Aliens in the Barn

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Bringing Goanna to Life in Pets in Space® 4 by @j_c_hay #PetsinSpace #amreading



by J.C. Hay


Bringing Goanna to Life

Goanna are a relatively new introduction to the TriSystems books – they were referenced in a couple of places before now as an aside, but Heart of the Spider’s Web marks the first time I’ve spent any significant time with them. To understand Darcy and goanna in general I must dive into a bit of history.
The first thing to remember is that they have only a passing resemblance to the Terran goanna (a catch-all for several species of monitor lizard in Australia) – the original colonists from Earth found an indigenous reptile-analogue on Farhope when they landed and saddled it with the first name that came to mind (and over looked that these goanna had two pairs of eyes). Because they’re omnivorous, easy to keep, and come in a variety of bright colors, goanna flourished as domestic pets (especially given that cats and most dog breeds had limited genetic stock and are expensive both to purchase and own.)
The behavior of my hero Rayan Barr’s goanna, Darcy, is patterned after a green iguana I kept for many years. This iguana (and most of them, I’ve since learned) was often described as acting like a big, scaly cat, and I tried to carry that through to how Darcy responds to attention, especially massages. He’s also a big, insistent goof, and a bit of a food-hound, much to the delight of the ship’s crew. Bringing Darcy into this story was an important gesture for me, first to explore some decidedly non-terrestrial biology, but more importantly to pay homage to the other Herps I’ve been lucky enough to share my life with. While a certain green iguana may be gone, in many ways he lives on in this story.
This excerpt marks Darcy’s first appearance in Heart of the Spider’s Web, as the feisty goanna renews his acquaintance with our heroine, Sheri Tyler. Enjoy!

JC Hay writes about heroic hearts, both human, canine, and reptilian, in a fantastic future




Heart of the Spider’s Web - Excerpt

“Showtime, Dockrat. You ready?” Rayan Barr’s voice was as heavy as his physique, and his build surprised her every time she saw him. The gym facilities on the ship had to be amazing to keep his musculature so well defined despite the oft-fluctuating gravity of space travel. Where most people lost mass on extended trips, Barr never seemed to have that problem.
Sheri scoffed. “Couldn’t you find a shirt in your size?” If she was honest, the black pseudocotton stretched across his ample shoulders looked pretty fine. She wouldn’t say it out loud, though. The man had an ego to match his size.
“Just doing my part to make the ship visually appealing.” He grinned and shrugged in a way that hinted he knew exactly how tight his shirt was and how the gesture would translate.
She swallowed, rolling her eyes elaborately to show how unimpressive the entire display was despite her suddenly dry mouth. “Are you leading me somewhere? Or are you my new replacement door?”
“I don’t know. The latter might be fun.”
“I agree,” she said. “I like throwing knives at my door.”
A red-black shape moved across the floor, deceptively quick for its size. The goanna clambered up onto the reclamation unit and lapped at the few droplets clinging to the edge of the bowl. He puffed his chest up, proud of the accomplishment, and let out a shrill, trilling call.
Sheri responded in kind, mimicking the sound as well as she was able. The lizard shifted to focus on her as he had every time she’d seen him in Nobu Station’s dockyards. He blinked his four eyes in alternating pairs, head tilted to watch her as he trilled again.
She answered once more, and Barr strode into the room to retrieve the goanna. “That’s enough out of you, Darcy.” The meter and a half lizard climbed to his shoulder and pushed the top of his flat head into Barr’s cheek. He reached up and stroked the lizard’s throat gently.
“That’s a shame,” Sheri said. “You just ended the most intelligent conversation I’ve had since I arrived.”

Grab your copy of Pets in Space® 4 today! For a limited time, Pets in Space® 4 brings together today’s leading Science Fiction Romance authors to help Hero-Dogs.org, a non-profit charity that helps our service veterans and first responders. https://petsinspaceantho.com

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Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Meet Cypher of Pets In Space 4! #PetsInSpace #amreading @TiffanyRobertsF


By Tiffany Roberts


Earlier this year, we started a new series based around an intergalactic hub—Arthos, the Infinite City. The full-length novels we’ve written in this setting have been set in the heart of Arthos’s underbelly, countless lightyears away from Earth, but we wanted to have a stronger connection to the place we all call home for our Pets in Space contribution. Entwined Fates is the end result of that goal, but the pet featured in the story, Cypher, was actually the starting point.

Before we had any inkling of the details of our story, Tiffany already had a strong sense of the pet who would star in it. She wanted something robotic, something intelligent, something that could change shape at will. Her basis for that inspiration came from the Disney movie, Big Hero Six—specifically, the microbots created by the main character. Cypher was built on that idea. His scales—which can be quite animated in the story—are a nod to the way the microbots in that movie come together and move.

Of course, that’s only part of what makes Cypher special. He’s an inux, a creature that’s much closer to a living organism than a robot, and he has his own unique personality and intelligence that are belied by his animal appearance. Cypher is a loyal companion, but he also has a will of his own, and he isn’t afraid to risk himself to protect the people he’s bonded with.

Cypher became a crucial part of Entwined Fates, which is a story set in the earlier days of humanity’s contact with alien species and precedes our other Infinite City books. Ultimately, the tale is about people coming together despite distance, despite differences in appearance and cultures, and despite great adversity. All of that was made possible by having Cypher at the heart of the story—just like the animals we humans love often bring us together, our little inux serves as a force who connects our main characters despite their circumstances.

We had a ton of fun writing this story, and a lot of that was because of Cypher and the interactions he initiated and enabled. It may not always be the best practice to use a pet as a starting point for a romance novel (rather than the story itself or the romantic couple involved), but it worked out delightfully for us this time.

Snippet:

Heart racing, Kiara ran down the corridor, keeping one hand on the blaster at her hip. Her crewman, Tekel—a large, brown-furred azhera—ran just ahead of her, while Cypher kept pace at her side.
The Starlight quaked.
Kiara threw out her free hand, catching herself against the frame of an open door. If not for her quick reflexes, she would’ve stumbled face first into the wall.
“What was that?” she demanded, clinging to the doorframe as she righted herself.
“They just docked with our aft entry hatch,” Umae, the Starlight’s pilot, replied through Kiara’s commlink earpiece.
“Bloody hell!”
Cypher skidded to a halt a few meters away and turned to face Kiara, staring at her with anxious, glowing eyes.
“Are they still blocking your signal, Cyph?” Kiara asked.
Cypher clicked and nodded.
“I want you to go hide and keep trying, got it?”
The inux narrowed his eyes and bared his fangs, clicking angrily as his scales scintillated and flowed like an angry ocean current. Kiara had no doubt that, were Cypher a person, he’d be telling her where she could shove it right now.
“Don’t argue with me, Cypher. If anything happens, you’re our only hope of getting help.”
Cypher growled and stared at Kiara for a few more seconds before releasing a frustrated huff. He darted away.
“They’ve breached the airlock,” Umae said, her husky voice panicked.
“That quickly?” Kiara asked, drawing her blaster.
Tekel was positioned at the closed door ahead of her, his long tail flicking back and forth as he stared through the door’s small viewport. His blaster looked child-sized in his large, clawed hands.
Kiara fell into place opposite Tekel and leaned back against the wall. “How many?”
“Too many,” Captain Mason Snider said through the comms. “Kiara…”

***

Grab your copy of Pets in Space® 4 today! For a limited time, Pets in Space® 4 brings together today’s leading Science Fiction Romance authors to help Hero-Dogs.org, a non-profit charity that helps our service veterans and first responders. https://petsinspaceantho.com

Bio: Tiffany Roberts is the pseudonym for Tiffany and Robert Freund, a husband and wife writing duo who write sci-fi and fantasy romance, creating happily-ever-afters for the alien and unknown.