Laurie A. Green of Spacefreighters Lounge announced
she'll be releasing her first sci-fi romance November 1, 2014. The novelette's
title is FAREWELL ANDROMEDA. I'd like to extend Ms. Green a huge
congratulations because by following her posts, I know publication has been a dream of hers for a long time.
Congratulations! *throws confetti* I'm looking forward to
the read!
Smart Girls Love SciFi & Paranormal Romance is featuring a two part interview with The Felig Chronicles author P.J. Dean. The latest book in the series, PARADOX, releases this month.
The interview is packed with her
observations about perseverance, reading culture, diversity, and writing-related topics. This
excerpt encapsulates why the series holds strong appeal for me:
Five years ago, I put on my thinking cap and whipped up a storyline I wanted to read, and peopled it with characters that were glaringly absent as the leads in the romance landscape. Look at any list of books in the post-apocalyptic/SF romance genre and the lead is usually a young, Caucasian female. Tina is unique. She carries my series. She is not the sidekick, not half-angel, not half-demon, not half-fae, etc. She is only human. I decided that the paranormal landscape needed more heroines who are not what the reading audience has come to accept.
Tina is in her thirties, single and is African-American. She practices Qi Gong in addition to being a Krav Maga enthusiast. And she reflects that in her demeanor. Now readers may question, “Why do we need that portrayal? All we want is a good story. Who cares what ethnicity the leads are? We only want interesting characters.” True, but more varied characters are needed. And depicting what makes Tina different is important. How she is presented is important. How she looks is important. How she dresses and carries herself is important. It is all integral to her as a fully developed character. And most importantly to me, if I, as an African-American, female romance writer, did not describe a heroine who resembles me, in as much loving detail as any Caucasian author has been doing for decades for their Caucasian heroines, I would be doing my creation a disservice.
***
At SFR Brigade, I blogged about the topic of SFR authors as SFR readers. As part of my post, I examined my (possibly erroneous) assumptions about authors' reading relationships with this genre.
A variety of Silkwords
titles (including DANGEROUS
RENDEZVOUS by yours truly) are now available for purchase on an individual basis at Amazon.
Which means more options for those of you who enjoy "pick your path to
pleasure" romances!
Joyfully yours,
Heather