Celebrating Women's Month Sci Fi Style

Happy Women's Month!

How's the weather in your neck of the woods? For me it's been: Rain. Rain. Rain. SNOW! Rain. THUNDER. Rain. Drizzle. Rain.

And wow has it been cold! I know I'm preaching to the choir for those in the USA. We live on the west coast, which hasn't been too bad. My brother lives near Tahoe, though, and has been shoveling snow 8 hours a day, 7 days a week for the last month. That is, when he isn't dodging huge slabs of ice falling off the roof. Unusual weather indeed! Although our ailing reservoirs should be happy this year. 😁

We did spend a wonderful week up in Eureka, CA. Snow in the redwoods is breathtaking! And apparently pretty rare.

Speaking of extreme weather (book segue!), I finished the semi-final draft of New Denver (Timeless Keeper Saga Book 2) this past weekend! Next up: package it for beta readers and start my artist working on the cover. 😅 Once that's going, it's back to Enigma (Lost Colonies Book 1) to whip it into shape for betas this summer.

Angels Adrift (The Z-Tech Chronicles Book 5) is, sadly, still drifting. A few surprise bookish events have prevented my publisher from starting the edits. I'm hoping it'll be out by summer, but at this point I can't even guess. Keeping my fingers, toes, eyes, legs, ankles, and everything else crossed for more information soon.

But hey, it's Women's Month! As you may already know, most of my books feature female protagonists and/or strong female mains. Keep reading for a Women's Month tribute to these amazing heroines.

In this newsletter:

• Celebrating Women's Month
• Free Books, Sales, and Events
• Currently Reading
• Other Authors You Might Like

Celebrating Women's Month

When people close to me learn that the protagonist in the first book I ever wrote is female, their first question is always, “Why?” I’m a guy, they say. Wouldn’t it be easier to write from a guy’s perspective?

First, I don’t write because it’s easy. It isn’t. I write to explore new ideas, scenarios, characters, and relationships in fantastical worlds. To create unique experiences that I can share with others.

Second, and most important, I write about the type of people I admire, respect, and enjoy being around. It just so happens that most of those are women.

Rather than spend pages and pages on who and what led me to this—and to help celebrate Women’s Month—I thought it might be easier to explain if I listed some of the protagonists from my books, along with their strengths, challenges, and what I admire about them.

Anne Perrin

Protagonist in The Z-Tech Chronicles.

Summary: Single waitress living in modern-day San Francisco.

Strengths: Kind. Compassionate. Indomitable spirit. Brings out the best in everyone she meets.

Challenges: Chronic PTSD makes life a daily struggle. Vampire attacks don’t help.

What I admire: Anne faces challenges that no one should have to face. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, she maintains a positive attitude and still manages to make the world a better place, even in a city suddenly besieged by vampires. She’s the person I aspire to be, and the kind of person we need more of.

Fi

Main character / protagonist in the Timeless Keeper Saga.

Summary: Visitor from the City who makes Seg question everything he’s been raised to believe about their post-apocalyptic world.

Strengths: Wise. Confidant. Broad experience. Level head.

Challenges: She isn’t perfect, but comes off as if she is, which creates impossible expectations from others. She's trying to fix what might be an unfixable Earth in the face of an established dictator.

What I admire: Despite the terrible things she’s witnessed, she manages to keep her sanity, her hope. Her confidence (and experience) is enviable, if hard-earned. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind, no matter the consequences. She applies logical thinking to everything she does and says, yet she can set that aside and listen to her heart when it matters.

Britta Silverstar

Protagonist in the Lost Colonies series.

Summary: The youngest ambassador in history, representing her home planet of Galileo in the newly formed Lost Colonies Alliance.

Strengths: Confidence and compassion in her job, born from a rich upbringing and raw, natural ability. A “won’t lose” attitude.

Challenges: Natural talent doesn’t quite make up for her inexperience when negotiating with ambassadors who are thirty years her senior. Human colonies across the galaxy have only recently re-established communication; the Lost Colonies Alliance is unexplored territory for everyone. Her upbringing has blinded her to the needs of those less fortunate than herself, distorting her sense of reality. She can’t grasp how reliant on technology that she and her entire planet have become, nor the problems it can pose.

What I admire: Britta isn’t afraid to try anything, and welcomes new challenges. Her competitive spirit spurs her ever onward to greater heights. She’s an inspiration for anyone who’s ever been told they can’t do something because of their age, sex, ethnicity, or ability.

Free Books, Sales, and Events

• March – Strong Women in Sci Fi and Fantasy. Women's Month. 'nuff said. 😁
• March – Sci Fi and Fantasy Mega Giveaway. Huge selection of free science fiction and fantasy titles, many I've never seen before. Seems like a good balance of each.
• April? – Angels Adrift (The Z-Tech Chronicles Book 5) launches. Finally. I hope. (I'm going to keep including it in this list until it does.)

Currently Reading

I didn't do it on purpose, but both books in this month's "currently reading" list feature female protagonists. Hope you find these reviews useful!

Legends & Lattes

What a delightful cozy fantasy! Highly recommended if you like coffee and light sapphic romance. This is one of those books I wish I could forget and read again. Feel-good to the max.

Read my full review

The Red Scholar's Wake

As the cover states, "lesbian pirates in space," and yet so much more. One of said lesbians is a "mind ship" who can manifest as a hologram capable of limited tactile interactions. The world is amazingly fleshed out, the characters varied.

I knocked it down a few stars because a) I found one of the protagonists, touted as "strong" throughout the book, to be whiny and inconsistent, and b) while I like the book's "moralistic pirates" message, it came off as unbelievable, which made it difficult to buy into the larger plot.

Still a worthy read if you're looking for a unique, sapphic space pirate romance with strong world building.

Read my full review

Other Authors You Might Like

Hot Drop

What starts as a rescue mission in a combat zone on a hostile planet becomes something more.

On a world where perception is distorted, can they find their objective before they lose themselves?

Learn more

Through Stranger Eyes

Flesh comes cheap in a machine world.

Doctor Rick Stenslandt has always advocated against the fusion of man and machine. But after a near-fatal accident, he is forced to accept ocular implants or go blind, end up unemployed, and without social status.

But something goes wrong. Now he remembers people he has never met before—influential members of the corporate elite that governs the world. And they have all been murdered.

Worse, it seems he’s the next target.

On the run from the police and a pair of augmented assassins, Rick seeks refuge in the infamous alleys of the megacity. But to protect the ones he loves, he cannot hide forever. Now he must figure out his borrowed memories and his connection to the victims, before it’s too late.

Learn more

My Books

The Z-Tech Chronicles

In the face of a rising, ancient evil, a traumatized San Francisco waitress may be the only thing standing between humanity and oblivion.

The Z-Tech Chronicles is a science fiction / urban fantasy saga that follows Anne Perrin on her journey from a traumatized waitress to becoming more than she ever imagined.

Learn more

Other Books

One Man's Trash – a cozy science fiction romance in the Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy universe.

Holtondome (Timeless Keeper Saga Book 1) – A farmer-to-hero science fiction / dystopian adventure set 500 years in the future. Book 2 coming soon!

Dragon Assassin – A steamy contemporary shifter romance adventure. With dragons!