Thursday, April 28, 2011

Updating the Library

After a long hiatus I am once again brushing the dust off of our library page and getting it updated. Thank you for a stiff kick in the pants from Kim Knox who sent me an excellent list complete with links.

If you want your book on the library page I need:
- title
- author name
- genre (see the library for details)
- heat level

If you have a new release or an upcoming release I need all of that, release date, and I'll try to grab the cover image from your webpage. If you don't have a link or cover yet, that's fine. If you don't have a link but you do have a cover that we can use, please send that to me.

The easiest way to get everything to me is by logging onto the SFR Brigade member website and sending me a message.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Short Story Anthology Just Released

The newer, larger, improved edition of my 13-story Mixed Bag (only 99 cents) titled Mixed Bag II: Supersized with 25 stories is now available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon Kindle.

Here's what you get in the supersized edition. There is something for everyone here. While some of the stories are for an adult audience, there is no erotica. Unless ant attacks are your thing or if Big Foot drives you wild with desire.

Fish Story - Science Fiction
The Vision - Horror/Fantasy
Chilpequin 22 Miles - Fantasy
Coward - Horror
Heather's Pain - LitFic
The Delegate - SciFi
No Deposit, No Return - LitFic
Taxman - Humor
The Country Faire - Horror
Fair's Fair - Fantasy
If You Could See Her - Romance
Ma 'Yote and Her Cubs - Nostalgia LitFic
Invasion - Horror
The Cursed Valley - Fantasy
Shasta Lake - LitFic
Big Bessie's Place - LitFic
The Hunter - Horror
The Great Writing Competition - SciFi
A Good, Honest Dog - Non-fic
A Visit to Potter's Field - Fantasy
Extraordinary Rendition - LitFic
Jonathan Swift Finds Nemo - Alterate History
Lemons - Children
Neighborly - LitFic
A Grab Bag of Drabbles

I'd appreciate tagging on Amazon if you have a chance. Comment here and I'll give you a coupon at Smashwords for a FREE copy:

fantasy, science fiction, short stories, horror, humor, literary realism, science fiction romance, humorous fantasy, fish, androids, aliens, colonization, bigfoot, coyotes, artificial insemination

Friday, April 22, 2011

Celebrating Earth Day With a Red Sage Giveaway

Happy Earth Day!

At author Joely Sue Burkhart's blog, I'm bringing readers "behind the scenes" of my debut release in "I Blame Ted Danson For My Erotic Sci-Fi Romance ONCE UPON A TIME IN SPACE." You see, Ted Danson is a...well, I hate to spoil the surprise so you'll just have to discover it for yourself!

Another reason I was excited to guest blog was the opportunity to celebrate Earth Day. If you leave a comment at my post there you'll be entered for a chance to win one of two Red Sage gift certificates! Going green in our reading habits is not just good for SFR, it's good for the Earth, too.

Pauline Baird Jones Guest Blogging At The Galaxy Express

Pauline Baird Jones (STEAMROLLED) is guest blogging at The Galaxy Express about "Why Time Travel Is A Really Bad Idea." Come share your thoughts on time travel and you'll be entered for a chance to win a Poken!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Thursday Tag Party for 4/21/11!


Now here's a thought to try to bend your mind around: some scientists theorize that the universe originally only had one dimension. Try to visualize that, oh, Brigaders. A line? A point? Just to add to the mind-bending, now someone's come up with a way to test this theory involving light and the earliest bits of the universe. (Here's the whole article: Primordial Weirdness)

For this week, we're going to bend a bit as well, as in genre bending - we have a steampunk and a horror on tap from our SFR Brigade authors.

For our first time Tag cadets, a brief tutorial:

* Go to the Amazon buy page (I've included the links below)

* Scroll down to the Tags Customers Associate with this Product header

* Look for these tags: SFR, Scifi Romance, SF Romance, Science Fiction Romance and Paranormal Romance - please feel free to add any extra tags you feel are appropriate to the work (i.e. Space Opera, Military SF, etc.)

* Don't forget your SFR Brigade Tag!

* If the tags are already there, just click o
n them to add your 'vote'

* If not, type them int
o the 'your tags' box to add them (no need to save the page, just type and add)

* Don't forget the "Like" button at the top of the page!


For a list of past Tag Party books, come on over to the Book Launch and Tag Party Books page. Tagging is always welcome.

On to our Tag targets for this week!



Steamrolled (paperback) by Pauline Baird Jones





















Dark Faith
featuring J.C.Hay












As always - the Tag Party is searching for your work, old or new. If you'd like your work featured in the weekly Tag Party, or if you want to share war stories from the galactic frontier, please drop me a line at ravenesperanza@yahoo.com

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Guest SFRB Author

My guest author this week blames her father for her love of science fiction and fantasy. They watched many a late night science fiction movie together.

She recently won a Romantic Times Readers' Choice Award in the Futuristic Romance section for her book ENEMY WITHIN.

Please drop in and say hi to SFRBrigader, Marcella Burnard as she visits my blog!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Thursday Tag Party for 4/14/11!

It's been fifty years, Brigaders. Fifty years since Yuri Gagarin first left our atmosphere on that incredible maiden flight of humans leaving the Terran nest, more than half a lifetime ago.

We've come so far; we've yet so far to go. As writers, and as readers, we play a part in getting there - we keep the furnace of imagination stoked. We are the keepers of the flame.

Today we have one from a brand new Brigader and one from a familiar face!

For our first time Tag-universe explorers, a brief pre-flight check:

* Go to the Amazon buy page (I've included the links below)

* Scroll down to the Tags Customers Associate with this Product header

* Look for these tags: SFR, Scifi Romance, SF Romance, Science Fiction Romance and Paranormal Romance - please feel free to add any extra tags you feel are appropriate to the work (i.e. Space Opera, Military SF, etc.)

* Don't forget your SFR Brigade Tag!

* If the tags are already there, just click o
n them to add your 'vote'

* If not, type them int
o the 'your tags' box to add them (no need to save the page, just type and add)

For a list of past Tag Party books, come on over to the Book Launch and Tag Party Books page. Tagging is always welcome.

On to our Tag targets for this week!




Friend or Foe by Frances Pauli
















Blue Galaxy
by Diane Dooley










As always - the Tag Party is searching for your work, old or new. If you'd like your work featured in the weekly Tag Party, or if you know where to get a telepathic translator for my cats, please drop me a line at ravenesperanza@yahoo.com

Monday, April 11, 2011

Melisse Aires' Confessions of a Speculative Writer

I've got the wonderful SFR Brigader Melissa Aires on my blog with some speculative fiction confessions and a little bit about her newest release, Her Accidental Angel.


Stop by when you have a chance!

http://sci-fiadventures.blogspot.com/

Sunday, April 10, 2011

SFRBrigader touring the blogs

Fellow SFRBrigader, Sara Creasy has spent the last couple of weeks touring various blogs to promote her latest release, CHILDREN OF SCARABAEUS.


Today it's my turn to host her. Come along and say hi to Sara and comment to go into the draw for a copy of CHILDREN OF SCARABAEUS.

Welcome New Members!

SFR Brigade welcomes two new members to our ranks...



(Click on names to visit their websites.)

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Romance and more

MIXED BAG is a collection of 13 previously published stories covering just about every genre.

It's my way of introducing my writing to the world. The stories were all published in on-line or print 'zines over the last three or so years. Many aren't available in their original point of sale, so I thought it would be nice to put them together in this small, yet meaty anthology. Here's the TOC:

Fish Story - Science Fiction

The Vision - Paranormal/Horror
Chilpequin 22 Miles – Fantasy/Humor
Heather’s Pain - Suspense
The Delegate - Science Fiction
The Country Faire - Literary Horror
If You Could See Her - Romance
Cursed Valley - Fantasy
Big Bessie's Place - Humor
The Hunter - Horror
A Visit to Potter's Field - Fantasy/Humor
Extraordinary Rendition - Literary Realism
Jonathan Swift Finds Nemo - Alternate History
A Grab Bag of Drabbles – Humor
 
As you can see, there's something for everyone. The book is available for 99 cents in ebook format at:

Barnes and Noble
Please Like.

Amazon
Please Like and Tag.

Smashwords
Special to SFR Brigaders. Use coupon PT94H for a free copy.

Reviews are highly welcome at all three sites. Note that a print edition is available for Luddites, but I don't suspect to find many here.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

RT Readers Choice Award!

Hailing on all frequencies, Brigaders!

Marcella Burnard has just won a Romantic Times Readers Choice Award for ENEMY WITHIN in the Futuristic Section!

Thursday Tag Party for 4/7/11!

Back from L.A. - ah, what a marvelous city. Something for everyone. My favorite part of the trip was the Griffith Observatory. But, Sandra, the light pollution there must be horrendous!

Yes, though it wasn't in the 1800's when the observatory was built. Now it's a public observatory, which is the most wonderful of concepts. We got to view Sirius through the 12-inch Zeiss and one of the nice docents with the personal telescopes out on the lawn showed us Saturn's rings. (And they turned on the Tesla Coil! How cool!)

Their motto: Inspiring the future, one imagination at a time. I think that's what SF writers need to strive for as well. That, and Tagging. Oh, did I mention we have a couple of fun books to Tag? Oh, right...got all caught up.

For our first time Tag-universe explorers, a brief pre-flight check:

* Go to the Amazon buy page (I've included the links below)

* Scroll down to the Tags Customers Associate with this Product header

* Look for these tags: SFR, Scifi Romance, SF Romance, Science Fiction Romance and Paranormal Romance - please feel free to add any extra tags you feel are appropriate to the work (i.e. Space Opera, Military SF, etc.)

* Don't forget your SFR Brigade Tag!

* If the tags are already there, just click o
n them to add your 'vote'

* If not, type them int
o the 'your tags' box to add them (no need to save the page, just type and add)

For a list of past Tag Party books, come on over to the Book Launch and Tag Party Books page. Tagging is always welcome.

On to our Tag targets for this week!


The Spiral Path by Lisa Paitz Spindler















Pelinas: The Enemy Within (Anchorage Book 4) by Sandra C. Stixrude

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Brigade Welcomes Aboard Laurel Kriegler!!!!


Please tell us a little about yourself

Well, where do I start. I'm a born and bred South African who has spend a total of just over 5.5 years living in the UK, and I just love it here. I am first of all a reader - I permanently had my nose in a book as a kid - but over the last five years or so, I have taken to writing down some of the ideas in my head. Creative writing endeavours while in school always ran into complete dead ends. Being from an artistic family, I have spent many years frustrated at the fact that I did not see myself as an artistic person.

My first writing venture proper was a poem, back in 2004, which I am still chuffed about to this day, as it was the first poem that I could honestly classify as such! Frustration drove that project. Late 2006 was when I first tried to put a story together. I knew very little about writing; I just needed to get the words and images down onto paper. Work took over, however, and for a few years I didn't write. The last year, however, saw me complete the first draft of a novel (which is currently more novella-length), and the first draft of a novella (which is currently short-story length!).

We’d love to hear more about your work

Book, or stories? There are WAY too many here. My first writing project has the working title "Forgotten". It will, one day, hopefully be a novel-length story when I gather the guts to chop it up and rewrite it. It is about a woman, Taneya, who wakes up on Earth in the far future, to find that she is in a seemingly idyllic civilisation. But all is not as it seems to be (to adopt a cliche). As already mentioned, I have three novella-length-to-be stories that I'm writing. They are each very separate from one another. Two of them are based on dreams that I've had in the last year. The third is set in the Anders Universe, and will go together with a trilogy (working title: Hope) that I am currently in the process of planning.

What is your favorite SF book or movie?

You ask difficult-to-answer questions!! There are absolutely tonnes of books and movies that I could list here! So I'll be quick about this and try to ignore the pain (and the clamouring to be mentioned coming from said books and movies). In books, I really like The Snow Queen Cycle, by Joan D. Vinge. In movies, I absolutely love Gattacca. This is qualified by the shouts in my head from all the others not mentioned!

Favorite mode of fictional travel?

It's got to be Star Trek's transporter. If only ....!

We share your desire for that if only, Laurel and again, welcome aboard!

Guest Blogging At Romance Divas

I'm guest blogging today at Romance Divas about the dangers of underestimating the power of romance readers--especially science fiction romance fans--in Underestimate Romance Readers At Your Peril. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the relationship between romance readers and science fictional elements in the stories we read.

By the way, did you know that Romance Divas is open to article submissions? They don't guarantee acceptance, but it's free to submit. Click here to read the submission guidelines (scroll down to "Articles."). Might be an opportunity in them thar hills to showcase more sci-fi romance topics--boo-yah!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Not quite the Da Vinci Code...

... but Ezra Baraney's book 'The Torah Codes' is bound to be compared to it.  Come and learn more about this fascinating ex physics teacher and his novel at my blog www.hywelalyn.blogspot.com
Lyn (Hywela Lyn)

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Seriously AWESOME Review!

I got this amazing review from Two Lips, my first review from them and had to share!

A snippet from this long, detailed, and glowing review:

"Pauline Baird Jones has been one of my favorite authors since I read her Eppie award-winning Out of Time, a World War II time travel that truly captured the flavor of that wartime era. I also read The Key, the exciting prequel to Girl Gone Nova, and this book blows them both away. Like its predecessor, Girl Gone Nova is set in the present day. With all its twists and turns – enough to rival a West Virginia highway – Girl Gone Nova is one of the most wildly unbelievable, yet believable books I've ever read. It's simply one of the best sci-fi romances ever written."


I used Manic Readers very cool review service to connect with them. :-)


So fun to find this on the heels of the EPIC Book win! I just turned in my next release in the connected series and updated my website! If you have time, stop by and check it out and then let me know what you think. I used a template, and it's hard finding anything that reflects my personal writing diversity. (grin)
perilously,
Pauline

Friday, April 1, 2011

Friend or Foe ~ New Release ~

Friend or Foe, by Brigader, Frances Pauli, comes out from Devine Destinies today.

Super Hero Romance
Cover art by: Angela Waters

"Can they save the town without losing each other?"

When Simon Maxwell’s archenemy backs out of the annual competition, he thinks the prize is in the bag. But a surprise appearance from The Spartan’s long-lost sister leaves Simon scrambling for a foot hold. He’s sworn to protect the town, but the girl from his past has him spinning in circles from the start. Is she here to help her brother, or are her motives pure? When every turn hides another trap and each twist holds a new secret, Simon risks more than just his honor. Can he win the girl before the finish line? And how can he save the town, when winning the race means losing his heart?

more info and an excerpt on the book's page.

SFR Brigade Bases of Operation