Celebrating 1-year of Never Gonna Let You Go!

Good day! It's been an exciting month, with Unknown Futures celebrating its one-year book birthday, and the releases of Made For Her and Accidental Romance. Then I found out my sci-fi/futuristic/dystopian story Never Gonna Let You Go was nominated for the Love Romances (LR) Cafe's Best Of 2012 Awards in that genre category. The story ended up receiving honorable mention. :) And the nomination gave me the motivation I needed to write the next book in The Underground series, Never Gonna Desert You, which I shared an excerpt from last week.

Well, today is the book birthday for Never Gonna Let You Go. It released a year ago today, and was based on a story I originally wrote in my Science Fiction English class in high school. Here's a bit about the story:

Caught in a tangle of lies, Calla Jacobs must sort through the truth to discover where she truly belongs. A biologist for Planet Core, she finds herself ensnared in a web of deceit. Sent to Airondelle, she must work with a team to prepare the newly discovered planet for colonists from Earth. But the mission does not go as she expected. Her former lover, Erik Edwards, shuns her, sending Calla into the arms of Melina Holloway, their commander, for the attention she craves and more. A confrontation among the trio leaves her with a broken heart, and fleeing from the two people she trusted most.

Attempting to break free from the lies that bind her, she discovers Planet Core has deceived everyone. And when she returns to Earth, Calla learns just how far Planet Core’s control reaches.

Excerpt:

Pulling the camera from her backpack, Calla considered what might have happened if she’d remained in Holloway’s tent. Would they have kissed? Her stomach fluttered and dampness spread between her legs as she thought about Melina’s soft lips.

Wait! She wasn’t attracted to women, never had been before. Then why couldn’t she stop thinking about what Holloway’s lips would feel like on hers and all over her body?

She took a deep breath. Sexual relations of any kind are forbidden during the missions. While repeating those words over and over, she spotted a perfect place to set up for her study—a large crancait bush on the edge of the field where the rapat fed. The bright red berries decorated the bush in stark contrast to its deepgreen, oval-shaped foliage. She crept through the waist-high vegetation, trying to make as little noise as possible. Although the foreign planet had not been shaped by an ice age like Earth, it did boast fields all the way to the horizon similar to the prairies where she and Erik had grown up. Erik should be the one she thought about kissing, not Melina, not a woman. She knew everything about him, or once had. But Erik had turned into an asshole, and Melina wanted to be friends. Maybe more? Her body warmed at the thought.

On her way to the red-berried bush where she planned to take pictures of the creatures, she stopped to ensure she hadn’t spooked the herd while her mind wandered to places it shouldn’t. Good, they haven’t moved.

Arriving at the crancait, she spread out a blanket to lay her equipment on and turned to affix her camera to a tripod. She’d never gotten this close to the herd for her footage. She’d managed to remain downwind and the warm breeze not only helped to disguise her scent but also her movements.

With no natural predator—at least none she’d discovered—the rapat flourished on this part of the planet. Their round pig-sized bodies resembled the tapir of Earth, but with the addition of a longer, elephant-like trunk. Their lips smacked and teeth ground together as they ate their fill of grasses. The smell of their dung reminded her of molasses rather than that of any Earth animal.

After adjusting the camera to record video footage of their feeding and social behaviors, she sat down to write her notes. Instead, she could only think of Melina, and the moment in her tent, which could have led to something else, something more than friendship. Something she needed just as much. She sighed. I’m attracted to Melina. What does this mean?

Buy Links:

Amazon (Canada/US/UK) | Decadent Publishing | All Romance | Barnes&Noble | more

Giveaway!!
Leave a comment (with your email address) for your chance to WIN an ebook copy of Never Gonna Let You Go. Winner will be drawn February 3, 2013. Contest is international. Good luck!

Bio:

Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from her readers.

Website/Blog | Newsletter | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Authorgraph

Get Ya Some Steampunk!

Announcing “The Great Steampunk Romance Airship Tour” 

Don your brass goggles and come aboard! To celebrate all things steampunk romance, Heather Massey of The Galaxy Express is launching The Great Steampunk Romance Airship Tour on February 4, 2013. This tour is in conjunction with the release of her new steampunk romance, IRON GUNS, BLAZING HEARTS (Lyrical Press).  

The tour will run February 4-13. It has two major components: posts and prizes. 

At each stop readers will find a fun, informative post about a steampunk romance topic. 

When visitors leave a comment at any or all of the stops, they’ll be entered for a chance to win a steampunk romance ebook along with the Grand Prize: 

* $100 e-gift card (winner’s choice Amazon or B&N) 

* 75$ e-gift certificate to Clockwork Couture

* 1 digital copy of IRON GUNS, BLAZING HEARTS (winner’s choice PDF, ePub, or .mobi)

Dates & participating blogs

2/4 Ex Libris

2/5 Reading Reality

2/6 Smart Girls Love SciFi & Paranormal Romance

2/7 Steamed!

2/8 The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences

2/9 Spacefreighters Lounge

2/10 The Galaxy Express

2/11 Backward Momentum

2/12 SFR Brigade

2/13 Paranormal Romantics

 

See you there!

7 Writer Challenge - Never Gonna Desert You

Romance author Lorraine Paton tagged me in the 7 Writer Challenge. According to the rules I must go to either page 7 or page 77 of one of my works, and starting on line 7, post the next 7 lines. After that I must challenge 7 other writers to do the same.

Now, I just did this on Facebook for my work-in-progress, Never Gonna Desert You, the sequel to Never Gonna Let You Go. But, the story was still in my notebook then, and page 7 in my notebook is not the same as page 7 on the computer. If you read the previous excerpt from Facebook, it is in Brook's POV, but this one is in Melina's POV.

So, here are my seven lines from page 7:

Tapping the receive button, she braced for the call. Nothing good could come from the higher-ups buzzing her.

“Hello, Melina? Are you busy?” A string of choked sobs followed.

Melina gasped. “Brook, is that you? Are you okay?”

“No.”

Silence.

Oh god, what’s wrong? Her heart hammered in her chest. “Where are you? I’ll be right there if you tell me.”



And here's the music that is inspiring my muse while I write this story:




Now, as for tagging people, I'm not going to do that, but if you'd like to participate and show off your work-in-progress, go ahead and carry the torch. I tag YOU!

Bio:

Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from her readers.

Website/Blog | Newsletter | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Authorgraph

Excerpts from Made For Her, a sci-fi military erotic romance

Good day! I admit, it's been a crazy week so far, with two new releases, but I'm here, and still hanging on to my sanity. LOL If you want to follow along with my new release tour, you can go here. There are giveaways and more! For today's post, I'm going to keep it simple, and share the first scene from Made For Her with you. Enjoy!

 

Captain Mikayla Jones opened the door and gazed up at the Skymaster II rocketing another group of pilots toward SFTC, the Space Flight Training Center. She’d been the instructor of most of the men and women on that flight and would come face to face with a new class on Monday morning. But she hadn’t rushed to the door to bid the squad farewell. No, she stared at the four men in uniform standing before her. She recognized three of them from the base, knew they hadn’t come with good news—they would never have arrived at her door together other than to inform her of a tragedy—but it was the fourth man dressed in black, his hands drumming a beat on his utility belt, who worried her the most. He wasn’t military. 

“May we come in?” 

Lieutenant Colonel Madison’s question yanked her back from her thoughts. “What is it? Tell me what happened.” 

The chaplain from the base stepped forward with a heavy nod. “Captain, it’s best if we go in and sit down.” 

She braced her hands on the door frame, afraid if she let them in, their bad news would be true. 

“C’mon, Mikayla.” Lieutenant Colonel Madison draped an arm across her shoulder and guided her into her home. He would be the only one to call her by her given name here, the only one who knew her well enough. “You need to sit down. It’s about Daniel.” 

She stopped in her tracks, dread pooling in her stomach, but the chaplain, Detective Krug of the Northwest Police Department, and his military police escort continued into her living room. 

“This isn’t funny. It’s our anniversary. We’re supposed to go out for dinner. He promised he’d be home. Whatever this surprise is that you’re all involved in, I’m not impressed.” Her voice hitched. “Go over to the lab and tell Daniel to come home.” 

“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Detective Krug said. 

Her knees threatened to give out. “Why? He works just over there.” She pointed in the direction of the military labs where her husband conducted experiments for the government, ones so top secret, Daniel couldn’t even mention them in her presence. 

“No, Mikayla,” the colonel said. “He was contracted out to Onatria Labs.” 

She gasped. Her chest tightened. Had she misheard him? “The lab rumored to be involved in cloning? But that lab was blown up this morning.” 

She waited for one of them to tell her that her assumptions were wrong, that Daniel was okay, but they all stared at her, their eyes solemn. No, it can’t be true. 

“An anarchy group has already claimed responsibility for the bombing,” Detective Krug said. 

Drawing in a deep breath, she willed her body to stop shaking. Captain Jones could not break down, not when cadets depended on her every day to train them for flight. “Where is my husband? Which hospital is he at?” She couldn’t stand still. She had to get to Daniel, to take care of him. Their anniversary dinner no longer mattered, but she had to be with her husband. 

“Mikayla, I’m so sorry.” The colonel rested a hand on her shoulder. “But Daniel didn’t survive.” 

She stepped back, grasping for something to hang on to. A tear slid down her cheek, but she wiped it away. Her husband had to come home. Yet her heart had already broken. Grasping the back of a chair, she turned to the detective. “You have to be wrong. He can’t be dead. He can’t. It’s our anniversary. How do you know it was him, huh?” 

“We read his military ID chip. I’m sorry, but there’s no mistaking his identity.” 

“No!” She was no longer Captain Jones. She melted back to Mikayla Jones, wife to Daniel Jones. And she let go, falling to the floor. Rebels had stolen her husband from her. She was alone. Forever. All of their hopes and dreams, gone. Her chance at having a family, no more. She had nothing to live for. 

Madison knelt beside her and rubbed her back. “I’m very sorry.” 

But she turned away from him. “Leave me, please.” She wrapped her arms around her knees and wept for her husband.

Buy Links:

Amazon (Canada/US/UK) | Decadent Publishing | All Romance | Barnes&Noble | more

Made For Her Blurb:

After terrorists murder the love of her life, Colonel Mikayla Jones trains squadron after squadron of the clones he brought to life, to take to the skies. When she discovers a young clone of her husband in her newest class, her world spins out of control. How can she command the look-a-like when she can’t help but yearn for him to fill an ache in her heart? Dare was created to be the best. As the first Daniel clone to leave Onatria labs, he needs to prove he is more than just a DNA copy. To do that, he must rely on the wife of the man who donated his genes. But when she refuses to train him, Dare faces discharge and returning to the labs. Can he convince Colonel Jones to finish his training and find a way into her bed? Or will long kept secrets unhinge the entire clone project?

Bio:

Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from her readers.

Website/Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Authorgraph

Please welcome Sorcha Mowbray

Anyone who knows me, knows I love historical romance. In fact, historical romance is one of the genres I love to cross with science fiction. But sometimes I like just plain historical, the clothing, the culture of another time and place. Today we have a guest author, sharing a little about their newest release, Love Redeemed, and themselves.
Please help me give Sorcha Mowbray a warm welcome to Backward Momentum.

Please tell the readers about yourself and the books you write? I’m a mild mannered office worker by day…okay, so I’m actually a mouthy, opinionated, take charge kind of gal who bosses everyone around; but I definitely works in an office. I’m a longtime lover of historical romance, having grown up reading Johanna Lindsey and Judith McNaught. Then I discovered Thea Devine and Susan Johnson. Holy cow!

As for my books, I write erotic romance…I like writing sexy. I have two books out now in The Market Series, historical erotic romance, plus a short contemporary erotic romance. I write the story that comes to me and worry about genre later.

Tell us about your latest book.  Do you have anything new in the works and can you tell us about it?  Love Redeemed is the second book in The Market Series. It’s the story of a man in trade and a prostitute who meet under certain misconceptions. They fall in love yet due to the misunderstandings are separated until they meet again by accident. In the end they must discover if love will prevail.

I am also working on editing the third book in the series for Decadent, Love Reclaimed. This one is the story of the Madame of the brothel. A great second chance story. Additionally, I am working on two other works in progress. One is a post-apocalyptic M/M/F/M story and the other is a contemporary cowboy story featuring a female bull rider.

What was your inspiration behind your latest release? Well, I really wanted to write a historical that wasn’t about a Lord and/or Lady. I had this image in my head of a business man in a dress shop surrounded by fabrics and squealing women. From there it all just developed.

Do you have a particular writing style and how would you describe it? I’d say I’m a planster or pantter—a hybrid plotter/panster. I do a quick outline, some character development and details to help me keep them all straight, and then I sit down and write. The outline often changes as the story develops, but mostly I try to leave myself some wiggle room in the outline so I can go where the story takes me.

What is your favorite type of character to write? Alphas, Betas? What about an Omega? Alphas. Now, I will say my hero in Love Redeemed is sort of a transitional hero from Beta to Alpha. Mostly, I just write Alphas because that’s what I like. 

Heroes and heroines are the stars of most stories, can you tell me about your favorite hero and heroine in your stories? What odd quirks and characteristics do they have? Any surprises? I think for me, it’s a toss-up between Kat from Love Revealed (Book 1) and Madame Marchander from Love Reclaimed (Book 3-coming soon). I love Kat because she is the bookish girl, smart and capable who isn’t afraid to go after what she wants in the bedroom. She’s kind of kickass, but not in a physical sense. And, well Madame Marchander is just so damn strong. She is a woman who has taken her lot in life and made a hell of a lot more out of it than most would or could. I love a resilient woman.

Villains can be almost as important to a story as your hero or heroine for creating a well rounded and interesting world. Tell us about a villain in one of your books? What defines them, gives them layers and makes them interesting? Do they have strengths and weaknesses? What are they? So far I haven’t really written too many villains. In Love Revealed there is a man who has a brief appearance, but mostly my stories so far have been more about lovers working out their differences and finding their way to each other.

What are the hardest scenes for your to write? I haven’t really encountered this. So far it all comes together for me. If I‘m not in the mood to write a scene I move on and come back to it. But I haven’t really noticed a particular kind of scene that’s hard for me.

The easiest?  Oh the sex. As long as I’m in the right frame of mind when I sit down, those just hop right on to the page.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned while writing your books? Any research you’ve done come in handy in the “real world”?  Lordy! Those prim Victorians were really quite a wild bunch. LOL! They had tattoos, liked to be caned, were big into vibrators, and had all kinds of slang for sex. Real world application? Not so much.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out? First, take advantage of the online and local resources you have available. There are tons of sites for writers and organizations like RWA offer a lot of great information. Beyond that, I’d say start short. Write some short stories or novellas to help learn the craft and work up to a full length novel. I tried the novel length first…and well as I started learning stuff I began to realize just how messed up my first attempt was.

Quickies:

Boxers or Briefs? Boxer Briefs – the best of both worlds!

Do blondes have more fun? No. I’ve been blond, red, and brunette. Redheads have way more fun!

Wine of beer? Beer…but it depends. LOL!

Excerpt:
“Are you all right, Miss?”

For a moment, for this moment, she was a normal young woman experiencing the attentions of a handsome young man. Heat crept up her cheeks as he held her hatbox out, and the burning had nothing to do with the sun. “I-I— Yes, I am. Thank you.” His blue-gray eyes seemed to bore into her.

“I am so glad. I was sure you were a goner there for a moment.” He flashed a brilliant grin liquefying Serena’s insides instantly. “Please let me introduce myself. I’m Mr. Brennan Whitling of Whitling Textiles Importers and Wholesalers.”

“How do you do, Mr. Whitling?” Serena allowed her lips to curve up ever so slightly. “I am Miss Serena Freemont.”

“It is a pleasure. Might I interest you and your”—he glanced around the bustling street as his grin faded in confusion— “chaperone in a cup of tea?”

A wave of horror swept over Serena. Chaperone? Harlots did not require one of those. “Oh, Aunt Henrietta is in the bookstore, and I fear she will be in there a very long time. I am certain she won’t notice if we slip off for a quick spot of tea.”

“Excellent! There is a lovely little shop just up the street.” A beautiful smile spread across his face, causing her pulse to quicken.

He escorted her up the block where they stopped at a quaint little teashop. They settled in at a table and ordered a pot of tea.

“What has you on Bond Street today, Mr. Whitling?” They sat in semi privacy at the back of the shop.

“Oh, I was visiting some of my customers and taking new orders. I am very glad I was there to help you, and by virtue of said assistance make your acquaintance.” Did his already deep voice grow huskier? Their tea service arrived, dispelling the moment.

“As am I. Landing on my backside in the middle of the street would have been rather embarrassing. But in truth, thank you for your assistance today, and now the tea.” She lifted her freshly prepared cup to her lips and took a dainty sip from the delicate china. Through lowered lashes, she watched his graceful movements as he prepared his own.

“It is my pleasure on both accounts. You seem familiar to me. Have we met somewhere before? A ball perhaps?”  

Author Biography and Contact Information
Sorcha Mowbray is a mild mannered office worker by day…okay, so she is actually a mouthy, opinionated, take charge kind of gal who bosses everyone around; but she definitely works in an office. At night she writes romance so hot she sets the sheets on fire! Just ask her slightly singed husband. 

She is a longtime lover of historical romance, having grown up reading Johanna Lindsey and Judith McNaught. Then she discovered Thea Devine and Susan Johnson. Holy cow! Heroes and heroines could do THAT? From there, things devolved into trying her hand at writing a little smexy. Needless to say, she liked it and she hopes you do too!

sorchamowbray.com  | Tweet @sorchamowbray | Sorcha’s Fan Page | Sorcha’s Goodreads | Silken Sheets &Seduction

Buy Links: 
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All others
Rafflecopter Code – Giving away a copy of my short story Taking Her Chance (One Night With A Cowboy) a Rafflecopter giveaway

Write, read, learn. Good stories don't just happen.

When I first started writing, what I wrote was science fiction romance. I loved the thought of creating other worlds with nothing but the fabric of my imagination. I believed that was all you needed--and basic English skills. Not so. My first story, which I hide under my bed, was an embarrassment as much as a lesson on what not to do if you want to get published.

So, swallowing my pride a bit here, I'm going to share some of the story that started my writing journey, as it is. And then I'm going to talk about the mistakes I made, and what I've learned from them. Please be gentle.

We'll start with the average chapter size. This story has a total of nine chapters. It has a word count of 112k. The average chapter has over twelve thousand words, making that chapter roughly forty pages.

What I've learned:  The chapter should be only as large as it needs to reveal the details important to the central theme of the chapter. For manageability, I now keep my chapters at around 2k, or roughly ten pages. If I can't show you the scene in ten pages, then I need to cut and tighten or divide and create two chapters if there are two scenes.

Here's the first excerpt:

The labor drug on for hours.  Way before the Sola rose and now it was starting to set.  Okay, we'll start with the obvious. Drug. Drug is a form of medication, dragged is an action. It was starting.The second sentence is a fragment and punctuation is missing completely. "Was" precedes an inactive clause. Words ending in "ing" are not active. A better verb would have been started. Not sure I can make this a good paragraph, but this is what I would do now. Her labor dragged on for hours. It started when the Sola rose, and continued while the star pinked the horizon as it set.
From the moment of conception she knew there was something special about the babies.  It was something she could feel down deep in the depths of her soul. Cliche much? Inactive phrasing again. I'm also telling instead of showing here. Instead of saying she could feel it to the depths of her soul, (blech) I should be showing you. How does she know the babies are special? What things have led her to believe this? Every woman believes her child is special. My job as the author is to show you why, not tell you. Here I've failed miserably. A better solution would have been to show weird events that occured while she carried the babies, or signs from her gods. Okay, enough beating this dead horse. Moving on.

Her hair boasted a wealth of silky platinum and honey strands that seemed to make her face glow.  She was tall and slender, with skin like cream and lush curves, giving her a divine appearance.  Her face was oval shaped with full lips and large aqua colored eyes that shone with flashes of curiosity.  They were expressive with thick full lashes, her best feature.  Her appearance, except for her ratty clothes, was flawless.  Her curse.

Here we have a cookie-cutter description of a perfect heroine, and there is adverb and adjective abuse. Whenever you see a modifier, you can always replace the verb or noun with something stronger. To make matters worse, I describe her as both slender and having lush curves. If I was beta reading this manuscript, I'd be banging my head into a desk. My solution. Cut the entire description and show what she looks like, revealing a little at as time as we go through the story. Do not do this. Do not describe your character in one paragraph, but show what she looks like through the reaction of the hero and other characters. One last thing. To make your characters human, someone the reader can relate to, for the love of God, give them flaws.

Emili changed into a pair of well-worn faded jeans, a black tee shirt and sneakers.  Devin thought she looked hot in whatever she wore, but this outfit suited her.  She looked completely at ease in her casual clothes.  When he walked out of her room he noticed she was digging in the refrigerator to make something for breakfast.  From the look on her face they were out of luck.

 Here we're wordy and telling. Not to mention the word "look" echoes over, and over, and over again. The less words you can use to show the scene, get your point across, the better. What point am I trying to make here? Nothing here moves the story forward, or is important to the plot. This entire paragraph would have to go. Every word, every action you write, must move the story forward. If it doesn't, cut it. Also, note that when you see words like feel or felt and look or looked, you are almost always telling and not showing.

Okay, one last paragraph and this one is for you. Tell me what's wrong with it, and I'll pick a name from the commentors to win a tee-shirt, and yes this is one paragraph (actually half of it).

Helena was pissed.  It all stemmed from the lack of sleep then the cold shower and now a surprise exam on death penalty cases.  This day just got better and better.  Well she was the one that had wanted Emili to let her hair down, look at the monster she had created.  Who knew she could be such a slut?  Come on how many times in a night can you do that before dropping dead?  Apparently, all night.  Helena groaned her mind was in such a fog and it wasn’t helping with the test.  She chewed the end of her pencil trying to clear her head. Looking around the room she noticed she was the only one not intently filling in the little ovals on the exam.  She caught a look from the Professor and quickly glanced back down at her paper.   She didn’t know what had her frustrated more, lack of sleep or lack of sex.  Emili had been all to kind to remind her of the sex last night.  She needed to get her mind wrapped around this test or she was going to fail for sure.  After Emili left the club Helena stayed to dance awhile.  It was the same ho hum boring crowd there every Friday so she had cut it short and went home.  Leave it to Emili to come barging in at three in the morning with her new boy toy.  Why couldn’t she get lucky and find a nice piece of ass like that?  Helena focus, you’ve got to focus.  She chided herself.  Life sucked, Emili never went out and she got laid.  Helena went out all the time and was a twenty-five year old virgin and it wasn’t as if she was trying to be.  This is ridiculous.  She really needed to stop being so picky.

Now that I've shown you the ugly side of learning to write, I hope you have a better understanding that good stories don't just happen. Read. Write. Get your hands on well written stories, and  some really bad ones. Try to figure out what the author did that they might do better. Look at your own writing and understand nobody writes a perfect first draft. Revise, revise, revise. And if you have a first draft like my first story, stick it under the bed, and when you need a dose of humility, or you want to see what you've learned on your writing journey, pull it out.

Have a great weekend!

Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win a signed tee-shirt in either, MED/LRG/XLG or XXLG. Have fun!

Science Fiction Romance Movies to look forward to in 2013

Good day! I've been following io9 and The Galaxy Express to see what sci-fi and sci-fi romance movies we can look forward to this year. Here's a list of those I can't wait to see:

February 14, 2012 - Escape From Planet Earth

 March 15, 2013 - Upside Down - while this movie has already released in Russia, it is set to release in the US this year. It's a film about two planets with opposite gravity, orbiting around their sun together. Here's the trailer. It's in English with French subtitles.

March 29 - The Host - I read this book and absolutely loved it. (No, I haven't read or watched Twilight.) So, I can't wait to see the movie adaptation.

April 26, 2013 - Oblivion 

May 3, 2013 - Iron Man 3 

May 17, 2013 - Star Trek Into Darkness - Since the Star Trek (2009) is my favorite movie, I'm very anxious to see this one.

June 7, 2013 - After Earth - Will Smith. Need I say more?

June 14, 2013 - Man of Steel - Superman is my all-time favorite superhero, so I'm all over this.

August 9, 2013 - Baja Dunes (Elysium) 

November 1, 2013 - Ender's Game 

November 22, 2013 - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 

Unknown release date - Snowpiercer

So, what upcoming sci-fi or sci-fi romance movies are you looking forward to?

Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from her readers.

Website/Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Authorgraph

Celebrating 1-year of Unknown Futures!!

Hello!! Today is an exciting day for me, as it is the one-year book birthday for the All Romance eBooks bestseller, Unknown Futures, my third story to be published. While this story can be read on its own, Unknown Futures also continues the story of Carrie and Frey from Celestial Seduction.

Unknown Futures by Jessica E. Subject:

Attacked as a young adult, Jewel is left scarred and alone. She applies to the 1 Night Stand service, believing no one can see past her appearance to love her. But she doesn’t expect to be sent to a space station where her date could be any number of unusual alien species.

Flavia left everything behind to be one of five humans working for the Space Service space station. Extremely homesick, she is excited to learn she will be a guide to a woman from Earth visiting the station for a couple days. She is immediately drawn to the petite woman, seeing past her scars to her true inner beauty, stirring unforeseen desires.

Unfortunately, Jewel is there for a date which Flavia hasn’t been told about. Can she contain her lust and simply show her a good time? Or will she let her desire lead them into an unknown future?

Excerpt:

V stared across the concourse, trying to spot her charges. She’d been told to expect three people through the portal from Earth, two Terran females and a Ginnunian male who might be disguised as a Terran. How would he look? The blue-skinned species had never needed to hide their identity on the space station. Would he still show a hint of his natural color, or would he resemble his traveling mates?

They’d all be easy to spot. V was only one of five people from Earth who worked at Space Service Headquarters. Every day, she saw thousands of Phanties, a species with large ears and a trunk like an elephant; Pillites, who reminded her of a giant pill bug; Goopers, blue blobs with eight short tentacles as feet, and many other species from around the universe. But Terrans could only make it out to the space station—perched on the far edge of the Milky Way from their home world—using a portal the government deemed classified.

She’d never dreamed of working off-planet back when she waitressed for a quaint Italian restaurant in New York while putting herself through grad school. But one unusually calm night, she’d served a man who’d reminded her of a character from Men in Black. He’d appeared surprised when she’d understood his order—spoken in German.

While her other customers languished, he’d engaged her in friendly conversation. Charmed by his witty repartee, she’d revealed she spoke five different languages and was working two jobs to put herself through school. Along with a generous tip, he’d left his card—containing only his name and number—with If you’re looking for a job that’s out of this world, call me written on the back. Thinking he was some kind of quack, she’d tossed the card in the trash before greeting a new table of customers.

He returned the next night and every evening for a week until she consented to sit down to listen to his job offer. Six months later, after completing rigorous training, she’d walked through the portal to serve as a concierge for the space station’s interstellar hotel. She hadn’t returned to Earth since then, her position so top secret she’d been unable to so much as tell her boss why she’d quit with no notice. Other than spending a few familiar holidays with her fellow Terrans, she almost never crossed paths with anyone from home.

She continued her education as well, overwhelmed and fascinated by ancient space history consisting of much more information than that of Earth. Still, she missed her own kind. Terrans were seen as inferior to those from other planets, governed by cowards who hid the idea of other life in space, yet took full advantage of the technology. Thankfully, no one held her accountable for Earth’s deficiencies.

She was drawn back to the present as the crowd parted in front of her, like the Red Sea to reveal her charges. They walked along with the other new arrivals, oblivious to the multitude of curious looks they received. The blue, lanky Ginnunian male led his very pregnant terran wife toward her. Peering past the pair, V caught a glimpse of a dark-haired woman tucked closely behind them before the crowd closed in once again, grunting, squeaking, and clicking in communication.

She waved to get their attention, thankful her charges had arrived without incident. “Hi, I’m Flavia, but you can call me V. That’s what everyone here calls me.” Because no member of any other species on the station had been able to pronounce her name without it sounding vulgar in his or her language.

The Ginnunian stepped forward and surprised her by reaching out to shake her hand—not a custom for his people. “Hello, I’m Frey, and this is my wife, Carrie.”

She shook his hand and then his wife’s, trying to hold in her excitement at meeting someone from home.

Frey moved to the side, revealing the petite woman behind him. “And this is Jewel.”

V squealed. Unable to hide her exhilaration any longer, she wrapped her arms around Jewel. Not only was she from Earth, but she looked to be only a couple years younger than her. All the Terrans on-station were her parents’ age. For once, her unwavering loneliness would ebb, at least for a few days.

But her hug wasn’t returned, only met with a gasp. V stepped back. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

Jewel shook her head, but wouldn’t make eye contact.

“I think she’s a little self-conscious about her scars,” Frey said.

V winced. Why did he have to mention them? Sure, she’d noticed, but she had friends with fins, feathers, and elephant ears. A few scars wouldn’t stop her from being social. Was that why she’d been asked to entertain Jewel during her stay?

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Unknown Futures can be found in the print anthology Intergalactic Heat.

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