Veronica Scott Shares Excerpt from Pets In Space 4 STAR CRUISE IDOL'S CURSE

Thanks for having me as your guest today! Always fun to return to Here Be Magic… 

About four years ago, my author friend Pauline B. Jones and I started a fun project we call Pets In Space® and invited some other science fiction romance authors to join in. We put together an annual collection of all new stories featuring action, adventure, romance and a pet of some sort involved in the story. Sort of like “Lassie in space”. (Not the racier kind of ‘pets’ you find in some steamy fiction!).

The idea was to find new readers for scifi romance and to support a worthy cause with a portion of the royalties. Now in our fourth year, we’ve hit the USA Today Best Seller list twice and been able to give our charity quite a nice chunk of donations, thanks to our wonderful readers. 

Pets in Space® 4 Anthology Blurb:

For a limited time only! Pets in Space® 4 is proud to present 13 amazing, original new stories! Join the adventures as today’s leading Science Fiction Romance authors take you on a journey to another world. Pets in Space® proudly supports Hero-Dogs.org, a non-profit charity that provides service animals to veterans and first responders in need. Join New York Times, USA TODAY and Award-winning Bestselling authors S.E. Smith, Anna Hackett, Tiffany Roberts, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Laurie A. Green, Donna McDonald, Regine Abel, Alexis Glynn Latner, JC Hay, E.D. Walker, Kyndra Hatch, and Cassandra Chandler for another exciting Pets in Space® anthology. Get the stories before they are gone!

Proud supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space® authors have donated over $7,100 in the past three years to help place specially trained dogs with veterans and first responders. 10% of all pre-orders and the first month’s royalties of Pets in Space® 4 will again go to Hero-Dogs.org. Open your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Pets in Space® 4 today so together we can continue to assist this worthy charity!

***************************

I always set my Pets In Space® stories on an interstellar cruise liner and have had all kinds of pets from a cat to an eagle to an alien blend of a tribble and a red-tailed panda. This year my pet is an alien ‘dog’, named Charrli. Here’s a bit more about my full length novel in the anthology:

STAR CRUISE: IDOL’S CURSE (The Sectors SF Romance Series)

An unusual bequest….

Juli Shaeffer, the Nebula Zephyr’s cruise director, receives a mysterious bequest from the estate of a longtime passenger – a lump of rock taken from a reef on the planet Tahumaroa. Legend states anyone who steals from the ocean gods will be cursed. The passenger’s will requests the rock be returned to the beach so his heirs won’t be affected by the bad luck he believed he’d incurred. Juli doesn’t believe in superstitions and she agrees to carry out this small favor on the ship’s next stop at the planet in question.

Until the rock disappears from her office…

When the rock disappears and reappears in various locations around the ship, and seems connected to a steadily escalating series of mishaps, Juli turns to Third Officer Steve Aureli as the only one she feels she can trust. Along with Steve and his elderly Aunt Dian – a passenger aboard the Nebula Zephyr for this cruise - she investigates the strange series of malfunctions plaguing the interstellar luxury liner. Steve and Juli enlist his Aunt Dian’s dog, Charrli, a retired Sectors Z Corps canine, to help them track the missing rock as it moves about the ship.

Juli and Steve must find the rock, hang onto it and transport it to the planet’s surface, before the alien idol’s curse turns deadly. The attraction between the two of them grows as the threat to Juli becomes more and more focused. Can she carry out her task while he keeps her safe from the alien curse? Will the capricious alien idol bring them good fortune…or disaster?

Here’s a quick excerpt as Juli and the rest of the ship’s crew begin to realize the trouble they might be in: Maeve, the ship’s governing Artificial Intelligence, spoke next. “I am unable to identify any anomaly in my systems. There was no command given or received to alter the air pressure flow on Level Five, other than the time boxed kite event, which occurred early in the day and ended as scheduled. I’m currently devoting extra ganglions to controlling all systems in the ship which affect life support. I’m also running specialized analysis, drilling into the available data for any clue or predictor of the problem.”

Captain Fleming nodded, rotating his chair to face Juli. “Anything to add?”

She swallowed hard. “Yes, sir, I believe I do.” Steve flashed her an encouraging smile, raising his eyebrows. The captain is either going to believe my wild tale or write my career off for being space happy. “Sir, do you remember the special assignment I took on? Retrieving a rock that a now deceased passenger had taken from Tahumaroa Two and returning it to the planet on his behalf? I found the rock in the sand on Level Five right before the winds started blowing.”

Jake made a quickly suppressed sound of surprise. The Executive Officer was staring at her with his mouth open. Fleming raised his eyebrows but was stoic. “Did anyone else see the rock? Maeve?”

“I had a ganglion in the general area but the picture was fuzzy.” The AI projected a miniature trideo on the burnished conference table and Juli saw herself and Charli on the beach, but the quality was grainy and broke up into fragments. There was no sign of the rock and from all appearances she and the dog were playing.

“My aunt said Charrli agreed the rock was there,” Steve said. “They’re a former Z Corps team. The dog has unusual capabilities and an enhanced IQ and has been used in the past for gathering intel. If he told Dian he observed the rock, there’s no doubt. A causal link to the malfunction has yet to be established of course. ”

“Do you have a theory, Juli?” the captain asked.

“I can’t even begin to guess, sir, unless the rock contains an unknown type of alien sentience and has the ability to teleport, and to affect systems in its vicinity.” She blushed as she heard how ridiculous she sounded. Like I’m reciting the plot of a bad trideo action movie. “My groundcar did break down shortly after I took the rock from the lawyer’s office but I realize that’s not conclusive.” And the diva lost her voice right when I was going to stick the rock in my safe. She remembered how ill at ease Cilla the lawyer had been the whole time Juli had been in the office, as well as the several odd instances of minor damage in the vicinity.

“Could be a series of coincidences,” Jake said as if he was reading her mind.

“I’ve seen countless unbelievable things in my years traveling through the Sectors and outside the fence on missions,” Fleming said after a moment’s silence. “Where is the rock now?”

“It’s supposed to be in my office,” she said.

All Buy Links: https://www.petsinspaceantho.com/books/pets-in-space-4/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WCQF358/

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WCQF358/

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07WCQF358/

Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07WCQF358/

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/pets-in-space-4

Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/pets-in-space-4/id1476281234

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pets-in-space-4-s-e-smith/1132911108?ean=2940163094325

GooglePlay: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/S_E_Smith_Pets_in_Space_4?id=jXuoDwAAQBAJ

Author Bio and Links:

USA Today Best Selling Author

 Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.

Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job, not her romances!

 She read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the official audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “The City On the Edge of Forever.”

Newsletter Signup: https://us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=2a337b96e2ee1ee1250004b9d&id=7462393c9e

Blog: https://veronicascott.wordpress.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/vscotttheauthor

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Veronica-Scott/177217415659637?ref=hl

Veronica Visits to Talk Pets In Space 3 #SciFi Romance Anthology

Thanks for having me on the blog today. So lovely to come back to visit Here Be Magic as a guest! I’m happy to talk about  my story for this year’s Pets In Space 3: Embrace the Passion anthology!

I love going back to revisit my interstellar cruise liner, the Nebula Zephyr, for these Pets In Space stories, as the ship cruises through the futuristic human civilization known as The Sectors. This is our third year of doing the anthology.  I’ve written a number of books and novellas centered on events aboard the cruise ship now and find the whole cruise setup lends itself to telling a good scifi romance adventure tale. Readers new to my world don’t need to know a lot of backstory to enjoy the events, and for those who have read others in the series, it’s a nice return to see some favorite characters (I hope!).

I usually start with the concept of the pet when I’m figuring out my annual Pets in Space story because that’s the key here. (We're talking pet stories like Lassie but in space!) I have to develop a story that can involve the animal in a meaningful way, not just a throw away line like “And the cat purred!”  So the pet must be able to drive at least part of the plot, for me to feel I’ve succeeded. I also want to have a science fiction-y element to the pet itself. While I was pondering the 2018 story, I saw a really distinctive photo of a Siamese cat and I thought that would be fairly easy and interesting animal for our talented artist Nyssa Juneau to turn into an alien feline for me, with the addition of a third eye and a few other alterations. 

But I’ve done a cat and a catlike alien before, for PISA1, although Midorri, the alien pet there actually is kind of a cross between a red panda and a tribble who acts like a cat. So I wanted something very different, to push the envelope a little more this time and I started thinking about what if the cat wasn’t actually a real animal at all? I ended up making F’rrh a ‘jenfellini’, which is something like a genie or perhaps a mischievous spirit, living in a beautiful lacquered box when not out and about making mischief.

And of course since Moby and Midorri from the PISA1 novella Star Cruise: Stowaway live on board the Nebula Zephyr these days, we do get a few quick glimpses of them in this year's tale.

Anthology Blurb:

Pets in Space™ is back! Join us as we unveil eleven original, never-before-published action-filled romances that will heat your blood and warm your heart! New York Times, USA Today and Award-winning authors S.E. Smith, Anna Hackett, Ruby Lionsdrake, Veronica Scott, Pauline Baird Jones, Carol Van Natta, Tiffany Roberts, Alexis Glynn Latner, E D Walker, JC Hay, and Kyndra Hatch combine their love for Science Fiction Romance and pets to bring readers sexy, action-packed romances while helping our favorite charity. Proud supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space™ authors have donated over $4,400 in the past two years to help place specially trained dogs with veterans. Open your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space™ 3 today!

STAR CRUISE: MYSTERY DANCER blurb:  Tassia Megg is a woman on the run after the death of her elderly guardian. Her search to get off the planet in a hurry comes when chance directs her to an open dance audition for the luxury cruise liner Nebula Zephyr’s resident troupe. If there is one thing Tassia can do, it is dance!

Security Officer Liam Austin is suspicious of the newest performer to join the Comettes. She shows all the signs of being a woman on the run and seems to fit the Sectors-wide broadcast description of a missing thief, accused of stealing priceless artifacts. As he gets to know Tassia during the cruise, he starts to wonder if she’s something more – a long vanished princess in hiding from deadly political enemies of her family perhaps? And what’s the story with the three-eyed feline companion other crew members swear Tassia brought aboard the ship? Does the animal even exist?

As the ship approaches its next port of call, all the issues come to a boil and Liam must decide if he’ll step in to help Tassia or betray her. Life is about to get very interesting aboard the Nebula Zephyr as Liam tries to uncover the truth. Could F’rrh, the peculiar alien cat he has been hearing about, be the key to the mystery and Tassia’s fate?

The excerpt - Tassia is safely aboard the ship and calls F’rrh forth:

From the clock in the bulkhead, she knew she’d slept several hours by the time she woke up with a start. Dressing in an oversize T shirt and shorts, she wandered into the kitchenette and found the promised welcome basket. These people try very hard to be kind. Munching on a ration bar, holding a cup of synthcaff, she went into the living area and sat on the couch built into the wall, running through meditation exercises in an attempt to regain her inner calm. The danger wasn’t over, but she had a temporary respite.

Finally, she returned to the bedroom and opened the backpack, carefully removing the few items Xandrina had swept into the bag at the last minute. Tassia arranged the small boxes and miniature statues on the top of the empty bureau with care, trying to appreciate what she still had, not to remember the vast collection in her bedroom at home on Ruatsar Ten, or the beloved relatives who’d given her each of the beautiful items. Soon enough she’d probably have to sell the remaining trinkets, if not on this ship, then later.

“I need to save every credit in salary I can.” She spoke out loud just to hear a voice. Trinkets weren’t important for anything other than the memories attached to them, most of which were now too poignant to revisit.

Picking up the final item, the black lacquer box Liam had been so fascinated by, she set it in the exact center of the bureau, put her hands together and made a formal bow, then rubbed one hand over the drawing and opened the lid.

Golden motes drifted upward from the interior of the container, twirling in the air as if happy to be set free. As Tassia watched, the sparks came together in the outline of a catlike being. There was a flash of purple and F’rrh sat regally next to the box. Her third eye was closed but, tail curled over her paws, she watched Tassia intently from the other two.

“It is well?” F’rrh asked in the old tongue of Ruatsar, voice raspy as if she was meowing and speaking simultaneously.

“Yes, Knowing One. Your vision was clear, and I pursued it to fruition. Thank you for the gift.”

“We will miss Madame Xandrina,” the cat said. “Yet it was her time to join the goddess and enjoy peace. Our time to continue onward.”

“Do you have any further guidance for me?” Tassia enjoyed using the language of her birth, the syllables falling from her tongue so lyrically. She held her breath as the cat’s third eyelid opened the slightest bit and then shut.

“Not at this time.” F’rrh stretched and reverted into golden flickers of light which flowed into the box as if sucked into the heart of a black hole. For all she knew the box might contain such a thing. Tassia smiled at the whimsical concept.

Buy Links: Amazon     iBooks     B&N    Kobo     Google

For more about the anthology, the authors involved and Hero-Dogs, Inc., our charity, visit https://www.petsinspaceantho.com/ 

Author Bio and Links:

USA Today Best Selling Author

“SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today Happy Ever After blog

 Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.

Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job, not her romances!

 She read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “The City On the Edge of Forever.”

Blog: https://veronicascott.wordpress.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/vscotttheauthor

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Veronica-Scott/177217415659637?ref=hl

Here Be News

New Releases:

Now Available as an Audio Book!

SKY TITANS
Deities, Book 1
Contemporary Fantasy/Apocalyptic Romance
Word Count: 34.8K
$2.99 e / $9.99 p / $14.95 a

Narrated by Matyas Job Gombos
Length: 4 hrs, 33 min

Hear a Sample

It's time for the earth to be cleansed.

Released after eons of being imprisoned and tortured, Aeron and his three brothers are ordered by the remaining old gods to bring the Apocalypse upon the world. Humanity has failed them too many times, and the Reckoning is overdue.

As the deity of the air and sky, it's Aeron's duty to bring about massive storms to wipe out civilization. Tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning - all are at his bidding, and Aeron is more than willing to do whatever he is requested to do. He will mete out the worst he can conjure, as long as it means he'll no longer be bound within the hot, dark confines deep within the bowels of the Earth.

Ceris Shahan is terrified of flying. But when the president of the company demands she be at the summit conference clear across the continent the next day, she has no choice but to take the next plane out. If her phobia wasn't debilitating enough, they run into turbulence that doesn't end. Tossed about, bruised and injured amid the ugly black clouds that continue to engulf them, she and the other passengers soon realize they will not survive.

When Ceris spots a figure outside the window, a man who appears to be standing amid the thunderheads and is surrounded by an aura of light, she starts to doubt her own sanity. Yet, when the man turns to find her staring at him, the look of stunned disbelief on his face is undeniable.

She shouldn't be able to see him, but she can. Realizing what this could mean, Aeron decides to risk everything, even his freedom, to rescue and protect the woman from the annihilation of all mankind.

Warning! Contains scenes of mass destruction, two apples, the plane ride from hell, stainless steel, extreme arrogance, an odd utility tool, and two people hoping for a future, any kind of future, as long as they can share it together.

Excerpt and buy links.

................................

Other News:

We're celebrating Spring with a fun giveaway! Check it out here:

https://herebemagic.blogspot.com/2018/03/celebrate-spring-with-here-be-magic.html

................................

Veronica Scott announced the return of pets in space, with Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 3 scheduled for release October 9, 2018. The anthology of all new stories will again benefit the Hero Dogs, Inc., charity, which provides service dogs for veterans. The lineup includes SE Smith, Anna Hackett, Ruby Lionsdrake and more...there's a free coloring book offered while you wait for October. Click the link above to learn more!

................................

Bring It Back(list) Feature:

Iron by PG Forte, set in Ireland. She talks about the influence of her Irish grandparents and shares an excerpt.

Here Be News

Merry Christmas from the Here Be Magic Authors, if you're celebrating today, and happy holiday season to everyone, everywhere! May your winter be magical...

Other News:

New!

BREATH OF CHRISTMAS
Sweet Contemporary Fantasy
by Linda Mooney
Word Count: 11.2K
$1.99 e 

After being gone for months, there's nothing like being home for Christmas. Although Brindle has no family there to welcome her back, and the little town has grown since she left, it's still home to her and exactly where she wants to be in these final days. 

With a little help from a generous stranger full of the Christmas spirit, the holiday is sure to be perfect for Brindle. Full of love and memories, both old and new.

She just prays she's able to enjoy it before she runs out of time and breath. 

Excerpt and buy links
********************

EMBRACE THE ROMANCE: PETS IN SPACE 2 is on sale for $.99 at Amazon!
USA Today Best Seller and Library Journal Award Winning Anthology of scifi romance tales with heroic pets by twelve top SFR Authors, including our Veronica Scott...

  Buy Link for sale price: Amazon

Here Be News

New Releases:

STONE

Contemporary Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

By Linda Mooney

Word Count: 50K

$3.99 e
#gargoyle

Garenth had been awakened to retrieve an ancient artifact that was crucial to his well-being. He had few memories of what his life had been like when he had been a man. What memories that were left were filled with blood and excruciating pain.

That part of him was over now. The talisman had been taken from its sacred burial place, and it had to be returned as quickly as possible. It was up to him to follow through with his mission so he could return to another thousand years of sleep.

Brielle Van de Camp knew an extraordinary find when she saw it. The small clay figure was the key to a potentially earth‑shattering revelation about a previously unknown time in man's ancestry. She would bet her life on it.

Unfortunately, others had gotten wind of the talisman, and they were equally determined to claim its promise for themselves. If Brielle wasn't willing to part with the figurine, they had no compunction about prying it from her dead fingers.

They never counted on having to face the guardian of the statuette, who turned out to be more than a creature of mythology.

Warning! Contains a magic talking rock, a mother idol, boo-lets, a cell phone app, deadly intruders, a ruthless businessman, a key card, and a warrior trying to cope with an ages-old curse with the help of a woman who must be a blessing from the gods.

Excerpt and buylinks

Other News: 

USA Today Best Selling Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2 anthology was selected by the Library Journal as one of the Best Books of 2017! Here Be Magic author Veronica Scott is the co-organizer of the anthology and her novella "Star Cruise: Song Bird" was one of several mentioned in the award citation. The anthology is still available in ebook and paperback formats.

Amazon US

Amazon CA

Amazon UK

Amazon AU

Amazon FR   Amazon DE   Amazon JP   iBooks   B&N   Kobo  Google Play

Bring It Back(list) Feature:
A Different Yesterday by Linda Mooney - SciFi Post Apocalyptic Romance

Here BE News

New Releases:

Other News: 
Veronica Scott reports that Embrace the Romance: Pets In Space 2 is a USA Today Best Seller! Thanks to everyone  for all the support and it's not too late to get your copy and support Hero-Dogs, Inc.

Buy Links: Amazon   iBooks   Kobo   B&N 
***************************
Veronica interviewed HBM Author Linda Mooney and Author R. E. Butler (Were Zoo Series) about writing unusual shifter novels for USA Today/HEA last week: http://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/2017/10/19/veronica-scott-linda-mooney-re-butler-interviews-unusual-shifters/

Bring It Back(list) Feature:
Linda Mooney's Healer of the Heart here:

Joely Sue Burkhart's latest release, QUEEN TAKES KNIGHTS, is FREE this week starting 10/23!

Embrace the Romance: Pets In Space 2 Release Day + Giveaway

Final Update: I'll award an ebook OR a paperback copy of EMBRACE THE ROMANCE:PETS IN SPACE 2 signed by me to both PamK and Linda. Their choice of ebook version or paperback version - need your preference and either e mail or snailmail address. Thanks! This giveaway now closed.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention the end date of the giveaway! I'll pick my winner after 6PM Sunday OCT 15 and announce the name on Here Be News on Monday OCT 16. Thanks!

What could be better than sexy heroes, strong heroines and heroic pets (alien or otherwise) in a scifi romance adventure? I’m very excited that today is Release Day for Embrace the Romance: Pets In Space 2 anthology. I’m one of the co-organizers and I wrote my very first rock star romance novella for the collection!

I’ll give away one paperback (386 pages of SFR goodness) signed by me, to a randomly selected commenter and yes, I will ship it outside the USA if needs be. Tell us why you love scifi romance to enter…

Here’s the blurb for the anthology: About Embrace the Romance: Pets In Space 2, for which I’ve written my first ever rock star romance!

"How are we gonna lift this thing?!"
"We're gonna need more robots!"
"Guys, most people will buy the ebook."

The pets are back! 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 Links: 

Amazon US   Amazon CA   Amazon UK   Amazon AU   Amazon FR   Amazon DE

Amazon JP   iBooks   B&N   Kobo    Google Play

The pets in my story
Artist:Nyssa Juneau

And the story of my novella Star Cruise: Songbird:

Grant Barton, a Security Officer on the Nebula Zephyr, is less than thrilled with his current assignment to guard an Interstellar singing sensation while she’s on board the ship. It doesn’t help that he and his military war bird Valkyr are dealing with their recent separation from the Sectors Special Forces and uncertainty over their future, with their own planet in ruins.

Karissa Dawnstar is on top of the charts and seemingly has it all – talent, fame, fortune and devoted fans, but behind her brave smile and upbeat lyrics she hides an aching heart. When a publicity stunt goes wrong, Karissa finds herself in the arms of the security officer assigned to protect her – and discovers a mutual attraction she can’t ignore.

Trouble continues to plague the pair, driving a wedge between them and leaving Grant certain that Karissa is in more danger than she realizes, from overzealous fans and her own management. Grant is determined to protect Karissa whether she wants his help or not. Can he discover the truth behind what’s going on before he loses Karissa or is there someone else plotting to keep them apart – permanently?

The Excerpt:

When the singer emerged from the room where she’d been getting ready, he was astounded. She looked as if she’d stepped straight from a trideo, her sexy costume elaborate and glittering in the lights, her multicolored hair caught up in coils by all manner of elaborate, bejeweled accessories. Even he could tell her shoes were works of art, with heels designed to resemble stacked planets, standing six inches high. She smiled, obviously enjoying his reaction. “Well?”

Pirouetting on those absurd heels, she laughed and held out her hand. “Escort me,” she said like a queen.

He did so, surrounded by her team, including the backup singers and the six dancers, all of whom joined Karissa when she reached the backstage area. Gently she let go of Grant’s arm and stepped away, gathering her team around her for a pep talk. He stayed alert, watching everyone else in the area, ready to challenge anyone acting suspicious.

The show was already going on at full volume. Karissa’s was the final set of the evening and when she ran onstage, her dancers bouncing and doing acrobatics around her, the roar was astounding. Grant stood in the wings, as close to the stage as he could, and watched the performance. Karissa strutted, she danced, she teased, she brought a child on stage for a brief chat, she sang full throated. The crowd loved it all. He had a hard time keeping his eye on the audience, watching for problems, because she was so riveting.

“First time at a show?” asked an older woman standing next to him. “This is nothing compared to what she’ll do at the big concert on Calillia next week. There’ll be multiple costume changes and aerial components. And maybe some new songs, although she’s been quiet about that. She doesn’t want Ted getting the rights to any more of her stuff if she can help it. Things are really sour between them now.” She laughed self-consciously and held out her hand. “I’m  Desdusan, by the way, her chief makeup artist. Chief busybody too. I try to look out for her as much as I can. Been with Karissa for nine years, ever since she hit the bigtime with ‘Twisted Comets’. She’ll probably sing that for the encore.”

“I hate to admit it but I’ve never heard her music before—it’s all new to me,” he said as they shook.

The woman did a double take. “Really? You’re probably the only person in the Sectors who hasn’t heard at least one Karissa song.”

“I have now,” he pointed out, annoyed to feel so defensive.

As expected, Karissa left the stage briefly at the end of her set and returned to deafening applause to sing the encore. Then she waved to the crowd and danced off. Grant followed her as Desdusan gave her a bottle of water and the two women headed for the dressing room. “Did you like it?” Karissa asked him over her shoulder.

“Full of energy and feeling,” he said. “Clearly I missed a lot while I was on active duty.”

Bring It Back(list) STAR CRUISE STOWAWAY Excerpt

I’m really excited to say that Embrace the Romance: Pets In Space 2 anthology is releasing next Tuesday, the 10^th. I thought for today’s backlist feature, I’d share an excerpt from the story I wrote for Pets In Space 1, in 2016, which is now available in my ebook Star Cruise A Novella: Stowaway: With Star Cruise Rescue and Golden Token Short Stories. Yeah, I know, totally unwieldy title…but pretty cover, right? (From Fiona Jayde.)

Here’s the story for Star Cruise: Stowaway:  Cargo Master Owen Embersson is shocked when the Nebula Zephyr’s ship’s cat and her alien sidekick, Midorri, alert him to the presence of a stowaway. He has no idea of the dangerous complications to come nor does he anticipate falling hard for the woman whose life he now holds in his hands. Life aboard the Nebula Zephyr has just become more interesting – and deadly.

Here’s today’s excerpt:

This was the time of day he enjoyed most, when all his crew had gone off duty and the Nebula Zephyr’s top cargo deck was quiet. Sure, more work remained tomorrow to get the cargo squared away properly and ready for the next stop, but there was no rush, being several weeks out. Cargo Master Owen Embersson surveyed his desk in the tiny office on Deck 18. Time to leave the place to the ship’s AI, go have his dinner in his cabin and then resume work on the scale model of a long-vanished temple he was building. This one was incredibly intricate, and he’d charge the customer triple the usual price.

Stepping onto the echoing deck, he called for Moby. She spent most of her evenings hunting vermin lurking among the monstrous crates and containers, but she usually passed the first part of the evening in his cabin, eating the incredibly expensive cat food he had the ship’s AI keep in stock. Not much else to spend his salary on. “Come on, cat, I want my dinner even if you don’t,” he said to the elegant vision in white fur who trotted from the murky recesses of the deck. How she stayed clean when she spent her days prowling the cargo deck, he’d never know.

Purring, she came to his steel-tipped work shoes but evaded his effort to pick her up, moving just out of range the way felines did, as if cats could teleport. Moby scampered toward the towering stacks of cargo then turned. Seeing he’d failed to chase her, she sat, tail twitching, head tilted, eyeing him.

“What‘s the matter with you? I’m not in the mood to throw cat toys and retrieve them right now.” Embersson headed toward the gravlift. Moby regarded the entire ship as her territory and could find his cabin for her dinner when she was hungry.

In the next minute, he nearly tripped as she rubbed his ankles, nipping at one in passing. Swearing, he caught himself with a hand to the bulkhead. “What in the seven hells is wrong with you tonight? Giving me a concussion won’t get you fed.”

Moby yowled at him and ran toward the stacked cargo again.

Figuring she wanted to show him a recent kill, which he’d then have to dispose of, he followed.

Moby moved faster now that she’d gotten him with the program.

By Artist Nyssa Juneau

He followed her around the corner of the pallet the ship had taken on earlier in the day and found Midorri, the Zephyr’s other pet, crouched beside a free trader container. “What mischief have the two of you gotten into now?” he asked Moby. Midorri came aboard the Zephyr originally as the pampered pet of a princess, but after the whole outbreak incident, Sector authorities refused to let the lady disembark on Sector Hub with the undocumented animal, so the ship had kept the odd green fluffball. Dr. Shane was her official owner of record, but the entire crew liked the slightly clumsy but always amusing creature.

Midorri sneezed, as she was often wont to do, allergic to humans perhaps, and flicked her plush prehensile tail before lowering her head and extending her long green tongue to lap at something on the deck.

“Freaking flares, do not tell me we’ve got leaking cargo. Damn free traders and their beat-up equipment.” He hoped Moby hadn’t sampled whatever Midorri was drinking. The alien animal could probably handle anything up to and including nuclear fuel, who knew, but Moby was definitely a terrestrial cat, with a more delicate stomach. He tried to shoo Midorri away from the slowly growing puddle of green goo, dripping from a dented corner of the container. Musta gotten banged when the shuttle crew offloaded the final pallet too fast and had to straighten everything in a rush.  Funny, he’d never have picked this box—well constructed, made from high-quality materials—to be a problem. “I better see what’s in there,” he said to the interested animals.

Moby yowled, startling him as her voice echoed, and Midorri emitted a high-pitched chirping that grated on his ears like a physical assault.

Spurred on by the animals’ distress, which confirmed his own suspicion he faced a genuine problem, Embersson used his cargo master key, which was supposed to open any container on his ship. Nothing happened. Swearing, he tried again. “This free trader’s never shipping anything with us again, idiot forgot to set the damn code for my access. Maeve, can you open this?”

“Of course,” the ship’s AI said. “I haven’t forgotten all my military skills just because I run a cruise ship nowadays.”

“Wait a second.” He stepped aside, encouraging the animals to do so as well. He imagined a gush of whatever was leaking when Maeve did her hacking thing and overrode the container controls.

Midorri tried to climb over his boot to return to the growing puddle.

A loud click echoed in the cargo bay and the seams on the crate glowed yellow, unsealing in a smooth progression along the rim. Sure enough a deluge of liquid followed, but Embersson froze for a moment as he saw what had been inside the crate. Then he was on his knees beside the now-open container, heedless of the green cryo fluid soaking his pants, as he tried to extricate the woman who’d been illegally stored inside.

Buy Links:  Amazon    iBooks    B&N     Kobo

About Embrace the Romance: Pets In Space 2, for which I’ve written my first ever rock star romance!:

The pets are back! 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 http://www.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 Links:  

Amazon US   Amazon CA   Amazon UK   Amazon AU   Amazon FR   Amazon DE

Amazon JP   iBooks   B&N   Kobo   Google Play