Get your geek on!
While I'm away, I have some good company for you.
I'm so pleased to welcome on my blog today the very talented Susan Gourley.
Walking
the Line
Thanks,
Christine, for having me on your blog. Like you, I write speculative
fiction, a very broad genre category. My romances are categorized as
science fiction romance, and according to the reviews on Amazon,
attract fans of science fiction and romance. I’m sure many of my
readers are fans of both genres, but some are one or the other. The
challenge is how to satisfy those readers and give them what they
want when they read my books.
So
how do I walk that line? Where is the line between too much real
science, or fake science, and too much romance?
Romance
readers
don’t want a long explanation of the physics needed for my hero and
heroine to travel between solar systems and galaxies at warp speed.
And it is fiction, so the ability to travel beyond light speed is
perfectly acceptable without a technical explanation. For one of my
novel series, The
Recon Marines,
I invented a fuel source that explained how ships could stay in space
indefinitely. But since all the characters in the novel already
understood how the fuel and space travel worked, there was no reason
to explain it to readers. It was accepted as part of that world.
Science
fiction readers
don’t mind a love story intertwined in a futuristic adventure as
long as the romance isn’t too ‘hot and steamy’ and doesn’t
overwhelm the external conflict of the novel. The best relationships
in science fiction novels are forged in whatever battles the
protagonists are fighting.
The
science fiction parts of the story lend themselves to situations
where an intense relationship can develop. Other worlds are likely to
have severe climates, varying lengths of days and nights, as well as
medical advances, and alien enemies that can make for great plot
devices. I’ve used all four of those devices to put my characters
into trouble or get them out of trouble.
Mixing
the protagonists reactions to the plots devices with some actual and
invented science will hopefully satisfy both genre lovers. Though in
this business you can’t please everybody, the right balance of
romance and science will make a lot of diverse readers happy.
How
much science do you like in your romances? Do you know an author who
balances romance with another genre perfectly for your tastes? Do you
have a favorite science fiction plot device?
Gaviron
warrior Liam has lost everything and lives only to take revenge on
the monstrous raynid creatures and will risk his life without
caution. Governor Siva will take any help she can get to save her
desperate colony from the merciless invading species, even a suicidal
fighter like Liam. As her understanding of the grim alien warrior
grows, Siva tries to give Liam a reason to live. As Liam broken heart
lets in Siva and her daughter, he finds he once again has someone
worth dying for. Defeating their common enemy may cost them
everything.
Susan
Kelley is multi-published in science fiction romance and writes high
fantasy as Susan Gourley. You can find her at Susan
Says
or on Twitter
and Facebook.
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