One of the things I am most passionate about (after family) is storytelling. I love to consume stories—as books, TV, movies—but I also love to write my own. When I look back over the last year, my biggest regret is that I didn’t spend more time writing my own fiction. I want to do more writing more than almost anything, but to do that I’ll have to cut back on other things I enjoy. It is all about making tough choices.

I love the blog and the people who visit here, but for the next little while I’ll be giving the blog a rest. I don’t want to set a time limit, because I’m cutting back on a lot of things and I may find I’ve cut back too much. I may come back to the blog sooner or more often than I expect. So, I hope we will be able to reconnect when I’m feeling more satisfied with the amount of writing I’m getting done. Until then, enjoy life, drop me a line through the contact from if you want to get in touch, and if you’re wondering where I am…

I’ll be writing.

with love,

Charlie

TOP SECRET:
Terrorist Name: Genevieve Luzon

Citizenship: ExPat of Earth

Whereabouts: Unknown

Physical Characteristics, 5 feet11 inches, brown hair, hazel eyes, candle tattoo on left hip.

Last Known Occupation: Offworld Vacation Coordinator turned secret shopper for the pleasure companion service Illustra.

Criminal Activity: Suspect was instrumental in helping an enemy of the citizens of Earth escape custody. Next of kin listed as Cora and Jack Luzon, maternal grandparents and Tanny Luzon whereabouts also unknown.

Notation: Grandparents both have formidable telepathic abilities. Considered armed and dangerous.

Terrorist Name: Rhys

Whereabouts: Unknown

Citizenship: Empath home world

Physical Characteristics, 6 feet1 inch, red hair, green eyes
* (See notation below). *
Severe scarring from unknown causes.

Last Known Occupation: Religious zealot

Criminal Activity: File Sealed

Notation: *Empathic warrior able to leave his own corporeal body and take over others both physically and emotionally. Considered armed and extremely dangerous. Approach with caution.

Terrorist Name: Gia Sandoval

Whereabouts: Unknown

Citizenship: Ex-patriot of Earth

Physical Characteristics, 5 feet 6 inches, blonde hair, green eyes

Last Known Occupation: Stinger Pilot for the Earth Flight Patrol (EFP).

Criminal Activity: UA from Stinger squadron, but her vessel was used in an attack against her former squadron

Next of Kin: Unknown. Both mother and grandparents died in the Earthquake of 2079. Subject was only surviving member of her lineage.

Notation: A decorated pilot and expert marksmanship. First place the Interstellar Flight Award for fastest flight to Saturn and back.

Terrorist Name: Zan

Whereabouts: Unknown

Citizenship: Unknown

Physical Characteristics: 6 feet 4 inches, black hair, gold eyes.

Last Known Occupation: Space Pirate, Mercenary, Gun for Hire and raider of more than ten interstellar ships.

Criminal Activiy: Theft, hijacking, destruction of both government and private property, kidnapping, adding and abetting wanted fugitives, the unlawful transport of stolen goods and piracy.

Where you can find them:

No Limits: Now Available from Kensington Aphrodisia
All Genevieve Luzon wants is to be loved by one man, a seemingly impossible task in New-New York City at the start of the twenty second century. Sure, she can buy sex as easily as order a pizza on a Friday night, but finding a forever kind of love among her self-centered peers is no easy feat for the unemployed off-world vacation coordinator. When an old friend offers her the position of secret shopper to test out the male prostitutes, Gen can’t think of a good reason to refuse. Hell, if she can’t find Mr. Right, she might as well try on a sampler of Mr. Right Nows.

Yet the perks of her new position don’t compare to the strange attraction she has, not for one of the prostitutes, but a candle that seems to warm places of her she never knew existed. When a man appears out of the flame, Gen is sure she’s found the one. Rhys is an empath, made a slave by the Illustra Corporation and he’s everything Gen could ever want. Except available. Because Rhys is on a mission. One that might claim his life. He must try to free his people, consequences be damned. Now, Gen must choose between turning her back on the only man she’s ever loved and the monumental task he has set for himself. Should she risk her life fighting a war hidden from polite society against those who wish to control us all?

Is love really worth fighting for? Buy your copy from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or wherever books are sold.

And please, join me on the No Limits Blog Tour for a chance to win a Kindle Fire!

Hi, I like to tell stories. Actually, I’ve been making up stories for many years. It all started when I was a kid, and I would randomly make up small scenarios in my head. As I got older, it developed into something more and by the time I was a teenager, those scenarios turned into stories that I was writing on paper.

I write in a variety of genres–SciFi, urban fantasy, paranormal, and horror. The genre that took me the longest to write was SciFi. A genre I’d wanted to write for many years.

After all, I’m a kid of the 80′s. So I’ve been watching SciFi since I was very young. There were plenty of movies and TV shows to get hooked on. But my love for this genre started with the first Star Wars movie. I was so young, but can still remember being amazed and captivated by the story, action, and characters. It helped me realise that SciFi could involve a lot more than science terms and factual information. There were people in these stories. People who had pasts, futures, led dangerous lives, and were surrounded by secrets that would change them forever.

I found the human factor in SciFi addictive. And this helped me develop an interest in a bunch of TV shows from that decade, and the ones before it. Shows like Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Space: 1999, Lost In Space, Land of the Giants, V, and Battle of the Planets (to name a few). Live action, animated, movie or show, I didn’t care. I was just a kid absorbing all of these fictional people’s lives. It was awesome.

I responded better to stories that were set in the future, or in the stars, or on alien worlds, but still dealt with character interactions. How each person or alien relates to the other, how they live in harmony or in war, their loves, lives, enemies, and the space travel. I’m a sucker for the space travel. Though I have to admit that watching all of this in the 80′s gave me false expectations of the future. I mean, not only have we pretty much given up on space travel, but where are the flying cars?

For years, I wanted to write a SciFi story of my own, but just couldn’t tap into the right one. There were some failed attempts, but each helped me get a little closer to the stories I wanted to tell. And the key was remembering what had always interested me in those old SciFi shows and movies: the relationships and humanity in alien situations.

So the day a space cowboy idea hit me, and I started writing, I soon realised this was the story I’d always wanted to tell. The first story in a much bigger world. In a fictional galaxy filled with people, aliens, AI, planets, and a bunch of interconnected problems that became the Recast series.

And that’s how I found myself in the wonderful world of SFR, and with the second installment coming soon. Because even in a tough, dangerous galaxy, there’s love to be found. Oh, and there’s one other thing. Something that’s carried over from my urban fantasy, paranormal, and horror writing… a little supernatural angle, with a dark edge.

So, this is my personal SciFi story. What’s yours? How did you get hooked on SciFi? And are you like me–do you enjoy a little paranormal with it?

Thanks for reading!

About Recast, Book 2: Clash:

When revenge, secrets and lust collide, there can only be chaos.

Jenks Maine is dead, but the devastating effects forcing Recast to fight in the arena goes on. Half-Recast Ace Abu is determined to put a stop to it. All he needs is to get to the planet Fray, locate the concealed Clash Arena, and destroy it. But first he has to cross half the galaxy before the sound and smell of his partners’ nonstop lovemaking drives him mad.

By the time he parks himself on a barstool in the town of Grit, he’s more than ready for a few beers. Except the sexy singer on stage is only making him—and his inner beast—burn hotter.

Ely’Shea longs for the freedom Jenks stole from her. She’s his right-hand woman, but when the boss is away she steps out of her enforcer role and ducks into a remote bar to indulge her passion: singing onstage. The night she catches a glimpse of an alluring cowboy in the audience, he ignites a spark inside her she never thought she’d feel again.

Unable to resist temptation, they’re consumed by passion…but once the fuses are set, their deepest personal secrets could blow any chance of forever all to hell.

Product Warnings: This book contains a very lonely shapeshifter in need of some loving, a kick-ass singer leading a double life, a serious case of mutual lust, an arena filled with enslaved warriors, and so many secrets it can only end in total madness.

Clash is now available for pre-order at:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Samhain Store

RECAST SERIES:

About Yolanda Sfetsos:

Yolanda Sfetsos lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband, daughter, and cat. She loves to spend most of her days writing stories. Her muse doesn’t like genre restrictions and is always happy to toe the dark edge of storytelling. When she’s not writing she spends as much time as possible with her small family. She also enjoys watching movies, TV shows, anime, going for walks, and reading.

Website: http://www.yolandasfetsos.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/yolandasfetsos
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/yolandasfetsos

Today, please welcome author, Rae Lori, to the blog! I recently asked her some questions about her recent re-release of Cimmerian City as a second, revised, edition.

Charlie: You’ve recently re-released Cimmerian City. Can you tell us why you decided to do this now and what difference readers might find in the 2nd edition?

Rae: Surely! With the first edition, it was my first novel. Looking back, I realized that I not only had more to say on the subject due to our changing society, but my writing had also grown in the years since then. Interestingly enough, I still received some great feedback and reviews from the first edition but something inside wanted to revisit the narrative and replace the older version with a cleaner longer version.

Basically the 2nd edition includes more scenes, a different opening which is more mysterious to the reader, offering more questions for them to discover  they read on. I also had some more commentary to offer since our world today is looking eerily similar to the world of Cimmerian City. More so than in 2007!

Charlie: Can you tell us what elements went into building the Cimmerian City story world?

Rae: Indeed. I like to call it Blade Runner meets Blade with a side of La Femme Nikita because I saw the world as a very dark noirish one. Raven Blackheart, my heroine, is thrust into a completely new world much more dangerous and controlled than the one she comes from in 1999. She has lost everything and everyone she knows in the most brutal way. Now she has to trust someone even though that person is hiding a lot of secrets from her and using her to eliminate other threats. She doesn’t realize a few someones are watching over her and trying to steer her in the right direction.

I’m a huge cyberpunk fan and I love the elements that go into the subgenre like high technology, dark future worlds lead by corporations, a bit of a dystopia elements and usually the theme of man vs. society. I’m a huge fan of Philip K. Dick as far as classic SF authors go and I love the way he weaved stories where the world is familiar to us with different tweaks to make it uncomfortable. I also loved the way Huxley put a mirror to our society in Brave New World and wanted to do the same while offering a heroine to root for to the end (which I hope I did)!

Charlie: What is your favorite thing about Raven, the heroine?

Rae: I love her moxie! The early edition of Raven was a bit more rough around the edges and a tad more immature. At the time, I wanted to make her transition stronger so I went a bit further to the right. With the second edition, she’s a bit more subdued but still has a bit of growth to achieve which hopefully is more apparent by the time she becomes the person she is meant to be in the sequel, A Feast of Shadows.

Readers who missed the first edition will get to see the original opening and a few other deleted scenes in the special edition omnibus release.

Charlie: After the heroine, which character was most fun to write and why?

Rae: Oh, that’s a toughie! There are two other main protagonists aside from Raven–Russell Li and Enos–not including the antagonist himself, Tyler Deamond.

I loved writing Russell because his introduction was pretty harrowing to write, much like Raven’s. Enos was fun because his true identity to the reader and to Raven is a secret throughout the book until the end so I had to walk a fine line to make it apparent yet still remain a mystery. Deamond was always fun to write because although he’s the antagonist and has nefarious reasons for his motives, I still wanted to give him an edge on why he does what he does. The most memorable villains for me are the ones who are complex, edgy and dark, but at the same time you understand why they do what they do. Even if you don’t agree with them (like the ruthless Roy Batty of Blade Runner). There is also an underlining of attraction he has to Raven which is sort of a love what you are/hate what you are kind of situation.

In the end, I would have to say Russell because he has been burned just like Raven and their journey to each other which underlines the entire story arc really made this fun to write (especially when it came to their HEA)!

Charlie: Will book two continue the story following the same characters or will it focus on new ones?

Rae: It definitely will! Book 2, A Feast of Shadows, will pick up directly where Cimmerian City ended with a few extra surprises thrown in to allude to what will happen after the end of the story. I think this is where the story arc really takes off because Raven and Russell’s relationship really hit some strides, the stakes for Earth are higher and the sacrifices are much greater. One of the death scenes in there was pretty heavy for me to write!

Charlie: Where can we find out more about Cimmerian City?

Rae: You can learn more about Cimmerian City on the official webpage from my site: http://raelori.com/cimmeriancity.html

It’s also available on Amazon to sample and buy.

And you can sample a good percentage of the book on Smashwords.

It should be available soon on more online stores!

Charlie: Thanks, Rae, for taking the time for this interview!

For more information about Rae, visit her website, www.raelori.com.