pushed the strange man away. Where was she? What had she been thinking? This is the stupidest, most insane thing I’ve ever done.
The Prince Charming she’d had the fortune of being set up with peered down at her, his gaze intense and filled with lust. “My name is Galan, and we’re in my spaceship.”

At least she now knew his name, but wait…. Spaceship? She stared at the man, disillusioned. She could think of no other explanation for how they had traveled to a new location with the press of a button. Oh God, she’d been abducted by an alien. How would she get out of this situation? The first time she’d done something spur-of-the-moment, and she’d ended up being finger-fucked by an extraterrestrial.

Or was this some kind of elaborate stunt Josh had pulled off? But why? He was on his honeymoon, unable to enjoy his handiwork. Her body grew numb; a loud ringing pierced her eardrums. She could no longer think with the clouds invading her mind. Then she blacked out.

Bio:
Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from anyone who has enjoyed her stories.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Why are You So Afraid of Science Fiction Romance?



By D.L. Jackson

Okay, I get it, it’s not your thing. But hey, have you read or watched the Hunger Games? Have you read or watched the movie, I Am Number Four? How about Jurassic Park? The Abyss?

Yes? Then you’ve experienced a form of science fiction romance, or science fiction with romance elements.

But wait, none of those take place in space or on a ship, that’s not science fiction.

Oh, but it is.

I understand what you’re saying, but did you know that while many science fiction novels or novellas do take place in space, many others don’t. Even better, you might find a few that cross genres into paranormal, historical, military, and even contemporary and suspense. The nuts and bolts technology is there, just as the flaming clothing and flying crafts, and various other technologies are employed in the Hunger Games (a dystopian young adult romance), to keep the competitors in the arena. Wait, you liked that book? Then I’ve got a book or two for you.

I’ve been talking about misconceptions in science fiction romance all week. The number one misconception is that you have to have a thorough understanding of science to love them. This is not true. Though science is incorporated in many science fiction romance novels, often it flawlessly flows and more often than not, crosses genres, and you don’t need a textbook to grasp the story. Actually, you just have to have an open mind.

Here’s a little secret about science fiction romance you may not have thought about. Science was once fantasy, and many novels written in the genre have a touch of it—sometimes more than that.

Yes, most science was once fantasy. It’s true. Think about it. Two hundred years ago you would have been tried as a witch and burned at the stake for suggesting a person could use a cell phone, or watch plays on the big screen and television. What was once magic to one people, became hard fact, once the myth became proved science. Let’s get a little more modern shall we, and bend some electromagnetic waves to make something or someone invisible to the naked eye. Get out! You can’t do that. Oh yes you can. It’s true. By bending EM waves, you can make a person or object invisible. Science! Booyah. The invisible girl has become a reality. Got to love that.

So, step into my parlor said the spider to the fly. My mission is to hook you on a often misjudged and much too neglected genre, that has more to offer than you can possibly imagine. My challenge, if you chose to accept it, is to pick up one of the science fiction 1NS titles available and read it. They are less than a 12k investment of your time (an average of 36-50 pages). You might discover how friendly and fun this genre is. And don’t be surprised to find that something you’ve been afraid to try, really wasn’t what you thought it was.

1NS Science Fiction Romance titles:


Go ahead, pick one up. I dare you.

One commenter to this post will win a copy of This Endris Night and a signed book bag with decorated with the covers of some of my Decadent titles. I’ll draw a winner on Friday at midnight, EST.  Good luck and don’t be shy. Science doesn’t bite—much.

D L Jackson