Character sketches from Spark of Attraction, Pets in Space
These past few weeks have been a whirlwind. We are so pleased with the success of PETS IN SPACE. WE couldn’t have done it without all of you. I am sending you all huge hugs of thanks!
We are going to round out our conversations with the PETS IN SPACE ANTHOLOGY authors with Cara Bristol. She is going to introduce us to her story Spark of Attraction. Be sure to visit her website and follow her on social media. Links are at the end of the blog post.
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Spark of Attraction in Pets in Space has three main characters. The hero, heroine, and a dog. Here’s a highlight of who they are.
Name: Dante Stone
Race: Cyborg. A computer-modified human.
Nickname: Cold Stone.
Occupation: Captain of the Crimson Hawk, a military spacecraft
Goal: Deliver the 200+ survivors of an alien attack to Space Station 15 and then resume his normal duties.
Temperament: Analytical and mission-focused. His emotions were accidentally erased when he was transformed to cyborg. His nickname is “Cold Stone.”
Obstacle: Miranda Lowell, one of the survivors who sneaked aboard a malfunctioning K9-500 bot. She’s an unwelcome distraction, and her robot dog is irritating. The damn bot bit him!
Name: Miranda Lowell
Race: Human.
Occupation: Archivist for the New Utopians, a group of colonists that sought to establish a colony on Verde Omega.
Goal: Recover from the alien attack that nearly killed her and destroyed everything she owned except for Sparky, her K9-500 robotic dog.
Obstacle: Something is terribly wrong aboard the Crimson Hawk. Her fellow New Utopians are disappearing one by one. Why won’t the captain believe her?
Name: Sparky
Appearance: Resembles a real dog. He’s small, with short white fur, electrified teeth, and one hell of a bite.
Race: Artificial Intelligence. A K9-500 robot.
Function: Companion to Miranda Lowell. Programmed to protect her at any cost.
Obstacle: The captain of the Crimson Hawk. To protect Miranda from the threat posed by the captain, Sparky bit him. Now he’s been deactivated. As soon as he can move again, watch out!
If you left to colonize a planet, what one personal item from home (Earth) would you want to bring?
Spark of Attraction blurb
Memory: intact. Cognitive function: enhanced. Emotion: erased.
After becoming a cyborg, Captain Dante Stone didn’t think he’d ever feel again, until a traumatized young woman and a ball of synthetic fur named Sparky helped him to love.
An excerpt from Spark of Attraction, Pets in Space
“How’s your leg?” she asked.
“Good as new.”
“I’m so sorry about what happened.”
“Don’t worry about it. With my nanos, the bite wound had healed by the next morning, and all traces had disappeared the day after. Just give me your word you’ll keep the bot powered down.” A cyborg, he’d healed fast, but if the K9-500 bit a human, the outcome wouldn’t be so good.
She crossed her heart. “I learned my lesson. I had assumed when you grabbed me to keep me from falling, it triggered a protective response in Sparky, but he hasn’t been performing to spec lately.”
“You need to get that checked out.”
“I intend to when I get to the space station. He’s the only thing I have left. My father gave him to me before he died.”
“On Verde Omega—”
“No, no,” she added quickly. “He died when I was teenager. I’ve had Sparky ever since, and he saved me from the Tyranians. He bit one of them, too.”
Thank goodness she had had the bot. “Maybe I could examine him?” Dante offered.
What was he thinking? He needed to break off all association with this woman—not find ways to spend time with her. A relationship between the captain and a refugee passenger would be inappropriate—not to mention short-termed. Once the ship docked, they would go their separate ways, as they should. And if he already ached at the idea of never seeing her again, how much worse would it be if he got to know her better?
“I don’t understand.” She frowned.
“We have an android lab. I’m no coding expert, but as a cyborg, I run diagnostics on my own programming regularly. I can examine…uh…Sparky for anomalies, red flags.”
Was he crazy? He couldn’t fraternize with a passenger! Tell her never mind. Forget what I said.
“You’d do that?” Her face lit up with a beautiful, glowing smile. For the second time since he’d met her, he felt as if he’d been punched in the chest. If she ever smiled at him like that…well, she was, but only because he’d offered to run a diagnostic on her robot.
“Let me see when I have the time,” he backpedaled. Before he extended any more stupid offers, he excused himself. “I’ll let you know what Lieutenant Commander Brack finds out,” he said, and rose to his feet. “I must return to the bridge.” He fled the observation deck.
Cara Bristol’s website: https://carabristol.com
Cara Bristol’s newsletter: http://eepurl.com/9aRJj
Cara Bristol on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cara.bristol.3
Cara Bristol’s Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Cara-Bristol/e/B004D8KZTQ/
