Spotlight on EMBRACE THE ROMANCE: PETS IN SPACE 2

As I said in yesterday's post, I'm excited to share a fun anthology by some friends of mine. They have been sharing excerpts on their blogs, which has only increased my desire to read the book. The original Pets in Space was so much fun to read, I pre-ordered my copy of Pets 2 as soon as it was ready. My copy downloaded last night, and I can't wait to read it. Here's my friend Cara Bristol to tell you more about it.

Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 description

By Cara Bristol

The pets are back! Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, featuring twelve of today’s leading Science Fiction Romance authors brings you a dozen original stories written just for you! Join in the fun, from the Dragon Lords of Valdier to a trip aboard award-winning author, Veronica Scott’s Nebula Zephyr to journeying back to Luda where Grim is King, for stories that will take you out of this world! Join New York Times, USA TODAY, and Award-winning authors S.E. Smith, M.K. Eidem, Susan Grant, Michelle Howard, Cara Bristol, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Laurie A. Green, Sabine Priestley, Jessica E. Subject, Carol Van Natta, and Alexis Glynn Latner as they share stories and help out Hero-Dogs.org, a charity that supports our veterans!

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.

Buy link for all stores: https://books2read.com/u/3L9aYM

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Embrace-Romance-Pets-Space-2-ebook/dp/B073W5WQBH/

Amazon CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B073W5WQBH/

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073W5WQBH/

Amazon AU https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B073W5WQBH/

Amazon FR https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B073W5WQBH/

Amazon DE https://www.amazon.de/dp/B073W5WQBH/

Amazon JP https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B073W5WQBH/

iBooks http://bit.ly/EmbraceTheRomanceiBooks

B&N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/embrace-the-romance-se-smith/1126723852?

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/embrace-the-romance-pets-in-space-2

Google Play https://play.google.com/store/books/details/S_E_Smith_Embrace_the_Romance_Pets_in_Space_2?id=Jp8rDwAAQBAJ

Rescued by the Cyborg (A Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance) by Cara Bristol

A cyborg’s haunted past and a Faria’s clouded future entwine…

Hostage and sole survivor Solia waits for death at the hands of vicious predatory aliens when Cy-Ops agent Guy Roarke disobeys orders and charges in. A former medic, he initiates emergency medical procedures before rushing her to Cybermed.

Guy is taken with Solia, but the guilt of a past mistake won’t allow him to plan for a future with the delicate, brave beauty. Life is so uncertain, he can’t even keep Mittzi, the kitten his niece gave him. What he can do is see to it Solia gets the help she needs for a full recovery. But when best intentions place her in greater danger, it’s up to a little kitten to make everything all right again.

Excerpt

Something kept poking her. Solia rose to consciousness but buried her face in her wing and squeezed her eyelids even tighter. She didn’t want to see what existed in the light. Monsters were real, and they didn’t just creep in the night. Don’t look. Stay here. Here, wherever that was, with her eyes closed, was warm, pain-free, safe.

Safe from what? What was she forgetting?

Pat. Pat. Something pawed at her feathers. Then a rumble. Pat. Pat. Poke. Something sharp, like a claw scraped across her face.

Claw.

Ka-Tȇ.

Jungle.

Cage. Death. Her lids sprang open. Two green Ka-Tȇ eyes stared into hers. The creature yawned, revealing a mouthful of small, sharp teeth, and then struck out with its paw.

Solia shrieked. The creature somersaulted and disappeared. Dragging her broken, torn wing, Solia stumbled for the door and plowed into a massive chest.

“What’s happened? What’s wrong?” A man gripped her shoulders. Though he barricaded the way, his presence exuded safety, calmed her panic. More memories flashed. Racing through the jungle. This man carrying her to a pod. Bodies hitting the window, scratching, clawing, trying to crack it open. The man—Guy— had rescued her from Katnia. The floor hummed beneath her feet. She was on a ship now.

But one of the creatures—“K-K-Ka-Tȇ. Here.”

“What? Where?” Disbelief knit his brows.

Solia gulped air and pointed. “Under the berth. It’s little, but I woke up, and it was on me, scratching my face. It had green eyes. Claws.” She patted her cheeks. There didn’t seem to be any injury.

“Mittzi.” Guy shook his head. He got down on all fours to peer under the bunk.

“Be careful.”

He reached under the berth and pulled out a ball of gray fur with white feet. Maybe Ka-Tȇ were born furry but lost their hair as they matured? The creature spoke, emitting an odd little meow noise. Neither language training nor the implant provided a translation. It clung to Guy, showing no sign of savagery, but maybe viciousness developed with time, too.

“It’s not a Ka-Tȇ, it’s a kitten, a baby cat,” Guy said, his tone gentle. “Don’t you have felines on Faria?”

About the Cara Bristol
USA Today bestselling author Cara Bristol writes steamy science fiction romance with an emphasis on the characters and their romance, with a little humor, heat, and danger added for fun. She is the author of three science fiction romance series: sexy cyborg Cy-Ops Scifi Romance series, the dark erotic Breeder series, and the new humorous Alien Mate series. She likes to say that she writes science fiction for readers who don’t like sci-fi.  Cara lives in Missouri with her alpha hero, her husband, and Hannah, her cat, aka her writing supervisor.

Website:  http://www.carabristol.com

Newsletter: http://carabristol.com/get-your-free-book/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cara.bristol.3

Writing Process Blog Tour

Today is my entry in a blog tour. Actually, it’s more like a game of tag. I was “tagged” by a friend who then went in the house and didn’t play. LOL You can read my friend Patricia Kiyono’s writing process here. Next, I tag three other people, whose names are below, and they’ll carry on next Monday.

This is about how writers write. If you follow along the tour, you’ll see that our processes can vary a lot. We each find what works for us.

What am I working on?

Currently, I’m working on the next book in my Outer Rim series, about strong women on the frontier of space. The Chameleon, a science fiction romance, is about a woman who is not what she seems. For years, she’s played the fluff-brain daughter of a high-power industrialist turned politician when in actuality she’s been a spy for him. Now she’s given the chance to prove she’s worthy of becoming his successor in the family business. I started this book last spring with the hope that I could release it before Christmas. Obviously, that didn’t happen. A little thing like packing up a house we’d live in for fourteen years (the longest we ever lived anywhere) and moving to a smaller house took a good part of the summer and fall. Then there was the promotion for my newest release, my first romantic suspense One Red Shoe. I plan to release The Chameleon this spring.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

The science fiction romance genre is finally coming into its own. For years, science fiction has been dominated by male writers and aimed at male readers who, generally, think the more scientific (facts, data, etc.) the better. Women like science fiction, too, but we (again, generally) like to read about relationships. So along with futuristic fiction (starships, aliens, galaxies far, far away) we include a relationship story, a romance. My writing aims at that demographic. Think Star Wars and the developing love story of Han and Leia.

Why do I write what I do?

I write science fiction romance because that’s what I like to read. Linnea Sinclair, Jayne Castle, Ann Aguirre, Susan Grant are my heroes. They braved criticism from some science fiction writers (who say they don’t write real s/f because there’s “love” story). I’ve been hooked on science fiction movies and television shows ever since the original Star Wars came out. Even before that, I’ve been fascinated by going into space. During the space shots in the 1960s and 1970s, I sat glued to the television. Beyond just the awe of man traveling into space, my imagination soared along with those rockets. What if…

How does my writing process work?

It’s that “what if” that starts my stories. An idea sparks along with a first sentence. I don’t enjoy stories that begin with a lot of set up. I like ones that start in the middle of the action. So I try to do the same. The Pilot, the first book in my Outer Rim series, begins with the heroine’s ship being confronted by what she thinks are pirates. My usual method is to write until I get stuck. All along questions pop up until I have to stop and do a rough outline of how to get from the beginning of the story to the resolution. Then I write, go back and change something in a previous chapter, write ahead, go back and fix, write ahead, etc. Some writers call this circular writing. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for me. After the first draft is finished, I read it through for the “big picture.” Because I’m a little nit-picky (okay, a lot nit-picky), I have to correct typos as I go. After making sure the big picture is correct, I do the fine tuning—tightening sentences, fixing typos I missed first time around. By the time the story is finished to my satisfaction, I have probably read it a minimum of ten times. And that’s before it goes to the publisher, or in the case of my self-published works, to a free-lance editor.

As I mentioned previously, every writer finds the process that works for them. Next Monday, check out the posts by the following authors:

Margo Hoornstra writes contemporary romantic fiction

Terri Rochenski writes fantasy

A.Y. Stratton writes romantic suspense