The SFR Brigade 2nd Midsummer Blog Hop - Out of this World

 

Welcome to the second SFR Brigade blog hop! The theme this summer is 'Out of This World.' I love this theme because I love daydreaming about other worlds and the beings that inhabit them. I wonder what those beings could be like, what they're made of, whether or not they think and feel, what their culture would be like.

There are a lot of movies out there that have aliens from outer space coming to Earth and immediately killing us. Sometimes we know the reason, sometimes we don't, but I always come away from those movies feeling like something is lacking. They rarely tell us much about those aliens.

I want to know who the aliens are. I want to know what makes them do the things they do. My imagination has to fill those unknowns.

So, for my yet-to-be-published works, I write about aliens. Even more interesting to me, is that they have the capacity to love. Science fiction romance is a great fit!

My aliens have been torn apart by war. They are called the Gathons and the Skellyds. If war were black and white, the Gathons are the good guys and the Skellyds are the bad guys. Both are of the same species from the same planet, but have divided themselves into factions with those names. War, however, isn't so black and white and I love to explore what makes a being 'good' versus 'evil' and all the grey areas in between.

The Gathons and Skellyds are energy beings made of pure energy, called cores. In order to contain this energy core, they have to inhabit some sort of body. They cannot inhabit organic bodies, because the energy will burn up all organic components. So, they inhabit metallic bodies, full of wiring and electronic components to include computerized 'brains.'

They are able to survive as pure energy without inhabiting a metallic frame, but those that choose to do so can only communicate by joining with another energy being. This creates a permanent bond that some find undesirable. In fact, the Skellyds are against any type of bond and consider it a weakness to be destroyed. So, they take a humanoid shape in metallic bodies that are powered by their energy cores and their thoughts are saved in their CPUs. Those thoughts can be voiced through electronic vocal systems, such as speakers or vocal chords made of wiring.

These energy beings are capable of intense hatred, but also a deep love that can define them. Skellyds avoid the part of themselves that allows them to love. Gathons, however, embrace it.

By combining their energy cores, they form a permanent bond with a love on a level so deep that humans have a hard time grasping what it would be like. They become Love. Once that bond is formed, the couple communicates through the bond. Separation becomes painful and one bonded Gathon is usually never too far from the other. The bond strengthens them, but there is a catch that all Skellyds consider the biggest weakness of their kind of all: if one dies, the other dies soon after...

So many wonderful possibilities to explore with the Gathons and Skellyds. I can hardly wait to unleash them into the literary world!

If you're interested in SFR book releases, or science fiction romance in general, check out The Science Fiction Romance Brigade fanpage on Facebook.



Check out the posts of all the other participants. You can also find a list of their names on The SFR Brigade blog spot. They are out of this world!

1. Diane Dooley              15. Imogene Nix                        29. Anna Hackett
2. Kimber Vale                16. Rinelle Grey                        30. Tonya Cannariato
3. Maria Hammarblad     17. Veronica Scott                     31. T.C. Archer
4. Bookswagger              18. Reading Reality                    32. Sabrina Garie
5. C.E. Kilgore                19. Spacefreighters Lounge       33. Kyndra Hatch
6. Liana Brooks               20. Pippa Jay                             34. S.A. Huchton
7. Cathy Pegau                21. Melisse Aires                       35. T.K. Toppin
8. Misa Buckley              22. Pauline Baird Jones             36. Jo Jones
9. Yolanda Sfetsos          23. Sandra C. Stixrude               37. Liza O'Connor
10. Rachel Leigh Smith  24. Monica Enderle Pierce         38. Isabo Kelly
11. Greta van der Rol      25. The Galaxy Express            39. Nina Croft
12. Jessica E. Subject      26. Linda Mooney                     40. Cathryn Cade
13. Diane Burton             27. Aubrie Dionne
14. E.A. Hoornaert          28. A.R. Norris







Now for the prizes!

1st Prize - $150 Amazon or B&N gift card (winner's choice) and an ebook bundle (currently Ghost in the Machine, Bayne, Recast Book 1:Wither, Recast Book 2:Clash, Alien Adoration, Switched, Reckless Rescue, Wreck of the Nebula Dream, Keir, Terms & Conditions Apply, The Key, Marya, The Iron Admiral, Sasha’s Calling, Trouble at the Hotel Baba Ghanoush, Winter in Paradise, Once Upon a Time in Space, the Telomere trilogy, Winter Fusion, Blue Nebula, Demential, Wytchfire, Maven, Fires of Justice, Interface, Girl under Glass, and Breakout. Bonus books – Ghost Planet, The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy and Deception, and Games of Command.)

2nd Prize - $50 Amazon or B&N gift card (winner's choice)

3rd Prizes - four $25 Amazon or B&N gift cards (given to separate
winners and their choice)

Enter to win (goes live at 00:01 Pacific Time on June 21st): a Rafflecopter giveaway. Good luck!

A comment is not mandatory for my post, but I'm interested in your thoughts if you'd like to share them. Have fun on the hop!