Thanks for having me as your guest today to talk about Pets In Space!
A little over a year ago, Pauline Baird Jones and I were
talking about how much fun it would be to pair pets with science fiction
romance stories. Of course there have been pets in science fiction before, like
Muffy the Daggit in “Battlestar Galactica”, Jonesy the cat in the first two
“Aliens” movies or the fire lizards in Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern
series. But we wanted to have the pets be much more important characters in these
stories, along with the human hero and heroine of course.
We invited a few other authors to ‘play’ at using this
writing prompt and the anthology came together.
For my story, “Star Cruise: Stowaway”, I knew I wanted to
place the events on board the Nebula
Zephyr, my intergalactic luxury liner. I figured the ship’s cargo master
and his two pets – a cat and her alien sidekick – would be the first to find a
stowaway in the hold, and then the plot took off from there. Owen, the hero,
and the two animals appeared in Star Cruise: Outbreak as secondary characters
so it was satisfying to give them their own story.
Here’s the blurb for the anthology, and the blurb for my
story:
The blurb for Pets In Space:
Even an alien needs a pet...
Join the adventure as nine pet loving sci-fi romance authors
take you out of this world and pull you into their action-packed stories filled
with suspense, laughter, and romance. The alien pets have an agenda that will
capture the hearts of those they touch. Follow along as they work side by side
to help stop a genetically-engineered creature from destroying the Earth to
finding a lost dragon; life is never the same after their pets decide to get
involved. Can the animals win the day or will the stars shine just a little
less brightly?
New York Times, USA TODAY, Award Winning, and Best selling
authors have eight original, never-released stories and one expanded story
giving readers eight amazing new adventures
and one expanded story that will capture your imagination and help a
worthy charity. Come join us as we take you on nine amazing adventures that will
change the way you look at your pet!
10% of the first month’s profits go to Hero-Dogs.org. Hero
Dogs raises and trains service dogs and places them free of charge with US
Veterans to improve quality of life and restore independence.
And the blurb for Star
Cruise: Stowaway:
Cargo Master Owen Embersson is shocked when the Nebula
Zephyr’s ship’s cat and her alien sidekick, Midorri, alert him to the presence
of a stowaway. He has no idea of the dangerous complications to come – nor does
he anticipate falling hard for the woman whose life he now holds in his hands.
Life aboard the Nebula Zephyr has just become more interesting – and deadly.
An excerpt from the
beginning of the story:
This was the time of day he enjoyed
most, when all his crew had gone off duty and the Nebula Zephyr’s top cargo deck was quiet. Sure, more work remained
tomorrow to get the cargo squared away properly and ready for the next stop,
but there was no rush, being several weeks out. Cargo Master Owen Embersson
surveyed his desk in the tiny office on Deck 18. Time to leave the place to the
ship’s AI, go have his dinner in his cabin and then resume work on the scale
model of a long-vanished temple he was building. This one was incredibly
intricate, and he’d charge the customer triple the usual price.
Stepping onto the echoing deck, he
called for Moby. She spent most of her evenings hunting vermin lurking among
the monstrous crates and containers, but she usually passed the first part of
the evening in his cabin, eating the incredibly expensive cat food he had the
ship’s AI keep in stock. Not much else to spend his salary on. “Come on, cat, I
want my dinner even if you don’t,” he said to the elegant vision in white fur
who trotted from the murky recesses of the deck. How she stayed clean when she
spent her days prowling the cargo deck, he’d never know.
Purring, she came to his
steel-tipped work shoes but evaded his effort to pick her up, moving just out
of range the way felines did, as if cats could teleport. Moby scampered toward
the towering stacks of cargo then turned. Seeing he’d failed to chase her, she
sat, tail twitching, head tilted, eyeing him.
“What‘s the matter with you? I’m not
in the mood to throw cat toys and retrieve them right now.” Embersson headed
toward the gravlift. Moby regarded the entire ship as her territory and could
find his cabin for her dinner when she was hungry.
In the next minute, he nearly
tripped as she rubbed his ankles, nipping at one in passing. Swearing, he
caught himself with a hand to the bulkhead. “What in the seven hells is wrong
with you tonight? Giving me a concussion won’t get you fed.”
Moby yowled at him and ran toward
the stacked cargo again.
Figuring she wanted to show him a
recent kill, which he’d then have to dispose of, he followed.
Moby moved faster now that she’d
gotten him with the program.
He followed her around the corner of the pallet the
ship had taken on earlier in the day and found Midorri, the Zephyr’s other pet, crouched beside a
free trader container. “What mischief have the two of you gotten into now?”
Buy Links:
Author Bio:
Best Selling Science Fiction & Paranormal Romance author
and “SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today Happily Ever After blog,
Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved
science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to
be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started
writing her own stories.
Three time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a
National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud
recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job,
not her romances! She recently was honored to read the part of Star Trek Crew
Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “City On the Edge of
Forever.”
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vscotttheauthor
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Veronica-Scott/e/B006CUCJ92/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
That is a fun combination--pets and space. I hadn't really thought about how rare they are, but I guess that would make sense. (Contamination issues and all.)
ReplyDeleteIt only makes sense that if people are in space, their pets would be too. Having a furry companion on a long space flight would be important.
ReplyDeleteVeronica's story is amazing!!!
I'm so honored to be have been a part of this anthology.
Thanks, Cara! We loved having you in the anthology and you know I love your story, major fangirl here!
DeleteThanks for having me as your guest today and also for hiliting the charitable donation aspect because Hero Dogs Inc., is doing terrific work for veterans!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Veronica. Love the concept of this anthology. Can't wait to read it. What a terrific charity to support.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post - as an animal lover, I love writing about my space travellers' pets and those of the friends they meet on other planets. 'Shifter' a fictional creature in my latest novel, is nearly as important as the heroine, and I have an 'icecat' in the second book in the series as well as several ponies. This sounds like such a great anthology, and the cause it supports is so worthwhile. I'm putting this book on my TBR list immediately!
ReplyDelete