Today we are wishing a happy book launch to Christie Meierz, author of The Fall , which was released yesterday. We have information about the book and a quick interview and our fabulous Fast Five PLUS a link to Christie’s book release blog tour GIVEAWAY. Be sure to check that out below.
The Book Blurb:
As bitter enemies scheme against each other with the fate of Tolar in the balance, Laura Howard, made a powerful empath by the Jorann’s gift, loses everything—again. Now she must recover and find her place, and herself, while fighting against the ghosts of her past and the expectations of everyone around her.
Loss after tragic loss shakes the Paran to his very soul. With his allies vying for control of the planet and his own province caught in the middle, he must risk his life as well as that of the woman he loves to take the one action he never thought he would: fight for leadership of the ruling caste.
The Author Bio:
Award-winning writer Christie Meierz writes space opera and science fiction romance set in a civilization of empaths on the edge of a dystopic Earth empire. Her published works include her bestselling debut novel, The Marann, and its sequel, Daughters of Suralia, and two prequel short stories published in Into Tolari Space ~ The First Contact Stories.
Christie has spent a night and/or eaten a meal in all 50 U.S. states, plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Currently, she lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her mathematician husband and an assortment of stuffies. When she’s not writing, she writes about writing on her blog, Meierz Musings (christiemeierz.blogspot.com), and Facebook (facebook/christie.meierz and facebook/tolarispace), where she welcomes comments and friend requests.
FAST FIVE
1. Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Trek!
2. Coke, Pepsi or other?
Pepsi!
3. Salty or sweet?
Sweet!
4. Monsters or Space Aliens?
Space Aliens!
5. Spaceballs or Galaxy Quest?
Galaxy Quest!
The giveaway!
Enter to win $25 Amazon Gift Card plus e-copies of the Tales of Tolari Space series!
Interview:
Q. What do you enjoy most about writing in a SciFi setting?
Christie: Getting to play with ideas! I was a child when the original Star Trek was broadcast, and it seeded my imagination with ideas that came out in the little stories I wrote for school. I could go any place, at any time, change one or a few things, and think about what could happen next.
I never stopped imagining. What does an empathic civilization look like? Who commits crime, and how, when everyone around you knows you’re up to something? What happens to people who don’t fit in? I started tackling questions like these because I could, and sometimes the answers surprised me.
Q. Do you think there are stories or topics than can be handled better in SciFi Romance or does it simply stand equal to other genres?
Christie: I don’t know if it’s better, but I suspect it’s easier to handle controversial topics in a future Earth, or an alien world, in which they are taken for granted. Gender equality, marriage equality, racial equality, sexual orientation, it’s all fair game. It doesn’t have to be a utopia; in fact, a dystopia can be a lot more fun to write about.
Q. What were your early story crafting influences?
Christie: The earliest was Star Trek. When I was seven years old, I started writing a massive tome, with no particular plot, in which Captain Kirk featured prominently. So did Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows. Anything and everything appealing that I read or watched on TV ended up in that story. I threw it away when I was twelve, which is probably better for the world, but it was mostly science fiction and vampires.
As a teenager I started sneaking Harlequin romances out of my mother’s book closet. I think reading all that romance is why, when I started writing about a little alien girl splashing her feet in a stream, the romance between her father and her tutor took over the story. In subsequent stories, my characters kept falling in love with each other. It’s very hard for me to keep that from happening, and there’s a side romance I didn’t let happen in my latest release. Man it was hard to rein that in!
From Charlee:
Our thanks to Christie for visiting the blog today! And thanks to you, our readers!
Smart Girls love SciFi 
Thanks for stopping by. Eating a meal/spent the night in all 50 sounds like a novel itself.