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| Cover design by Fiona Jayde |
A little birdie sent me a link to a page describing a forthcoming, high concept science fiction romance. When it comes to Veronica Scott’s WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM, think “Titanic…in space.”
Here’s the story blurb:
A reimagining of the Titanic disaster set in the far future among the stars…Traveling unexpectedly aboard the luxury liner Nebula Dream on its maiden voyage across the galaxy, Sectors Special Forces Captain Nick Jameson is ready for ten relaxing days, and hoping to forget his last disastrous mission behind enemy lines. He figures he’ll gamble at the casino, take in the shows, maybe even have a shipboard fling with Mara Lyrae, the beautiful but reserved businesswoman he meets.
All his plans vaporize when the ship suffers a wreck of Titanic proportions. Captain and crew abandon ship, leaving the 8000 passengers stranded without enough lifeboats and drifting unarmed in enemy territory. Aided by Mara, Nick must find a way off the doomed ship for himself and several other innocent people before deadly enemy forces reach them or the ship’s malfunctioning engines finish ticking down to self destruction.
But can Nick conquer the demons from his past that tell him he’ll fail these innocent people just as he failed to save his Special Forces team? Will he outpace his own doubts to win this vital race against time?
Well.
Here we have about as high concept a premise for an SFR as one could imagine (I blogged about this topic in November 2010). Not just the re-imagined Titanic disaster, but also the “special forces” buzzword that’s guaranteed to put readers in mind of futuristic Navy Seals.
According to a March 11 post by the author, this title “is coming out next week.” After a bit of sleuthing, I discovered that Veronica Scott was previously published with Carina Press. She also has an SFR out on submission and another one in the works.Everything about the WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM page on her site tells me that she must be self-publishing it. That’s great and all, but with such a high concept premise, I would be shocked out of my mind to learn if any publishers had rejected this project. Why no one snatched this baby up based on the premise alone is beyond me.
Sure, the idea is so high premise as to risk being a tad hokey, but given the popularity of both the subject matter and James Cameron’s titular 1997 film as well as the guaranteed HEA, I’m sure many readers will find it irresistible (maybe it could give 50 SHADES OF GREY a run for its money?!).
However (because speculation is so much fun!), maybe Veronica Scott never submitted it anywhere. Given the upcoming April 15 anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking, perhaps she’s planning to release it in time for that event. This strategy would give her complete control over the timing and marketing. Smart lady! (Would any publisher, whether mainstream, small press, or digital, have been willing or able to implement such a promotion if she had approached them about it in a timely manner? Difficult to say.)
I’m intrigued by this title even while feeling concerned that the high concept idea could backfire. After all, the story itself still needs to deliver. But the premise alone is incredibly buzzworthy, and thanks to the magic of self-publishing, Veronica Scott has the advantage of doing it first in the science fiction romance subgenre (as far as I know).
If you’d like to follow Veronica Scott on Twitter, her handle is vscotttheauthor.
So what do you think? Are you interested in reading about a Titanic in space romance adventure?
Joyfully yours,
Heather