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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Guest Blog Jessica Subject--Science Fiction vs. Contemporary Romance

Everyone, please help me to welcome Jessica Subject. She is a dear friend and a GREAT writer. She has written a fantastic blog and is offering up an amazon gift card to a lucky commentator.

Science fiction romance vs. contemporary romance

Most of my contracted stories and works-in-progress are science fiction romance, but my latest release, Beneath the Starry Sky is not. It’s a contemporary erotic romance; no aliens, no spaceships, no foreign planets, although there are a lot of stars. J

While I still try to keep the same pacing and emotion in my stories, the plots, settings and characters can be very different.

Plots – Maybe the plots are all very similar. I do believe that everyone across the universe deserves a happily-ever-after, regardless of race (including aliens), sexuality, and creed. But how the characters find their happily-ever-afters vary with every story.

Settings – In my science fiction romances, I’ve used cities and places I’m familiar with, or created my own planets and futuristic worlds. But in Beneath the Starry Sky, I set the story in Las Vegas, Nevada, a city I’ve never traveled to. While the city is foreign to me, it is not to many of my readers. Therefore, I had to ensure I had accurate details. After a shout-out to my fellow authors though, I found the details I needed to write this story.

Characters – This is my favorite part of writing science fiction romance. I can create a variety of different alien species and name them whatever I like, although I do try to keep the names pronounceable. I often use mythology to choose names as well. For example, in Celestial Seduction, Frey Berger and his home planet of Ginnun come from Norse mythology. In Beneath the Starry Sky, the hero and heroine are from Earth, but they are different from the normal population. Tamara Johnston has Alopecia Areata, an autoimmune skin disease, and Josh Summers has his own secret.

While there are these differences, I always try to encourage an emotional connection between the readers and my characters. And I like to show that love is possible for everyone.

Giveaway

I will randomly draw a name from those leave a comment to WIN a $5 Amazon gift certificate. Please leave your email address in the body of your comment so that I may contact you if you win. Contest will run until December 23rd.

Beneath the Starry Sky Blurb

Left at the altar with bald patches on her head and her self-confidence stripped away, Tamara Johnson must pick up the pieces of her life and face her Alopecia Areata, the autoimmune disease causing her hair to fall out. She is convinced no man will date a bald woman and arranges a one-night stand through Madame Evangeline’s popular service, 1Night Stand. With her new wig held firmly in place, Tamara arrives at the Castillo Hotel in Las Vegas for a night of passion and pleasure. Anything more than one night would mean exposing her bald head, and she will never do that to any man again.

Running into the Castillo Hotel, away from the paparazzi constantly at his heels, Josh Summers wants to spend his next few days locked away from the flashing lights and screaming fans. When he finds an incredibly sexy woman lying on his hotel room bed in nothing but lingerie, he thinks management has made a mistake. Leaving her behind, he heads for the lobby to get the situation rectified. But an unexpected text from Madame Evangeline sends him back to his room. Though unsure whether the woman on the bed is really his perfect match or just another fan believing him to be like his character on television, he knows he must find out, even if it means he must risk telling her his own secrets. If Tamara can handle his imperfections, she just might be his ideal woman.

Available from Decadent Publishing and other ebook retailers.

Buy Links here: http://www.markofthestars.com/wp/?page_id=7250

To learn more about Alopecia Areata and to help find a cure, visit the National Alopecia Areata Foundation http://www.naaf.org and the Canadian Alopecia Areata Foundation http://canaaf.org/

Bio:

Jessica Subject started writing to encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded. Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to hear from anyone who has enjoyed her stories.

Website/Blog: http://www.markofthestars.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jsubject

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-E-Subject-author/205759796126370

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4959083.Jessica_E_Subject

Google +: https://plus.google.com/100079570422204018357/posts

11 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for having me today, Rebecca! :)

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  2. Sometimes it's fun to take a stretch and write outside of one's normal genre. I like that you've created a heroine who is a little different. Congrats on your release.

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  3. I like that Tamara has an autoimmune disease that we don't hear a whole lot about. Hopefully, it will make people think and want to learn more about it. Great blurb. Can't wait to read this story. Thanks for the giveaway.

    e.balinski(at)att(dot)net

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  4. Ooo, I'm intrigued by Josh's secret. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? It must be fun to make up alien names, but setting a contemporary romance in Vegas sounds fun too!

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  5. @Cara - Thanks! This story definitely took more research, but it was exciting to write something else. :)

    @Joanne - That is one of my goals for this story. Thanks so much! :)

    @Jennifer - Whether out in space or a place on Earth I've never been, it's all foreign to me. :)

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  6. I find contemporary romance harder than science fiction romance. In Sci Fi: my world, my rules. In contemporary: the real world has to be depicted accurately.

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  7. @Diane - Exactly, but it's fun to mix it up every once in a while. :)

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  8. Great post, Jessica! I think the basics of romance are always there. The differences in genre are, at least to me, minimal. Love reading both contemporary and science fiction.

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  9. Great post, Jess! Love the mix of sci/fi and contemporary in your stories. Makes us wonder what you'll come up with next. :)

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  10. @Emily - Yes, either way, romance is the key. Thanks! :)

    @Layna - Thanks so much! :)

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  11. Congratulations to Layna Pimentel who wins an Amazon gift certificate! I will be in contact with you soon. :) Happy Holidays everyone! :)

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