If you write about aliens, it must be science fiction fantasy, right?
Not as it turns out. This inaugural blog post launches just prior to the release of Aliens Abound, the third book in my Other Worldly series. And at this juncture, I have a pretty good idea of what the books are—and aren’t—when it comes to preconceived literary categories.
They say to write about what you know, and be original. But not so original that you break boundaries of social norms, or don’t fit into rigid precepts about genre. But what if you just want to connect with like-minded readers? Say, women over fifty with a passion for progressive politics, pomegranates and pizza? Women who dream of being a civil rights superhero. With multiple love interests.
I decided not to let what “they” say stop me from writing what came naturally. My own concepts, ideas and thoughts, inspired by imagination and books I’ve read by authors I love (think Charlaine Harris, Carl Hiaasen, Janet Evanovich). Written entirely in my own voice, with a smattering of knowledge—and legal Latin. At my age, why not?
So here is a caveat emptor and my mea culpa, words I wanted to put in the headline but that wasn’t advisable (spellcheck didn’t like it either):
This is not your big brother’s idea of science fiction.
Yes, there’s some science, and even a bit of fiction. There’s also many truths. And when you, dear readers, reach the second book, Feeling Alienated, you’ll find this is not your aunt’s idea of romance—or your niece’s favorite paranormal fantasy series.
But back to the hunky aliens.
No, this is not a guide to the galaxy. This “speculative” fiction does not exist in the future or the past, but lives and breathes—and listens—in the here and now.
Because this Other Worldly series is about humans.
Humans in all their faults, foibles, follies and facets. It’s about family, and feminism. Rights and righteousness. Justice and jackasses. DNA and double-standards. Protecting our planet’s environment and eating eggplant parmesan. It reveals hypocrisy, and invokes hilarity. It’s about Unidentified Flying Objects, and identifying who we are.
Some folks tell me they want to be entertained, but don’t want to be bogged down by reality. They don’t want to be informed, they don’t want a “soap box,” they don’t do “political.”
My answer? I don’t do fluff. I may have tried, once upon a time and not in a galaxy far, far away, but it just wasn’t me. Though I discovered I could still do funny while giving voice to a great many concerns of our time. Because that’s who I am.
Hopefully, we can all strive to be a bit more like Luna Moth Woman, or “with it,” as Mom would say (with a shoe and kissy face emoji). It’s been a wild UFO ride since it began with Alienable Rights, and whether we’re travelling in a red orb, an iridescent craft or an actual flying saucer, Rowan Layne and her critter sidekicks will be taking on bigoted buffoons of the world with her mighty pen and a horde of alluring aliens.
Coming soon is Aliens Abound, with Rowan bound for the moon (and Washington DC), and bound and determined to finally learn enough Red Orbiter secrets for a tell-all tome they’ve enlisted her to write. And she really would be getting right on it, if life on a spaceship wasn’t so darned enthralling—and delicious.
Diplomacy, danger, romance, intrigue. What more can one post-menopausal woman take?
Wait, I thought you were going back to the hunky aliens…
Oh I am….things get hunkier in book three…and in Being Alien, coming soon. There’s hot female aliens for you dudes, too.