Ultimate Duty - Space Opera, Exploding Ships, Hot Sex

Re-edited and formatted properly, ULTIMATE DUTY is now available on Amazon re-issued by me. I think the $3.99 price point is much more reasonable than the out-of-contract but still being sold edition from Eternal Press. Giving fair warning you'll be seeing some promo stuff on this new edition.

Ultimate Duty
A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties.

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her ultimate duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

Available on Amazon for only $3.99. I actually get a few cents if you use this option.

I'VE GOT EPUB, MOBI, AND PDF. IF I LIKE THE CUT OF YOUR JIB, SELECT THIS BLANK SPOT XR78X TO SHOW A FREEBIE COUPON CODE FOR BOTH FIRST DUTY* AND ULTIMATE DUTY AT SMASHWORDS. OKAY, YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE TO SHOW ME YOUR JIB.

* First Duty is the PG version of the R-rated Ultimate Duty.

Excerpt

One day, Remy spotted a small ship where it had no good reason to be. “Sir, we have a blip heading toward the planet. Its course isn’t on the prescribed jump route within this planetary system.”

Captain Micah glanced at Remy, then spoke to the communications officer. “Hail the ship.” The radioman worked for a few seconds. “I can’t locate their frequency, sir.”

The Captain stared through the view screen at the rapidly receding ship. “Try a broad-range hail. Tell them to stand down.” He glanced toward the communications station. “Any luck?”

“No, sir. I don’t think they have their ears on, at least in the usual frequencies.”

The ship shot away from the Excalibur and Remy tracked its course. “It’s heading for that planet. It’s not classified as habitable.”

Captain Micah opened ship-wide communications. “Captain Micah here. Crew, go to battle stations. This is not a drill.” He looked at the pilot who punched in coordinates for a wide turn toward the fleeing ship.

Remy’s stomach tightened as the klaxon alarms alerted the entire ship to ready for attack. Disappointment replaced tension as she watched the ship reach the small planet and circle behind the lifeless orb. We’ve lost it!

“Coward should stay and fight,” grumbled an ensign near Remy. She glanced his way and hushed him, tilting her head toward the captain. “Pay attention.” The ensign’s cheeks flared in embarrassment.

“Ahead slow,” the captain ordered. “This could be a trap. Put us into high orbit and extend all scanners to maximum range and power.” Excalibur edged its way slowly around the airless planet thousands of kilometers below.

“I’ve got him, sir!” a crewman reported. “A single blip on the short-range scanner.”

Remy added the short-range display to a corner of her own screen and saw the flickering dot representing the fleeing ship. She grinned. “Gotcha!” But nothing else appeared in range. She hoped they might get some action now, even if only the capture of a small ship.

“All right. Take us in slow,” the captain replied. The pilot cut back power and brought the ship around to the planet’s far side. The small ship came into view, hovering in a stationary orbit.

“Hail them.” Again, the ship didn’t respond, and the captain gestured to the pilot to move in. Remy turned her scanners toward the planet surface, searching for any activity. Seeing nothing, she switched to thermal scan. Out of nowhere a red-hot dot appeared on the screen, then another. “Captain, I’m getting heat signatures moving near the surface.”

Captain Micah glanced her way, not expecting to hear from the long-range scanning console. “What do you have, Lieutenant?”

“Ten, no, twelve, maybe more heat signatures. Nothing bigger than a cutter, and they’re all in motion. It looks like they’re coming out of a fissure. I don’t detect any structures.”

Remy feared her warning came too late to do any good. Excalibur was fast, once it got moving but, like most ships its size, not very maneuverable this close to a planet.

The smaller ships exploded from the surface. Too fast for normal takeoff velocity, the tiny vessels clearly had a lot of extra power. It was a dangerous move since it’d be easy to lose control traveling way over the limits for the small ships. But it worked.

Some attackers split to flank the cruiser on both sides. Two of them took station above and two below the ship, while two more moved to the stern, effectively surrounding the cruiser. The engineers had designed Excalibur, like most ships in its class, as a pursuit ship, with most of its weapons aimed forward. They could only fire on the ships facing them until the gunners brought the smaller, less effective peripheral weaponry to bear.

Captain Micah glanced at his display. “Weapons, recalibrate for port and starboard, max angle. Fire at will.”

The bridge crew cheered when a burst of laser fire destroyed one of the ships. Metallic fragments drifted outward from the single brief flash of the exploding drive.

Excerpt - Ultimate Duty

ULTIMATE DUTY - Amazon A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties. 

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaved her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion.

As her heart pulls her toward Phillip, the leader of the rebel group, she finds herself questioning where her loyalties truly lie. Now she must choose, fighting for her life against impossible odds.

Excerpt R-RATED Nobody should read unless over 16 or accompanied by a parent.

Remy made herself comfortable sitting sideways on the bunk next to Cassie. They set the viewing console between them. “So, which do you recommend?”

Cassie scrolled through the vid list. “That’s good. That one too. Oh, oh! Here’s the best one.” She tapped the screen to select To Have and Have Not.

“What’s it about?”

“Man, woman, sex. You know, the usual. Oh, and it’s the one with the whistle line.”>
They settled with their backs against pillows to watch. The grainy black-and-white images puzzled Remy. “The color’s missing. And it’s two-dimensional.”

“Hush. It’s supposed to be that way. That’s why they called it film noir.”

Remy shook her head, but figured if she watched, she’d get used to the flat, gray-toned images. Cassie put her hand over Remy’s. Remy didn’t move her hand away. When the woman named Slim in the vid said the line about whistling, Cassie surprised Remy by leaning over and kissing her lightly on the lips. Cassie drew back and looked into Remy’s eyes, the question from her kiss continuing in her glance.

Remy considered the offer, then shrugged her shoulders and quirked her lips in a lopsided grin. “Why not?” she whispered, then leaned into Cassie, returning her kiss. Remy felt the softness of a woman’s lips, different from a man’s. Or at least different from Kiru’s butterfly touches and deep caresses. She wondered if she should be doing this? Was this right? The tingling in her belly said yes. 

Cassie ran her hand under Remy’s shirt and cupped her breast, gently squeezing. When she ran a finger around her nipple, Remy gasped.

Momentarily confused, Remy didn’t know what she was supposed to do. With a man, it was obvious, immediate, primal. With another woman, the need felt different, yet somehow the same. Remy mirrored Cassie’s caresses, trusting her partner to guide her with her own actions. What made her feel good? It must be the same for Cassie.

She felt gentle fingers exploring her body. Remy’s thoughts flashed back to Kiru’s face, his touch, his masculine smell of sweat and cinnamon. Cassie smelled sweet, like lilacs—lovely, soft, and inviting. Remy cleared her mind, determined to learn and savor this new sensation wherever it led. She had to know where her feelings would take her, then she could be complete. She let Cassie lead her to that completeness.

For Dads Who Like a Bit of Racy

ULTIMATE DUTY - on Amazon $2.99 on Smashwords Name Your Own Price
A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties. 

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaved her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion.

As her heart pulls her toward Phillip, the leader of the rebel group, she finds herself questioning where her loyalties truly lie. Now she must choose, fighting for her life against impossible odds.

NOTE: Read Dave Higgins' brand new review on his blog at https://davidjhiggins.wordpress.com/2016/06/03/ultimate-duty-by-marva-dasef/

EXCERPT

“What’s it about?”

“Man, woman, sex. You know, the usual. Oh, and it’s the one with the whistle line.”

They settled with their backs against pillows to watch. The grainy black-and-white images puzzled Remy. “The color’s missing. And it’s two-dimensional.”

“Hush. It’s supposed to be that way. That’s why they called it film noir.”

Remy shook her head, but figured if she watched, she’d get used to the flat, gray-toned images.

Cassie put her hand over Remy’s. Remy didn’t move her hand away. When the woman named Slim in the vid said the line about whistling, Cassie surprised Remy by leaning over and kissing her lightly on the lips. Cassie drew back and looked into Remy’s eyes, the question from her kiss continuing in her glance.

Remy considered the offer, then shrugged her shoulders and quirked her lips in a lopsided grin. “Why not?” she whispered, then leaned into Cassie, returning her kiss. Remy felt the softness of a woman’s lips, different from a man’s. Or at least different from Kiru’s butterfly touches and deep caresses. She wondered if she should be doing this? Was this right? The tingling in her belly said yes.

Cassie ran her hand under Remy’s shirt and cupped her breast, gently squeezing. When she ran a finger around her nipple, Remy gasped.

Momentarily confused, Remy didn’t know what she was supposed to do. With a man, it was obvious, immediate, primal. With another woman, the need felt different, yet somehow the same. Remy mirrored Cassie’s caresses, trusting her partner to guide her with her own actions. What made her feel good? It must be the same for Cassie.

She felt gentle fingers exploring her body. Remy’s thoughts flashed back to Kiru’s face, his touch, his masculine smell of sweat and cinnamon. Cassie smelled sweet, like lilacs—lovely, soft, and inviting. Remy cleared her mind, determined to learn and savor this new sensation wherever it led. She had to know where her feelings would take her, then she could be complete. She let Cassie lead her to that completeness.

Summer Rerun: Remy from Ultimate Duty

Today's excerpt is from my SFR, "Ultimate Duty." It's Space Opera, so don't be looking for big thinking. Like Star Trek, it does deal with future social issues based on today's growing power of mega-corporations. It's easy to follow a line into the future where all of us governed by an interplanetary corporation. It's also easy to believe the corp's in charge of everything wouldn't be particular beneficent. This is an old-time SF plot with good company in many very well-known dystopian genres of the 20th Century: 1984, Brave New World, a lot of Phillip K. Dick's books: Blade Runner, Total Recall, the entire Alien series, and, of course, Firefly.

Strong female leads used to be few and far between, however, the evolution of the science fiction romance genre has put women in the pilot's seat of the space transport, not serving cocktails to the crew. I could make a good case that science fiction was the driving force behind the kick-ass hero of the female gender. I recall Robert Heinlein's female characters to be the real force in many of his books--the women with which the putative hero depends to keep him alive.

Watching the first Alien movie with Ripley (well played by Sigourney Weaver) taking on an alien race almost single-handedly. One scene in Aliens (the second movie) is burned into my memory. Ripley is in the elevator going down to rescue the little girl. She's armed to the teeth, carrying multiple weapons, she's sweaty, dirty, not a pretty picture. But her face radiates determination. Fear and the will to overcome the fear. That's just it. Ripley was the embodiment of everything great about strong female characters.

They don't need any man to save them from the tentacled beast, thank you very much. But they're not man-haters threatening the masculinity of the young guys who typically dote on science fiction (okay, remember this was in the 70s). Ripley was a new kind of woman. Strong, brave, but not arrogant like the male heroes are often portrayed.

Ripley was my role model for Remy when I first wrote a short story about her nearly 30 years ago. My other role model for Remy was my friend, Dawn. Six feet and red-headed, she was tough but enjoyed the attention she got from guys. So Remy is as brave and strong as Ripley, and as sexy and confident as my buddy, Dawn.

Excerpt

Remy and Garrett arrived at the outer wall path that led to the dock ports. Remy hoped at least one shuttle was still attached to the station. She dropped to the floor and peered down the slope of the passageway. Two guards stood at the entrance to bay 5. Luckily, they faced the opposite direction. Remy slid back and pointed silently, then held up two fingers. Garrett nodded and pointed left and then at himself. Remy nodded.

With no way to get any closer unseen, they must use speed instead. Both stepped back a couple of paces, so they’d hit the corner at full tilt. A nod from Garrett, and they sprinted through the twenty meters separating them from the guards. One guard turned to look only when Remy and Garrett were close enough to attack. The guard yelled, "Halt!" as he raised the barrel of his blaster. The second guard turned with a confused expression and didn’t manage to raise his own weapon before Remy reached him.

Remy felt her mind and body slip into fighting mode. Time slowed for her and she noted every detail of the guard’s stance. She leaped high in the air, her legs coiled like springs. The second guard finally lifted his rifle but never had the chance to fire. Remy drove both feet into his abdomen, slamming him against the wall with the force of her strike. In the low gravity she landed easily on her feet crouched and ready. She crossed her arms against her torso, grabbing the guard’s belt with her left hand and prepared to strike with her right. The man’s eyes widened when Remy’s backhand arced toward him. The force of the blow across his jaw sent him tumbling to the floor.

She glanced over at Garrett and saw he had already disabled the other guard, now curled on the floor moaning. Garrett kicked him in the head with an almost gentle tap. The connection of his shod foot on the guard’s temple did the job, knocking the man unconscious.

Garrett walked over to Remy’s guard and bent down. He pressed two fingers against the side of the man’s neck. "Good. He’ll live."

"If I wanted him dead, he’d be dead," Remy snarled.

* * *

Ultimate Duty
Amazon Kindle and Print (only $0.99 for ebook)
Smashwords all ebook formats (only $0.99 with coupon YG47Y)

A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties.

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaved her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion.

As her heart pulls her toward Phillip, the leader of the rebel group, she finds herself questioning where her loyalties truly lie. Now she must choose, fighting for her life against impossible odds.

Have a Trailer #6

All of my ebooks are on special prices between #free to $1.50 on Amazon, Smashwords (which extends to all the on-line stores where Smashwords distributes). I thought I'd remind folks about the ones which have been available for awhile with a book trailer and links to the fabulous prices.

Amazon Kindle Ebook - $1.50
Smashwords - $1.00


Ultimate Duty

A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties. 

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaved her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion.

As her heart pulls her toward Phillip, the leader of the rebel group, she finds herself questioning where her loyalties truly lie. Now she must choose, fighting for her life against impossible odds.

Holiday Gift Ideas - Science Fiction

Without a lengthy explanation, I'll just get to the gist of the matter. I have two science fiction books available in ebook and print. They are the same plot. The difference is that the shorter (first published) book is PG-13 and the longer book is R.

First Duty is approximately 38K words; Ultimate Duty is approximately 60K words. If you have read First Duty, you'd recognize the plot of Ultimate Duty. Names are changed. The longer book has some additional space battle scenes and a rescue not in the shorter book.

I don't feel like I'm trying to fool anybody here. I even put a note in the Ultimate Duty description on Amazon so people would buy the longer book with full knowledge the plot was essentially the same as First Duty.

The paperback editions are available only through Amazon this month since I wanted to keep the price as low as possible. The ebook editions are $1.99 and $2.99, respectively.

FIRST DUTY
Print Edition on Amazon ($5.99)
Available in Ebook Format at Amazon and Smashwords

Nyra Hutchings, a young woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her first duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

ULTIMATE DUTY
Print Edition on Amazon ($7.99)
Available in Ebook Format at Amazon and Smashwords

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaved her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

SFR Presents: What is the Ultimate Duty?

Click this logo to get the complete list of SFRB Snippets this week.

ULTIMATE DUTY Snippets
A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties. 

Facing a life of drudgery on a repressive factory planet, Remy Belieux longs to escape. Her only option for release is to enlist in the Space Service, becoming a soldier for her own world’s oppressors.

She receives her first assignment:  guarding a charismatic rebel leader being transported to a prison planet.  When rebel troops surprise them, Remy fails to thwart the ambush. Despite a commendation from her Captain, she feels she must redeem herself by recapturing the handsome fugitive.

Shocked by what she learns during the pursuit–her own family’s past involvement in the rebellion–Remy faces a dilemma: remain loyal to the oath she swore as a soldier or join the rebel cause and condemn herself to a death sentence for treason. What is her ULTIMATE DUTY?

In ebook and print at Amazon.  Temporarily reduced price to only 99 cents for the ebook.

Excerpt:

The Starbird reached Syrtia and entered stationary orbit. The prison did not allow ships of any type to land, so Captain Herrick radioed the prison to send a shuttle for the prisoner. He included all of the preplanned codes to ensure security, and the prison answered as required.

When the shuttle arrived, it docked in the ship’s small transfer port. Once the connection was secured, Borinsky opened the port bay door. The guards handed transfers to Captain Herrick. He examined them briefly, then placed his mark on the electronic copy. Remy had already shackled Phillip for the move to the prison shuttle. She considered adding leg shackles, but thought she might leave him a little dignity.

“You know,” he said, “you made this trip almost pleasant, Remy. Thank you for your company. Maybe we will meet again.” Phillip held out his right hand, trailing his cuffed left hand below.

Remy began to raise her hand to shake his, but thought better of it. She’d be opening herself to a potential attack. “I doubt it, but I...it was a pleasure to meet you as well. You’re not quite the monster they’ve made you out to be.”

“I hope not, my dear lady.” He smiled at her and walked the few steps across the Con to join the guards. Remy felt her cheeks flush at the endearment. Then, she shook off her feeling of sadness. No matter how charming he might be, he was still a traitor. The courts decided his punishment, so it must be fair.

Still, she felt a twinge when the guards secured Phillip’s legs with a chain and ankle cuffs. They moved in a single file toward the narrow hatch, when Herrick called out. “Wait!”

The rear guard turned to Herrick. “What is it, Captain?”

Herrick stepped over and thrust out the transfer manifest. “The warden’s approval. I know him, and this is not his imprint.”

The guard took the transfer and examined it. “No, I guess it isn’t,” he said, then swung his weapon upward, smashing the barrel into Herrick’s temple. Herrick stumbled and fell to the deck. The guard raised his weapon again.

Remy leaped forward and slashed down on the guard’s arm, knocking his weapon out of his hands. With a swinging kick, she hit his face, knocking him aside. Another stepped forward raising his gun. Remy grabbed the barrel and swung him around, flinging him away. She kicked his downed weapon to Borinsky. “Grab it,” she yelled, but Borinsky had knelt next to the captain and didn’t try to capture the blaster.

Remy swore and whipped her body around, giving the second guard a roundhouse kick in the face. With both guards down, she glanced at Phillip, but he just stood still, a slight smile curving his lips. She saw movement from the airlock. “Now what?” she muttered and took two long strides forward.

She grabbed Phillip’s cuffs and twisted the chain around her own wrist. If she could take him hostage again, she’d have a chance. Another guard rushed in through the lock and pointed his weapon at Remy. She wrapped an arm around Phillip’s neck. “Stop or I’ll break his neck!”

Phillip let out a strangled groan. “Believe her,” he gasped.

The guard nodded and strode toward Captain Herrick. The man kicked Borinsky in the chest, knocking him backward. Swinging the barrel of his blaster downward, he pressed the end against Herrick’s bleeding temple. “Let go of him, or I will kill your captain. Believe me.”

Remy hesitated, then loosened her grip on Phillip’s neck. He unwrapped the chain from her wrist as she raised her arms in surrender. Phillip stepped away from her. “I’m sorry, Remy. I hoped this would go smoothly and no one would be hurt. Unfortunately, your captain seems to be a stickler for details.”

She glanced at Herrick and the guard, gauging her chances of reaching him before he could pull the trigger. She was fast, but not that fast. A second man came through the airlock and took position next to the guard who had the drop on them. He pointed his own weapon toward her.

The captain lay groaning on the deck. Borinsky had gotten up from the floor, but stayed crouched by Herrick’s side.

Phillip stepped into the open airlock. “Come with us, Remy.”

Remy shook her head. She knew Phillip believed in what he was fighting for, but now he’d injured her superior officer. Her duty to her captain came first.

“Too bad,” Phillip said, then he turned back to the airlock. The guards stepped backward toward the lock, holding their weapons pointed at Remy.

“You can’t leave unless we close the hatch,” she said, trying to stall them.

“Then, please do so.” Phillip nodded toward the control panel.

Remy folded her arms and glared at Phillip. “I can’t do that.”

One of the guards shifted his weapon toward Borinsky, who looked up from his place by the captain. He rose with his hands up and pressed the cycle button. As the hatch closed, Phillip raised his bound hands again and saluted Remy.

“I hope we’ll meet again.”

When the hatch closed, Remy lowered her hands. Yes, maybe we will, but next time I won’t let down my guard. Phillip Vincente wouldn’t live through their next encounter, if there was one. She hurried to get the medi-kit from the lounge.

FINAL FREE DAY!

Free on Smashwords until April 7th. Use coupon code PN34E on checkout.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/403811

ULTIMATE DUTY - Sexy Space Opera

A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties.

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her ultimate duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

New Edition, New Cover, New Book Trailer

I edited, formatted, and made a new cover for my SFR, Ultimate Duty. It is still being sold under the Eternal Press label, and bless 'em, as long as I get any royalties I'm due. But, it was time to move on (since the contract has long expired) and to see if I can induce new readers to try it out with a new, reduced price.

Ultimate Duty
A military officer must choose between her sworn duty or her rebellious blood ties.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I59IL4A $3.99
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/403811 - Leave a comment to get a coupon for a free copy.

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her ultimate duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

Here's the new, improved book trailer.

Breaking My Own Rules

I don't have many rules for this blog, but since it's mainly a vehicle for middle-grade and young adult books, I ask my visitors to keep their excerpts no hotter than PG-13. I only have one book which ranges into R-rated territory. That book is "Ultimate Duty."

Why are there sex scenes in this book? I added these specifically to test the waters of the science fiction romance (SFR) genre. In the plot's original form (a YA book titled "First Duty"), my main character is attracted to a couple of the men in the story, but nothing goes any further than a kiss.

In checking through the genre, I realized that readers of SFR were rarely young adults. The kids who like SF, wanted hard SF, which had nothing whatsoever to do with sexual organs, but with a lot good ol' science stuff.

While I have read and loved science fiction since my teens, I was an English major--specifically, documentation mixed with computer science classes. I knew about black holes, warp drives, alien worlds via my SF reading, not through taking classes in the sciences. Yes, I did the usual required courses, but beyond that I can tell you a lot about Shakespeare, Henry James, Mark Twain, John Updike, and even a mix of beat poets like Lawrence Ferlinghetti or Alan Ginsberg (if you don't know about "Howl," just look him up).

I know just enough science to be a menace writing science fiction. Without that solid science background presented by the likes of Robert Heinlein, Isacc Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, and the passel of more contemporary science fiction writers, I had nothing to offer that couldn't be picked apart by any decently nerdy SF reader.

That left sex as my only possible value add-on to attract readers. Hey, I've been having sex for longer than most of you have been alive, so I must know something, right? First: research. Did I really know enough about sex to write it? Apparently not, but I could probably fake it.

Ten books under my belt and only one has semi-explicit sex scenes. I think that was enough for me. After that, I'd certainly be repeating myself.

Check out ULTIMATE DUTY on Amazon for $3.99. If you wanted a free copy, you missed your chance by not commenting on the Giveaway post on Feb. 1st. You could comment on this one, and I might give away a copy or two.

Now here's a sex scene excerpt. I won't even warn off children. They need to learn about it somewhere.

Excerpt

A tender hand with rough calluses stroked Remy’s side from shoulder to hip. Her eyes fluttered open as she rolled to face her lover. She purred deep in her throat when Kiru pulled her close and kissed her neck. She felt her carotid artery pulsing under his touch. He whispered, “The smallest pressure here, if held a few seconds, will render your opponent unconscious.”

“Yes, Sensei, but I hope that’s not your intent,” Remy replied with a wink.

He smoothed her still-damp red hair. “Not at all, chan. It is difficult to leave my teaching self outside the bedroom door.”

Remy inhaled his scent, musky with a hint of cinnamon. “My student self appreciates all the education you are willing to give.” Remy touched her forehead to his. “Whether the art be battle or love.”

Kiru enfolded Remy in his arms, pulled her close, then lifted her in one smooth motion on top of his body. He entered her, and she snapped upright, throwing her head back with a gasp. She reveled in his delicate touch, as he caressed her breasts, belly, thighs. Sighing, she leaned down to kiss him.

Early Christmas Ideas - First Duty and Ultimate Duty

A Tale of Two Books

Once upon a time, I wrote a short story titled "Pressure Drill." That was around thirty years ago. I didn't even submit it for publication anywhere. I just shoved it in a folder (printed on paper!) and went back to earning a living as a technical writer and, later, a programmer/analyst.

Then I got old and tired, so retired to dig out that story, along with a few others I'd written, but never did anything else. The first story wasn't bad, so I entered it into the keyboard, thus preserving it for posterity. I wrote another story about my character. I subbed them to an on-line ezine, which paid five bucks per, and I became a published author.

Eventually I used the two stories as chapters (with a bit of editing) into a short science fiction book. It was accepted by a very small press, got a cover, and I earned a few bucks. The publisher didn't produce ebooks, only print. How quaint is that in this day and age? I had the ebook rights, so I sent "First Duty" into the internet via Smashwords. When my contract expired with the small publisher, I also created a paperback version of the book.

That would have been the end of it, but all this time, I'd been reading. I discovered that SFR (science fiction romance) sells pretty well. The problem with "First Duty" is there wasn't any sex. I considered it appropriate for any audience (e.g., it was young adult). It took the basic book and added to it. I added the requite sex scenes (hot) and found a lot of other things I could enhance: space battles, hand-to-hand combat, more character development. This new book was almost twice as long. I sought a publisher for "Ultimate Duty" and it was taken by Eternal Press. It's now three years old.

One plot, two books. How is this any different from one plot ground out a dozen or more times by romance writers of the Harlequin variety? Both book are for sale (print links below). If you like SF without the sex, choose "First Duty." If you like SF with a few sex scenes, choose "Ultimate Duty." Think of them as a quarter-pounder burger or a meatier and bigger, double-pounder. The first is cheaper because it's shorter. The second is more expensive because it's longer.

FIRST DUTY
YA SFR - Amazon Matchbook: Buy print, get the ebook free
Nyra Hutchings, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where first duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.


ULTIMATE DUTY
Adult SFR
Oath or love...What is her ultimate duty? Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her ultimate duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.


Excerpt from Ultimate Duty:

Remy and Garrett arrived at the outer wall path that led to the dock ports. Remy hoped at least one shuttle was still attached to the station. She dropped to the floor and peered down the slope of the passageway. Two guards stood at the entrance to bay 5. Luckily, they faced the opposite direction. Remy slid back and pointed silently, then held up two fingers. Garrett nodded and pointed left and then at himself. Remy nodded.

With no way to get any closer unseen, they must use speed instead. Both stepped back a couple of paces, so they’d hit the corner at full tilt. A nod from Garrett, and they sprinted through the twenty meters separating them from the guards. One guard turned to look only when Remy and Garrett were close enough to attack. The guard yelled, "Halt!" as he raised the barrel of his blaster. The second guard turned with a confused expression and didn’t manage to raise his own weapon before Remy reached him.

Remy felt her mind and body slip into fighting mode. Time slowed for her and she noted every detail of the guard’s stance. She leaped high in the air, her legs coiled like springs. The second guard finally lifted his rifle but never had the chance to fire. Remy drove both feet into his abdomen, slamming him against the wall with the force of her strike. In the low gravity she landed easily on her feet crouched and ready. She crossed her arms against her torso, grabbing the guard’s belt with her left hand and prepared to strike with her right. The man’s eyes widened when Remy’s backhand arced toward him. The force of the blow across his jaw sent him tumbling to the floor.

She glanced over at Garrett and saw he had already disabled the other guard, now curled on the floor moaning. Garrett kicked him in the head with an almost gentle tap. The connection of his shod foot on the guard’s temple did the job, knocking the man unconscious.

Garrett walked over to Remy’s guard and bent down. He pressed two fingers against the side of the man’s neck. "Good. He’ll live."

"If I wanted him dead, he’d be dead," Remy snarled.

Bridges, Wormholes, and Tunnels in Space-Oh My!

TIME TRAVEL VIA SHORT CUT

When I wrote “First Duty” and, subsequently, enhanced the story into a racier version titled “Ultimate Duty,” I had to find a way for my characters to move around the galaxy without spending a few thousand years in transit.

I considered the Star Trek Warp Drive, but I felt I needed something a bit less familiar. In researching various wormhole theories, I found that Professor Albert Einstein came to my rescue with math I’d never hope to understand. However, I trusted Albert to not lead me astray.

A bit of background techno-talk courtesy of Krioma Net.

“In 1916 Einstein first introduced his general theory of relativity, a theory which to this day remains the standard model for gravitation. Twenty years later, he and his long-time collaborator Nathan Rosen published a paper showing that implicit in the general relativity formalism is a curved-space structure that can join two distant regions of space-time through a tunnel-like curved spatial shortcut...The Einstein-Rosen Bridge is based on generally relativity and work done by Schwarzschild in solving Einstein’s equations; one of the solutions to these equations was the prediction of black holes.”

Got that? Einstein and Rosen did not consider this bridge theory to allow faster than light travel, but can be a short cut across space using a tunnel or bridge on which some type of matter can get from here to there in no time at all.

This isn’t, strictly speaking, time travel, but it does save a heckuva lot of time in transit. I’ll settle for omitting the tedious time it takes to go from star to star by using a convenient short cut shaped like a tunnel or funnel or a warped space (thus the Warp Drive, I suspect).

Scientists, not letting well enough alone, determined there were two types of wormholes: Lorentzian and Euclidian. Forget Euclidian since it’s no fun at all. Lorentzian, however, gives us some possibilities. Again, from the Krioma Net website:

“Lorentzian wormholes are essentially short cuts through space and time but they instantaneously close unless some form of negative energy can hold them open. It is possible to produce small amounts of negative energy in the laboratory by a principle known as the Casimir effect. However this energy would not be enough to keep open a wormhole.

A by product of Lorentzian wormholes would be that objects passing through them would not only be moved spatially but also temporally (assuming parallel universes exist).

Lorentzian wormholes come in at least two varieties:

1. Inter-universe wormholes, wormholes that connect ‘our’ universe with ‘another’ universe.
2. Intra-universe wormholes, wormholes that connect two distant regions of our universe with each other.”

This second type is handier for science fiction writers. We’re allowed to stay within our own universe, but able to hop directly to other regions.

My assumption is that you can’t just make an intra-universe wormhole, but you can take advantage of those that already exist. Here I’ll remind you of “Farscape,” the TV series. The main character, John the Astronaut, is accidentally tossed through a wormhole, ending up on the bio-ship, Maia. Well, if you don’t know the series, then get to Netflix or Amazon and find it. Well worth your time to watch.

If we make the leap that the wormholes do exist and you just have to find them, then manage some way to keep them open while your ship travels through, you’ve got a good method of getting to point B from point A. However, wormholes don’t conveniently take you where you want to go. You might have to jump from one to another for the journey. Thus, some amount of ship time is spent going from one bridge to another until it gets where it wants to go.

This is what makes space opera possible: conjectures of a high-level mathematical model without any practical evidence. Just add a few centuries, and I’m sure somebody will figure out how to turn the theoretical into the practical. After all, that’s what happened with impossible flight, impossible communication across long distances, impossible everything. It all becomes real within the pages of a science fiction novel.

An easy-to-read site: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/hawking/strange/html/wormhole.html

FIRST DUTY (the YA version of the story) and ULTIMATE DUTY (the adult version released by Eternal Press) have essentially the same plot, but I changed the character names to differentiate them. Apparently, that pissed off at least one reader who actually liked FIRST DUTY and bought ULTIMATE DUTY believing it to be a sequel (despite my note in the description on Amazon indicating they were the same story). Oh, well, can’t please everybody. Too bad, the reader might have liked the sex and enhanced space battles in the second version. I offered to give him a free copy of Ultimate Duty, but I haven't heard back.

You can buy either book in ebook or print format at fine on-line purveyors everywhere. Here are the links to the ebook/print editions of both books on Amazon.

First Duty Ebook/Print

Ultimate Duty Ebook/Print

Excerpt (from ULTIMATE DUTY)

Life at the Space Academy ran pretty much as Remy thought it would. Lots of very hard classes in astrophysics, other sciences, history—the usual. Military duty required filing reports whenever anything happened, so she had to take a course in report writing. 

She had excelled in normal school, so some of the classes seemed a boring waste of time. Military classes excited her, however.

Pilot training was just about the most fun she’d ever had. Excursions to satellite installations, working in free fall, and lessons in weaponry all kept her mind and time busy. What thrilled her most were the classes on navigating through Einstein-Rosen Bridge, ERB, jump points.

The ERB got around the rules of relativity, which mathematically disproved faster-than-light travel. The theoretical bridge had become a reality when SemCorp scientists figured out how to exploit the space curve theorized by Einstein in the twentieth century. 

Of course, it was a tightly held patent, so nobody outside the bureaucracy knew exactly how it worked. All most people knew was the jump to ERB required everything loose to be secured, including people. Once traveling across the bridge, one couldn’t tell if the ship was in motion, or even if it moved at all. People still complained about the time it took to travel they never heard about the sub-light travel which colonized the planets in the first place. The cryo-ships began leaving Earth in the twenty-second century, carrying their frozen colonists to their selected worlds. Although the ships traveled at near light speed, it took more than a hundred years to reach the nearest habitable planet. Acceleration, then deceleration when they neared their selected planet made up most of the journey. When the ERB was perfected in the twenty-sixth century, all twenty-three of SemCorp’s member planets swarmed with human inhabitants.

Excerpt - Ultimate Duty (SFR)

Today's excerpt is from a science fiction novel published by Eternal Press. It's Space Opera, so don't be looking for big thinking. Like Star Trek, it does deal with future social issues based on today's growing power of mega-corporations. It's easy to follow a line into the future where all of us governed by an interplanetary corporation. It's also easy to believe the corp's in charge of everything wouldn't be particular beneficent. This is an old-time SF plot with good company in many very well-known dystopian genres of the 20th Century: 1984, Brave New World, a lot of Phillip K. Dick's books (Blade Runner, Total Recall, the entire Alien series, and, of course, Firefly.

ULTIMATE DUTY
Kindle Ebook ($6.69) and Print on Amazon ($13.46)

Facing a life of drudgery on a repressive factory planet, Remy Belieux longs to escape. Her only option for release is to enlist in the Space Service, becoming a soldier for her own world’s oppressors.

She receives her first assignment:  guarding a charismatic rebel leader being transported to a prison planet.  When rebel troops surprise them, Remy fails to thwart the ambush. Despite a commendation from her Captain, she feels she must redeem herself by recapturing the handsome fugitive.

Shocked by what she learns during the pursuit–her own family’s past involvement in the rebellion–Remy faces a dilemma: remain loyal to the oath she swore as a soldier or join the rebel cause and condemn herself to a death sentence for treason. What is her ULTIMATE DUTY?

Excerpt

Remy and Garrett arrived at the outer wall path that led to the dock ports. Remy hoped at least one shuttle was still attached to the station. She dropped to the floor and peered down the slope of the passageway. Two guards stood at the entrance to bay 5. Luckily, they faced the opposite direction. Remy slid back and pointed silently, then held up two fingers. Garrett nodded and pointed left and then at himself. Remy nodded.

With no way to get any closer unseen, they must use speed instead. Both stepped back a couple of paces, so they’d hit the corner at full tilt. A nod from Garrett, and they sprinted through the twenty meters separating them from the guards. One guard turned to look only when Remy and Garrett were close enough to attack. The guard yelled, "Halt!" as he raised the barrel of his blaster. The second guard turned with a confused expression and didn’t manage to raise his own weapon before Remy reached him.


Remy felt her mind and body slip into fighting mode. Time slowed for her and she noted every detail of the guard’s stance. She leaped high in the air, her legs coiled like springs. The second guard finally lifted his rifle but never had the chance to fire. Remy drove both feet into his abdomen, slamming him against the wall with the force of her strike. In the low gravity she landed easily on her feet crouched and ready. She crossed her arms against her torso, grabbing the guard’s belt with her left hand and prepared to strike with her right. The man’s eyes widened when Remy’s backhand arced toward him. The force of the blow across his jaw sent him tumbling to the floor.

She glanced over at Garrett and saw he had already disabled the other guard, now curled on the floor moaning. Garrett kicked him in the head with an almost gentle tap. The connection of his shod foot on the guard’s temple did the job, knocking the man unconscious.

Garrett walked over to Remy’s guard and bent down. He pressed two fingers against the side of the man’s neck. "Good. He’ll live."

"If I wanted him dead, he’d be dead," Remy snarled.

* * *

SF-PG and SF-R

I wrote a short story titled "Pressure Drill" umpty-ump years ago. A bunch of years later, I cleaned it up and submitted it to an on-line 4theLove ezine. Matter of fact, it ended up in two different on-line zines a few months apart. With that success, I wrote a sequel story with the same character telling what happened next in her life. Let's see? What was...oh, yeah. I titled this next story "First Duty."

I liked the character (Nyra Hutchings) and the dystopian future in which she lived. Why not write a book using the two completed stories as starter yeast.

I titled the entire book "First Duty." This first go was published by Sam's Dot Publishing, a lovely little SF/F/H press still going after all these years. When the contract ran out, I did a little more editing and added a few suggestions from readers.

I put a simple cover on "First Duty" and released it in both ebook and print on my own. Recently, I spiffed up the cover (see left) to make it look more science fictiony. After all, this is a general space opera, not focused toward female readers even if my main character was a woman. There are a couple of heroes too. Two completely different men for Nyra to consider as potential significant others.

I also noted, during this period, that Science Fiction Romance was taking off as a subgenre. SF for the gals, so to speak. Much of this subgenre ranged from R-rated to (blush!). I went with R and my newly named heroine, Remy Belieux could now knock a man out either with martial arts or "loving" them til they broke.

This hotter version also got some more space action and death-defying scenes. This book, "Ultimate Duty," was published by Eternal Press. Don't worry, I admitted that it was an expansion on earlier book which I self-published in ebook and print versions.

Now, you my beloved blog-reader, can have it every which way, hot or not, short or long, kid-friendly or somewhat spicier.

LASR Interview and Runes

Scheduled for February 24th, February 27th Today.

I got grilled by the fine folk at Long and Short Romances (LASR). Their interview form is intimidating to say the least, but I bravely pushed on to produce nearly 5000 words of (ahem) wisdom on science fiction romance. I wonder how many words will survive. I think I was writing "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy" a couple hundred times. Where's my axe?

Now Available!

Marian Lanoutte can carry a tune...I mean rune with excerpts from both Bad Spelling and Midnight Oil.

I haven't had the pleasure of hosting Marian yet. She writes mysteries and her first book in the Jake Carrington series is scheduled from MuseItUp Publishing later this year.

Loglines - Ultimate Duty

Ultimate Duty featured on the Loglines Blog today.

A new book featured everyday. Does the cover and logline intrigue enough to make you want to read the book? Check it out.

Buy the book award-winning (9th Place Best SF on Editors/Preditors Poll 2010) book at:

Eternal Press

Amazon Kindle and Print

Watch the book trailer at YouTube.

Holiday Time In Space

I discuss how multiple planets can coordinate Christmas Cheer, or corporate rule as the case may be on Jessica Subject's Mark of the Stars blog. The month is all about SFR and holidays. Should be some interesting stuff.

My OTHER Books - First Duty and Ultimate Duty

I wrote two books with the same plot and characters. The first, "First Duty," is a YA level novella. It was originally published by Sam's Dot Publishing in print form only in 2008. I wanted to turn it into an ebook, so when my contract expired, I did a bit more editing and published it as an ebook and print book with a new cover. The blurb for both books is similar, so I'll just put it here once. The heroine's name is Nyra in First Duty and Remy in Ultimate Duty.

Oath or love...What is her ultimate duty?

Remy Belieux, a woman born into a life of servitude on a repressive factory planet, is desperate for a different life. When she's accepted into the Space Service Academy, run by the organization that enslaves her planet, she discovers the truth behind generations of rebellion. Now, she must decide what to believe, where her ultimate duty lies, and fight for more than her life against impossible odds.

FIRST DUTY

 

Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble EPub editions cost only 99 cents.

The print edition is also available from Amazon and B&N. I just dropped the price on the print, but it might take awhile for the lower price to catch up on B&N. At Amazon, print is now $6.99.

At Barnes & Noble, it's $8.99 as of today, but the price should drop soon.

ULTIMATE DUTY

I got to know some CDSF writers (character-driven science fiction) and thought that my plot, characters, and the bit of romance in the book suited it to another reworking. I added 22K words of action and some fairly hot sex. I changed the title to "Ultimate Duty" and most of the character names as well. I submitted this book to Eternal Press and it is now for sale at the usual on-line stores.

Note that this book did receive 9th Place (which placed it in award category) at the Preditors and Editors readers poll. So I guess a few people liked it well enough to vote it up over a few dozens of other SF books.

Since it's longer and published through a pro publisher, it costs more to buy the the novella.

At Amazon, the Kindle edition is $6.69.

The Amazon print edition varies quite a bit. It dropped down to around $4 a couple of weeks ago, so I bought a copy for myself. That was a better price than I could get with my discount with Eternal Press.

Immediately, the print price jumped up to $12.94. Such are the mysteries of Amazon pricing. I guess I should have bought a couple of copies when I had the chance.

Barnes & Noble EPUB is $5.56. Not too bad with the discount. However, the B&N print price is higher at $13.94.

Twiddling Thumbs

UPDATE: Just looked on Amazon and found Ultimate Duty, print edition, marked down to an incredible $6.80 (retail $17.25). Not sure why, but I know I paid way more than that for my author copies. Grab a bargain before they change it! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1615722297 *****



I'm waiting for the release of my latest book, "Bad Spelling." Since the Muse On-Line Conference is going on through the 8th, I'm twiddling thumbs until all the people I know at MuseItUp are back to business as usual.

To pass the time, I thought I'd mention a couple of books I have that are already out in the world, wandering around in search of readers. I'm afraid I have neglected them lately because I'm totally excited about Bad Spelling's release. My self-pubs do reasonably well without a publisher other than myself since I can sell them for 99 cents. They are in the "what the heck, it's only 99 cents" category. At least I hope so. I really should do some tweeting I guess.


I thought I should give some time to my last two professionally published books. Since I'm a multi-genre author, my brand is a bit muddled. A mystery/suspense and a science fiction. Certainly not two peas out  of the same pod, but they both can sit in the same market basket in the romance uber-genre. Both have relationships between the lead character and one (or more) attractive males (and one other female). But the main point of each is less focused on the romance, than the situation (deadly) and how my erstwhile heroines handle themselves. I'm proud to say they both acquit themselves with competence and persistence to seek the truth and do the right thing.
 

MISSING, ASSUMED DEAD

Prejudice, murder, insanity, suicide: Every small town has its secrets.

Amazon Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EN73FI

MuseItUp Buy Link: http://tinyurl.com/Missing-Dasef

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZI_8LgOIb4
When Kameron McBride receives notice she’s the last living relative of a missing man she’s never even heard of, the last thing she wants to do is head to some half-baked Oregon town to settle his affairs. But since she’s the only one available, she grudgingly agrees.
 
En route, she runs afoul of a couple of hillbillies and their pickup in an accident that doesn’t seem...accidental. Especially when they keep showing up wherever she goes. Lucky for her, gorgeous Deputy Mitch Caldwell lends her a hand, among other things. Her suspicions increase when the probate Judge tries a little too hard to buy the dead man’s worthless property.
 
Working on a hunch and trying to avoid the Judge’s henchmen, Kam probes deeper into the town’s secrets and finds almost no one she can trust. With Mitch’s help, she peels away the layers of prejudice, suicide, murder, and insanity. But someone in town doesn’t like her poking around, and when they show their intentions by shooting her through the police chief’s office window, the stakes are raised. Kam must find out what really happened to her dead relative before someone in this backward little town sends her to join him.
 
And she thought Oregon was going to be boring.
 
 

ULTIMATE DUTY
Born into endless servitude, Remy takes her only out: join the military arm of the repressive government. She discovers a secret, that her own family is involved in rebellion. Now she must choose. Oath or love? What is her ultimate duty?
 
Eternal Press Buy Link: http://tinyurl.com/2dt7und

Amazon Buy Link (Kindle and Print): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004ASND8O
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1615722297
 
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxaTLrg5c5A

I'm on Sally Franklin Christie's Blog

Sally is an author and also happens to be the marketing go to gal for Eternal Press. She'll probably correct me with a proper title, but that's how I think of her.

Read all about me on her Writerly Wednesdays Presents page of her web site. She'll be featuring a different writer every Wednesday. I'm the lucky ducky who gets to go first!

My Eternal Press Science Fiction ULTIMATE DUTY is the featured book. Be sure to mouse down to the end to read my wacky answers to Sally's wacky questions.