Or, How Chuck Norris is Afraid of Heather
Okay, I’m not sure if Chuck Norris really is afraid of Heather. But someone almost singlehandedly pushing SFR into the mainsteam consciousness is one major kickbutt lady. So, yeah, I imagine he’d be afraid of that. No roundhouse kick can save you from the Awesome Power of Scifi Romance.
But where are my manners? Let me introduce myself.
Hello, my name is Nat. I write SFR as Nathalie Gray, I do covers for SFR as Kanaxa, and I’m a proud passenger of The Galaxy Express. For me, it’s all science fiction romance, all the time. And because she rocks like that, Heather let me have the floor for today. Isn’t she brave?! I mean, this could very well be like letting a bull into a fine porcelain store, or worse, a Nexttryllz into a cargo bay filled with rare Fhhewrt! But I’ll try to behave, I promise…
So today I’m here to celebrate steampunk romance and pimp my book. That’s right. Some people pimp their ride. I pimp my brass goggles. And the hero in my latest title, FULL STEAM AHEAD (Red Sage Publishing) wears not only brass goggles with different coloured lenses depending on time of day, but also a blood-red greatcoat, an assortment of steam pistols, and one single black leather glove. Throughout the story, readers wonder why he wears only one. I could tell you here and now. In fact, maybe I should…
But I won’t.
Mwa ha haa! Let’s just say that if you enjoy tortured, taciturn and scarred heroes, Captain Phineas “Finn” Hamilton definitely is one. Yet this privateer still fights the good fight and would die for his crew. Imagine him as part Elric of Melniboné (Michael Moorcock, I love you long time), part Captain Harlock (you too Leiji Matsumoto), and part Jack Sparrow (sans eyeliner). My geek roots, let me sho U dem.
FULL STEAM AHEAD is distilled into a very telling paragraph by Theresa Stevens (my editor at Red Sage, all mine and mine only and you’ll need to get your own okay don’t make me hurt you). She had this to say about FSA:
“the book is about a woman who time travels -- or dimension travels, I guess -- to a parallel earth where two species (one human and one humanoid) are fighting for dominance. The oceans are toxic, the continents have drowned, and people live either on dirigibles or in stilted cities high above the toxic surface. It's a bleak world, but it's not lacking in comic elements. For example, the humanoid species, which in my mind's eye looked something like dreadlocked orcs, has a very low tolerance for insults. So part of the humans' battle strategy involves shouting little-boy snark through a brass bullhorn. It's very funny, and that humor makes a great counterpoint to the bleakness and peculiar stresses of the environment.”
Me, I’m all for little boy snark.
So if a sky pirate with a past, a time-traveling racer with a motor-mouth and dreadlocked orcs as villains sound like a good ride, then I invite you to read FULL STEAM AHEAD, on sale from the venerable Red Sage Publishing, March 1, 2010.
To thank Heather, I’ll give a free copy of FSA to one of her passengers. The deadline to enter is Saturday, March 6, 2010, by 6 p.m. EST. Comment early + Comment often = Win.