28 Jul 2010
Posts Tagged ‘science fiction romance’
Source: galaxyexpress
IT’S A WOMAN’S WORLD
Seriously, isn’t it about time women ruled the planet? I remember as a child wistfully thinking if women were in charge of everything, everything would be better. We’d be more compassionate, more globally responsible, more peaceful. Rainbows and kittens would proliferate in abundance and all would be well, right?
Now that I’m grown, one of the things I love about Science Fiction Romance is the open canvas it gives me to explore some of the crazy ideas I had as a child, including the question, “What if women were in charge?”
Would it be the rainbows and kittens of my dreams? The more I thought about it, the more it disturbed me that most of the portrayals of women dominant cultures in popular fiction in both print and visual media went one of two ways.
Read more here…
Source: huffington post
WRITE IT AND THEY WILL COME
Most writers allow themselves fantasies, unless they’re truly in it for bloodsport. For the last twenty years I’ve tried to tame mine. Fourteen books completed (not fourteen good ones) and a few that almost went all the way didn’t make much fodder for fantasy. But ’tis true I’d catch myself dreaming of young writers raising their hands like kids at a birthday party eager for you to open their present, “Tell me about your process!” “What’s it feel like to have a Pulitzer?” ‘Tis true.
Last year I wrote an essay based on an unpublished memoir I’d written a few years prior. The essay was published in the New York Times and there began the ride of my life thus far.
Read more here…
Source: io9
HUNGER GAMES BOOK TRAILER
The third in the series of Hunger Games, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is set for release this month and with comes this new book trailer.
Source: seattletimes
FRESH VOICES IN SCIENCE FICTION
The contest between small independent presses and huge media conglomerates could be won because the little guys are able to take big chances. In science fiction and fantasy, at least, they’re willing and eager to publish minorities and women, and wonderfully fresh debut novels like Karen Lord’s “Redemption in Indigo”.
Lord is a well-traveled native of Barbados with a University of Toronto science degree. Using a Senegalese folktale the way a composer uses a musical theme — as a basis for variation — she recounts the fantastical adventures of Paama, who escapes her unfortunate marriage only to be placed in unwitting charge of awesome universal powers.
Read more here…
Are you excited for the third installment of the Hunger Games Trilogy? Do book trailers help in your decision to read a book?
What is your favorite type of science fiction? Romance, espionage, apocalyptic…? Let’s discuss.
13 May 2010
BOOK NEWS FOR MAY 13TH: VAMPIRE ANTHOLOGY, PARANORMAL ROMANCE, TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE, AND LIVING IN A SCI FI NOVEL
Author: Staar84 | Filed under: News Blog
Author stakes claim in new vampire anthology
By Trevor Suffield at Winnipeg Free Press
Move over Edward and Bella, and put a stake in it Lestat — Charleswood resident Ron Hore is the newest fang in vampire fiction.
The father of five and grandfather of six recently had one of his short stories published in a new Canadian vampire anthology entitled Evolve: Vampire Stories of the Undead. His story, Chrysalis, chronicles the tribulations of a teenage girl who has one parent that is human and one that is a vampire. Hore says his inspiration did not come from a deep, dark place but rather the radio.
“I was listening to CBC talking about Darwin and that led to me thinking what would happen if a vampire and a human had a child?”
In 2006 he won the top prize in the Canadian Authors National Convention for his short story, Midnight, and has been a member of various writing groups across the city. Hore, who also writes science fiction and fantasy stories, says he isn’t too impressed with the recent slate of vampire stories invading pop culture, including the Twilight saga. His tastes run more along the lines of classic tales like Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Read More here
Paranormal Romance Readers, Where Are You?
by Heather Massey at Galaxy Express
Even though the market for (horror-based) paranormal romance was once supposedly “dead,” it’s not that way now. Readers have developed a rabid taste for preternatural heroes, heroines, and settings. With such a predilection for the exotic, it stands to reason they would also want to glom onto science fiction romance. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror—if you like one, chances are you like ‘em all, right?
So why aren’t the readers who enjoy paranormal romance also driving sales of science fiction romance? It seems as though strong SFR sales should be an automatic by-product of the paranormal romance boom. Clearly, that hasn’t been the case. Why is that?
Read More here
Time Traveler’s Wife Pips Kite Runner To Be The Lovereading Book Of The Decade
via Book Trade
In February 2010 Lovereading began the search for ‘the readers Book of the Decade’.
To begin with Sarah Broadhurst, Lovereading’s Editorial guru, chose her 50 favourites from the last 10 years and then it was over to the readers. The first stage, which attracted nearly 20,000 votes, took the top 50 to a shortlist of ten. Then, in April, the voting reopened to allow readers to choose the overall winner.
“Ten terrific books, something for everyone from love story (The Time Traveler’s Wife) to thriller (The Shadow of the Wind), strong drama (The Kite Runner) to a book narrated by Death himself (The Book Thief); a difficult choice to choose just one. I have, now you must. It is interesting to note that of the ten, seven have been filmed. Good films though they may be, none of them can portray the full depth and strength of the novels so if you have seen the film, why not now read the book. You’ll glean so much more from it.”
The final vote was very close with less than 0.5% between the top two titles! But with 18.1% of the total vote, Audrey Niffenegger’s unique book The Time Traveler’s Wife came out the winner.
Read More here
Living in a Sci-Fi Novel
by Paul Constant at The Stranger
Setting aside the embarrassing lack of jetpacks, there can be no doubt that we live in a science-fiction future. It’s become almost a cliché to say that, but just because a truth is universally accepted doesn’t make it any less true. One of the most discussed product debuts of the last few months is a glass screen, 10 inches tall and half an inch thick, that enables you to contact almost anyone on the planet via text communications, watch movies, read virtually any book ever published, and play games with people on other continents. We live in some author’s paperback science-fiction novel.
What nobody thinks to ask is this: What kind of a science-fiction novel are we living in?
We’re living in a dystopian future, we’re a populace in need of saving, and the logical next question is: What do we do now? For the last hundred years, we’ve looked to our science-fiction authors for the answer.
Read More here
I really like the premise of the Vampire Evolution anthology. That’s why I loved Vampire Tapestry, it deals with Vampirism from a scientific perspective. I don’t really read much Paranormal Romance, so I don’t know if it’s hard to find. I love that The Time Traveler’s Wife won best book of the decade. It’s such a great story, and I think it helped subtly introduce more people to Sci Fi.
What do you think of the idea that we’re living in a futuristic world? Do you think it’s good, or are we living in a dystopia? What do you think of modern Paranormal Romance?
8 May 2010
BOOK NEWS FOR MAY 8TH: VOICES OF DRAGONS AND HUMOUR IN SCIFI
Author: k.avalon | Filed under: Book News, News BlogCARRIE VAUGHN’S VOICES OF DRAGONS
Source: tor.com
Colorado author Carrie Vaughn is best known for the seven books starring Kitty Norville, a werewolf who has come out of the closet and hosts a Denver late-night talk show that invites discussions of all things supernatural. As the series has progressed, readers have learned that, in Vaughn’s alternate universe, vampires, shape-changers, witches and all types of monsters live among us normal folks.
Now, although she still enjoys spending time in Kitty’s world—the eighth installment, Kitty Goes to War comes out in June, and Kitty’s Big Trouble is due next year—Vaughn has let her imagination take her in other directions. Voices of Dragons, her first young adult novel, and the first published in hard cover, came out last month from Harper Teen, and Tor will release her first adult hard cover novel, Discord’s Apple in July.
READ MORE HERE
WAITRESS, CAN I HAVE A SIDE OF HUMOR WITH MY SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE, PLEASE?
Source: thegalaxyexpress.net
The answer, usually, is “No ma’am, I’m afraid that’s not on the menu.” Bah!
What’s an intergalactic spy to do? I work hard. I work DAMN hard, and when I get back from a grueling mission, there’s nothing I like more than curling up with a book that makes me swoon, cry, and, dammit – LAUGH!
READ MORE HERE
Do you think scifi romances lack humour? I’ll be honest and say that I’m usually drawn to more action and epic books – or down-right funny ones, (ie: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, or Red Dwarf) so if something is marketed as a romance, it’s not my first choice of story.
Have you read Carrie Vaughn’s work?
Join us in the forum to discuss!
THE (SHIFTING) LINE BETWEEN ROMANTIC SF AND SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE
Source: thegalaxyexpress.net
Sometimes it’s easy to spot the difference between romantic science fiction and science fiction romance. If you can remove the romance without affecting the plot, then it’s romantic SF. It even boils down to the physical word count, in the sense that the majority of text is devoted to the external plot or worldbuilding, and the story doesn’t spend nearly as much time on the development of the romance.
Other times, it’s not as easy to measure when romantic SF crosses over into science fiction romance territory. In this case, reader subjectivity plays a significant role. I, for one, am highly guilty of interpreting the presence of a romance in romantic SF as much more predominant in a story than it actually is, if one measures it based on the ratio of romance to external plot. The issue is important when it comes to both defining science fiction romance as well as making reading recommendations. There are some SFR books on which we can all agree; others might lead to a healthy debate over where to draw the line.
READ MORE HERE
Hmmm. What do you think? Is there a difference between romantic scifi, and a scifi romance? Which do you prefer to read? For me, I’d definitely prefer to read a science fiction book, that has a bit of romance in it, but stands as a story alone , than a romance that has a sci fi plot inserted into it.
Joiun us in the forum to discuss!
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23 Mar 2010
OBS ON OUR RADAR: CONTESTS AND GOODIES
Author: Dawn | Filed under: Author News, Book News, Movie News, News Blog, Sci-Fi News
Almost 20 Free eBook Downloads of Science Fiction Romance
Back in December 2009, Ella Drake (FIRESTORM ON E’TERRA), featured a list of free e-book downloads in the realm of science fiction romance.
The list is in alphabetical order by author’s last name:
Still We Live – Ann Aguirre
Burned And Burning – Joyce Ellen Armond
SUNRISE ALLEY and PRIMARY INVERSION – Catherine Asaro (both courtesy of the Baen Free Library)
EXILE’S BURN – Elaine Corvidae
ETHEL THE SPACE PIRATE – Jess Granger
A Day in the Life: Stella – Felicity Heaton
(To download the file, you must first join the Alinar Publishing Yahoo Group).
Last Call on Eldora Station – Isabo Kelly
Pure Bond – Kim Knox
GMS Mercy (Serial with connected short stories) – Elise Logan and Emily Ryan-Davis
Star Song – Karin Shah
Lust in Space – Kathleen Scott
Gambit – Linnea Sinclair
For The Children – Susan Sizemore (Scroll to the bottom of page)
I Was An Alien Cat Toy – Ann Somerville
THE YOSHIN’S SHIELD – Karen Reis
Rule Number One – S. L. Viehl (From a collection of stories in the author’s StarDoc universe)
ALIEN BEACH & THE ARGUS PROJECT – A.R. Yngve (romantic SF)
Check back here (thegalaxyexpress.net) often because she will be adding to the list.
Win It! A ‘Vampire Diaries’ Signed Poster And ‘Bite Me’ T-Shirt
There are only three days left until new episodes of The Vampire Diaries return to The CW and we’ve decided to celebrate this joyous occasion with a giveaway.
On Thursday March 25 at 7 PM ET, just before the new episode begins, call in for a chance to win a ‘Vampire Diaries’ poster signed by Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder.
We’ll post our official prize phone number here and the first, seventh and thirteenth callers will win the following Vampire Diaries loot: an autographed poster, a ‘Bite Me’ T-shirt and a ‘Traffic Sucks’ bumper sticker (prize value is $75).
AFTER Twi-ing really hard, we’ve got our hands on another great prize for you.
Feast your eyes on the New Moon laptop we’re giving away to mark today’s release of the Twilight sequel on Blu-ray and DVD.
The Dell Inspiron 15 laptop is worth nearly £650 and features a high definition screen, Genuine Windows® 7 and 1GB Graphics Card.
It comes with FIVE different New Moon skin covers, so deciding which design to use first will be your hardest choice.
The lucky winner and two runners-up will also win a copy of the DVD and the novel.
And don’t forget about the open OBS contests.
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Are European Science Fiction Authors More Serious Than Americans?
If you want to explore European SF, you must check out Will Schofield’s interview with venerable editor Franz Rottensteiner, whose tastes have shaped European SF for decades. He talks about his favorite writers, and how old world SF trumps new.
In a wide-ranging discussion that moves from the history of small press publishing in SF, to favorite nineteenth century authors, Rottensteiner emerges as a fascinating literary figure from a world that we rarely see in English-speaking countries. Plus, he’s not afraid to offer a controversial opinion or two. According to Rottensteiner:
I think that the great difference between the mass of American SF and the (very rare) European masterpieces is their degree of seriousness, moral seriousness. Best exemplified perhaps by Frederik Pohl’s “Gateway” novels and the Strugatskys’ Roadside Picnic.
I’m As Mad As Hell About Double Standards In Science Fiction Romance, And I’m Not Going To Take It Anymore!
In response to my post on Taming The Cyborg, author Katherine Allred (CLOSE CONTACT) asked, “Is it okay to have badass/flawed heroes but not badass/flawed heroines, and why?…Why can’t the heroines have the flawed badass roles for a change?”
Ms. Allred’s question arose because I had expressed the suspicion that regardless of genre many romance editors seem to only want stories wherein the hero possesses the flaws/badass nature/paranormal or scientific ability. In other words, the hero gets all the fun, all the good roles, all the cool clothes, and all the good dialogue. To echo Ms. Allred’s question, why is that okay?
Well, it’s not, and that goes double (heh!) for science fiction romance.
the periodic table of sci-fi
Check out the new Periodic Table of Sci-Fi Film and Television and let me know if you can find all of your favorite shows and movies.
I kinda agree with the mad as hell lady Heather. It’s total BS. What do you think?
LOL@the Sci-Fi Periodic table. I can’t find jack shit on it. Can you?
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