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Friday, February 27, 2015

Promo - The Complete Underground Series, by Jessica E. Subject

In the future, deception runs deep and betrayal can come from anyone. Will the rebels defeat Planet Core and love freely again, or end up fighting for their lives?

Today I'm thrilled to help promote fellow sci-fi romance author Jessica E. Subject's new box set, The Complete Underground Series! For a short time, this set will be available for a steal, at only $0.99! This set has it all - action, rebellion, futuristic worlds, and all sorts of pairings to satisfy any reader.

Still need convincing? Here's an excerpt!

The door slid open, and Brook rushed into the room she’d left less than an hour ago. After she’d been told Melina had been killed by the same creature that had attacked Calla. Now she knew the truth. Now, she had to get on the mission.

Her father glanced up, his hard brown eyes steely in their determination. “Brook, what are you doing here?”

“Daddy, I—” No, I can’t be weak anymore. I have to stand up to him.With a deep breath, she took the empty seat beside Jager, the new mission commander. “Malock, I request permission to join SFEA-4. You are short a biologist, and I am the only one left sufficiently trained for the mission.”

“Denied. Now, please leave the room. You do not have clearance to be here.”

Brook stood, flinging the chair against the wall. Wrong answer. She refused to back down from him anymore. Slamming her hands on the table, she leaned forward and glared at him. “Your last biologist was attacked by an unknown predator, the mission commander killed. You need me there to study it, find out what we’re up against.”

“The answer is still no,” he growled.

She straightened her back. “It’s because I’m your daughter, isn’t it? You’d rather keep me sheltered here while you put everyone else’s life in danger.”

Malock stared, nostrils flaring. “This has nothing to do with the fact that you’re my daughter.” He sighed and shook his head. “But if you want to go, fine. It’s your death sentence.”

He stood and nodded to Jager. “You know what to do.” He turned his attention to the rest of the table. “Your mission directives will be presented to you before departure. Please be familiar with them prior to setting up camp.”

Her father made his way around the table, stopping beside her. She tensed when he rested a hand on her shoulder.
He shook his head. “You left me with no choice.” Then he marched out of the room.

Jager took the floor, and Brook picked up her chair and returned to her seat. The new mission commander projected a holographic image of the foreign landscape across the table, but she couldn’t concentrate on his presentation. Her father’s cryptic words echoed through her mind. Your death sentence…. No choice….
Was the entire mission doomed for failure? Were they all being sent to die? Why would Planet Core do that? Airondelle was supposed to be the corporation’s future.

Brook focused on Jager, but his words went in one ear and out the other. A pit of worry grew in her stomach. Would her father really allow her to be ripped apart by a predator in the night? No, I can’t think about that. She’d demanded to go on the mission. And if Melina could survive on the planet, so could she. She just had to find her first.

“Okay, let’s roll out.”

Out? Time to go, already?

The rest of the crew pushed away from the conference table and trooped out the door with excited murmurs. A far cry from the turmoil rolling through her.

“Let’s go, Malock.” Jager raised his eyebrows. “Or did you change your mind?”

She stood and released a deep breath. Even with her trepidation, she refused to back out now. Melina waited for her. “No, I’m looking forward to seeing Airondelle for myself.”

Brook spun away and rushed to catch up with her comrades. If she revealed her plans, she’d be stopped before she could find her lover. She would have to hide Melina right under their noses to bring her home. She pushed her shoulders back. I can do this. I have to.

The all-terrain vehicles sat loaded with equipment for the mission in front of the swirling mass of the portal. Her father certainly wasn’t wasting any time getting a team back to Airondelle. Crewmembers already filled the first vehicle, so she hopped into the back of the second.

Jager passed around everyone’s mission directives then shoved in on her left. Thank goodness he was the last to load. With his bulk, he occupied both of the remaining seats.

Before she had time to read her personal orders, they proceeded into the portal. She passed through the spinning matter, her body pulled and stretched in every direction. Unknown forces pushed on her chest, making it difficult to breathe. She gripped the seat, hoping she wouldn’t get pulled out. But the awkwardness didn’t last long. The transporter room light years away, clean, fresh air poured into her lungs. The alien vegetation of the foreign planet lined the rough dirt road they traveled. She yearned to explore the flora and fauna on a more intimate level. And she would, after setting up camp.

She opened the folder with her mission directive inside. Instead of the stack of papers detailing what Planet Core expected of her, she found a single sheet. Her father’s handwriting scrawled across the page. You can never know the truth.

Hard, cold steel pressed against her temple. A gun. Her breath caught. What the fuck is going on? She grabbed her knapsack and launched out of the vehicle.


If you're a sci-fi romance fan, don't miss out!

Buy Links:
Amazon Decadent Publishing All Romance

About the Author:
Jessica E. 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 with her giant, hairy dog her family adopted from the local animal shelter.

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.

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Monday, February 16, 2015

Coincidence vs. Influence

Back in September, I blogged (again) about those "oh, shit" moments I've had when realizing something I've written is very, very similar to something that already exists. It's happened to me a couple times, but I've reassured myself that there's always enough differences for it not to be a big deal. To recap that particular post, I'd just sent in the manuscript for The Fall of the Midnight Scorpions, had played through Dragon Age: Origins, and to my surprise/dismay, one scene in the former bore a striking similarity to one in the latter.

Sometimes the reverse happens, and I fully acknowledge what has influenced me in writing. In a very old post, I freely admitted that the setting for the interlude between Parts 2 and 3 in The Edge of the Sphere came right out of one of the games in the Myst series. It wasn't an exact replica, and I did make some changes; even if someone who was familiar with the game read that scene (or vice versa), I doubt he/she would think, "Hey, that seems an awful lot like ______!"

Then there's a third situation that sometimes occurs, and it's where I find myself now: starting to write something and not realizing until the project is underway what, precisely, were the influences that shaped the ideas. My current WIP, about two-thirds of the way done, mostly takes place in a fantasy setting. There are dragons. From this post alone, it's not too hard to tell what helped inspire me. (I think my thought process was actually something along the lines of "Man, I really love Dragon Age, and there are some kick-ass women in that series. I should write something with dragons and kick-ass women!)

I planned, I outlined, I sat down to write. It wasn't until recently that I started pinpointing the other influences that snuck in. Granted, generic "fantasy" has a lot of common elements, but I noticed some more specific similarities sneaking in. The biggest one (that I laughed at) was when I went back to do some revising, I finally noticed that my heroine bears a striking resemblance to Princess Cassima from King's Quest VI, one of THE games of my childhood.

Minus the pointy hat/head scarf thingabob

I know, I know. At first glance, the "damsel in distress" thing has been done to death. But while both Cassima and my female lead are imprisoned and technically need to be rescued, don't underestimate them. In fact, the only way to win KQVI is to sneak Cassima a dagger before triggering the final sequence so she can bail your ass out in the final battle. (Didn't give her the dagger? Game over. Hope you have an earlier save state.) As for my character...well, I can't give away everything here. ;)

I can pinpoint the influence of other books/games/movies not only in this story, but in just about everything I've written. I don't consider it a bad thing - we all have the books/games/movies we love, and as long as it's not a blatant ripoff (and who's to judge what is or isn't), it's fun to pay homage to the fiction that's shaped us. After all, no one ever sets out to emulate crap, right?

Monday, February 2, 2015

Elysium Has a Cover!



And I am completely in love with it. Still waiting on a release date (maybe March?), but for now, the cover is enough to make me squee like a little girl.

A funny thing happened as I worked on the final edits for Elysium - I got my writing mojo back. Don't get me wrong, there's still a ton of stuff to distract me as I realize I'm going to have two newborns before summer rolls around, but as I spent time polishing this novella which just might be the best thing I've ever written, that spark came to life again. I wouldn't say I'm churning out thousands of words a week, but I'm getting back into better habits and not feeling any sort of disinterest or guilt when I open up a document.

And enjoying the process of writing usually results in me spending more time in my own blogspace as well. ;) Win!

(*scampers off to update the Books tab with the latest addition*)