Crystal Power - Guest Post by author Pippa Jay - @PippaJayGreen #scifi #YAlit

Crystal Power

by Pippa Jay

I’ve always had an obsession with shiny things, and especially crystals. Just like a magpie, anything with a bit of sparkle attracts me. I dabbled in alternative therapies and witchcraft as a teen, an area where the mystical properties of crystals play a part. And reading (and adoring) Anne McCaffrey’s Crystal Singer trilogy introduced me to the idea of using crystals in scifi. Quartz crystal is used in a lot of modern tech already – who hasn’t heard of quartz watches? A more recent innovation is the use of nanocrystals for memory storage.

So when deciding on a particular type of technology for Gethyon’s universe, it was a logical choice. Crystophile technology is the norm, and a field in which Gethyon himself excels. At one stage in the story, his knowledge pays his way. But at the beginning, it’s a piece of crystophilic technology – a CHI device (crystalline holographic imager) – that lands him in trouble in the first place.

Excerpt:

As the door closed behind his grandfather, Gethyon rose and went to the table. A large, clear octagonal crystal lay nestled in a protective bed of fabric, glittering faintly in the slivers of light that trickled beneath the edges of the black curtains. An Χ—the company emblem of the ancient Greek letter chi taken from the acronym for Crystalline Holographic Imager—was carved into one facet of the device. Gethyon traced the emblem, a rare smile touching his face. This was his one treasure, the one sure thing he had. Lifting it from its box, Gethyon clutched the CHI in his hands and activated it. A representation of the galaxy filled his room with a translucent blackness. Stars glittered and planets glowed before his eyes.

Take me away from here… He stared deep into the image, his longing to be out there burning in his chest. Take me far away.

Something within him stirred, forcing him to focus deep inside the image. Warmth flowed from his chest, through his arms and into the crystal. Suddenly, the image opened and surrounded him; the room transformed into the dark void of open space, the stars orbiting him in slow rotation, a supernova within the grasp of his free hand.

Gethyon gasped in shock and dropped the CHI device; the illusion vanished, leaving the inactive crystal gleaming at his feet.

***

To celebrate the release of Gethyon, I’m offering you a piece of crystal that could have come straight from his story. This hexagonal gem is exactly how I visualized the CHI (though this one is green to match Gethyon’s eyes, lol) and although this one won’t generate any pretty pictures for you it will look pretty. Just use the rafflecopter form below to enter, and in the comments tell me what’s your favorite piece of scifi technology that you’d like to have for real.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GETHYON by Pippa Jay

A YA Science Fiction Novel

​Released by Champagne Books 3rd June 2013 

​

His father died. His mother abandoned him. In the depths of space, darkness seeks him.

Abandoned by his mother after his father’s death, Gethyon Rees feels at odds with his world and longs to travel the stars. But discovering he has the power to do so leaves him scarred for life. Worse, it alerts the Siah-dhu—a dark entity that seeks his kind for their special abilities—to his existence, and sets a bounty hunter on his trail.

When those same alien powers lead Gethyon to commit a terrible act, they also aid his escape. Marooned on the sea-world of Ulto Marinos, Gethyon and his twin sister must work off their debt to the Seagrafter captain who rescued them while Gethyon puzzles over their transportation. How has he done this? And what more is he capable of?

Before he can learn any answers, the Wardens arrive to arrest him for his crime. Can his powers save him now? And where will he end up next?

AVAILABLE FROM: 

BURST | Kobo | Amazon UK / US | Omnilit

Book Trailer: 

Author Bio:

A stay-at-home mum of three who spent twelve years working as an Analytical Chemist in a Metals and Minerals laboratory, Pippa Jay bases her stories on a lifetime addiction to science-fiction books and films. Somewhere along the line a touch of romance crept into her work and refused to leave. Between torturing her characters, she spends the odd free moments trying to learn guitar, indulging in freestyle street dance and drinking high-caffeine coffee. Although happily settled in historical Colchester in the UK with her husband of 20 years, she continues to roam the rest of the Universe in her head. Her works have won a SFR Galaxy Award, and finaled in the Readers Favorite Award Contest and the Gulf Coast RWA Chapter Silken Sands Self-Published Star Award.

LINKS: Website