Trekkin Again

Hi everyone,

I finally saw the new Star Trek movie. I've been longing to for a while, but I don't get out to the movies much, sadly. I had to see this one though. I was a huge fan of Star Trek, though I'll admit I was a little young for the first incarnation, and my solid fandom was forged during the Next Generation years.

However, I did watch many of the old reruns at my grandmother's house, because she had cable and we didn't. I always stopped when I caught a rerun. And I saw all the movies at one point or another.

Given my moderately trekkie background, I was completely blown away by the new movie.

First of all, the first twenty minutes were unfair. Seriously. But moving beyond breaking my heart in the opening of a movie and having it haunt me for the next week and a half, I really enjoyed the new incarnations of the characters.

Especially Bones. Dare I say it? He's sexy.

And with the story completely open to new possibilities as they make new movies, and they should seriously make new movies, I can see all sorts of possibilities for love on the Enterprise. Heck, sign me up!

In all seriousness, here's my opinion of the movie. The characters were very well done. The special effects were astounding, and I bow to the designers of the films. They managed to capture the old retro look of the ship and costuming, but refresh it so it didn't look awkward.

Captain Kirk is the official bad boy of the cosmos, which I love. And now he's wounded, which is even better. I'm glad that all the original cast is represented, but it's like their characters are taken up a notch. I was completely entertained, and still all twisted up about that first twenty minutes, darn it.

I can't wait to see where this goes now. I feel like a fan renewed, and I love it.

Jess

Ethel the Space Pirate, Chapter Eighteen

Well, I guess we're back in the saddle for another segment of Ethel. For those who are a bit rusty, here's a sum up of the action. Ethel stopped the attack on the mining colony by infecting the attacker's control systems with a virus. They returned to what was left of Qinn's camp, where he revealed he's an archeologist. Now they are taking shelter in the cave ruins beneath the desert floor. Ethel took a moment to study her map, and Qinn spotted it. As always, if you'd like to read the whole story from the beginning, click here.

So here we go.

"Will you turn your damn hands off," Ethel shouted, shielding her eyes from his glowing skin. They dimmed enough to let her open her eyes again. Drifting green and pink spots floated through her vision as Qinn sauntered closer to her.

"What was that?" Qinn insisted.

"Nothing," she flattened her palm over her breast, pressing the sphere into her skin.

"You didn't look at it like it was nothing," he countered crouching in front of her. His glowing hands rested on his knees. "You looked at it like it was everything."

"And why should I tell you? Who are you? I don't trust you." She fought to her feet and retreated, but the darkness of the cavern swallowed her, and forced her to stop. She watched the wall of rock in front of her as the circle of light behind her grew, casting her shadow over a delicate stalagmite.

"Even though I owe you my life?" His warm hand touched her shoulder. She gave in to its pressure and turned. "Even if I could help?"

She brought her eyes to his, and they glowed, his open expression sincere. How could she trust him? Everyone she'd ever trusted gave in to greed and screwed her, literally and figuratively. She didn't want to feel vulnerable again.

But vulnerable was better than feeling so terribly lost.

"It's a map," she confessed. "It belonged to my grandfather."

Qinn's eyes widened just slightly. "Can I see it?"

Ethel felt her heart racing as she pulled the sphere from her support. Qinn's gaze lingered on the bare skin just above the simple garment then flickered down to her hand.

She activated the map, and it hovered between them. The glowing symbols embedded in the shifting aura outshone Qinn's hands. He let them fade as he reached up and followed the path of one of the symbols with his finger. His face looked serious and enthralled, as if he'd just set himself before an irresistable puzzle.

"Amazing," he whispered, as their eyes met through the aura.

"I think I need to go to Talon. Look at this here," she offered, showing him the symbol.

"No," he countered. "This is old, much older than any settlement on Talon, but very advanced technology. I don't recognize it, but these symbols are similar to markings on artifacts found by Weira. This is probably Yelori, in which case, we're dealing with a dead language."

"My grandfather thought it was a Borkan map to a quazine strain."

"No, quazine is mundane compared to this." Awe filled his voice.

"How do you know?" she whispered.

"I've got a feeling, and when I get a feeling like this, I'm never wrong." He smiled at her, his eyes shining brighter. "Looks like we have to take a trip to the library."

Ethel's heart dropped to the floor. "The great library is in the center of the empire. I'll be arrested."

"For what?" Qinn tilted his head an incredulous look on his face.

Ethel turned off the map and stashed it back in her support. "You don't want to know."

"So what do we do now?"

A: Go to the port together and find transportation off the planet.
B: Send Qinn by himself to the library to investigate the runes.
C: Consult Qinn's old mentor who might know something.

You have until noon on Wednesday the 15th to decide, and the new post will be up the following week on the 22nd. Have fun everyone!

Jess

Inspiration

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

I was going to look for pictures of fireworks, but this seemed more appropriate. It's amazing to me that an old document can mean so much.

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to all our service members out there. I know how much you sacrifice, and you should all be proud today.

I find inspiration in a lot of places. Sometimes they surprise me. As I've said before, part of the Byralen culture was inspired by the mating habits of African weaver birds.

But this is one place where my inspiration doesn't surprise me. It's easy to think about this document, and think about old portraits of old men in old clothes in an old time. But that's not what I think about.

I think about what it must have felt like to sign this document. To put pen to paper and commit yourself, your friends, your family to a war. I think about that, and I can feel fear churn in my gut and my hands shake a little, and yet, these men signed in spite of feeling what I feel magnified to the nth degree. Some did so boldly, like John Hancock. His sense of purpose had to be as large as his signature. And all of their determination in the face of adversity, pain and death takes my breath away.

My second book, Beyond the Shadows is about two people on the verge of a revolution. The hero's determination to make his world better in spite of the consequences, and even if it means his death, very much came from what I feel when I look at this document.

So in my heart, I give honest thanks to the men and women brave enough to be rebels. I honor them. And I hope for those in the world now, struggling for their own independence. I hope they stay strong, they stay brave, and their sacrifices make the world a better place.

Happy Independence Day.

Jess

Back on My Feet

Hi everyone,

Well, I made it through and I'm recovering nicely. And I missed you guys, so I thought I'd post today. I'll do the next Ethel post, not this Wednesday but next on July, 8th.

Time to catch up on some business. Thanks for all your kind thoughts and wishes. Sara, if you're out there, I'm so sorry that I haven't received your email, but if you try again, hopefully it will go through. To celebrate my return, I'll also give away a second copy of The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers, by Angie Fox, to anyone who posts a comment on this post.

I'm putting together the first official On the Wing newsletter. I wanted to do a newsletter for you guys as an announcement for each of my releases. If you sign up for the newsletter, you'll receive one, and only one email announcing the release of my books about two weeks before the release date. It is meant to be a fun convenient thing for you guys, and I have no intention of browbeating anyone through their inbox.

In this copy of On the Wing, I'm including the release announcement for Beyond the Rain with links to online bookstores. An interview with the hero, Soren, and his thoughts on what it takes to be a true romance hero. A behind the scenes look at the writing of the book, and some of the ideas that inspired it, a super exclusive excerpt from the book, and a preview of the back cover copy for the sequel, Beyond the Shadows.

It's all information I think you guys might enjoy, and I'm putting it together for you.

In other news... Check out the August edition of Romantic Times Magazine! There's an article featuring the book on page 29, and the official RT review on page 96. I can't wait to get a copy and remind myself what I said.

The Galaxy Express should have some fun analysis and commentary on the book coming up in August, but they always have fun commentary, so visit them frequently to keep your finger on the pulse of SFR.

And as for garden news, we've had a vicious heat wave. However, several of the black swallowtail caterpillars have grown fat and happy, and I believe they successfully made it into their chrysalises. I'm trying to keep track of them, but they are sneaky when they run off to pupate. I've also seen evidence of more Spicebush swallowtails on the sassafras tree, but I haven't spotted the actual caterpillars yet. I'll keep looking, and I'll keep you posted. The watch is on for the first Monarchs of the season.

That's all the news for now. I'm still in recovery mode, but feeling a lot better. Thanks again for all the well wishes. We're getting close now. Only one month to go!

Jess

Brief Haitus, Sorry!

Hi everyone,

I know you're looking for a new Ethel post, but I've got to go offline for a couple of weeks to recuperate from some health issues. I should be good as new and back in action soon.

Thanks for your understanding.

Jess

Space Opera Ahoy!

I write Space Operas.

Up until a couple of years ago, I wasn't very familiar with that term. I love Star Wars, I've always loved Star Trek. I like adventure. I like characters. I like the tropes of Space Operas. I don't feel like Space Operas brow beat me.

I don't feel like they talk down to me.

And so I've been a fan since childhood.

Now I like to think. A lot. I'm all for the "Big Idea," in Science Fiction. Sometimes I like to thoughtfully stroke my chin and muse about the perplexity of the story unfolding before me. But I'll tell you what, I hardly ever remember the characters involved, only the big idea.

That's fine, but it doesn't really serve me if I want to write a Romance.

In Romance, characters are all. The whole story hinges on if two characters can come together and forge a love that people believe is real and lasting. It is stinking hard to forge a lasting love now a days, and sometimes I have to go to extremes just to convince myself that my characters have been truly tested and have proven themselves worthy of lasting love.

If the "Big Idea" of science fiction is too big, it eclipses the characters and then neither stand out.

And so I'll joyfully set aside trying to teach the world some heavy lesson about the dangers of our future and our technology. I'd rather explore the dangers of human interaction by creating worlds of cultural extremes.

Space Opera gives me the leeway to write those extremes, and I love it.

So all hail the Space Opera. It is not a lesser part of Science Fiction, just a different breed. It uses different structure to tell a different story, and I'm all for flexibility in story telling.

If you're of the same mind, and prefer the escapist end of the Science Fiction genre, say it with me...

"All hail the Space Opera."

Long may she take us on wild adventures in places unknown.

Jess

Longing to Write

I've discovered something interesting. I cope with my stress by writing. That's a little backward according to some writers I've talked to. I can't wait to start my second read through of the sequel to Beyond the Rain.

I miss it. I had a ton of fun writing it, and I swear it saved my sanity several times. I'm not ready to move on from it yet, so I'm hoping I can do the second read through and enjoy it. I don't want to put on my editor glasses and judge it, but I have to. I will be a challenge to make it even deeper, richer and more exciting. That should be a fun ride.

After that, I get to look forward to my first RWA National convention. That should be a ton of fun. I've only dropped in on a party at one, because my chapter was hosting it. Now I get to be there on "official" duty. I'm going to have a blast.

In other news, Black Swallowtails have laid a bunch of eggs on the parsley. Finally! I didn't see the butterfly that did it, she was sneaky, but they're there. I should have some pictures of new caterpillars up soon.

That's all for now, it's going to be a busy week for me. Have a great time, and happy reading everyone.

Remember, if you post a comment on Ethel, you could receive a free copy of The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers, by Angie Fox. It is a super fun read, so check it out.

See you next week, and hopefully I'll have about 15-20 little caterpillars to tell you about.

Jess