The Galaxy Express: You have your choice of any genre. Why write sci-fi romance?Ann Raina: I’ve always loved to write romance and the versatile surroundings of a world I create give me the possibility to do everything I want. There are no boundaries, nothing I have to respect or take into consideration. I can go where I want as long as I stick to the rules I created beforehand.
TGE: Tell us about your path to publication.
AR: I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid. When the internet expanded, I found out that may more authors write fanfiction about the movies and series I loved, too. So I added my stories to the long list of Lord of the Rings fanfiction and more. But soon I found out that original characters (yes, those, too, who I created around Aragorn…) are more to my liking. I felt much better if the male and female characters acted the way I wanted. Aragorn and the other heroes were clearly defined in their roles and how they would react to certain challenges.
TGE: What kind of characters and elements do you like to include in your stories?
AR: I love the heroes who are reliable and not courageous beyond normal expectations. In fact, the men who hesitate and think and then, if the situation demands it, act bravely, are more believable than the ones who always seem to solve every problem with the right weapon at hand. Since I’m a woman who took life in her hands at a very young age, I tend to write at least one female character with the same attitude, someone who doesn’t need a man to stand up for her.
Besides action and adventure and the pinch of romance and erotic, I always want to make the reader smile while reading. There is no good story for me if you can’t at least smile or, even better, laugh about a scene, a dialogue or how the people react to each other. TGE: Which of your books would best introduce a reader to your style of SFR?
AR: Living for the Act is a good book to start with. On a planet, where wars have killed many men, women rule. Their clans rival for the most fertile men to keep the species alive. Their struggle for power and survival was great to create and to write.
TGE: What's the coolest science fact you learned about so far this year?
AR: I’m amazed at the fact that we’ve sent a probe head through the galaxy for years to explore a comet 6.4 billions of kilometers away.
TGE: Tell us about your most recent book.
AR: I published Project: Recruitment and Emotion Riders with eXtasy Books this summer. Both deal with the adventures of Sidarra, a young, unlearned man from a village, who comes to know a different species living on his planet. After struggling with the unknown, he grows out of his narrow thinking and falls in love with Oleyni. In the second part, they both live through a lot of adventures while visiting a moon. They end up in a cruel game that almost gets them killed.
TGE: Please describe one or two of your favorite science fiction romances.
AR: When it comes to science fiction, I love to read Harry Harrison. His Stainless Steel books are my all-time favorites. Maybe they are not strict romance, but they are warmhearted, funny books with great ideas. Always good to read.
TGE: Where can readers find you?
AR: All of my books are published by eXtasy Books. You’ll find them here.
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Ms. Raina, thanks for your time, and for your art.
Description for PROJECT: RECRUITMENT:
The Telen know the war with the Palesei will come. In their need to solve their most important problem, they invite human men to participate in an outstanding project. Sidarra is one of them. He falls in love with a Telen and in the hands of kidnappers. Amid war, uproar and rejection, they both have to prove if their love withstands the odds.
Read an excerpt (contains explicit content).
Joyfully yours,
Heather