Guest Author: Cheryl Brooks

Cheryl BrooksToday, I am excited to welcome back Cheryl Brooks as she celebrates the release of her new CatStar Chronicles novel, Virgin.

He’s never met anyone who made him purr…
Starship pilot Dax never encountered a woman he wanted badly enough. Until he met Ava Karon…

And he’ll never give his body without giving his heart…
Dax is happy to take Ava back to her home planet, until he finds out she’s returning to an old boyfriend…

As their journey together turns into a quest neither expected, Ava would give herself to Dax in a heartbeat. Except he doesn’t know the first thing about seducing a woman…

Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away two copies of Virgin to two lucky readers.
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Rules of the Game

Hello, my name is Cheryl Brooks, and I write Science Fiction Romance.

Hmm… Sounds a little like an introduction at an AA meeting, doesn’t it? That analogy is probably justified, because writing science fiction is rather addicting. I mean, where else can a totally hot, sexy Zetithian hunk like Dax Vandilorsk fall in love with Ava Karon, a woman who looks human but can breathe underwater? That’s the premise of my latest book, The Cat Star Chronicles: Virgin, which is the seventh book in that series, and I had an absolute blast imagining underwater cities, bizarre aliens, and futuristic, planet-sized versions of Las Vegas.

I love writing Sci-fi romance because the opportunities to use my imagination are limitless, though I do try to remain within the bounds of universal physics. There are also certain laws that must be adhered to in science fiction that other paranormal genres don’t have to follow. For example, if you’re writing about magical creatures such as wizards or fairies, basically, they can do anything. Not so with aliens. They may have certain innate abilities, but, like Ava’s ability to breathe underwater, those abilities are natural for them, not magical.

Another law I follow is that my stories remain within the Milky Way galaxy. Distances between galaxies are so incredibly vast, that I don’t think our civilization or any other will ever travel even to the nearest galaxies. Interstellar distances are quite astronomical enough. I also set my series in the distant future, giving our society and others plenty of time to figure out how to get from one part of the galaxy to another within a reasonable amount of time. That, I believe is the chief stumbling block to any story that involves hopping from planet to planet. Readers must be able to buy the idea that rapid interstellar travel is possible.

Another part of the fun in writing Sci-fi is that I can use other science fiction movies and books as a springboard. I dearly love putting Star Trek or Star Wars references in my books in the hope that somewhere out there, Trekkies and Star Wars fans are finding them and going, “Ah ha!” However, even though I grew up watching Star Trek, I still have a problem with Scotty beaming up a living creature and have it still be alive when it rematerializes. Seems to me someone would have to be standing by with a defibrillator to shock them back to life—but that’s probably just the nurse in me talking.

But why does science fiction have such a broad appeal? Is it simply a tantalizing peek into the future, or could it be that the depiction of that future gives humankind hope that, yes, we may still be around a thousand years from now—still doing what we’ve always done; living, dying, and falling in love. Unfortunately, that part about falling in love usually isn’t the primary focus of science fiction. What I’ve tried to do is to shift the emphasis from the scientific to the sexy and romantic. I can still create exotic new worlds, but as long as I follow those few simple rules, the technical details often take care of themselves.

That’s how I feel about science fiction as a writer, but what appeals to you as a reader? What would you like to see more of? Or less of? Inquiring Sci-fi writers want to know…

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Cheryl Brooks is a critical care nurse by night and a romance writer by day. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America. She is the author of The Cat Star Chronicles series and lives with her husband, two sons, five cats, five horses and one dog in Indiana. For more information, please visit http://www.cherylbrooksonline.com/.

Contact Info
Website: http://cherylbrooksonline.com
Blog: http://cherylbrookserotic.blogspot.com/
Social Media: Facebook / Twitter / GoodReads

Want to purchase Cheryl’s novel?
CatStar Chronicles

  1. Slave at Amazon or the Book Depository
  2. Warrior at Amazon or the Book Depository
  3. Rogue at Amazon or the Book Depository
  4. Outcast at Amazon or the Book Depository
  5. Fugitive at Amazon or the Book Depository
  6. Hero at Amazon or the Book Depository
  7. Virgin at Amazon or the Book Depository
  8. Stud at Amazon or the Book Depository (February 1, 2012)

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CBrooks-VirginThank you Cheryl for taking the time to stop by Literary Escapism!

Contest Time! Cheryl is giving away two copies of Virgin. To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: [regarding SF/SFR] What appeals to you as a reader? What would you like to see more or less of? Remember, you must answer the question in order to be entered.  (US/Canada only)

As always, there’s more ways of getting your name in the hat (remember, these aren’t mandatory to enter, just extra entries):

  • +1 for each place you 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.
  • +1 to any review you comment on, however, comments must be meaningful. Just give me the title of the review and I’ll be able to figure it out from there.
  • +1 If you are a follower of Literary Escapism on Facebook and/or Twitter
  • +10 Purchase any of Cheryl’s novels (listed above), or any novel, through LE’s Amazon store or the Book Depository sometime during this contest and send a copy of the receipt VIA email for your purchase to: jackie AT literaryescapism DOT com. Each purchase is worth ten entries.

The winner must post a review of the novel someplace. Whether it is on their own blog, Amazon, GoodReads, LibraryThing or wherever, it doesn’t matter. Just help get the word out.

The contest will stay open until June 9th, at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from the Research Randomizer and the List Randomizer.

I have not been contacting winners, so you will need to check back to see if you’ve won.

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.

13 Comments

  1. Good morning!
    I’m heading to the Lori Foster Get Together later today. I’ll check in as soon as I get my computer up and running!

  2. Cheryl, you never stop amazing me. And you did it bigtime with “Virgin” I love all your Cat Stars and this book is really out of this world. The Alien Vegas like Sin City. So funny. *Laughing* One Zetithian is hard to take, but multiple Z Men. Almost To Much. And I love Dak’s purring and Ava’s beautiful Mermaid like features and Hair that took on a Madosa like Mind of it’s own. You always put so many funny alien and robotic characters in your books. I love all of them in this book too.
    The only thing I missed WAS Little Mermaid Ava Sprouting a Fish tail and posing on a rock in the sun with her Hair blowing around. LOL I was lucky to read the ARC Copy. But I’d love to own the book to add to my favorite author keepable shelf. Keep them coming, a future world with out Zetithians is no world at all.

  3. I love, love, love Cheryl’s books. Every last one of them. The way she writes, the storylines, everything. I didn’t read a lot of sci fi romance in the beginning because not many of the genre appealed to me. But once I picked up Slave I was hooked. What appeals to me the most about Cheryl and the genre of sci fi romance is the otherworldly things. Traveling through space, to different planets, the many aliens that can be made up. New weapons and technology, etc. etc.

    If anyone hasn’t picked up one of Cheryl’s book, please do. They’re wonderful :)

  4. Even though I read all genres I’ve never been a big sci-fi fan. Cheryl’s books are an exception because she has the ability to combine humor, erotica and romance exceptionally well. Anytime an author can give me LOL moments combined with heat is a winner in my library. Cheryl’s characters whether human like or not have a personality and I find myself attached to some of them as strongly as the main characters in the story. That takes a special skill and enormous imagination.

  5. Hi Ana!
    Yep, yours was one of the first emails I ever received from a reader. Glad I’ve been able to hold your interest for seven books!

  6. Hi Sandy G!
    If you like other planets, my Zetithians go all over the place. Good luck in the drawing!

  7. Hi Nancy,
    I love the secondary characters because they don’t have to be cool or romantic. They can be as funny or abrasive as they like. Thanks for dropping by. Good luck to everyone in the drawing!

  8. I’ve read nothing but sci-fi for more years than I want to admit. Cheryl and her Zetithians were the first to move me into other realms of reading. I love her exotic worlds, realistic characters and the romance is HOT. Keep the “Cats” coming. I love them.

  9. Ooo…this book sounds interesting! :) I don’t read a whole lot of SF/SFR, so I’ll go with something general that I don’t like in romances. I get so tired of the “mis-understanding” that makes a couple break up or leave each other or whatever! I dread that moment and it drives me crazy. That’s not to say that I can’t enjoy books that have this element, it can just sometime’s drive me up the wall.

    I am a fan of LE on Facebook and a follower on Twitter.

  10. I love the limitlessness (is that a word?) of SciFi. Anything can happen, authors can create their own worlds, creatures, and rules.

    meredithfl at gmail dot com

    +1 follower of Literary Escapism on Facebook and/or Twitter @tessaa99

  11. I too love to visit the various worlds, experience the different animals, customs, vegatation. Makes me wish we were that advanced and actually able to travel as her heros and heroines do! BEAM ME UP JACK!

    Thanks for sharing these wonderful characters with us Cheryl!

    ~justine

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