Originally from Canada, where she spent much of her childhood with a SEGA Genesis and watching Jurassic Park, Jamie came to the UK in 2008. No stranger to travel, she lived in the Canary Isles for a short time before returning to the UK to study at university, wherein she learned the skills to create characters for modern games. Spending most of her time creating concept art and 3D models, she spends the rest learning languages, walking about, and using the Oxford Comma. She plays games, too, of course, and even has a Mass Effect tattoo.

https://www.neurodolphin.com/

Isolation

Isolation is a piece that features a dolphin swimming through a spaceship, seeming in the direction of a galaxy that spreads out from the upper right corner. The frame of a spaceship’s window is seen at the sides of the picture.

From Jamie: In this strange world, I find an escape in pretending to be an animal online sometimes. For me, this animal is the dolphin. I’ve always had an interest in sci-fi, and dolphins in space is not as uncommon as you might think! So what better way to add to the project than to add a little art of my self representation to the pot, completed in 2020 during the year of isolation. The dolphin for me symbolises a lot of things, but really I just wanted a picture of her properly out there, in space, where she belongs.

N.E. Montgomery, Incursion

My name is Nicole Montgomery, and I write science fiction of the space opera kind.

By day I teach European and American history to bright (or glassy!) eyed college freshmen, hoping they’ll take away a realization that history is the human story.  And that is something that infuses my fiction as well — history is all around us every day; it lives and breathes through us, whether we know it or not, and that understanding flavors every story I write. It’s just more fun with space ships (and reliable plumbing)!

https://www.nemontgomery.com/

Incursion

Hello, K. Gorman here. The second I heard I had a data slot to go on the Moon, I knew I had to take Nicole with me. Incursion is one of my favorite books of all time, and I was lucky to be one of its beta readers. Nicole has a way of weaving complex plots ladled with extremely well-developed characters, cultures, and histories, that I absolutely love, and I can’t wait for the day Incursion is finally officially published. It was to my absolute delight that Nicole agreed to send Incursion to the Moon with me.

The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend. Until Tomorrow.

Cut off from their homeworld for a hundred years, most humans are vagabonds, pirates, and exiles, eking out a living on the fringes of civilization. Smuggler Merika Deveron is no different, and, after fleeing across half a galaxy to escape her past, she likes it that way.

She just wants to keep her misfit friends together and get by. But then one of them is captured by forces of the hated Ir’drakhon Empire. With the reluctant help of sometime-mercenary friend Thorn, Merika vows to rescue him, if she must track him across the other half of the galaxy to do it.

The Ir’drakhon Empire has ruled known space from time out of mind by controlling the ancient portals that allow interstellar travel, whose origins are lost in the past. But the ir’drakhon are losing control of the varied species they rule, and some of them will stop at nothing to regain it.

To make it worse, Merika’s past has followed her—and brought with it the seeds of interstellar war.

To save her friend against all odds, Merika must outwit the forces of a dying empire, solve an ancient mystery, and prevent a war that could tear asunder the fabric of civilization itself.

How does she get herself into these messes?

Rosalie Jardin (N’Donna Russell), Prescription for a Lonely Heart

Rosalie Jardin is the pen name an American-born author living in British Columbia. Writing has been a passion since she was five. Her characters rumble around in her head, demanding to have their stories told and, like any good author, she is just doing what she’s told.

https://rosaliejardin.com/ 

Prescription for a Lonely Heart (Hearts in Glencoe City #1)

*K. Gorman here: Prescription for a Lonely Heart is a fine example of a demisexual romance, written from within a lived experience of the identity. As someone who identifies within a different part of the asexual spectrum, I was happy to see Rosalie Jardin push back against the dismissive stereotype that we aren’t looking for love and to see a romance give an accurate depiction of a demisexual experience.

“If we’re both still single when we’re thirty, we’ll marry each other . . .”

The marriage pact was made during a lazy day at the beach, half in jest, and seemingly forgotten by the boy who started it.

But ten years later, Kay hadn’t forgotten. She’s still shy and introverted, not interested in relationships. So when Adrian reappears in her life—two years early—and asks her to marry him now, she surprises herself by agreeing.

So now she must deal with her mother’s disapproval, his brother’s hostility, and a load of self-doubt. Can she forge a real relationship with Adrian? Has he really changed from a ladies man to someone she can trust? Will she be able to let go of everything she’s ever thought she wanted and reach out to grab a new future?

Prescription for a Lonely Heart is the first book on the “Hearts in Glencoe City” series. This friends-to-lovers standalone romance features a marriage pact, a calm-but-sassy heroine, a himbo with a heart, and a HEA guaranteed.

Kevin McLaughlin, Ad Astra

USA Today bestselling author Kevin McLaughlin has written more than three dozen science fiction and fantasy novels, along with more short stories than he can easily count. Kevin can be found most days in downtown Boston, working on the next novel. His bestselling Blackwell Magic fantasy series, Accord science fiction series, Valhalla Online LitRPG series, and the fan-favorite Starship Satori series are ongoing.

http://kevinomclaughlin.com/

Ad Astra

Dan Wynn wanted to explore space more than life itself, but a tragic accident left him too injured for NASA’s space program. Second chances don’t come along every day, so when an old friend offered him one, he grabbed on with both hands. The next thing Dan knew, he was on the moon, piloting humanity’s first starship while fighting his way through one peril after another.

Little did Dan know that simple offer was anything but, and would lead him to the stars far beyond our own.

The risks are great. But if life knocked you down, what would you gamble to have one more shot at your dreams?

Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle, Cold War

Julia loves stories about heroes, monsters, and heroic monsters.

Julia is usually stuck in traffic in Silicon Valley. She runs long distances because she can’t seem to help herself. When not chauffeuring the offspring to baseball or kungfu practice, she can be found working one of two dayjobs or writing science fiction.

www.juliavee.com 

Ken Bebelle works in prosthetics for his day job. At night, he writes science fiction. At the time of this writing, he was collaborating on a military science fiction series with Julia Vee, and had plans to work in really cool futuristic prosthetics which were grounded in real-world technologies.

Http://kenbebelle.com 

Cold War: Alien Storm

They invaded her planet. They ambushed her unit. They’ll have to pry Earth from her cold, dead hands…

When Lieutenant Cam Alvarez is called to investigate a desert massacre in the US Green Zone, she prepares for the worst. Once her team of soldiers arrives on the scene, she realizes the violence wasn’t committed by human hands. Alien invaders already dominate Earth’s expanding polar regions, but Cam had never seen Ringheads survive exposure to heat… until they storm her troops and abduct her.

On board the alien mothership, Cam knows she alone can warn the human resistance about the catastrophic new threat. Subjected to cruel experiments, she fights for control as the Ringheads slowly strip away her humanity. Against impossible odds, Cam must escape her captors and make an unthinkable sacrifice to give humanity one last shot at survival.

Cold War: Alien Storm is a captivating military sci-fi novel. If you like tough-as-nails soldiers, alien abductions, and near-future ecological thrillers, then you’ll love Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle’s fast-paced adventure.

Caraway Carter, In His Arms

Caraway Carter has worn numerous hats. He’s been a furniture salesman, a dresser, a costumer, an actor/waiter, a rabble-rouser, a poet and most recently a writer. He loves words and stringing them together, he loves sex and sexy men, and he writes relationship fiction that reminds you—it’s never too late for love. And he has lived his tagline. He married his husband on Halloween, at the age of forty-nine, and they are the loving parents of an adorable cat named Molly.

http://www.carawaycarter.com/ 

In His Arms

In His Arms is a collection of stories that explores the lives of men making mistakes and finding solutions that give them the happier ever lives they crave.

Brandon is in Paris for the wedding of his twin sister, has a fling with the man who becomes his brother-in-law.

An artist recounts a lifetime of love, pain, sadness and triumph.

Chad gets a day of innuendos and unexpected sexual encounters that could lead to the beginning of a new life.

Two widowers find struggle to the top of Machu Picchu to close one life and begin another.

Toby-Lee is in Hawaii for a wedding, and falls for the man who would arrest him on a technicality just to get closer to him.

In His Arms is a collection of stories that deal with grief, life, loss, and a surprising sense of adventure. If you like stories about men discovering what they can do, then you’ll love Caraway Carter’s romantic tales.

Audrey Sharpe, The Dark of Light

Audrey Sharpe grew up believing in the Force and dreaming of becoming captain of the Enterprise. She’s still working out the logistics of moving objects with her mind, but writing science fiction provides a pretty good alternative. When she’s not off exploring the galaxy with Aurora and her crew, she lives in the Sonoran Desert, where she has an excellent view of the stars.

You can connect with Audrey online at http://AudreySharpe.com.

The Dark of Light, the first book in the Starhawke Rising series, is set in future Earth, when humans have learned to travel the stars beyond our solar system. My main character, Aurora Hawke, is captain of an alien starship, the Starhawke, and is herself a child of two worlds — half-human and half-alien. Her series is a tale of optimism and compassion, courage and friendship, about fighting for the freedoms of others, sometimes literally. Sharing my vision of the future Aurora inhabits with the generations who will live those times is a remarkable opportunity. I’m honored to be included.

The Dark of Light

Save a planet. Sacrifice your future.

For Aurora Hawke, protecting the secret of her half-human heritage has been a lifelong challenge. Taking command of her own starship and the best crew in the quadrant has been her dream. Failing at both is her nightmare.

But the survival of a planet may depend on it.

With millions of lives at risk, she’ll do whatever it takes, even if revealing her unique abilities means spending the rest of her life on the run.

If you like pulse-pounding interstellar adventures, intriguing alien encounters, and otherworldly starships, you’ll love The Dark of Light. Perfect for fans of Voyager and Firefly. Pick up your copy today! 

Zee Monodee, The One That Got Away

From always choosing the storytelling option in English and French classes to sneaking a Mills&Boon romance under the desk at school, Zee went on to make a career out of writing the kind of emotional romances all young girls junk on.

Her Mauritius and Indian-based romances have all the classic makings of Bollywood-type drama: overbearing mothers, matchmaking aunties, ‘proper’ eligible suitors who look like frogs, race & class divides.

Travel to the UK (London, Surrey, & North Yorkshire), and you meet people—young and more mature—struggling to find ‘The One’ amid the drudgery of day-to-day life, never mind if they’re a simple graphic designer working from home, a world-renowned supermodel battling anorexia, or a reluctant heiress on the run.

Take to the Corpus Agency mantle, and become lethal spies & assassins who nevertheless feel the call of love in their dark and shady lives…

Shadow Bridge, the UF series she co-writes with her BFF Natalie G. Owens, has a wide cast of mystical, magical, and mythological creatures trying to save the world from an impending Apocalypse.

Of Indian heritage and a two-time breast cancer survivor, Zee lives in paradise (aka Mauritius!) with her long-suffering husband, their smart-mouth teenage son, and their tabby cat who thinks herself a fearsome feline from the nearby African Serengeti plains. When she isn’t in her kitchen rolling out chapattis or baking cakes while singing along to the latest pop hit topping the charts, she can be found reading or catching up on her numerous TV show addictions. In her day job, she is an editor who helps other authors like her hone their works and craft.

The One That Got Away, in its original version titled The Other Side, is her first ever book and the one that launched a few dozen other stories! Inspired by her own life, regarding divorce in the Indo-Mauritian community and then finding a second chance at love, the story was supposed to be her magnum opus to rival the veritable doorstopper that is Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy. Alas, the series bug was lurking around and bit her, leading to a life-long condition where she cannot conceive of a story without turning it into a series.

A.K. Duboff

About the Dark Stars Trilogy

“Do-overs” are possible.

The hyperdimensional crystalline network allows reality to be reset to past moments in time…

After a routine ‘reset’ on her homeworld, Elle Hartmut instead awakens on a spaceship. Her body is different, she has new seemingly magical abilities, and she’s told that the fate of known civilization is in her hands.

An alien Darkness is corrupting the Hegemony’s worlds. Elle and a team of companions with enhanced abilities like her own embark on an interstellar quest to stop the advancing Darkness. The team’s only clue is that fabled relics may hold the key to salvation. 

With their worlds already destroyed, the only hope is a ‘universal reset’ to undo the damage. However, as legends become fact and the lines between magic and science blur, Elle and her friends must unravel ancient secrets before their worlds and loved ones are lost in shadow forever.

The Dark Stars trilogy offers a unique blend of sci-fi and fantasy adventure with a sleek high-tech skin on traditional magic. With adventure, magic, coming-of-age, and aliens, join Elle on her journey in a universe where second chances are real!

Inspiration for the Dark Stars Trilogy

I started playing video games in my late-teens, and once I played Final Fantasy, I was hooked. One play mechanic I always found interesting in role playing games (RPGs) games was that when you got a “game over”, you could reset and try again with some knowledge of what was coming. With boss battles, in particular, there was almost always a trick to beating them that you could apply from the get-go on subsequent attempts. The characters didn’t know what was coming, but you as the player did.

I started thinking about how to mimic that precognizance in literary form where the characters were in control of their own destiny without an omniscient player to guide them. And thus, Dark Stars was born.

When I first conceptualized this trilogy, I thought it was going to be pure space fantasy. By the end, it got an infusion of hard sci-fi. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but you can read all about the scientific inspiration for the series in the Author’s Notes at the end. I hope you enjoy the ride!

About the Author

A.K. (Amy) DuBoff has always loved science fiction in all its forms, including books, movies, shows, and games. If it involves outer space, even better! She is a Nebula Award finalist and USA Today bestselling indie author specializing in space-based science fiction and fantasy. Dubbed the modern “Queen of Space Opera” by her readers, she is most known for her acclaimed Cadicle Universe. The second book in her standalone Dark Stars Trilogy, A Light in the Dark, was a 2018 Nebula finalist for the Andre Norton Award. Amy’s short fiction has been published by NewCon Press, Seventh Seal Press, and in numerous indie publications. When she’s not writing, she enjoys travel, wine tasting, binge-watching TV series, and playing epic strategy board games.