Happy Star Wars Day!

 Yes, it's once again time to greet one another with that time-honored greeting: May the Fourth be with you!

I've been thinking A LOT about Star Wars lately--episodes 4 through 6--the ONLY episodes that exist in my world. Because they're so beautifully plotted. Individually they each follow a standard 3 act format, but TOGETHER--they also follow a standard 3 act format. Which is a technique I'm TOTALLY borrowing for my current project; a long neglected story I've titled Love Among the Runes, which features a city cop who's been accidentally possessed by the spirit of an ancient Norse god. 

I'm planning on releasing the first act (AKA the first story in the trilogy) in August and I'm soooo freaking excited about it! 

Here's a little sneak peek. 

What do a Norse god, a Dixie cup and a hot blonde have in common? They're all instruments of one man's destruction.

 

Meet Officer CJ Maclaine, currently serving a life sentence as vassal to the Norse god Loki. For the past fifteen years, CJ has had one goal in life: find a way to free himself from the trouble-making god who's been making his life a living Hel. 

 

But when he finds himself suspected of murder, and it looks like the next victim might be his partner, CJ realizes there are worse ways to go through life than with a deity on speed-dial.

Book One: The Serpent Sigil

Officer CJ Maclaine is having a rough week. He's managed to piss off nearly everybody he knows--including his commanding officer, his partner, her brothers AND his favorite bartender. Worse yet, the bully who'd tormented him when they were both kids has just crashed back into his life--and is looking for a handout. 

And that's all before the demigod who's taken up residence in CJ's head discovers the dark web and starts using it to trade in cryptocurrencies and illegal drugs.

Some days it really doesn't pay to get out of bed.

Read an excerpt HERE

"TALK NERDY TO ME!" - Celebrate Nerd Pride Day with Here Be Magic

Since 2006, May 25 has been designated as Nerd Pride Day. In honor of this auspicious occasion, we asked everyone at Here Be Magic: "Tell us something nerdy about you..." 

Read on as our authors reveal their innermost geek!

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"Being a nerd is about feeling an intense adoration of a topic that inspires you to gather knowledge or paraphernalia far beyond the extent of the average fan. To wit, I have a billion pieces of vintage clothing that don’t even fit, all because I love vintage clothing. If that’s not nerdy in its own way…what is? 

Note: I am not a hoarder otherwise, only with regards to my nerdly hobbies. 
Also note: cats don’t count in the “not a hoarder” category. I have six." 

~ Jody Wallace, www.jodywallace.com 

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"Do I have to do "just one", asked the giant nerd? I mean, c’mon, I’m a software tester in my day job, a general technophile, and a lifelong fan of multiple SF/F authors and media properties. I can yammer on for hours about Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, the MCU, Mac vs. PC, iOS vs. Android, and the minutae of worldbuilding in the Tolkien legendarium. 

Especially Tolkien.

Come to think of it, that may be my answer right there. ;D" 

~ Angela Korra'ti, www.angelahighland.com

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Nicole Luiken is an avid reader AKA a bookworm. Instead of bringing a towel with her wherever she goes à la Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, she brings a book to read, usually of the SF/Fantasy variety. The best way to lure her away from her books is with a Board Game Night.

~ Nicole Luiken, www.nicoleluiken.com

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"I took a minor voice-acting role in a not-for-profit fan-made Doctor Who audio play. (I won an audition against pros and everything!)"

~ Shawna Reppert
www.shawna-reppert.com

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"My personal nerdiness is on full display in my writing office. There's a figurine of Cerberus, the 3-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld, with various faeries and dragons to keep him company. My collection of Ray Bradbury sci-fi novels has a place of honor among rows of books on myths and legends and the paranormal. You'll see a signed photo from a Klingon cosplayer, a poster of demon-hunter detective Constantine, plus my vendor's booth banner and a couple of ID cards from the last comicon I attended. Not to mention the fully articulated wolf head that my hubs wore at said comicon...

Why yes, those ARE Marvel action figures standing around my keyboard. I use them to act out scenes in my stories – honest!" 

~ Dani Harper, www.daniharper.com

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"I love to dress up in Victorian/steampunk clothes and go to museums, festivals, and anywhere I can, with as many like-minded friends as possible."

~ Cindy Spencer Pape

www.cindyspencerpape.com

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"I'm sure there I have multiple nerdy habits in addition to my lifelong bookworm obsession. I'm sharing my latest obsession—the Supernatural television show. Last year I binged the seasons with my daughters (their second time through) and we've been to the convention twice. 

I impatiently wait for my Thursday night fix with, "The Boys", plus I have several Supernatural t-shirts that I wear with pride as if I am a Hunter waiting for Sam and Dean." 

~ Maureen L Bonatch, www.maureenbonatch.com

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"I’m in my 60s, and a grandmother. But that doesn’t stop me from flaunting my SUPERNATURAL t-shirt, my DR. WHO wallet, or whatever else I want to show off. My office is my nerdy paradise, with everything from a Superman doll, Phantom of the Opera artwork, X-Files paraphernalia, and my beloved bobblehead Groot. 

"When people comment on my stuff, I proudly tell them, “You’re never too old to be a nerd!”

~ Linda Mooney, www.lindamooney.com

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Our very own Veronica Scott in the soundbooth
during the creation of a Star Trek audiobook. 
https://www.amazon.com/City-Edge-Forever/dp/B01H47NKNU/

"I grew up watching the original Star Trek every week with my younger brother. There are no words for how cool we thought the show was. So I think my proudest nerd/geek moment might be the fact that I am now an actual  “Star Trek” Red Shirt Security Officer – I got to play one in the 2016 official audiobook of the Harlan Ellison original script for ‘The City on the Edge of Forever.’ That was one of my very favorite episodes back in the day, although there are quite a few major differences between the show that was broadcast at the time and the original Ellison script. My character for one thing LOL.  

"I only had seven words of dialogue in the audiobook BUT I said them to Kirk, with Spock standing next to us (in the teleplay script – sadly audiobooks are not usually recorded with a full cast all at one time, so I did my seven words alone in a booth but still….). I got to sign the title page of the script next to all the famous real actors, which was a thrill and I will forever be an official member of the Enterprise crew. And the best part is that my Red Shirt character doesn’t die!"

~ Veronica Scott, www.veronicascott.wordpress.com

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Now it's YOUR turn! Tell us one of your nerdy secrets! And on June 2, three lucky commenters will be drawn at random by the Rafflecopter. Two will win an adorable mini Millennium Falcon BOOK LIGHT! And one will win this Doctor Who travel bag!

(Must be a legal resident of the US and over 18 to enter. Winners will be announced in the comments on this post, in the Rafflecopter box, and in the Here Be Magic  Here Be News feature of the blog. Email addresses will NOT be disclosed.)

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In honor of Valentine's Day week, my favorite fictional couples!

On Goodreads this month, because of Valentine’s Day, I received an author question asking me who my favorite fictional couple was. And since said holiday was this past Tuesday, I thought I’d make my post on Here Be Magic today an expanded version of my answer to that question!

So here you all go, in no particular order, my list of ten of my favorite fictional couples:

#1:

Heroine: Luthien Tinuviel

Hero: Beren

Source: The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Why I like them: Because they are a shining example of a romance in which both involved parties actively contribute to the story. In particular, I love that Luthien takes on no less than Morgoth himself, the biggest bad in Middle-Earth EVER, to save her man.

#2:

Heroine: Sira di Sarc

Hero: Jason Morgan

Source: A Thousand Words for Stranger, by Julie E. Czerneda

Why I like them: This was the Czerneda book that made me fall in love with this woman’s writing, and decide that she was the writer I wanted to write like when I grew up. The story starts with the “captain with a heart of gold takes on mysterious stowaway” trope and I’m a sucker for that. Once the truly staggering strength of Sira’s telepathic gifts is revealed, I adore how Jason does not flinch from standing at her side.

#3:

Heroine: Amelia P. Emerson

Hero: Emerson

Source: The entire Amelia Peabody series, by Elizabeth Peters

Why I like them: Because Amelia is a parasol-wielding force of nature, because Emerson is adorably gruff, and because I love how every scene-closing cry from Amelia of “Oh, Emerson!” is totally code for “and then sex was on”. ;D Plus I love their mutual proposal to one another at the end of Book 1, and Amelia’s assertion that “I embroider very badly. I think I would excavate very well.”

#4:

Heroine: Nefret

Hero: Ramses Emerson

Source: ALSO the entire Amelia Peabody series, by Elizabeth Peters

Why I like them: Because I adore how the series outlines the developing relationship between these two characters, from when they meet as children (and Nefret is established as the only living creature capable of making Ramses shut up) clear up to when they finally declare love for one another. He Shall Thunder in the Sky, when that climactic resolution finally happens, is one of my very favorite books in the entire series.

#5:

Heroine: Isabella, Lady Trent

Hero: Suhail

Source: The Memoirs of Lady Trent series, by Marie Brennan

Why I like them: The dynamic between these two had strong callbacks for me to the aforementioned Amelia and Emerson, in no small part because what draws them together is mutual interest in science. Also, their mutual interest in science is all about dragons! Which is awesome. +1 as well for Suhail coming from an Arabic-analogue culture, which makes him a hero of color.

#6:

Heroine: Marion Ravenwood

Hero: Indiana Jones

Source: The Indiana Jones movies, but in particular, Raiders of the Lost Ark

Why I like them: There are REASONS Raiders of the Lost Ark is my all time favorite movie. But the ones that are pertinent to this list is the crackling chemistry between Indy and Marion all throughout the movie, starting with how she greets him with a punch to the jaw. Also, Harrison Ford.

#7:

Heroine: Leia Organa

Hero: Han Solo

Source: The Star Wars movies, but in particular, The Empire Strikes Back

Why I like them: See previous commentary re: mmmmmm Harrison Ford mmmmmmm. Also every single one of their scenes together in Empire. <3 “I’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee!” “I can arrange that!”

#8:

Heroine: Lois Lane

Hero: Clark Kent/Superman

Source: Multiple adaptations in TV and movies, but in particular, Christopher Reeves’ original Superman movie, the 90’s TV show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and the WB Superman, Batman, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited cartoons

Why I like them: Because all my favorite implementations of Lois stay true to her core as a fearless reporter, and all my favorite implementations of Clark/Supes uphold his inherent heroism. And when they’re thrown together, their feelings for one another are radiant. Of my three favorite Superman adaptations, I’m most partial to Lois and Clark, because Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain spent all of season 1 being adorable cinnamon rolls at each other. <3

#9:

Heroine: Buffy Summers

Hero: Angel

Source: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Why I like them: Because Buffy and Angel were delicious, delicious angst. “Ohnoez they can never actually be together” (for values of ‘be together’ meaning ‘actually have sex’) “because Angel will turn evil!” And, of course, they went there, which leads to one of Buffy’s most badass moments at the end of season 2 and arguably in the entire series.

#10:

Heroine: Dana Scully

Hero: Fox Mulder

Source: The X-Files

Why I like them: Because through so much of the early seasons of the show, they took the time to set up deep working trust between these two characters. So when we finally got signs that the relationship was turning romantic, it felt like a logical progression to me. I could argue for hours about how the relationship has played out since then—but for purposes of this post, I’ll simply say that Mulder and Scully: yep, I ship it.

How about the rest of you? Tell me about your favorite fictional couples in the comments!

-----

Angela may not be a romance writer, but she is absolutely a romantic sucker and has love stories in both her urban fantasy Free Court of Seattle series (written as Angela Korra'ti) and the high fantasy trilogy Rebels of Adalonia (written as Angela Highland). If you've read her books, come tell her which characters you ship at angelahighland.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter! And if you haven't read her books, she invites you to start. ;D

RIP Carrie Fisher 1956-2016

2016 has been a very rough year for a lot of us, for a great variety of reasons. Quite a few of those in particular have applied to me, to be sure. But this week 2016 just had to get in one last punch—one that hits home hard for me—because this is the week we’ve lost Carrie Fisher.

I have a post up on my own site about this, over here. But in this post I want to expound a bit upon what Ms. Fisher as Leia Organa has meant for me, not only as a female fan of science fiction and fantasy, but also as a female writer of same.

Certainly if you’ve seen my prior posts here on Here Be Magic, you know I’ve posted about my love of Star Wars before. Last month, in fact, I posted about what I was looking forward to with Rogue One (and, if you want to see my review of that movie now that I’ve actually seen it, go check this post on my site). One of the things I touched on in my review of that movie was how it brought everything I loved about Star Wars roaring back to life.

And with Carrie Fisher’s passing, that resurgence in me has taken on a bittersweet tang.

Like a lot of women my age in SF/F fandom, Leia Organa was iconic. She was the very first woman I can remember rooting for in a science fiction setting. As Star Wars is the first movie I can remember seeing in a theater, Leia is the first woman I remember being able to identify with. I have memories of wanting the Leia action figure, when my brothers and I got hold of Star Wars toys, wanting to be as cool as the Luke and Han figures were.

It took a while for other women to measure up. The closest I got was perhaps Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark, four years later. As I got older and started devouring books and other SF/F things like cartoons, I kept wanting to identify with the women: Sheba, Serena, Cassiopeia, and Athena in the original Battlestar Galactica. Princess in Battle of the Planets. Lisa Hayes in Robotech. Cheetara in Thundercats. Judy in Lost in Space.

Then I got a little older and discovered Laura Holt of Remington Steele, and Nikki Carter, the one awesome female character in MacGyver.

In books, it was all about Lessa in The Dragonriders of Pern, Brin Ohmsford in The Wishsong of Shannara, and of course Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings. And once I hit high school and discovered the novels of Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters, I started meeting so many wonderful heroines in her works.

And I could of course write many, many posts on all the female characters in Elfquest who have meant so much to me, both as a reader and as a writer.

All of these characters have been wonderful in their own ways, have brought joy to me as a reader, and have influenced my own sensibilities on how I should write my own female characters.

But every last one of them owes a debt to Princess Leia. She was the first. She was the one who showed me that even if you had to put up with being imprisoned by the Empire and waiting for a big-eyed farmboy to come break you out of your cell, that didn’t mean you had to be meek and shy about it. You had every right to grab a blaster and shoot Stormtroopers just like the guys.

And under no circumstances did you have to take any shit from smart-mouthed, disreputable smugglers. (Even if they were maddeningly hot.)

In The Force Awakens last year, we saw that very same Princess become a General. And now that I’m older, I have a whole new wave of feelings about that—because this Leia, this older, wiser woman who has suffered heartbreak and loss and who has never once stepped back from her ongoing quest to safeguard the galaxy, is every bit as much of a role model as her younger self. General Organa shows us all that yes, women can be generals. Women can lead a Rebellion that becomes a Resistance. Women have a place in the story even when they’re no longer conventionally pretty, or thin, or young. That message is just as valuable to almost-48-year-old me as the message of the young Leia was to me at age 8.

I love both Leias. And when Episode VIII comes out next year and I see General Organa on screen for the last time, I’m sure I’m going to cry for then as I am now.

RIP, General. Thank you for the joy you’ve brought so many women who came to SF/F because of you.

May the Force be with you always.

--
Angela writes as both Angela Highland and Angela Korra'ti, and as ought to be obvious by now, is also a gigantic Star Wars nerd. Come geek out with her about Rogue One on angelahighland.com, or her Facebook page, or her Twitter!

Star Wars for Christmas? Why yes I WILL have some

Between the election and the start of the holiday season, we’ve been stresspuppies in my household. So given that our blog is fond of romance and SF/F and often the two of them together, I clearly need to divert myself from both of those contentious topics by sounding off about space opera for a bit.

And by space opera, I mean Star Wars!

Christmas means a lot of things to a lot of people, of course—but to me and my beloved, it’s one of the quieter holidays of the year. Since I live a great distance from my family and air travel is not really an option for me these days, my wife and I usually spend that particular holiday on dinner and a movie. Last year, the movie was The Force Awakens (and if you’re one of the five people on the planet who hasn’t actually seen this movie yet, fair warning, my post I’m linking to IS chock fulla spoilers).

This year, I’ll say right out, I’m looking forward to yet another Star Wars movie to enjoy. I’ve been trying very, very hard to avoid too many news items and spoilers and even trailers about Rogue One, as I want to go in as unbiased as possible. Because it ain’t like I’m not going to see the film—so I figured it’d be nice to be as surprised as possible when I get there.

Still, though, this is a Star Wars movie we’re talking about here, so avoiding tidbits about it is nigh impossible. I have picked up on some small number of things. So first, here are a couple of said things that make me a little twitchy about the movie:

1. Wait WHAT John Williams isn’t doing the score? WHAT MADNESS IS THIS? Okay, I’ll be grudgingly willing to buy this if Williams is busy working on scoring Episode VIII… but it’s going to be weird watching a Star Wars film that doesn’t have his music involved.
2. There’s no opening title crawl?! That’ll be almost as weird!

(Source for these two items: this article over on The Mary Sue.)

But really, these two items are outnumbered by what does have my interest, namely:

1. Jyn Erso! Another female-led Star Wars story! Looking forward to getting to know this heroine!
2. Alan Tudyk, best known to all Browncoats as Wash, voicing the droid K-2SO.
3. The return of Darth Vader.
4. Getting to see Bail Organa on camera, and appreciating the continuity of having the same actor that played him in the prequel trilogy. I’m going to be VERY curious as to whether this’ll mean we might get a glimpse of Young Leia.
5. Ditto for Mon Mothma! Due to my history as a roleplayer on Star Wars MUSH and another Star Wars-themed game called Galaxy, I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for this character as an established female leader of the Rebellion, and later of the New Republic.
6. What promises to be a nice mix of diverse faces in the cast, in addition to a female lead role.
7. Seeing more of what the new canon timeline is going to fill in between Episodes 1-3 and Episodes 4-6. While I know a lot of Star Wars fandom was very upset about the relegating of the Expanded Universe to non-canon status, and while I myself am a bit sad about that, I’m still quite intrigued both as an author and as a fan to see what new possibilities are going to unfold with the new tales to come!

What about the rest of you out there? Any other Star Wars fans in the house? Who’ll be seeing Rogue One over the December holidays and what are you looking forward to about the movie? Sound off in the comments!

—
Angela, in addition to being a giant Star Wars nerd, writes as both Angela Highland and Angela Korra’ti. Come say hi to her (and geek out about Star Wars if you like) on angelahighland.com, or follow her on Facebook or Twitter!

Sci-Fi Week: Battle of the Franchises? No thanks, I'll pass!

Unless you’re living under a very, VERY big rock, you’re aware that we’ve now got the first Star Wars movie we’ve had in decades in the theaters. To all initial reports, it even appears to be good. My wife and I are pretty amused at the number of early reviews we’ve seen along the lines of “everybody relax, it doesn’t suck!”

This post, however, is not going to be about the new movie, although it IS still going to be about Star Wars!

Because I’ve also seen quite a few posts and videos and such going around the net this past week, all along the theme of “this is why Star Wars is the best franchise ever”. In particular, I’ve seen a post that put Star Wars up against Lord of the Rings, and I’ve seen a video that puts it up against Star Trek. Both faceoffs are certainly clashes of titans, and the kind of post fodder guaranteed to get geeks defending the honor of whichever franchise is their favorite.

“What’s your take, then?” I might hear you asking.

Easy. I embrace the power of and. I love Star Wars and Star Trek and Lord of the Rings.

Oh, sure, I have often different reasons for loving all of them. Those reasons may even be different on different days for the same franchise, because people are allowed to be complicated creatures and full of contradictions!

Allow me to elucidate with a small sampling of why I love all three of these franchises.

Why I love Star Wars:

1. Two words: Harrison. Ford.
2. John Williams’ soundtrack.
3. To this day, I remember eight-year-old-ish me laying eyes on that gigantic Star Destroyer at the beginning of A New Hope. Formative movie influence on me, like so many other geeks my age.
4. Han’s love for the Millennium Falcon led me right into instant affection for Mal’s love of Serenity in Firefly! Because I mean honestly, Mal really is Han 2.0, isn’t he?
5. And did I mention Harrison Ford? Because he warrants mentioning twice. :D

Why I love Star Trek:

1. Three words: James. Tiberius. Kirk.
2. The way my heart lifts every time I hear “Space: the final frontier” and the horns kicking in under those iconic words.
3. I adore the whole core concept of Trek, which for me is “space is AMAZING, let’s go look at it and discover new life forms and civilizations and make friends with them”. I love the inherent optimism of that, and I frequently feel that we could use more of that optimism in all of our lives.
4. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, at least in the original series (the reboot movies aren’t doing it for me, not yet), are the threefold heart and soul of the cast. I regularly go back and rewatch that series, and the best parts for me are the parts that emphasize how these three characters all love and respect one another.
5. Uhura! Our lady of communications! Who is also a musician! How can I not love her?

Why I love Lord of the Rings:

1. Tolkien’s masterful works, as I’ve posted before, are a huge influence on me as both a reader and a writer.
2. I can rewatch the Lord of the Rings movies yearly and feel like I’m coming home.
3. Howard Shore’s masterful score.
4. Every single time I hear Annie Lennox sing “Into the West”, tears start streaming down my face.
5. Four words: Aragorn, son of Arathorn.

At the end of the day, though, what all of these franchises have in common for me is that they’ve all delivered me excellent storytelling, compelling characters, music that lifts my spirit, and worlds I believe in every time I visit them. To ask me to say that one is better than the other is like asking me to choose a one true flavor of ice cream. Dude, it’s ice cream. It’s all delicious!

All that said? That eight-year-old kid in me who went all wide-eyed in awe at the first sight of a Star Destroyer is now totally shrieking OMG OMG NEW STAR WARS OMG OMG OMG CAN WE GO SEE IT YET?

Hang in there, eight-year-old me. We’ll be going to see that movie soon enough. And Trek and Lord of the Rings will keep being there for us too!

So talk to me, everybody, and tell me what your favorite movie franchise is and why you love it so! (And if you’ve already seen The Force Awakens, this is a SPOILER-FREE ZONE, so please, no spoilers in the comments! I won’t be seeing the movie until Christmas Day! You wouldn't want to make Han cranky, would you?)

--
Angela is a hybrid author who writes as both Angela Korra'ti and Angela Highland, and she is also a gigantic geek. You can find her and everything you'd like to know about her books on angelahighland.com, or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Nerdgasms: A Smorgasbord of Science Fiction Delights

It couldn’t be a better time to be a sci-fi nerd. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the long-awaited seventh movie in the franchise, opens this week, Doctor Who is going strong and the annual Christmas special airs on Christmas Day, the X Files returns in January, and a third Star Trek reboot movie is in the offing. Not to mention the plethora of Marvel and DC TV shows and movies that just keep coming. (Though I’m sure some will argue that comics aren’t “true” science fiction. And those people can argue that until they’re blue in the face—like Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan or Dr. Manhattan.)

I just binge-watched Jessica Jones, which I highly recommend, and I was psyched to see that Luke Cage is getting his own Netflix show in April. And I’m pretty sure I actually yelled “OMG, WHAT IS HAPPENING ON MY TELEVISION?” when I saw the previews for Legends of Tomorrow during last week’s Flash/Arrow crossover and saw that Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams from Doctor Who) was playing Rip Hunter.

I’ve always been a science fiction fan. I grew up with Star Trek, almost literally—I’m exactly 17 days older than the original series—and was one of those kids who saw the first Star Wars movie repeatedly when it first aired in theaters. I watched every possible science fiction show and movie I could find on our little six-channel, no-cable black-and-white television, gobbled up every science fiction book in the library, and started writing science fiction stories for extra credit in sixth grade.

One might expect that lo, these many years later, I’d be busy scribbling away on my own science fiction novels. But I’ve never written one, and I have no plans to do so. For some reason, science fiction writing (outside of those short stories in sixth grade) has never come naturally to me. The stories that always find their way out of my head are fantasy, with a liberal dose of romance. I suspect that somewhere along the way, I absorbed the messages girls are bombarded with that science fiction isn’t our domain, no matter how much we love it. Little by little, though, Hollywood is beginning to realize that women love science fiction just as much as men, and stronger female characters, like Jessica Jones, are becoming more common.

Nonetheless, those stories I loved growing up made an indelible impression on me, and I couldn’t be more excited about the resurgence of some of my favorite shows and characters. To me, science fiction and fantasy are two sides of the same coin, anyway, so I don’t make a huge distinction between my love for the X Files and my fangirling over Tom Mison’s eyebrow in Sleepy Hollow. ;) As long as there’s a little romance in all of them, I’m happy.

Which sci-fi premiere are you most looking forward to? Tell me in the comments and I'll choose one commenter at random to win a copy of my latest release. While it isn’t science fiction (unless you count the science of relocating nature spirits from the old world to the new), The Lost Coast is out today.

"This gothic-inspired modern romance is built on a supernatural base that drips with intrigue, mystery and some deliciously dark humor." ★★★★ — RT Book Reviews

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Busting Cosmic Dust Bunnies

In space, no one can hear you sneeze. Of course, I don’t recommend leaning out of the airlock while sweeping dust bunnies into the void. Parts of you might freeze or boil—are we actually clear on what happens when you lean into a vacuum? I just looked it up and…really gross things happen to bodies exposed to a vacuum. Apparently the lack of pressure lowers the boiling point of your blood, so it does that and then explodes out of all the surrounding tissue. Awesome.

That’s not what I wanted to write about.

Have you ever wondered how we’ll go about spring cleaning in space? The ship that your crew has been zipping about in is going to collect a lot of dust, even with all the hatches sealed and locked. Skin particles, hair, whatever the engineer picked out of his nose and flicked behind the power core when he thought no one was looking. The stuffing from that suspiciously Klingon-featured teddy bear that is just a keepsake. Powdered rations spilled and not properly cleaned up. The residue in the pipes leading to the water recycler.

Oh, God. I don’t even want to think about what else is in the water recycler. I bet that engineer pees in the shower, too. Then again, he might as well. All the water in his ship probably funnels to the same place, and the filters on that unit will need a regular cleaning.

I suppose you might land once in a while, throw open all the hatches and get the brooms out. Flush the tanks, take a risk on the local water. But what if your craft isn’t equipped for atmospheric reentry. It’s the bargain model—sleek enough to skip from star to star without too much hassle, not quite robust enough to actually land anywhere. Or…what if spring on Planet Bazooka is the season of the tank crab? Militant buggers the size of a Mini Cooper that like to scuttle through open cargo hatches and have crab babies on your just swept floor?

There’s got to be a better way to bust cosmic dust bunnies.

I thought about sonic cleaners, but they just loosen the dust and grime. It’s still there, just no longer attached to whatever you were cleaning. It might also be pulverized, but still part of the universe. Ultra violet light can be used to disinfect the dust, but the dust is still there. The fact is, that unless you have a handy, pocket sized black hole, whatever you bring onto your ship is going to stay on your ship until you take it off again. That’s, like, a law of physics or something. So, while we might be able to clean smudges off the shiny bits with newfangled solvents and tech, we still have your nail clippings and sloughed skin to do away with. Eventually, all that dust is going to make the place smell a bit, maybe tickle a sinus or two. And every time you sneeze, more stuff is going to enter your closed and fetid atmosphere—unless you’re leaning out of an airlock at the time.

I have come up with a solution. We could install vacuum ports. Program a sequence, hit a switch and a tidy (short and tidy, we want to be able to breathe afterward) current sucks anything loose toward a vent in the floor, through a duct and into a collection chamber. The chamber can then be vented outside (space dust!) or, for the environmentally conscious, emptied in a responsible manner. Um…incarnated at a station, then turned into space dust? Compacted and…burned? Mixed with the sludge from your water recycling unit and served in the staff cafeteria? Used to stuff upholstery? Ideally, we could find a way to turn it into fuel. Yeah, I like that.

Small animals (fur emitting, litter busting, flea bags!) should be kept away from vents during operation. Toes, fingers and other delicate naked bits shouldn’t get too close to the vents, ever. You don’t want to lose a testicle if someone accidentally starts the cleaning cycle. Likewise, any keepsakes should be kept strapped down. A blocked vent will not effectively clean a room.

It’s not a perfect system, but I’m open to suggestions. How would you go about spring cleaning in space?

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

On the Chaos, the crew play poker for pennies and chores. Loser cleans the bathrooms and Felix is the worst poker player in the galaxy. He's also not that dedicated to cleanliness. Probably a good thing they have a doctor on board!

Chaos Station (Chaos Station #1) is available now. 

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To read the first chapter and learn about the rest of the crew, visit http://chaosstation.com

Are Middle Books in Fantasy Trilogies Always Bridges?

That's me in the mirror at Pappadeaux in the Houston airport yesterday. I flew to Atlanta for the Romance Writers of America (RWA) National Convention.

This is probably my favorite convention, because it's really just other writers. Other people who are absolutely my tribe, lovers of stories and romance. But it's not all floral chiffon and Harlequin covers. There are a significant number of people here who write various forms of speculative fiction - from paranormal romance to fantasy romance to science fiction romance. For many, the amount of romance in their books varies considerably. Still, because the some of the perspectives on science fiction and fantasy tend to veer away from anything "too girly," a lot of those writers have found their tribe amongst the romance writers.

For a really interesting article on women sci fi authors by a "hard" sci fi editor, go here. It's worth reading all the comments. I agree with what commenter Erin Lale says, the women authors have gone to romance.

However, this does not mean we traded in our geek cards for boxes of bon bons. So, last night I found myself sitting in the bar (shocking, I know), talking with Amber Lin and Sarah Frantz. Because I knew Sarah would understand, I told her what's been preying on my mind - that I'm afraid I'm writing The Two Towers. Amber patted my arm and said, "That's okay. Lots of people say The Empire Strikes Back is their favorite movie."

This kind of conversation is what happens when you truly find your tribe. They're the people who truly get you.

For those of you who didn't follow this shorthand, The Two Towers is the second book in the famed Lord of the Rings trilogy (LOTR to its friends). The second book is so widely regarded as a "bridge" - a book that really serves only to connect the first and third books - that I was able to Google "the two towers book review bridge" and up popped numerous hits. In this one, they say:

This build-up of momentum, from the smaller-scale events of The Fellowship of the Ring to the huge face-offs in The Return of the King, only becomes possible with The Two Towers to act as a bridge between the other two parts of the trilogy. But because The Two Towers is a bridge, it doesn't truly stand on its own. If you want to find out more about how Tolkien saw this book fitting into his The Lord of the Rings project, check out our learning guide for The Fellowship of the Ring, where you'll find a full discussion.

 Some people even hate The Two Towers, for this very reason.

Amber's example of The Empire Strikes Back is, of course, the second movie in the original Star Wars trilogy. (Which were actually numbers 4, 5 and 6 in the overall series of 9 projected films.) Arguably The Empire Strikes Back is not a stand-alone movie. It really doesn't make sense unless you've seen Star Wars and the ending is a far-from-satisfying series of cliffhangers that are only resolved in Return of the Jedi.

But, is this bad?

Right now I'm writing the second book in my Twelve Kingdoms trilogy and I'm acutely aware of continuing the arc started in book one and of setting up the final conflicts that will occur in book three. This is only my second trilogy and I just finished the whole editorial process on book two of Covenant of Thorns, where I had many of the same problems, so I'm still learning how to do this. Maybe the middle books in trilogies are inevitably like this?

What do you all think? Are there examples of really strong middle books in trilogies that you know of? I'd love to know!

Meanwhile, I'll console myself that Amber is right. LOTS of people liked The Empire Strikes Back the best.