This blog is for those 18 and older.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Delicious Heroes and Their Spaceships: Tracy Cooper-Posey with a Giveaway!



Delicious Heroes and Their Spaceships

I have a reputation for writing paranormal romance that has a tendency to spontaneously combust.  Readers who are aware of that reputation sit back in their chairs and blink when they hear that I’ve published a story that doesn’t feature vampires or hot sex.

In fact, I write just as much non-vampiric fiction as I do the heated kind.  Most of the awards I’ve won, including a national writing award, were for romances that didn’t feature fangs.

I’m also an anal geek, who has been reading science fiction – the “straight” hard core stuff, since I was a teenager.  For years I ducked writing SF myself, because I was under the mistaken impression that a) women didn’t write successful SF, b) those that didn’t work in the sciences didn’t write SF and c) only those with advanced science degrees were taken seriously in the SF world.

Of course, that is all complete baloney.   In fact, the first science fiction story ever written was Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, who had neither a science background nor an advanced degree.

There’s a ton of science fiction out there not written by scientists.  Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica – any my latest obsession, The Expanse…there’s so much really great science fiction these days!

Then the romance world melded together romance with science fiction and came up with science fiction romance (SFR)--a new sub-genre that blends the best of both genres in a perfectly balanced mix.

Did I leap upon the new sub-genre with cries of joy?  Well, no.  It took me a few years of circling about the sub-genre and edging closer before I could get over my younger self’s inhibitions about writing SF.  Finally, I simply ran out of excuses, grit my teeth and leapt.  In November 2015, I published my first SFR novel:  Faring Soul.

I had a blast writing it.  I knew as soon as I’d finished the first book that I was going to write more.  Much more.

In January 2016, Faring Soul was given a SFR Galaxy Award for “Most Intriguing Philosophical/Social Science Questions in Galaxybuilding”, and in November this year I published my eighth SFR novel and have still more planned.

None of them, by the way, feature vampires or in-your-face sex, although the heroes are just as delicious.

The Interspace Origins series is the first SFR series I wrote, of which Faring Soul is Book 1.    For Christmas this year, I brought out the full series as a boxed set, Interspace Origins, which offers a 40% discount on the cost of buying all three books separately.

Follow the adventures of Catherine Shahrazad, possibly the oldest human in the known galaxy, and her gifted pilot, Bedivere X, as they return to Federation Space from the vast and unknown fringes. Cat’s history and her presence have caused riots in the past. What will happen this time? Why is Cat back?
Let yourself binge on this award-winning series.
Book 1:  Faring Soul
Book 2:  Varkan Rise
Book 3:  Cat and Company
___

Excerpt:

Two minutes later, Catherine dropped into the navigator chair that Bedivere usually used and let out a long heavy breath. She put the hard case on the console and patted it.

Bedivere, who was sitting in the pilot’s chair, looked up from the instrumentation and grinned. The laugh lines around his warm brown eyes crinkled. “So...it went about exactly the way we expected. We’ll be in clear space in three minutes, by the way.” His brown-gold hair glowed in the light emitted from the overhead console. The warm color was nothing like the muddy color of native Shantans.

Catherine leaned back so her head was resting on the headrest and blew out another breath. “Nothing ever comes easy,” she muttered.

“You wouldn’t like it if it did.”

She rolled her head to the side and looked at him. She was too tired to smile. “Despite the rhetoric that surrounds my much-maligned past, I happen to like the quiet life.”

Bedivere sat back as she was. “Liar. If you liked it that much, you would live quietly. I don’t remember the last time you stopped to smell the roses.”

“Too much to do,” she muttered, glancing at the case.

The silence stretched and she looked at him. Bedivere was studying the case, too. He caught her gaze and looked back at the case again. “Next stop is Federation space,” he pointed out. “If you really do want a quiet life, Cat, this is the time to shut down the engines and go mute. There won’t be any going back after this.”

“Of course we’re going,” she said sharply. “I haven’t spent seventeen years scraping together every last centavo the fringes could cough up just to go live on some ball somewhere and get even older.”

“We don’t have to do this. All we’ve lost right now is time and that’s an infinite resource. If we head into Federation space, then much more than time is at stake.”

Catherine sat up. “Getting cold feet, Bedivere?”

He shook his head. “I’m worried.” His voice was very quiet.
His voice was very quiet. Everything youre doing, everything you’ve done. It’s too much.”

Just shut up right there, she said sharply and spun the chair to face him properly. “Look,” she added, reaching for a reasonable voice and tone. Reason would always win out with Bedivere. Logic was the supreme argument. “I have to go back to the Federation, anyway.” She touched her hair, which was liberally streaked with grey. The red that had been a rich, deep color was now faded. “You understand the therapy even better than I do. You’ve read even more widely and you never forget anything. You know that rejuvenation revives more than the cellular structure. I’ll feel young again. I won’t be this cranky old woman who has seen too much, has wrinkles on her neck and aches in the morning when she gets out of bed. After, I’ll be sweet and reasonable and even more determined to see this through.”

He looked doubtful.

Catherine grimaced. Besides, its already too late.”

It is?

If we stay in the fringes, the Shantans will come after us with everything they’ve got. But they won’t pursue us into Federation space and risk their membership on the Board. So we have to go there. It’s the Federation or bust.”

Bedivere considered that, then nodded. As long as you’re not doing this for me.”

Dont be stupid, she said and turned the chair back to face the console, to prep for the gate jump. “Of course I’m doing this for you. What else are partners for?”

He didn’t argue anymore, because the ship was technically a four-man crew ship, so jump prep took all their combined attention and effort. But the little smile at the corner of his mouth didn’t go away.
___

Praise for the Interspace Origins series:

I know Tracy is a great writer but I was not much into science fiction. Well, now I am!!

I loved Catherine Shahrazad, who is a strong, in charge female.

I'm amazed by the creativity of not only the characters but the detail of sights, sound and interaction.

If you have read any of Tracy's other books you know what awaits you....sheer reading pleasure.

This is truly science fiction at its best.


Special draw for Happily Ever After Thoughts readers:

Leave a comment below, telling me why you like--or think you would like--science fiction romance.  I’ll draw a random winner, who will receive the complete boxed set.  If the winner has already bought the boxed set, I will refund the price.

Entries close on New Year’s Eve.  Winner  will be contacted directly by email and announced here, in 2017.
_____________

Tracy Cooper-Posey is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author.  She writes romantic suspense, paranormal, urban fantasy, futuristic and science fiction romances.  She has published over 75 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favorite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.
She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year and Byzantine Heartbreak was a 2012 winner.  Faring Soul won a SFR Galaxy Award in 2016 for “Most Intriguing Philosophical/Social Science Questions in Galaxybuilding”  She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.

She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian Canadian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.


21 comments:

  1. I enjoy Sci-fi romances... the creativity of the worlds and characters that we see come to life within their stories! The amazing journeys with romance and HEAs...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Colleen:

    Thanks for stopping by!

    The HEA ending really makes it, doesn't it?

    Cheers,

    t.

    ReplyDelete
  3. for the settings

    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'll start by saying I love all of Tracy's books, in my opinion she is incapable of writing a mediocre book. But when I learned she was going to write a story in my favorite genre, SFR, I WAS THRILLED. Well she didn't let me down. She wrote about about a fascinating world, filled with amazing characters. It was so good it won a SFR Galaxy Award. Since then I've made it a point to read all of her SF books and have all I can say is Wow. Thank you Tracy for bringing me along me back to my first love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Dina!

      Science Fiction and Romance are a great combination. The best of both worlds.

      t.

      Delete
  5. SFR is perhaps not my favourite genre, but I do read it on a regular basis. i.e. I read about 10-15 books per month and SFR is perhaps 2 or 3 of them. So it's not that I don't like it, it's not my preferred. However when it's written by Tracey Cooper-Posey it moves up quite a few notches.

    Terry (i.e. terpi@videotron.ca)

    ReplyDelete
  6. As an Avid Reader of Tracy her SFR have given me a solo Female in a Household of Male Testosterone environment an outlet for me to read SFR from a Woman's perspective and Tracy has delivered each time I've read through 1 of her Books I get lost in the Storyline each time I have been reading and I have been carried away with the way in which Tracy described a scene and the atmosphere each time....

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have read a few books in this genre. If it has a good romance involved, I read it.
    jwisley(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Joye -- yes, it's the romance that makes the difference, isn't it?

      Thanks!

      t.

      Delete
  8. HEY TCP I loved this series, I would really like to know more about them but I can understand if you need to be done with them. Please do not stop writing, what ever you want to write just please don't stop. Happy New year to you and yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there:

      Funny you should mentioning ending, etc. This Origins series is done, but I will be building a spin-off series (called, simply, Interspace), in 2017.

      Also, if you like this series, you might enjoy the Endurance series. First book is Greyson's Doom (and it just so happens, it's free on Instafreebie).

      So...lots more to come!

      t.

      Delete
  9. I have read science fiction since I first found Asimov and Heinlin (sic). Then I went to Poul Anderson and then the Xander series and branched out further. Your excerpt sounds intriguing. Always looking for new series, as long as they are not cliff hanger serials. Will look for Greyson's Doom when I leave here. Good luck to me. TTYL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Marcia:

      Thanks for stopping by. It sounds like you started off reading the hard SF to begin, too.

      Good, fun stuff!

      t.

      Delete
  10. I'm Ingrid and I'm an avid fan of all Tracy Cooper-Posey's writing: more recently I read her SFR as she released them and discovered I love them too! Previous to that I hadn't read SF since I read Asimov 20 years ago!
    The thought-provoking environments and situations of the SFR books are a fantastic backdrop for Cooper-Posey's complex characters and their intriguing interactions and romance.
    Totally addicted and awaiting any new series plus I love the Endurance series too.
    Cheers, IngSav

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ingrid!

      Thanks for stopping by. There's so much good SF out there now -- it's come a long way since Asimov!

      Cheers,

      t.

      Delete
  11. For me SF is very "visual" so I prefer either movies (Star Trek, Star Wars)or as an audio play on the radio (Isaac Asimov). That's why the only SF books I've read till now were Frank Herbert's Dune and Tracy's The Endurance series. All those scientific facts and ideas are wonderful, but a touch of human feelings, not just thinking and fighting to survive, is always necessary for a good and memorable story. That's why I really enjoy reading Tracy's books.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there -- if you like the Endurance series, you should enjoy Interspace Origins!

      Cheers,

      t.

      Delete