Why I Write About Aliens
By Cara Bristol
Once word got out about Alien
Mate, I was asked why I chose to write about aliens. I hope readers realize
that I’ve been writing about aliens all along. The Breeder trilogy has alien main characters, and even though cyborgs
are the leading men of the Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance series, there are alien
secondary characters, villains, and even two alien heroines.
Romance in all its subgenres offers readers escape and
vicarious wish fulfilment. All heroes are handsome, powerful, funny, sexy,
rich, and in sci-fi romance (as well as fantasy and paranormal), the male leads
can be all of that and more. They can
have special powers or superhuman abilities. For an author, writing about
aliens offers flexibility in story and character development. Aliens can be
whatever you want them to be.
With villains and/or secondary characters in particular, an
author has tremendous creative freedom because they don’t have to be humanoid.
In the Breeder series, I created an alien whose skin exuded a caustic substance
that burned on contact. In the Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance cyborg series, I
introduced the reading world to the Arcanians, the pickpockets of the future
who have six eyes and “sticky fingers.”
The heroes and heroines of sci-fi romance still need to be
humanoid to appeal to human readers, but an author can still have fun and
create interesting characters with unusual traits, habits, customs, and
abilities. Alien Mate is a “mail
order bride” romance in which Earth exiles its female felons and sentences them
to become the mates of aliens. The men are tall, dark, handsome, muscular, strong—and
horned. There’s a scene in the book where the heroine finds out about the horns.
“Dakonians” have never seen blue-eyed blondes, so when they see the heroine for
the first time, they think she’s very alien looking and “unnatural.”
Writing about aliens also makes me look at my own world in a
more questioning way. What is normal? What things do I take for granted? How
would my Earth culture be viewed by someone not of this world?
An excerpt from Alien Mate
“Any idea what the aliens look like?” I’d kept to myself, but I’d heard
rumors our intended “mates” were scaly blue with long tails. Only recently had
Terra One World made contact with Dakon. I’d been told the aliens “looked like
us,” but I had little confidence in my government to tell the truth.
“I did a little ’net research before they transported me to
the shuttle,” Andrea explained. “They are humanoid, genetically compatible with
us, but they’re taller, much more muscular, and bigger.” She held her hands
about a meter apart.
“Are you talking about their penises or their bodies in
general?” Tessa asked.
Shit, I hoped Andrea was referring to their bodies. I eyed
the span between her palms.
Andrea rolled her eyes. “Their bodies in general. I did not
research their junk.”
“It would be proportionate, though, wouldn’t you think?”
Tessa persisted. You could take the girl out of the escort business, but you
couldn’t take the escort business out of the girl.
Andrea placed her index fingers to her forehead so they
stuck up. “And they have—”
“Antenna?” My jaw dropped.
“More like horns.”
“That’s worse!”
“Vestigial horns. Mostly hidden by their hair.”
“So we’re the court-ordered brides of horned aliens who may
or may not have big dicks,” I said.
“That’s the size of it.” Andrea snickered.
I got up and moved to the observation window. Without the
filtering effects of a planetary atmosphere, stars in space didn’t twinkle.
They appeared as solid points of light. We’d traveled far enough none of the
constellations were familiar anymore.
“Dakon must be very far away.” We’d been on the ship for two
months with thirty days left to go.
“It’s hyper speed compared to the three-year round trip the
first contact took. Thanks to the illuvian ore, we’ll do it in three months,”
Andrea said. “The Dakonians have been waiting a long time for their mates.
After the first contact ship returned to Earth, it took a year to set up the
program and recruit the first group of women.”
Tessa giggled. “They’re going to be really horny by now. In
more ways than one.”
Alien Mate blurb
Falsely convicted of murder, I'm
sentenced to life as a mail-order bride to an alien.
I'm Starr Elizabeth Connor. Earth's government falsely convicted
me of a crime, packed me on a ship with other female felons, and sent us to
Dakon, a primitive, frozen wasteland of a planet. Why? Earth needs minerals,
and Dakon is desperate for females.
But I'm no barbarian’s 'mail order bride,' even if he is super
tall, muscular, and the chief of his tribe. He doesn’t want a BBW blonde,
either--it's written all over his chiseled face. He'll be truly angry if he
ever learns what my 'crime' was.
I am Torg. I have waited 34 rotations for a mate of my own. With
this shipment, I was sure to get a fine, sturdy mate who'll bear me many
daughters. Instead, I receive a small, curvy, pale-haired female who looks at
me with anger and fear.
It is only when we 'kiss' that I believe things may work out
between us. But I'm hearing rumors that Starr and her shipmates are
law-breakers. To survive, Dakonians must obey all laws … or be exiled into the
frozen wasteland. Just when I have found her, will I have to send my mate
to die?
Alien
Mate will be released April 10. Don't miss this sexy, suspenseful sci-fi
romance--preorder your copy of Alien Mate today!
About the author
USA Today bestselling author Cara Bristol writes steamy science fiction
romance with an emphasis on the characters and their romance, with a little
danger and adventure added for fun. 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.
