File this one under the more, the merrier! Smart Girls Love SciFi &
Paranormal Romance blogger Charlee
Allden added an author hat to her repertoire: she debuts this month with a near-future suspense sci-fi romance called DEADLY LOVER (Forbidden Lovers #1)!
I've
enjoyed her blog over the years and I look forward to checking out her book. (Indulge me for a moment while I also squee about being the first person to interview her! It's both an honor to help introduce new SFR authors and fun to discover sci-fi romances fresh out of the gate. For me, that's where the real action is at!)
Here's the cover and blurb for DEADLY LOVER:
Security contractor Lily Rowan is clawing
her way back to normalcy after a training mission gone horrifically wrong left
her physically and emotionally broken. She’s returned to the city she grew up
in, but not to hide from her nightmares, to face them. Living alongside the
Ormney—genetically altered refugees who’ve settled in The Zone—is a daily
reminder of the Ormney trainee who nearly took her life. Lily knew it would be
tough, but she couldn’t have known coming home would drop her straight into a
madman’s deadly game.
Someone is drugging Ormney men and turning
them into mindless killers, reenacting the attack Lily barely survived. To stop
the killing spree and put her own demons behind her, Lily must overcome her
fear and work with Jolaj, a refugee Law Keeper with dangerous secrets and
hidden motives of his own.
Jolaj long ago dedicated his life to his
people, risking everything to find them a new home. But working with Lily could
prove to be the most difficult task he’s ever faced. Despite the Council’s
decree making relationships with the outsiders forbidden, he’s finding it hard
to keep the courageous Lily at a distance.
With the fragile peace between their
people on the line, Lily and Jolaj must stop the horrific crimes before their
growing attraction makes them the killer’s next targets.
In the near future, the world is forever
altered when the existence of the Ormney is made known. But two things remain
the same—serial killers still walk among us and murder is still as ugly and
terrifying as ever.
***
But that's not all! In May 2015, Charlee Allden will
release an erotic SFR titled STEALING MERCURY (Arena Dogs #1):
Born a slave, Mercury is an Arena Dog,
genetically engineered to fight and die in the Arena for the entertainment of
others. Trained as a gladiator from boyhood in a violent world, where men must
form alliances and share what little bounty they have to survive, his only goal
has been to keep his men alive. But two are dead and the rest are condemned to
be hunted down and killed for sport. Worse, their demise will leave a woman
Mercury has sworn to protect, alone and vulnerable. And then there is
Samantha—a courageous human he has no right to claim. But she is his. He feels
it deep in his soul and with an ache in his body he can’t deny.
Samantha Devlin is an indie-freight pilot
who has lost everything: her ship, her crew, and her father. When an old friend
hires her as an emergency replacement to pilot a cargo carrier for the Roma
Company, she’s shocked to learn her cargo is three, living, breathing, and
dangerously sexy Arena Dogs. When Samantha learns she’s taking the men to their
deaths, she must decide is she if willing to risking everything for a man whose
customs require that he share her with one of his men and demands he return to
Roma to protect another woman. Mercury, their leader, and Lo, his emotionally
broken arena-brother, challenge all her notions of honor, loyalty, and love.
Her heart tells her Mercury is worth any cost, but her head sees nothing ahead
but disaster.
***
I see someone has been a very busy bee! I invited Charlee Allden aboard so we could learn
more about her new venture:
The
Galaxy Express: As the blogger behind Smart Girls Love SciFi & Paranormal
Romance, you know a thing or two about SFR. Why does this genre appeal to you,
both as a reader and a writer?
Charlee Allden: I think I was born a sci-fi fan. I
love the possibilities for adventure and I love the complete departure from
everyday life. When I figured out you could add romance to that, well, I knew
that was it for me. As a writer, I really enjoy the ways a sci-fi romance story
allows me to explore culture and technology and the possibilities for unexpected
consequences.
TGE:
Congratulations on your debut book, DEADLY LOVER! What inspired you to write
it?
CA: Thanks! I’m really excited to be getting my
stories out there to readers.
I can actually pinpoint exactly what inspired me. I
remember it vividly. It was an article in Popular Science about how electrons move
around in an atom. I liked the idea that you can’t really pin down where they
are at any moment. When I created the Ormney, I modeled their ability to slip (something like teleportation) on
what I read in that article. I loved the idea of taking the idea from the
microscopic to the life-size.
TGE:
What kinds of heroes and heroines can readers expect to meet in your stories?
CA: I’m a fan of the tough, tortured hero and the
strong, smart, but vulnerable heroine. You’ll often find those traits at the
core of my romantic characters, but I also try to make them individual and
different. For example, the heroine of Deadly Lover is calm and even distant at
times. She’s carrying a lot of grief and the hero is the only one that makes
her feel like she doesn’t have to be strong all the time. The heroine in Stealing
Mercury has had her share of troubles, but she’s held on to more of her
idealism and is often leads her to act impulsively, sometimes to her detriment.
TGE:
Urgent question: is someone going to get in big trouble for STEALING MERCURY?
CA: Oh, yes! The heroine actually ends up stealing
three of the Arena Dogs—my genetically engineered gladiators. Of course she
steals them to save them. Their owner is not at all amused. Her actions lead to
an adventure that takes her from an uninhabited world to the tunnels beneath
the Roma Rex arena. The consequences for her are life changing.
TGE:
Both of these books feature genetic engineering elements. What do you find most
fascinating about this concept?
CA: I suppose I’m fascinated by wondering how the
technology be used if it ever advanced to this point of re-engineer people. What
would you choose to do and what unexpected consequences might there be? I
approach it a little differently in the two books. Deadly Lover hints just a
little that maybe we don’t know enough about the future and what we want to be
to be messing around with genetic engineering. Stealing Mercury uses genetic
engineering to explore what makes us human.
TGE:
What are the last five sci-fi romances you read?
CA: Unchained
Memory by Donna Frelick, Darkness
by Laurann Dohner, Venomous by
Penelope Fletcher, At His Throat, A
Promise by Lilth Grey, and Callisto
Taken by Erica Conroy. Go ahead,
call me eclectic.
TGE:
Your bio indicates you've studied astronomy, programming, Norse literature, and
British culture. Here's a brain challenge: what's one thing all of those
subjects have in common?
CA: The easy answers would be that they had nothing to
do with my major and that they interested me. *grins* I also think their
diversity and relative obscurity reflects the curiosity that often goes with
the creative writer’s mind.
TGE:
What's your current favorite television show/film?
CA: The 100. I sometimes get frustrated by the
‘everyone wants Clarke’ focus of the show, but it has developed into a really
wrenching drama. And Lincoln makes me swoon. He is exactly the sort of hero I
adore.
TGE:
What else can readers look forward to from you?
CA: I contribute to Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly and
my issue
#6 article there recommends a few more books for folks who want to explore more
stories that feature genetic engineering. The upcoming issue will also include
a sneak peak at the first two chapters of Deadly Lover. With my books, I’m
focusing on the Arena Dogs series that launches with Stealing Mercury. I’m
working on the second book, Betraying Jupiter, and expect to have that out this
summer.
TGE:
We talked about your blog, but where else can readers find you?
CA: For news about upcoming books, I encourage readers
to sign up for my mailing
list. You can also keep up with what I’m doing on my author website: www.charleeallden.com. I also have a
page on Facebook and
recently set up a new Twitter account (@charleallden) for just my author
side. Oh, and I’m on Pinterest
for those who like pretty pictures.
I’d also like to quickly mention that both books are
available for 99 cent for preorder on Amazon and KoboBooks. They’ll be going up
to list prices the day after release.
***
Ms. Allden, thanks for your time, and for your art. Get better acquainted with Charlee Allden by visiting her About page.
Joyfully yours,
Heather