Guest Author: Cheryl Brooks

Literary Escapism would like to welcome Cheryl Brooks to the room today. Cheryl is the author of the Cat Star Chronicles – Slave, Warrior, and the soon to be released Rogue and she’s here to talk about my favorite topic – literary escapism.

Make sure you stick around because we will be giving away a copy of Rogue.
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Hello, I’m Cheryl Brooks, author of The Cat Star Chronicles series of erotic science fiction romance, and I think “literary escapism” is what reading is all about. A story might contain a situation you can relate to, but it still should take you away to another place and time, put you in someone else’s shoes, and allow you to view the world through their eyes.

Now, imagine that world is a planet many light years from Earth, populated by intelligent, down-sized versions of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Then imagine that you’ve been hired to go there to give piano lessons to a dinosaur princess. You’ve been far too busy with your career to ever go looking for love, and this world is the last place you’d ever expect to find it, but upon your arrival, you find not one, but two of the most stunningly sexy feline humanoid males imaginable, and they both want you to be their mate.

This is the dilemma that Kyra Aramis faces in The Cat Star Chronicles: Rogue when she discovers that the Darconian Queen, Scalia, has two Zetithian slaves, Tychar and Trag. They may be brothers, but while Tychar is a charmer, Trag is something of a bad boy. Who will she choose? For that matter who would you choose?

Most of us have fantasies about one type or the other—or both—but each has his own set of drawbacks and attributes. The charmer may make you feel desired and appreciated, but he might not be sincere. The bad boy adds the spice of danger to the romance, but he could also wind up getting you into more trouble than he’s worth. Still, no matter how you look at it, either of them is guaranteed to be fun. The trick is to figure out which one will stick around the longest.

With that in mind, most women who are looking for a lifelong mate will choose someone who is a different type altogether, but this is escapism, remember? These men are the Queen’s pampered pets, but neither of them have been with a woman since they were enslaved. Kyra is a bit timid and not at all secure in her own sexuality, but she can take her pick, or, if she is feeling truly adventurous, she could take them both.

In the real world, she would choose neither, for the two brothers are not only slaves, but belong to a queen who doesn’t want to part with them. To stay together, Kyra would have to remain in the employ of the Queen for the rest of her life. While living in a palace might seem like a wonderful thing, imagine never seeing anyone of your own kind again. Would you be willing to do that? Would you allow yourself to fall in love with someone else’s slave? Probably not, if you could avoid it. But, once again, this is escapist fantasy we’re talking about, so in that context, yes, you would fall for at least one of them, and you would try not to think about the potential for a badly broken heart.

When the Queen is overthrown and all offworlders are being hunted down, would you, the shy pianist, have the courage to stand and fight for the man you love? Possibly not, but since this is a romance novel—and romance novels always have a heroine!—the answer is a resounding “Yes!”

I love creating new worlds and new life forms, so the world of science fiction has a strong appeal for me. Other paranormal authors enjoy writing about ghosts, vampires, fairies, witches, or werewolves, but though you can tweak them any way you like, they are still defined by folklore. Aliens, on the other hand, can be anything my imagination wants to make them. In the case of the Zetithians, they’ve got some sexual attributes that no one else has, and on top of that, they’re sweet, irresistibly sexy, and they can purr.

Escapism, anyone?

You can find Cheryl at her website or at Cheryl Brooks Erotic Blogspot.
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Thank you Cheryl! I love escaping into the novels I read and the Cat Star Chronicles is one I can definitely do that one.  I can’t wait to see where we end up next with Lover, the fourth installment of the Cat Star Chronicles.

Contest Time! We’re giving away a copy of Cheryl’s upcoming novel Rogue to one lucky commentary and it’s very easy to enter. All you have to do is answer this one simple question: What’s your favorite world to escape into? Sorry to my international readers, but the contest is only open to US or Canadian residents.

As always, if you want more chances to win, you can post about today’s contest on your blog, social network, or anywhere you can. Digg it, stumble it, twit it, share it with the world. Wherever you share it, make sure you add a link to it along with your answer (yes LE is now on Twitter as well!).

Join the Literary Escapism blog group and/or Page over on Facebook and you’ll get an additional entry (for each page).  Make sure you leave a comment so I know that’s why you’re joining.  Only new readers to the group will be considered.

For 2 additional entires, subscribe to Literary Escapism’s newsletter in the sidebar. This is for new subscribers only.

For 2 extra additional entries, purchase either Slave or Warrior (through LE’s Amazon store) sometime during this contest and send a copy of the receipt VIA email for your purchase to: myjaxon AT gmail DOT com.  That’s a possible 4 entries if you purchase both books!

I’ll determine the winner with help from the Research Randomizer. All entries must be in by midnight on March 3rd.

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

23 Comments

  1. I’ve really enjoyed canvassing this blog. The romance books especially the mystery books are very popular around the old home stead. Reading from actual print books instead of looking at the computer, really is quite enjoyable. Even though print might be a dinosaur soon and a book might be a museum piece, I still love books.

  2. I love to escape to the world(s) that Laurel K. Hamilton creates. It takes me away every time i re-read one of her novels.

    Thanks so much.

  3. My favorite world to escape in (not a reading one) is the Caribbean. I’ve never been as at peace as when I’m in the islands. Thanks for the great giveaway

  4. Shaine,
    If you love Mer men, be sure to check out fellow Sourcebooks author Judi Fennel’s new series! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Rogue!

  5. Anita,
    I think Romantic Suspense was one of my favorite genres when I first got into reading romances. That touch of danger was always fun.

  6. Mindy,
    Escapism is what this is all about, but sometimes you run across something that touches you deeply or makes you think, and those are the best ones!

  7. Carol,
    There IS something about holding the actual book in your hand, isn’t there? I can tell you from an author’s standpoint that until you pick it up and admire the cover, you really don’t feel like you’ve been published!

  8. Cheryl K,
    I was there many years ago, and I agree, there’s nothing quite like the sand and the sea! Maybe I’ll go back someday. In the meantime, I just write!

  9. My favorite world to escape in is definitely a good romance novel – I’ve lately been reading some western romance novels. This book has me very intrigued though.

  10. Kristy W,
    Whoo hoo! There’s all kinds of romantic potential there. Make the most of it!

  11. I just picked up Slave and Warrior over the weekend and am looking forward to reading them.

    Favorite world to escape into. Hmm. It kind of depends on what good books I’ve read recently. :) However, I’d love to live in Charles de Lint’s fictional Canadian city of Newford.

  12. Thanks Chris! I hope you enjoy the books.
    Canada sounds like a great place to get away!

Comments are closed.