Veronica Scott Talks Pets...In Space!
Thanks for having me as your guest today to talk about Embrace the Romance: Pets In Space 2!
We’ve been working hard on this special scifi romance anthology since January
this year, and right now we’re in the countdown to the October 10th release,
with pre-orders piling up.
We have an exclusive new GRIM story from M. K. Eidem (I’m so
excited about that because I love Grim and the Tornians), as well as a Pearl
and Asim story from SE Smith, a rock star romance in space from me, and nine
more stories featuring everything from sexy cyborgs to military heroes, plus
heroic pets.
Pauline Baird Jones and I first had the idea to pair pets
with science fiction romance stories in late 2015 and Pets In Space was born.
We issued the first anthology last year, for a limited time, with nine authors.
This year for the second volume, we have twelve authors, five of them new to Pets in Space, and all new stories.
Everyone seems to have had fun with the writing prompt of a heroic pet
in a science fiction romance setting and it’s amazing how different each story
is from the others. And we support a terrific charity here on Earth, Hero-Dogs,
Inc., which provides service dogs to veterans in need.
Of course there have
been pets in science fiction before, like Muffy the Daggit in “Battlestar
Galactica”, Jonesy the cat in the first two “Aliens” movies or the fire lizards
in Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series. But we wanted to have the pets
be much more important characters in these stories, along with the hero and
heroine of course.
Blurb for my story in
this anthology: Star Cruise: Songbird:
Grant Barton, a
Security Officer on the Nebula Zephyr, is less than thrilled with his current
assignment to guard an Interstellar singing sensation while she’s on board the
ship. It doesn’t help that he and his military war bird Valkyr are dealing with
their recent separation from the Sectors Special Forces and uncertainty over
their future, with their own planet in ruins.
Karissa Dawnstar is on
top of the charts and seemingly has it all – talent, fame, fortune and devoted
fans, but behind her brave smile and upbeat lyrics she hides an aching heart.
When a publicity stunt goes wrong, Karissa finds herself in the arms of the
security officer assigned to protect her – and discovers a mutual attraction
she can’t ignore.
Trouble continues to
plague the pair, driving a wedge between them and leaving Grant certain that
Karissa is in more danger than she realizes, from overzealous fans and her own
management. Grant is determined to protect Karissa whether she wants his help
or not. Can he discover the truth behind what’s going on before he loses
Karissa or is there someone else plotting to keep them apart – permanently?
The excerpt – Grant
and Karissa have taken Valkyr the warbird to the Nebula Zephyr’s cavernous hangar deck to get some exercise while
they wait for a large group of fans to disperse on the deck where her cabin is
located:
“You can escort Miss Dawnstar to her cabin now,” his boss
said in Grant’s earpiece. “We’ve cleared the crowd.”
“With pleasure.” He turned to Karissa. “My boss says we can
get you to your cabin. Let me land Valkyr and we’ll drop him off in my quarters
on the way to yours.”
“Don’t cut him short on his treat for me. I can wait.” She
strolled away to sit on a convenient pile of tech crates. “Got nothing important to do.”
Her dismissive attitude intrigued him. “Don’t you have to
get ready for the performance tomorrow?”
“I’ve sung all those songs so many times, I can do it in my
sleep. And my dancers and I aren’t doing any new routines on the ship. Just the
tried and true hits, the best of Karissa.” Her smile was forced. “Rehearsals
tomorrow, for your information.”
Valkyr swooped in, landing on his shoulder and drawing his
beak across Grant’s cheek in a careful caress. The hunting was good today, did you see?
You’ve lost none of
your skills. Grant indicated the gravlift portal. “I only get the hangar
deck for an hour at a time, so we should be going. Passengers are definitely
not allowed down here, other than for embarking or departing.”
“Well, I’m not doing either one today.” Karissa laughed and
joined him on the step into the gravlift. “I really enjoyed watching the
session, thank you, both of you.”
Valkyr preened again and dropped one glossy black feather.
Grant caught it and offered it to her. “Valkyr must really like you—he doesn’t
give his feathers to just anyone.”
She blushed a little as she accepted the gift, running the
soft vanes through her fingers and admiring the play of iridescent colors—dark
green and blue. “I’m honored.”
Blurb for Embrace the
Romance: Pets In Space 2:
The
pets are back! Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, featuring twelve of
today’s leading Science Fiction Romance authors brings you a dozen original
stories written just for you! Join in the fun, from the Dragon Lords of Valdier
to a trip aboard award-winning author, Veronica Scott’s Nebula Zephyr to
journeying back to Luda where Grim is King, for stories that will take you out
of this world! Join New York Times, USA TODAY, and Award-winning authors S.E.
Smith, M.K. Eidem, Susan Grant, Michelle Howard, Cara Bristol, Veronica Scott,
Pauline Baird Jones, Laurie A. Green, Sabine Priestley, Jessica E. Subject,
Carol Van Natta, and Alexis Glynn Latner as they share stories and help out Hero-Dogs.org,
a charity that supports our veterans!
10% of the first
month’s profits go to
Hero-Dogs.org. Hero Dogs raises and trains service dogs and places them free of
charge with US Veterans to improve quality of life and restore independence.
Author Bio:
Author Bio:
Best Selling Science Fiction, Fantasy & Paranormal
Romance author, as well as the “SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today
Happy Ever After blog, Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its
heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica
thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of
books to read, she started writing her own stories.
Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a
National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud
recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job,
not her romances! She recently was honored to read the part of Star Trek Crew
Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “The City On the Edge of
Forever.”
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vscotttheauthor
This book will be available for sale in October 2017. Please mark it down on your calendar and get your copy for a good cause!
Thanks for having me as your guest today to talk about PETS IN SPACE!
ReplyDeleteFun excerpt of a great story! Can't wait for readers to get their hands on the anthology!
ReplyDelete