Jessica E. Subject's Blog, page 42
January 27, 2017
The creation of Goudrogen Crystals in PASSAGES by @LaurelWanrow #scifi #romance #giveaway
Goudrogen Crystals
When readers first meet Eve, the empathic cyborg heroine of Passages, she is wearing a crystal ring. It’s not just any crystal, or even a familiar one.
I did consider using quartz, scientifically known as silicon and the second most common mineral on earth. (Feldspar is the most common.) It is abundant on other rocky planets we’ve explored, so it makes sense for it to be found on another planet.
But, it was quartz, a mineral everyone knows, which would make it meh in my story.
Goudrogen is anything but meh.
Yet I had to base the tory crystal on something familiar, so I considered its properties. Goudrogen, or ‘goud’ as Passages’ characters refer to it, is a non-metal element. Only 18 of the elements on our Periodic Table of Elements are non-metals, but they make up most of earth’s crust, atmosphere and oceans, and are even found in the tissues of living organisms. Goudrogen had to be a non-metal, because it is everywhere on Aarde, and even has its own cyclic system.
I decided goud crystals would be in the hexagonal crystal family, like quartz and its other forms, such as amethyst. They form six-sided prisms, with six-sided pyramidal ends.
In my world, they are all doubly-terminated crystals, which if I told you why, would be a spoiler. 
January 25, 2017
Teasers from IT TOOK A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE #romance #scifi #interracial
Since It Took a Zombie Apocalypse releases this Monday, I thought I’d share some teasers with you. If you pre-order now, the book will be delivered to your device or app on release day.
IT TOOK A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
It started with a kiss.
Then the zombies came. Now, Missy must work with the neighbor her parents hate if she wants to survive. But zombies aren’t the only threat to her life, or her heart.
Available January 30, 2017
You can pre-order from:
January 24, 2017
Paleontology on distant planets ~ THE COLONY by @Laurel_R_books #scifi #romance #newrelease
It is my pleasure to host fellow SFR author Laurel Richards. Please welcome her, and check out her new release, THE COLONY.
I am so excited about my new sci-fi romance novel The Colony. This is the most action-packed SFR work I’ve ever done, and I worked hard to include some unique elements. As a child, I was fascinated by paleontology—mostly the study of dinosaurs—and I still find the fossils of Earth’s past inhabitants interesting as an adult. That got me thinking. Wouldn’t other planets have fossils too? And what kind of historical creatures could we find if we could explore that far?
This is a major theme in The Colony, in which the heroine works as the Chief of Paleontology on the planet of Jangala. Dr. Elisa Everett is smart, well educated, and passionate about her work. Elisa is not your typical heroine. She’s a scientist, not a warrior, but she’s tough and uses her smarts to survive. Elisa also suffers from severe asthma—an ailment I shared when I was younger. It’s extraordinarily hard to do anything when you can’t breathe. Elisa doesn’t let this stop her, however, though it does give her another obstacle to overcome.
The hero, Alexander Valerian, is a nice foil for the heroine. Alex starts life as a rancher and eventually joins the army in order to get his college degree. He sees active military service and then eventually leaves the army to join colonial security. Alex is a man of action. While he’s far from stupid, his smarts lean more toward instinct and common sense, and he’s a protector through and through. When something deadly happens at the Jangala colony, will he be able to find Elisa and get her out safely?
THE COLONY
by Laurel Richards
Not everyone will make it out alive.
Responding to a distress call, Officer Alexander Valerian and the rest of his security team arrive at the human colony on the planet of Jangala to find blood and gore all over the walls. All the colonists are dead or missing except for Dr. Elisa Everett, a pretty paleontologist he finds injured and nearly suffocated in a ventilation shaft. Now Alex has to figure out how sixty-nine colonists were wiped out in a single night, but Elisa’s account of killer monsters just raises more questions. Has the colony really been attacked by bloodthirsty beasts, or did everyone succumb to a powerful hallucinogen that made them turn on one another? He had better find out fast, because Elisa’s life is in his hands.
Available from:
Barnes & Noble │ Kobo │ iTunes │ Inktera │ Scribd
Amazon US │ Amazon UK │ Amazon CA
Trade Paperback Buy Links:
Createspace │ Amazon US │ Amazon UK │ Amazon CA
Human colony, planet Jangala…
“What the hell is going on?”
Dr. Elisa Everett huffed out the demand as she ran into the colony’s security room. Her hand wasn’t quite steady as she took a hit from her asthma inhaler and got her first good breath since sprinting here from her lab in the southwest wing. The blaring overhead alarm nearly drowned her out.
From her seat in front of the security monitor, her sister shot her a concerned look while she punched buttons that were blinking a violent shade of red.
“All hell is breaking loose,” Bria shouted.
Her remark was punctuated by the frantic squawking of the nearby intercom.
Elisa strode closer to get a look at the screen and was overwhelmed by the kaleidoscope of images. Section N1’s camera revealed two male colonists pounding at each other with their fists. They were both swaying on their feet, but they didn’t let up. In another frame, a woman in section NW2 was gesticulating wildly and evidently talking to herself. The Jameson cousins in R3 stood atop the cafeteria table and waved at the lens for help. Five other displays were down and filled with static.
Elisa muttered a prayer. “Where’s your commander? What happened to your backup?”
Her sister was a Beta security officer here at the Jangala colony. She wasn’t supposed to handle something like this by herself.
“I don’t know!” Bria cried above the alarm. “Someone triggered the fire alert in the northeast wing. Commander Walsh took Donaldson with him to check it out. I didn’t see flames, but Guy Robbins was spraying extinguisher mist all over the damn place. I saw someone tackle him through the haze. By the time the fog cleared, Guy was lying there with his head bashed in. Nobody is answering their radio, Commander Walsh ran for the north door ten seconds before we lost picture for that whole wing, and then my emergency panel lit up. We’ve got an outbreak of assaults, reports of killer insects, and— Oh, my God!”
Elisa followed her sister’s gaze and gripped the edge of the table. Framed at the top of the screen was Liddy Harper, a petite eighteen-year-old who usually wore a star-bright smile. The girl was currently throwing herself against the walls of one of the workrooms in the northwest wing. A gash on her forehead bled profusely, and blood smeared the room where she’d pinged around like a fly in a bottle.
Elisa’s mouth went dry, which only made the medicinal aftertaste from her inhaler more noticeable. “She’s hurting herself. We’ve got to stop her.”
“She’s on the other side of the compound,” Bria pointed out, but she was already heading for the door. “We need stunners. Weapons locker, sublevel.”
Elisa didn’t argue. She just concentrated on her breathing as she followed her sister’s quick, athletic strides.
The air grew stale as they hit the cold metal staircase that descended to the basement. They’d almost reached the last step when the lights cut out. Elisa rocked back on her heels and clutched the handrail as they were plunged into total darkness. Her sister cursed in front of her, and the alarms fell silent.
Bria’s voice rose from the void. “Elisa, you’re only one or two steps behind me. Reach forward and find the back of my jacket.”
“Okay.” Elisa ignored the tremor in her hand as she reached blindly ahead.
When she made contact with nothing but air, she slid her shoe forward to find the step’s edge with her toe. Both she and Bria jumped when her fingertips hit her sister’s hair, but then she managed to pinch a crease in the back of Bria’s security jacket.
Her sister took control. “Good. Step down the rest of the way with me, and we’ll walk to the weapons locker together. It’s going to be down the hall to the right, second door on the left.”
“Got it.”
As one, they started moving. Elisa felt a moment of disorientation when they first hit the landing, but she got her bearings once she was sure there were no more steps. After navigating the narrow hallway, they found the door they wanted.
“How you doing? Are you taking nice, easy breaths?” Bria knew stress always made the asthma attacks worse.
“Maintaining,” Elisa replied, and she hoped she could keep it that way.
Her palm grew sweaty against Bria’s jacket, but she expelled a breath of relief when the code panel beside the doorframe lit up. She could just make out her sibling’s outline in the eerie green glow of the buttons.
Author Links for Laurel Richards:
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Not everyone will make it out alive ~ THE COLONY by @Laurel_R_books #scifirom #romance
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January 21, 2017
#8Sunday: $50 for a kiss ~ Excerpt from IT TOOK A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE #romance #IRMC
Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warriors post!
I hope all is well for you! Here’s another excerpt from IT TOOK A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. This is a New Adult Interracial Small Town Romance story that occurs during a Zombie Apocalypse. It is now available for pre-order.
Set-up: Last week I introduced you to Missy and the conflict she has with her father. After he threw the religion card at her, she threw it back at him and his past behavior toward their neighbors. In this excerpt, Missy takes her turn at the kissing booth. When RJ (the next door neighbor) realizes she’s there, he rushes over.
“Fifty dollars for a kiss.” RJ held the bill and waved it across the counter. “It goes in the jar if I get a kiss from you.”
“I’d do it for five.” She pointed to the paper sign on the jar. “But if you’re willing to donate more, go ahead.”
He walked into the booth and sat on the bench. “You misunderstand me, Missy. I don’t want a peck on the cheek. I want a real kiss, your lips on mine.”
IT TOOK A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
It started with a kiss.
Then the zombies came. Now, Missy must work with the neighbor her parents hate if she wants to survive. But zombies aren’t the only threat to her life, or her heart.
Available January 30, 2017
You can pre-order from:
AMAZON US | UK | Canada | Germany | Australia | Japan
Weekend Writing Warriors is a Sunday short-snippet blog hop in which authors share short excerpts from their books (published or unpublished). There’s a variety of genres–something for everyone! To visit the participating authors, and find out more, click on the logo:
January 20, 2017
Claimed by the Cyborg and Strange Mating Practices @CaraBristol #scifirom #romance #newrelease
Claimed by the Cyborg
& strange mating practices
By Cara Bristol
One of the first things you learn in writing science fiction romance is not to take anything for granted. It would be ridiculous to assume that our 21st century social customs would be norm several hundred years in the future on an alien planet no less. So writing SFR frees an author to move outside the box and explore alternative lifestyles.
Like mating habits.
Here and now on Earth the socially-sanctioned norm is two people getting married and being sexually faithful to each other. Yes, polygamous marriages and polyamorous relations exist, but they’re not the norm and are not generally accepted or practiced. Infidelity is quite common, but it is not viewed favorably. It’s considered “wrong.” And while arranged marriages do still occur, they were far more prevalent in centuries past. Generally, we pick our own partners and live with our mistakes or opt out by filing for a divorce.
The heroine in Claimed the Cyborg is Xenian, and on her planet marriages or “bondings” are practiced somewhat differently. To begin with, bondings are irrevocable. There is no escape hatch. Once you bond, it is for life. There is no such thing divorce or annulment even if your mate turns out to be homicidal whack job. You’re stuck. So the stakes are quite high, and that’s why Xenia doesn’t leave mate selection to amateurs. One’s mate is chosen by a seer who receives a vision telling her who should be paired. Xenians don’t marry for love and don’t expect to fall in love with their mates as this excerpt shows. Just before she is about to be married, heroine Julietta talks with her mother.
Julietta released a silent exhale. Maintaining a level tone, she asked, “Did you grow to love him?”
“Who?”
“Father. Did you ever grow to love him?”
“Love? It is well and good for troubadours to fill commoners’ heads with romantic frivolity. The bond your father and I share is sounder than any built on love. Our foundation is not based upon ephemeral whims but mutual respect and commitment. We complement each other.”
“So you don’t think it is possible for love to grow?”
“Well, I suppose it’s possible, but why would that matter when you have an empire to rule?”
Because I have an empire to rule. That is why it matters. “So you don’t love me—or Marji?”
“Of course I do! A mother’s love, a parent’s love for a child is a different matter.”
“Terrans bond for love,” Marji piped up. “I thought you admired the Terrans.”
Julietta looked at her mother, anxious to hear her reply.
“I admire many things about Terra,” she agreed, “but their emphasis on love isn’t one of them. Emotion offers a weak reason to bond, as evidenced by the fact that a significant portion of their marriages fail.”
“Perhaps love is so important they cannot carry on without it,” Julietta said quietly.
“Which proves it doesn’t last,” their mother said. But Xenians recognizes that being “stuck” with one person for one’s entire life may be a little stifling, so their society allows for outside recreation.
In this scene, Naimo explains the Xenian concept of fidelity to hero March, from Terra.
“So, no one ever, uh, hooks up with anyone from another race?” March asked.
“I don’t understand what you mean—oh.” Naimo grinned. “I get it. No, sexual relations are completely different. Bonded mates can and do engage in sexual recreation with others.”
His jaw dropped. “You will not be faithful to Julietta?”
“Of course, I will be faithful. I will serve her, support her, advise her, and stand by her side as her consort.”
“But you will have sex with other women.”
“During the first year when we must produce an heir, outside sexual congregation is forbidden. But, afterwards? Of course I’ll have my paramours.”
“And what about Julietta? Will she take other lovers?”
Naimo shrugged. “If she wants to.”
So what’s does good Xenian girl do? She breaks all her planet’s rules by falling in love with a Terran man.
Claimed by the Cyborg Description
March Fellows assumed he had all the time in the galaxy to pursue a relationship with Jules, an alien exchange student from Xenia, until she vanished without a trace. After years of searching, he finds his lost love on the eve of her arranged marriage.
The daughter of the Xenian emperor, Julietta never meant to fall in love with a Terran man while visiting Earth. Leaving to fulfill her responsibilities on her home planet opened up a hole in her heart that could never be filled. When March, now a cyborg, unexpectedly shows up just before she is to be bonded, she struggles to find the courage to turn him away a second time and follow through with her duty. Before she can act, the lovers are thrust into a political conspiracy that threatens the Xenian empire and their lives.
Available from:
Amazon | Paperback | iBooks | Kobo | Barnes & Noble
USA Today bestselling author Cara Bristol has been the no. 1 best seller in science fiction romance, bdsm erotica, and holiday fiction on Amazon. She’s the author of two science fiction romance series featuring tough alpha heroes: the Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance cyborg series and the Breeder science fiction romance series, which emphasize character-driven stories written with a touch of humor and sizzling chemistry between the hero and heroine. Cara lives in Missouri with her own alpha hero, her husband.
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Amazon Author Page | Pinterest | Twitter | Goodreads
Do a photogram on Instagram using the cover of Claimed by the Cyborg and enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Hurry! Contest ends today, Jan. 20. Get the entry requirements & rules here.
January 19, 2017
Sci-Fi Romance Deals ~ Four days of FREE & 99¢ titles! #scifi #romance #scifirom
SciFi Romance Deals!
We’ve searched the galaxy for the hottest books from the coolest authors in SciFi Romance! Do you hunger for interstellar hunks, cyborg babes, and intergalactic espionage? Then rocket over to SciFiRom.com and find your next book obsession! And just because we love our readers – each and every book in this Curated SciFi Romance collection is currently priced at $0.99 or FREE!
Find the complete list of this month’s FREE and 99¢ titles here: http://www.scifirom.com
NOTE: Please check the price before downloading as some may not be free or on sale in your territory. The ebooks in this promo range in length, so they could be short stories, novellas, or novels.
January 17, 2017
#NewRelease ~ Payback’s a Bitch by @KaceyHammell #romance
PAYBACK’S A BITCH
by Kacey Hammell
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Short Story / Romance on the Go
ISBN # 978-1-77339-141-0
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Word count: 9,000
Heat Level: 3
**Author Note: This book was previously released at another publisher. It has been revised extensively with a new title for re-release.
No amount of braking will stop this payback from crashing and burning.
Racecar driver Lark Stevens agrees to help a close friend prove that paybacks can be a bitch. What she doesn’t expect is to fall in lust with her mark.
Set on her mission, Lark assumes the mystery man who amps up the heat and pushes her heart into overdrive is her intended target. And once they connect, getting even is the last thing on her mind.
As the heat smolders and revs from zero to sixty in mere seconds, Lark realizes she’s on a crash course of emotion that no amount of braking will stop.
Warning: No-holds-barred sexual teasing, dances meant to titillate and push you over the edge, and M/F love scenes to get engines revving.
5 out of 5 Stars “It’s quick. It’s dirty. It’s satisfying.” Author, SJ Maylee
5 out of 5 Stars “…a quick, hot read that will get your motor running.” Leisha, Goodreads
AVAILABLE FROM:
Evernight Publishing
Amazon: US |
Canada |
UK
A harsh moan reached her ears.
Encouraged, adrenaline pumping through her, Lark moved backward. Confidence and courage kept her moving until her knees bracketed his.
Hands on his thighs, she sat on his lap. Her hips were undulating, and his hard shaft nudged her on each thrust.
Her pulse increased. Electricity sparked along her skin, burning hotter with each bump against her ass.
She played with fire and temptation, grinding down harder. Any other time, she’d be able to separate her mind and body and eliminate any bit of lust for a stranger. But this time, this man … it was different. More tense, enthralling, and intoxicating.
Desperate to get her mind back in the game, Lark tried to stand, but he clasped her in place. She reached back and held tight to his wrists. Neither moved, gazes locked, their heavy breathing heard over the music. They stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity.
Swirls of need circled in the darkness of his ocean-blue eyes, and her chest hurt. She couldn’t breathe, unable to move. What would he do next? She wasn’t the kind of girl to wait on a man, never had been.
But the electricity between them, the hunger needling its way through her, and desperation making her breathe hard, it all scared her. He had her forgetting her purpose being there, and hell, she scarcely knew of her own name right now. She shuddered. It was difficult to put the brakes on her body’s needs.
She released his wrists and glared at him, warning him to let her go. His brow knitted, but he complied with her wishes. Free from his grasp, she rose. She was the one in control, not him. It was best to remember that. Best he remembered that.
With a pivot, she faced him, inched between his knees, and stroked her thighs. He scrutinized her every movement. His deep breathing encouraged her to continue.
Lark skimmed her fingers over the V of her thong, over her navel and under the curve of her breasts. She enjoyed the asset of having a D-cup chest.
Her tits felt restrained against the binding of the lace, but she’d never discard her bra or panties when putting on a show like this. But damn if she didn’t want to right now. The demand to have her way with him nagged at her.
Lark loved the sensitivity of her nipples. She’d often make herself come from pinching and pulling on them, and she very much enjoyed pushing them up high enough to lick them herself. But she’d rather have a man do it for her.
This man, to be precise.
Avid Reader. Romance Author. Redhead…
Canadian-born author Kacey Hammell is definitely a book-a-holic. A romance reader from a young age, she fell in love with happily ever afters. These days, as a multi- published erotic romance author, she enjoys adding a lot of heat, sass, and emotion to the many genres she writes.
Mom of three, Kacey lives her own happily ever after with her perfect hero in Ontario, Canada.
Readers can find all my titles under the “Bookshelf” menu on my website – www.kaceyhammell.com
Please consider following me at:
Twitter | Facebook | Facebook Reader Group
January 16, 2017
15 Sci-Fi (and other) Movies to See in 2017
Hello! Every year, I write a post about the sci-fi movies I’m looking forward to seeing in the coming year. And I also recap what I’ve seen from the previous year’s post. Well, you can find the 2016 post here.
Of the 21 movies on last year’s post, I’ve seen 11 of them. A couple I didn’t like at all, and fell asleep during them or stopped watching them (on Netflix). 6 of the movies, I still want to see when they release on video. And 1 of the movies didn’t release, but is on my list again for this year. Of the movies I saw last year, my favorites were The 5th Wave, Captain America: Civil War, Independence Day: Resurgence, and Star Trek Beyond. I didn’t see any movies in December, so that’s why there are some big ones missing from my favorites list.
My list for 2017 was much longer, but some movies didn’t have an exact date, much information to tell what the movie was about, or I just wasn’t that excited to see them. So, here’s my list for 2017…
1. January 6 – Hidden Figures
(not sci-fi, but science history)
2. January 20 – The Discovery
3. February 3 – The Space Between Us
4. March 17 – Beauty and the Beast
(not sci-fi, but it’s freakin’ Beauty and the Beast)
5. March 24 – Life
6. March 31 – Ghost in the Shell
7. April 28 – The Circle
8. May 5 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
(I’m most excited about this sci-fi movie)
9. May 19 – Alien: Covenant
10. June 2 – Wonder Woman
11. July 14 – War for the Planet of the Apes
12. July 21 – Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
13. October 6 – Blade Runner 2049
14. October 20 – Geostorm
15. December 15 – Star Wars: Episode VIII
(Are we going to keep getting a new Star Wars film every 1-2 years?)
Tell me: What 2017 movies are you most looking forward to?
January 14, 2017
#8Sunday: Home for two weeks ~ Excerpt from IT TOOK A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE #romance #NewAdult
Welcome to another Weekend Writing Warriors post!
I hope your weekend is going well! Here’s another excerpt from IT TOOK A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. This is a New Adult Interracial Small Town Romance story that occurs during a Zombie Apocalypse. It is now available for pre-order.
Set-up: Last week I introduced you to another conflict between RJ and one of the people from West Vitula, Sidney Flowers. But, Sidney is NOT the heroine. So, I thought I’d skip ahead and introduced you to the actual heroine, Missy (or Melissa).
“Melissa Ruth Smith, I insist you come back here at once.”
Missy rolled her eyes as she stormed away from her father. The man had helped her celebrate her twenty-first birthday yesterday—with a simple birthday cake and a glass of wine—yet still treated her like a child. “It’s to help Billy and the band, remember?” she shouted over her shoulder. “That’s why I came home.” Though she wished she hadn’t. Not with only two weeks off between her summer classes and fall term.
“But, the kissing booth?” Her father rushed to keep up with her. “Jesus wouldn’t approve.”
IT TOOK A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
It started with a kiss.
Then the zombies came. Now, Missy must work with the neighbor her parents hate if she wants to survive. But zombies aren’t the only threat to her life, or her heart.
Available January 30, 2017
You can pre-order from:
AMAZON US | UK | Canada | Germany | Australia | Japan
Weekend Writing Warriors is a Sunday short-snippet blog hop in which authors share short excerpts from their books (published or unpublished). There’s a variety of genres–something for everyone! To visit the participating authors, and find out more, click on the logo:
January 13, 2017
New Titles on Kindle Unlimited #KU #scifi #romance
Last year I decided to put some of my titles in Kindle Unlimited to reach a new group of readers. I didn’t put new titles in but those that had been released for over a year. They seemed to be doing well there and helping me to gain new visibility, so I’ve added a new group of titles to the program. Here are all the titles I have listed in the Kindle Unlimited program…
(click on the covers to see the titles on Amazon)
