Saturday 21 June 2014

The SFR Brigade Midsummer Blog Hop - Pippa's Post

Welcome to Starry Nights, the SFR Brigade Midsummer blog hop! A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

...or right here. Stars are what bring our galaxy to life. After all, without the star our own planet revolves around, there'd be no life on Earth. I wouldn't be here right now. And according to Dr Carl Sagan, we are star-stuff.

"Hey, do you mind if I tell you a story? One you might not have heard. All the elements in your body were forged many, many millions of years ago, in the heart of a far away star that exploded and died. That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of deep space. After so, so many millions of years, these elements came together to form new stars and new planets. And on and on it went. The elements came together and burst apart, forming shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings. Until eventually, they came together to make you. You are unique in the universe."
Eleven, Doctor Who

I love that quote. Doctor Who is my favourite SF show, the one I grew up with, and one of the biggest influences in my writing. Most of my stories are set out amongst the stars, sometimes beneath alien skies, and sometimes in space itself. And in my SciFi romance short Terms & Conditions Apply I pay homage to possibly one of the most cataclysmic events in the universe - the death of a star.

"The door glided open and Marie stepped through, to find herself in the heart of the nebula. She squeaked and Soren grasped her arm in reassurance. The floor of the room was a burnished silver disk beneath the heavens. Crimson and gold light, woven in twisted strands of fire and strung with stars, formed a gauzy canopy overhead. As the door closed, the illusion was complete. They hovered in the fiery remnants of a long dead star. In a shroud of scarlet flames between them and a void full of shadows and distant pinprick suns."


EXCERPT | Available at...  
B&NARe | Amazon US 
Amazon UK | Smashwords |
And if you'd like to win some stellar prizes and out-of-this-world stories, here's your chance! To enter, simply fill in the rafflecopter below. All prizes are available internationally (there are no cash or other alternatives - if you can't accept those on offer, please do not enter).


1st  $100 Amazon or B&N gift card plus 42 ebooks - Tales from the SFR Brigade, Heart of Stone, Her Cyborg Awakes, Anja's Star, Silver Strife, Corwint Series 4 Book Gift Pack, Earth's Requiem, Alien Blood, Starwoman's Sanctuary, one book from Jessica E Subject's SFR backlist (ONE ebook title out of the following: Alien Adoration, Alien Admirer, Alien Lover, An Unexpected Return, Another Night Another Planet, Celestial Seduction, Crash Landing, Hey Santa, His Alien Virgin, Made For Her, Never Gonna Let You Go, Never Gonna Desert You, Never Gonna Say Goodbye, Satin Sheets in Space, Sudden Breakaway, or Unknown Futures), LodeStar Series Books 1-3 (Stark Pleasure, Creed of Pleasure and Captive of Pleasure), Reunion trilogy, Terms & Conditions Apply, Wreck of the Nebula Dream, Starheart, Kuralon Rescue, A Matter of Trust, Earth's Blood, Roman's Gold, Wolf Born, The Marann, Nightfall, Unrequited, Butterman Time Travel Inc., Legend Beyond the Stars, Hathor's Legacy: Outcast, Removed, Midwinter Crisis, Shlyer: Finding Home, Boyfriend's Brother, Surviving the Trap, Captive, Tower in the Woods, Catching Red, Underlighters. 

2nd $50 Amazon or B&N gift card plus 33 ebooks - Tales from the SFR Brigade, Heart of Stone, Her Cyborg Awakes, Anja's Star, Silver Strife, Corwint Series 4 Book Gift Pack, Earth's Requiem, Alien Blood, Starwoman's Sanctuary, Tangled In Time, Terms & Conditions Apply, Escape from Zulaire, Lana's Comet, Heart's Bounty, Glad Hands, Nikolai, The Trial of Tompa Lee, The Tribulations of Tompa Lee, The Midas Rush, Prime Obsession, Daughters of Suralia, Morning Star, Hey Santa, Tower in the Woods, Catching Red, Underlighters, Alex Wales:Promise, Recast trilogy (Wither, Clash, Shiver). 

3rd  3 separate winners each receive $25 Amazon or B&N gift card plus 12 ebooks - 3 separate winners each receive Tales from the SFR Brigade, Heart of Stone, Her Cyborg Awakes, Anja's Star, Corwint Series 4 Book Gift Pack, Hey Santa, Tower in the Woods, Catching Red, Underlighters.

As for my stop on the hop, you can comment below and tell me your favourite SciFi show/film/character and email addy to win either a digital edition of my upcoming new SciFi romance Tethered (releasing 25th July) OR the newly edited re-release of my SFR Galaxy award winner Keir (release date TBA). If you can wait that long, lol. 

Add to your Goodreads shelf HERE
Meanwhile hop along to the other participants, and see what gems they have on offer by using the Inlinkz list below, or jump back to the main Brigade post by clicking the Starry Nights graphic at the top of the post. Happy travels!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

41 comments:

  1. Ah, so that's what you needed that Who quote for! ;)

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  2. I posted Twitter link in comment by accident. Anyway. I've always loved starry nights. And stars. I even married a Starr...Andrew Starr lol

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  3. Hmmm - it's hard picking a favorite because I love so many! For TV I'm going with Star Trek Next Generation & Star Trek (original series) & for movies (this is brutal, like being forced to pick a favorite child or cat =D) I'm going to go with Galaxy Quest, which is the most quoted film of all time at our house.

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  4. I grew up with Dr. Who also. We used to hide behind the sofa when it got too scary!

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  5. Misa, yep - couldn't quite place the episode, being as I skipped quite a few during Matt Smith's tenure. Lol, Dana, love the idea that you married a star! Sadie Sue, Galaxy Quest is one of my faves! Never give up - never surrender! Aurora, I must have been a really weird child - I never hid behind the sofa for Doctor Who.

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  6. Fav character? Hard to choose. David Tenant as Dr. Who, although I do like Matt Smith, too. I only discovered Dr. Who last fall and have OD'd on old episodes. Galaxy Quest is one of my favs, too.

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  7. Diane, I'm a big fan of Tennant as the Doctor, but I've been watching it since the 70s. My first episode was Jon Pertwee's last - the Planet of the Spiders! I swear that's why I had a spider phobia. >.<

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  8. Great post! I always had a crush on Chekov on the old Star Trek.

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  9. Hi, Pippa. Enjoyed the post. And thanks again for all your hard work in putting together this hop.

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  10. Servalan from Blake's 7! Or maybe it's Avon. A villain and and anti-hero.

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  11. Alexis, thanks! I think you might be the first who's ever mentioned Chekov as a fave. Monette, you're welcome. Diane, totally not surprised. I had quite a soft spot for Avon, although that was probably a dangerous thing. >.<

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  12. I love David Tennant as Dr. Who also.

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  13. Babylon Five is my all time favorite SCIFI show.

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  14. I love Dr. Who! Watched when my kids were little and I still watch it! Great post Pippa! I love "Keir", I'm reading it right now.

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  15. My all time fave is a two-way tie. Star Trek: TNG and Farscape. I grew up watching TNG, and when Farscape premiered my family planned our Friday nights around Farscape. We call our Roomba vacuum and the pool vacuum DRD's, and the Roomba is named 1812.

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  16. Patricia, good choice. JC, I quite enjoyed Babylon Five. But I got very confused toward the end. Rachel, I would take Farscape over TNG, but then Star Trek has not been my top show. I quite enjoyed Deep Space Nine though.

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  17. Hmmm looks like 1st comment didn't load...
    Feel like Odd one out here. :) Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to watch *that rubbish*. Back then - father's really WERE in control of the TV dial :) I loved watching Lost in Space :)

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  18. My favorite show has to be Stargate SG1 as it is the only television series I spent money on to have the DVDs :-)

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  19. I'm still a Star Trek Voyager girl, though last night I sat through First Contact again and wondered how close this would be to our future. Thanks for the blog hop Pippa!

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  20. I have been watching Doctor Who forever I think. It's great.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  21. Wonderful post! And it's hard to tell what my favorite sci-fi character is. I do love the Doctor but also Captain Kirk as that's what I grew up with. BBC things were few and far between in my house. Absolutely devoured it once I was older though.

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  22. I love so many of them but I'll go with Mal from Firefly.

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  23. Diana, wow - thanks! Marianne, I remember Lost in Space - I so wanted Dr Smith to get his comeuppance. KalicoKat, you should visit Misa Buckley - she's a HUGE Stargate fan. Thanks Imogene! Mary, I think if I could only ever watch one thing it would be Who - after all, there's so many stories now. Lynn - thanks! My dad was more of a Kirk fan, but I grew up with both. SE, only recently watched Firefly, but I loved the film Serenity.

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  24. Khan from Star Trek. Such a tortured soul in both his incarnations. I love a great bad guy.
    Thanks for the head's up about the Blog Hop, Pippa!

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  25. I love the movie ALIEN 2 as for serie's that would be The 100.

    novella-group(at)mail.com

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  26. Ack, picking a favorite is hard. I think for the sake of showing it some more love in this thread I'll pick Firefly.

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  27. For some reason that excerpt makes me think of Douglas Adam's The Galaxy at the end of the world. The had a restaurant where people would watch the universe end.

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  28. Paula, now that's an interesting choice. I had some sympathy for Khan because he's been misused somewhat. Jolanda, oh Alien creeps me out too much - I've never been able to watch them. Rhianna, aww - a lot of the Brigaders are devoted Browncoats. :)

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  29. So difficult to choose! Dr. Who has to be my favorite. But I adore Stargate Atlantis, Farscape, Firefly. The list is very long.

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  30. I love Dr. Who, too (good thing I don't have to say that out loud! LOL) Fun post! Congrats on the upcoming release. :-)

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  31. I have that book of yours and I can't wait to read it! Why is my TBR pile so large? Great post, Pippa!

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  32. Oh, I do love that quote, too! And Terms and Conditions Apply is one of my favs. My fav sci-fi show still remains Space: Above and Beyond. Almost Human is up there, too.

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  33. Great post! I can't pick a favorite show/character, but I am enjoying a complete rewatch of Farscape. From beginning to end, one of the best shows out there.

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  34. Great post! Deep Space Nine is one show that has stayed with me for a long time, and there were so many wonderful little romantic subplots on that show. My favorite character form DS9 is probably Quark - He's a Ferengi, but his character and the way it evolved over the show's history was really interesting. Also loved Odo.

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  35. I love the science fiction/romance books of Linnea Sinclair, her Dock Five series is amazing, and I also adore the TV sf/romances of Star Trek, (all of them), Firefly, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Farscape and Stargate Atlantis

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  36. I grew up with Dr. Who -- I will always be fondest of Tom Baker (but Christopher Eccleston is a close second!). But for me and my writing...it's all about Zoe Washburne from Firefly. Her strength and her relationships with the others on Serenity inspire me every day.

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  37. Hi Pippa. Doctor Who is my favorite sci-fi show, too. Favorite Doctor is Tennant. Though loved Matt Smith, too. Favorite companions are Donna and River. Thanks for all your hard work on the blog hop!

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  38. Love this, Pippa. Especially the reference to Carl Sagan. "Star stuff" is such a terrific image.

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  39. Loved Khan in the new, kind of new, Star trek Movie. he was great. he is also Sherlock in the British series. Star trek was my favorite series growing up and I loved Dr. Spock.

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  40. doxymum - yeah, there's some good series out there. I'd hate to have to choose just one. Pauline, thanks. Stephanie - I know, right?! Jessica, thanks, and I *still* have Space Above and Beyond to watch. ML, oh I'm still working my way through the complete box set too. It's about the only SF show that both me AND hubs loved - we'd watch it together after work. Corinne, DS9 was my favourite out of the ST unvierse - I think they had to work that much harder with the plots and characters with it being restricted to the space station. Lyn, thanks! DeAnn, good to see Torchwood get a mention at last. Kate, Tom Baker was the Doctor I grew up with but I do have a big soft spot for Tennant. KM, I loved Donna too! Deborah, thanks. Susan, I really liked how Benedict played Khan, although I'm torn having seen the old Trek movies. My kids are big fans of the new stuff.
    Thanks to everyone for your comments and sharing the ggekery. Good to see so many fellow Whovians and Scapers among you!

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I always love to hear your thoughts.