Last week, I opened my iPad and to my delight look what I found. During the night, Pets in Space 5 had dropped in. The marvel of pre-ordering.
I've read each of the previous Pets in Space anthologies and thoroughly enjoyed them. Such diverse pets. A bat, a frog, a holographic cat, rats, and more, some out of this world.
My friend, Veronica Scott, is here to tell us a little about the anthology and her story, STAR CRUISE:
RETURN VOYAGE
From the Pets In Space® 5 Anthology by Veronica Scott
Thanks for having
me as your guest today, to talk about the fifth annual Pets In Space® scifi
romance anthology and my novel in the collection! When Pauline B. Jones and I
came up with the idea in 2016, we thought it would be fun to have a group of
authors take the story prompt along the lines of “Lassie in space” and add a
romance for the main characters. This year we have ten other authors besides
ourselves in the mix and the range of pets is so wide it’s amazing.
Every year it’s a
fun challenge for me to figure out my alien pet. I’m a cat person here on Earth
but I’ve written a cat, an alien cross between a red panda and a tribble, an
eagle, a songbird, and a small dog for the various editions of the
anthology. Some years the choice of a
pet is driven by a plot I already have in mind and other years the plot arises
from the development of the pet and its attributes.
This year I went
into the whole process fascinated by the Afghan hound. I’d seen snippets of the
big national kennel show on the news and watched an Afghan hound prance by the
camera. No offense to the aficionados of this dog breed but I find them to
appear a bit alien just the way they are, so the animal made a good jumping off
point for a PISA pet. I decided Verlaine the Tajikka Hound would have some
vaguely equine characteristics as well, like black hooves and a somewhat
horselike face. Our artist did his usual fabulous job in creating Verlaine for
me. (The animal just seemed to require an aristocratic name, doesn’t he?!).
I like to make my
PISA story into my annual entry in my STAR CRUISE series as well, located on
the interstellar luxury liner Nebula
Zephyr. I enjoy revisiting some of my characters from previous STAR CRUISE
stories and I feel the concept of a huge cruise ship gives me plenty of
latitude for telling a variety of stories. My next challenge for 2020 was what
would bring such a sizable animal onto the ship as a pet? This past year there
had been so many true stories about people bringing odd animals onto airplanes
as service animals and I read about someone who had a miniature horse they
wanted to travel with! Since I visualize Verlaine as being about the size of a
very small horse that seemed perfect to me. So he became a genuine service
animal of the far future.
But who would need
such an animal to support them on a trip on a big luxury liner?
Enter Gianna
Nadenoft, who survived the wreck of the interstellar cruise liner Nebula Dream
in my very first published scifi romance novel. She was a (precocious) child of
three at the time of the events in Wreck of the Nebula Dream so I felt it was a
safe assumption she’d have had post-traumatic stress symptoms of various kinds
and might have needed a service animal to help her cope with life after the
wreck. Now she’s determined to travel the stars to her brother’s wedding and
reunite with old friends but hasn’t left her own planet in the twenty or so
years since the wreck. So of course she travels with Verlaine on my new cruise
ship, Nebula Zephyr. (I had to be so
super careful not to mix up the names of the two ships when I was writing. Dream =destroyed, Zephyr=still sailing the stars.)
Here’s an excerpt where the
hero, Trevor, meets Verlaine for the first time. He’s been sent by his captain
to meet her at her home and escort her to the ship.
Gianna Nadenoft
stood on the threshold, dressed in a flowing pink garment, with an animal by
her side. The pair moved forward toward him in unison.
He was positive it
was her, having looked at the few photos available in the historical databases
Maeve had found. Her face had the same shape, although now she was an adult and
her hair was still a riotous explosion of ebony black curls, held under minimal
control today by a pink headband. She had a splash of paint on one cheek and
sparkling green eyes.
She came to stand
next to him, studying the painting as if she hadn’t been the one to create it.
“I’m in a more hyper realism phase now actually.” With a smile she offered her
hand, “Gianna Nadenoft.”
He introduced
himself, wondering what he’d gotten himself into. Her subtle perfume wafted
around him in a beguiling manner which he was positive she didn’t intend and
Trevor lectured himself sternly to treat this as a business meeting, not a
blind date. He might be assigned to be her escort but there was nothing personal
between them, nor likely to be. Personal protection couldn’t be done right if
the protector had feelings for the protectee. Best to stamp out any slightest
surface attraction to the woman now. He stiffened his spine.
Unaware of his
personal struggles, she continued to make conversation. “And this is Verlaine,
my Tajikka service animal,” she said, stroking the creature’s back. Verlaine
was the size of a small pony, with a vaguely equine face and legs, but a more
canine body and tail. Verlaine’s fur was
a long, shimmering white, with hints of gray here and there.
Moving away from
Gianna, the doglike creature sniffed his hand, eyed him up and down, gave him a
tentative lick and sat at his mistress’s feet. “He likes you,” she said, based
on the scant evidence. “He never takes to anyone so quickly. A good sign for
sure. I’ve been searching for signs and omens ever since the subject of this
damn trip came up. I wanted my brother to be married here, on Brumel Three but
of course his fiancée insisted on being married on her homeworld. I guess I’m
not only an eccentric artist, I’m rather demanding too. Spoiled since I was a
kid, or so people say when they don’t think I’m listening.” Gianna laughed at
her own self-deprecating humor and the warm sound reached a place inside
Trevor’s heart he’d thought was long frozen, if not dead. “I’m taking a break
from working on my latest commission and I’m starved,” she said. “We can talk
outside while I refuel. Painting is hard work.”
“I’ve never
painted anything,” he said, as she led him outside through a set of doors at
the far end of the library. “When I was a cadet, the upper-class students used
to make us swab the decks of the training battlecruiser by hand though.”
“Not remotely the
same thing,” she said with asperity although he could tell he’d amused her by
the glance she gave him, those huge green eyes brimming with mirth.
PETS IN SPACE® 5 ANTHOLOGY BLURB:
It’s time for an escape! Pets in
Space® 5 is back for the fifth amazing year! Escape to new worlds with twelve of
today’s top Science Fiction Romance authors. They have written 12 original,
never-before-released stories filled with action, adventure, suspense, humor,
and romance that will take you out of this world. The giving doesn’t stop
there. For the fifth year, Pets in Space® will be donating a portion of the
first month proceeds to Hero-Dogs.org, a non-profit charity that supports our
veterans and First Responders. If you are ready to forget the world around you
and make a difference while you are having fun, grab your copy before it’s
gone!
STAR CRUISE RETURN VOYAGE blurb: Gianna Nadenoft is a reclusive survivor of one of the worst
interstellar cruise ship disasters in the history of the Sectors. Now a
renowned artist, she hasn’t left her home planet in decades, not since
returning there after the wreck as a traumatized three-year-old. With her
service animal at her side, she’s going to attempt to travel across the star
systems to attend her brother’s wedding and reunite with her fellow survivors.
Trevor Hanson is a security officer
aboard the cruise liner Nebula Zephyr
with his own traumatic past as a former Special Forces soldier and prisoner of
war. He’s assigned to provide personal protection to Gianna during her time
aboard the ship but soon finds his interest turning from professional to
romantic.
Onboard the Nebula Zephyr, powerful enemies are watching Gianna and making
plans to seize this rare opportunity to gain access to her and the secrets they
believe she’s still keeping about the wreck. Can Trevor overcome his personal
demons and rise to the occasion to save Gianna from the danger waiting on his
ship, or will she slip through his fingers and suffer a terrible fate deferred
from her last disastrous voyage?
Amazon Apple Books Nook Kobo Google Play
Pets in Space® 5 authors are:
1. S.E.
Smith
2. Michelle
Diener
3. Veronica
Scott
4. Pauline
Baird Jones
5. Laurie
A. Green
6. Carol
Van Natta
7. Regine
Abel
8. Alexis
Glynn Latner
9. JC
Hay
10. Kyndra
Hatch
11. Cassandra
Chandler
12. Leslie
Chase
Author Bio and Links:
USA Today Best
Selling Author
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.
Seven 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 read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in
the official audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “The City On the Edge of
Forever.”
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