Book Title: IN OUR STARS Character Name:  Lieutenant Selene Genji   How would you describe your family or your childhood?     My childhood was hell.  My only real family was my mother, before she was murdered when I was seventeen because she was my mother.  Everyone else treated me as an alien on my own world.  Because in some ways I am.   What was your greatest talent?  Maybe survival.  I should have died a long time ago.  But I keep fighting.  Is that a talent?  Or is it that my mother’s guidance (and that of Marcus Aurelius) has helped me maintain my humanity despite everything?  And despite all of those who claim I’m not human at all?   Significant other?  I…don’t know.  Maybe?  There was never anyone before.  Not for an alloy like me.  But he says it’s real.  Kayl says he won’t leave.  Impossible.  But…maybe?   Biggest challenge in relationships?  I’m an alloy.  Mostly human, but with some alien DNA inserted through genetic engineering before I was born.  I can’t hide that.  Everyone knows I’m different.  Those who don’t fear me because of it are usually still…wary.   Where do you live?  Nowhere, really.  After my mother was murdered,…

Book Title: IMPLACABLE Character Name: Admiral John Geary (also known as Black Jack, a nickname I’ve never liked but one I’m stuck with)   How would you describe your family or your childhood? Normal, I guess.  My ancestors were among the first colonists on our world, and played important roles back then in ensuring Glenlyon remained free, but we were never taught to see ourselves as special the way some First Families do on a lot of worlds.  We were told and shown the importance of service to others, but that plays out in different ways in my family.  Some of us (at least one in every generation) feels the call of space, the need to sail among the stars and see other worlds.  That was my mother.  That was me.  My brother Michael never understood that, though, and was happy to remain on Glenlyon for most of his life.  My father was like that, too.  Now, after I was frozen in survival sleep for a century, they’re all gone.  My grandniece Jane and grandnephew Michael are all that’s left of my family, the rest taken by time or the war.  Mostly by the war, because Gearys were expected to…

1–What is the title of your latest release? REINCEPTION 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A corporation’s popular brain-modification technology is eradicating socially unacceptable behavior in 2126 New York City. When a college student and a government-labeled terrorist discover the truth of what’s happening inside people’s heads, they fight to preserve their free will and the future. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? In setting my book 100 years in the future, I thought carefully about what would change and what might remain the same. It was central to my story that my main character, Leandrea, be in college. I went to Barnard College/Columbia University in New York City. I liked the idea that Columbia University would endure, and I put Leandrea into places that I inhabited and explored in college and imagined what they might be like, and whether they would even exist, in 2126. In the same way that civilizations have always exploited existing infrastructures, I built future NYC on top of existing NYC. A complex city like New York is ripe for speculative futures. One imagines how things like climate change will impact a city that depends so heavily…

Excerpt from Chapter 1     Beth He looks at me with what appears to be great effort. Like he was about to nod off into a heavy, much-needed nap when I interrupted. He doesn’t look too bothered. Not like he might were I a car smashing through his fence. See that, Mom? I take my hand off the Nikon’s focus ring and give him a friendly wave. Hopefully he doesn’t find it creepy that I’m peering over his fence with a camera in hand. Why am I still holding the camera, anyway? “Hi?” he says as if he isn’t sure I’m even real. “I thought I was all alone out here.” I gesture vaguely at the world around us. Told you I’m a liar. “Seems like everybody else on the street already jumped ship for the season. Winter is coming.” “Call it a slack tide,” he says with a somber nod. “We’re between holidays, the kids are back in school, the weather’s just starting to turn, but the storm watchers won’t start arriving for another month. There aren’t many year-rounders here.” He pokes at the logs with an old hot dog skewer that’s coated in rust. The sight of…

1–What is the title of your latest release? DARK CLASS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A librarian wakes up on a secret moon base, far from Earth, and finds herself caught up in a long-running conflict between two alien races. Luckily, she has a few powerful friends on her side. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? This is the fifth book in my Class 5 series, and the setting was a natural extension of what had come before in the series – the logical next step in the story arc. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Absolutely! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Fierce, loyal, empathetic 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That once something is in movement in space, it doesn’t stop until it hits a barrier. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I edit as I go, especially when I’m stuck on what to write next. Going back to the beginning always helps. 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? Right now, croissants. 9–Describe your writing space/office! I have a perfectly good study, but I prefer…

by Senior Reviewer Debbie Wiley Streaming companies had a huge economic boost during the last year or so, and I have to admit I’ve hopped on that bandwagon. Normally, I watch very little tv and only go to the movies occasionally, so I blame Baby Yoda specifically for my latest tv marathon viewing, as it all started with The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda! After all, who can resist that little adorable frog-eating, egg-stealing, tiny force-wielding hero?! A few of my favorites since then have been The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and of course, this long-time Godzilla and King Kong fan couldn’t resist Godzilla vs Kong – the movie that made me want to go back into a theater even when it still wasn’t a good idea for me (and is why I now have HBO Max LOL). Obviously, most of my favorite movies and series to watch tend towards the sci-fi or hero themes, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. After all, my all-time favorite book character is Harry Dresden from the Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series as his heroism shines through even in the worst of times as he strives to do the right thing, even when…

CHAPTER EIGHT Peter Bernhardt woke up again. He felt odd, unlike anything he had yet experienced as a digital entity. His peripheral vision registered a clean engineering room’s wipeable acoustic tile ceiling and walls. From the ceiling hung three accordioned mobile ventilation ducts. He focused on the square mouth of one duct. The image was clear but edgy, as though his digital vision tried to blend each pixel together into an approximation of human sight, but had not quite succeeded. He lay supine in the center of the room, probably on a workbench or table. Raising his index finger, he tapped the surface three times and heard the muffled thud of a thick silicone skin on metal. The table seemed real, tangible, yet his finger felt jerky, electronic. He lifted his head and heard the faint sound of servos as he stared down along the length of the table at an android body. The skin appeared to be high-end silicon, with body hair tastefully punctured into the surface. The build was athletic, but not pumped. Slim, but not skinny. Pecs had definition and the stomach was flat, with a subtle six- pack. He lifted his head two centimeters more. Below…

His First Letter One day into the voyage, one day in Earth time  I said goodbye to the guys, as they won’t be seeing me until the wedding. In four years and four months, to be precise. They all said they’d come. We took photos and I gave each of them a small leather frame on a lanyard to hold the pictures. The wedding venue gave them to me for free when I paid the deposit on our booking. I told them to come to the ceremony wearing the photos around their necks. That way I won’t make a fool of myself asking each of them who they are. They made fun of me. “It must be great to be getting married. Leaving your pesky friends behind, huh?” “You interstellar marrying types are all traitors.” I told them it wouldn’t be an easy time for me either. I almost got punched when I added it was going to take me a whole eight weeks to get to our wedding day. A month to get up to the speed of light, and a month to slow down enough to make a safe landing. That’s how it works. And that’s even with…

It’s still early enough in 2021 that I’m still mulling over my goals and intentions for the year. Drink more water. Write more. Move (with intent) for at least 30 minutes a day. Read more. This last one is always on my list. READ MORE. Is it truly possible? There are so many uncertainties right now, it’s hard to carve out dedicated time to really read. But one thing I do have control over is what I read and every year, I try to push myself to read things that I might not normally gravitate toward. I chose a few recent reads I’ve enjoyed that have been squarely outside of my comfort zone and that I really enjoyed. *** SCIENCE FICTION Look, I love Star Wars a whole bunch, but I’ve never been able to get into “Science Fiction” the “genre.” I stumble over worldbuilding that relies on a ton of explaining, but when it is done well and woven into the fabric of the narrative, I can relax and fully enmesh myself in the setting and the story. WINTER’S ORBIT by Everina Maxwell – What starts out as an arranged marriage to keep political alliances in line turns into…

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Janet! Congrats on your new novel, THE JUICE. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your book?  Thank you so much for featuring me! I’m thrill-honored. I kind of live a double life. On the one hand, I’m a longtime journalist who fell into writing about media companies a long time ago. They are constantly changing, and utterly fascinating to me. On the other hand, I have been a teller of fictional tales ever since I was a little girl in a tiny upstate New York village called Franklin. (Now I live in the Bronx, and I can pull out the attitude to prove it!) I like to write fantasy and sci-fi stories that take conditions present in the world today and play them forward, into another space and time. That’s what I did with THE JUICE, which is a cyberpunk sci-fi tale about a secret substance that makes people incredibly charismatic, with god-like abilities. They are “used” by a media company to bend public thought to its will. Three unlikely allies try to stop this: a dirt-poor, homely teen who becomes a sort of Cinderella when she takes the Juice; a…