Showing posts with label Hero-Dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hero-Dogs. Show all posts

Monday, November 6, 2017

GUEST: Pauline Baird Jones


Merriam-Webster defines paranormal as “not scientifically explainable,” with its first known use in print occurring in 1905. If you click on their time travel option, well, I got a big cluster of words, but the one that jumped out at me was “moondust.

I’m not sure exactly how, but the connection of both these words appearing in print for the first time in 1905 feels important. And not scientifically explainable.

When my first “not scientifically explainable” book was published and slotted into paranormal, I might have been a little surprised. I’ve since made my peace with the idea that what I write can’t be explained by currently known science. (Something my high school chemistry teacher knew after my first test in his class.)

For me, that’s the fun of reading and writing paranormal and science fiction romance. Some of my early reads, the ones that delighted my heart and my mind, were not explainable by any means. Because they couldn’t be explained, they set my imagination free.

Inside my head, I could go anywhere and be anyone.

But paranormal romance, in my humble opinion, is the ultimate in not scientifically explainable fun. Turn on your reader or open a book and you can be mystified, scared half out of your wits, or intrigued without ever leaving home (a plus for this hermit), and if it gets too intense, you step away until its light.

My personal favorite is time travel, and I’ve taken mine well past scientifically explainable. Lol It is certainly a “power” that you wouldn’t want just anyone to have access to because we all know power tends to corrupt. So what happens if a group starts a benevolent project to “fix” time and of course, goes off road? Who do you call to fight back?

I’m sure your first answer wouldn’t be a sentient parrot named Sir Rupert. But it should be. Here’s a snippet from my short story, Time Trap, from Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2:

According to their intel source, the mole had been, or was here on this outpost right now, only in another time. Dwelling on him being here, but not here, made her head hurt. She worked better without a headache. The science said that because all of time was aligned somehow—blah, blah, complicated equation—there were echoes, that these echoes could bleed through both time and space. There were certain species that could perceive these echoes. Wasn’t it a nice coincidence that Sir Rupert was one of those species?
All they had to do was get in, let him look around, and leave without getting captured or wiped out of existence by the Time Service.
Easy peasy.
In other words, just another day—or millennium—in the Rebellion.

About Time Trap:

Hiding in time is not as easy as you’d think…
USAF Engineer Master Sergeant Briggs—only his mother called him by his first name—is not enjoying his birthday. A year older and ordered to recuperate on a quiet bay away from the Garradian outpost, he’s ready to mutiny and go back to his beloved engines. When his friends send him a gift from Area 51, he figures it will relieve his boredom for an hour or so.
Until he turns it on and he gets his second present of the day.
Madison, and her parrot partner, Sir Rupert, are on the track of a traitor to the Rebellion when they time travel into a trap. Their only way out is via an old transport pad, but instead of sending them somewhere, it sends them back in time. Straight into the arms of the one man who could kick her tires and light her fires.
She would like to get to know the handsome engineer, but the trouble following her can get people erased from existence. The fact he’s a hero, like her lost brother, just makes her want to protect him more.
Briggs doesn’t trust time travelers—with good reason—but now he has to work with the unlikely pair because trouble is coming. Trouble that puts an outpost filled with geeks and ancient technology at risk. It’s not the first time he’s worked with a woman to save the universe, but it’s the first time he’s wanted to keep her for himself.
If only she were a little older…
With a Time Service Interdiction Force on their heels, can the three craft a plan that will save a base full of geniuses and technology and get them the happy ending they deserve?


You can read Time Trap and the other eleven stories of USA Today bestseller, Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2—but not forever. This is a limited time release. AND for a limited time (until Nov 11, 2017), when you buy Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, you’re also helping Hero Dogs. The authors of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 are donating 10% of the first month’s sales to Hero Dogs. Hero Dogs raises and trains service dogs and places them free of charge with US Veterans to improve quality of life and restore independence.



You can grab your copy here: books2read.com/u/3L9aYM

The creative minds of today’s leading SFR authors have joined forces to bring readers 12 amazing, never before released original Science Fiction Romance stories all in one place – Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2! Join New York Times, USA TODAY, and Award-winning authors as they share stories and help out Hero-Dogs.org, a charity that supports our veterans!

Did you miss the first Pets in Space? Buy a copy of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 and email your receipt to getmybookoutthere@gmail.com.for your free copy of A Mate for Matrix by S.E. Smith and to pauline@paulinebjones.com to get free copies of Star Cruise: Stowaway by Veronica Scott and The Real Dragon by Pauline Baird Jones. (If you’ve already read The Real Dragon, send your receipt anyway to get an alternate free offer from Pauline!)


Pauline never liked reality, so she writes books. She likes to wander among the genres, rampaging like Godzilla, because she does love peril mixed in her romance. You can find her online here:





Friday, November 3, 2017

GUEST: Carol Van Atta

Telepathy and Pets in the Far Future
by 
Carol Van Natta

In my Central Galactic Concordance space opera series (shhhh—don’t tell my male readers it’s science fiction romance), humans of the future are evolving “minder” talents. The talents fall into three categories: patterner, telepathy, and telekinesis. These categories were developed by the Citizen Protection Service, a sprawling government agency with several missions, some darker than others.

Patterners include forecasters, who can see patterns in disparate data and predict the future; filers, who have photographic memories for everything; and finders, who can see patterns in disparate data that point to key information.

Telepathy variants telepaths (i.e., read minds), empaths (read and affect emotions), shielders, twisters, and cleaners. The latter two are scary—they can alter memories or erase them altogether, with subject being none the wiser. Shielders can block telepaths from intruding, and even temporarily shut them down.

Telekinesis variants include basic tekes, healers, and animal affinity. The last one is the ability to work with various types of animals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles.


In my story “Pet Trade,” in the Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 anthology, Bethnee Bakonin is a frontier-planet veterinarian who is also a rare, pan-phyla animal affinity minder. She also escaped her dark past in the shady pet trade industry. Whereas the government has strict laws and harsh penalties against tinkering with human genetics and DNA, animals aren't so lucky. Pet-trade researchers and genetic engineers designers breed whatever they think will sell.

Axur Tragon is an ex-elite forces Jumper with cybernetic limbs and several secrets. One of Axur's pets is a chimera, a designer's fantasy with about the size of a German Shepherd, but the resemblance ends there. He has black and brown stripes in his short, sleek fur, six legs and two tails with tufts of fur on the ends. He is, as Axur puts it, "a prime example of what the anti-pet trade activists railed against: tinkering with Terran genetics to create whimsical life forms that would have never survived in the wild, much less natural selection."


Here's a snippet from "Pet Trade," where Bethnee examines Kivo for the first time.

     Axur turned his attention back to Kivo. “Why did they create him at all?”
     She shrugged. “Pretend alien fauna for the wealthy, maybe? It’s a fad.” She stroked the large hump of Kivo’s middle shoulder joints. “The bio-engineers actually got the six legs to work, but the rest of him is a fantasy hodgepodge.” She snorted disdainfully. “Two tails.” She rested her hip against the table and eased the weight off her stiffer leg.
     “He follows me everywhere. He keeps the peace among the other animals, too.” He tilted his head. “Can animals be empaths? I think he tries to cheer me up sometimes.” It sounded daft after he said it out loud, so he was grateful she didn’t laugh.
     “Maybe? Medical scientists still don’t know what combination of DNA and subtrans amino arrays make the difference between human minders and non-minders, or even the gender expression continuum. Who’s to say that animals aren’t evolving along with us?”

Read more in “Pet Trade,” one of twelve stories in the Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 anthology. An elite forces veteran crash lands on a frontier planet with a cargo full of designer pets and must seek the help of a talented, but damaged veterinarian to help him save them.

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 your copy of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 and help support Hero Dogs:


About the Author: USA Today bestselling author Carol Van Natta writes science fiction and fantasy, including the award-winning Central Galactic Concordance space opera series, paranormal romance, and retro SF comedy. She loves interacting readers on her website (Author.CarolVanNatta.com) and on Facebook, https://facebook.com/CarolVanNattaAuthor.