Predicting the Future

*Take a moment to enjoy a post from guest author, Jessica Subject.*

One of the joys of writing speculative fiction—which includes science fiction romance—is that as the author, we get to predict the future. And I’m not just talking about future technologies such as spaceflight and gadgetry that is based on science. We can also predict the future on a social level. This includes governments, religion, and even romance. Will the class structure of society become more distinct? When we do meet beings from other planets, will discrimination play a factor in our interactions?

I look at these social aspects in many of my stories, including my upcoming Elitia/1Night Stand story, Another Night, Another Planet. And, of course, I like to add in some futuristic technology, too.

Here’s an excerpt from Another Night, Another Planet:

Buzzing through the heavy traffic on her hover bike, [Ava] reached the spaceport in record time. Perfect. She found a parking locker in the cold, dank underground lot to squeeze her bike into, then dashed toward security. If she could pick up a faint signal, maybe she would have a chance to check her email one last time before take-off. Unlike the guests on board, she couldn’t afford to connect her tablet from space to the wireless system on the mother traveler, not since she’d paid for her one-night stand. Though once a week, all crew were allowed a video call back to Earth. And she called her mom and dad.

She’d been raised by middle-class parents with little chance of furthering her education past what the government paid for. When her father had received a pink slip from his employer of twenty star cycles, any hope she’d held onto of going to college flew out the window. And without that diploma, she could only find meaningless jobs that paid less than the effort she put into them.

Bags checked, Ava dashed down the plain, white corridors of the employee level, pausing for the vacuum seals to release on doors along the way, until she reached her room for the duration of her stay. After thumbing the security pad to open the door, she crashed on the bed to the left, the right one belonging to Michelle, her best friend, who had convinced her to apply to housekeeping aboard Star Spirit. They’d been interviewed together, and started space training the very next day.

Four star cycles later, she was all set to venture out on her seventh tour. Though she didn’t have much of a life traveling through space, the pay was better than she would find anywhere on Earth. Her basic needs of food and shelter were met, and when she returned home, she always split her earnings between her parents and her savings account. She couldn’t let the people who had raised her suffer because she’d found an opportunity they hadn’t.

Tell me: What societal changes would you like to see in the future?

Another Night, Another Planet Blurb:

Limited by status…

Ava is a housekeeper aboard Star Spirit, a luxury cruise ship that travels between the Milky Way and the Belvarian System. Coming from a middle-class family on Earth, she is considered by passengers as nothing more than an object to be tossed away when they’re done with her.

Shunned because of his lineage…

Being banned from several planets across the universe has made it hard for Nate to run his interstellar shipping business. But the DNA of an exterminated race runs through his blood, giving him a diluted form of their powers, and leaving him labeled as a terrorist.

Both searching for the one…

Through her 1Night Stand dating service, Madame Evangeline matches these two together for a celestial escape on the pleasure planet, Elatia.

Will Ava and Nate find what they’re looking for, or will their date go up in flames?

Coming Soon to Decadent Publishing and other eBook retailers.

Jessica E. Subject Bio:

Jessica Subject is the author of contemporary and science fiction romance, ranging from sweet to erotica. In her stories, you could meet clones, or a sexy alien or two. You may even be transported to another planet for a romantic rendezvous. 

When Jessica isn't reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to get out and walk. Fast. But she just may slow down if there is a waterfall nearby.

Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at jessicasubject.com and on twitter @jsubject.

Website/Blog | Newsletter | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Authorgraph

The Creativity in Science Fiction

Courtesy of Flicker Commons.

Science fiction is a genre that’s often popped into the speculative fiction category. I believe this is done because sci-fi incorporates so many different things from fantasy to horror. I love sci-fi horror! The movie Pandorum is a prime example of sci-fi horror. But let's not stray from the true topic....

Whether it’s in book form or the silver screen, sci-fi is packed with creativity. When other genres can be woven into sci-fi there’s no limit to what can be written or filmed. Adding romance to this genre is another bonus. What better way to unite two people than through a new world or a wild, imaginative setting?

My one beef with sci-fi movies is that the romance between two characters is often minor or even subtle. One of my favorite movies is Aliens with Sigourney Weaver. The romance between her and Corporal Hicks is so subtle that if the viewer isn’t paying close attention he might not even be aware of the budding relationship.

I guess that’s why so many readers of romance gravitate to science-fiction romance. The love is integral to the sci-fi plot. Decadent’s Elatia series has hot, riveting romances. In ForeverAcross the Stars, Feather must choose between Ymien and Irikii. Unexpected Return has Prince Aristides falling for the enemy.  Then there’s Dayne in Courtesan Boot Camp who must train a spoiled beauty. And let's not forget the sparks that fly between Sway and Dason in Lethal Beauty.

For SFR that will remain in your mind and your heart for years to come, surf over and visit our Elatia Celestial Escape line HERE.

You can also find these books at most online distributors.

Let's Take A Ride

Galaxy w/in galaxy. Courtesy of Flicker Commons.

Azura Ice here reporting from the cockpit of my ship [No, I don’t know what kind of a ship. It’s a sleek model with heated seats]. Radar, my feline companion, rides on the back of my command chair, but he’s a bit miffed at me right now. I forgot to put the shields up, so when a meteorite whizzed by, he sort of...well...got his fur singed. He looks ridiculous with a  char-coaled tail, but don’t tell him I said that. I’ll deny it.

Anyway, let's take a ride through space and chat.

[Glides in to Elatia's nearby space station and waits for D.L. Jackson and Jessica E. Subject to board.]

Once we’re on our way, I broach the subject of sci-fi.

Science-fiction is, after all, based on science. However, without imagination, there is no new science. Many tools and ideas written in sci-fi years ago have come to pass. Take Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon published in 1865. It was considered pure imagination, but 1969, a 104 years after the book was published, man actually landed on the moon. Consider today’s weaponry ranging from the splitting of the atom to sound and laser technology.

BOOM! Sizzle...poof! [Anyone know where I put the robotic broom? There’s moon dust in the cockpit and ashes in the mess hall.]

As sci-fi authors, the very hint of conspiracy opens dozens of doors we can step through with our plots. Then, if you add incredible technology, you have a recipe for new inventions, new medicine and even new weapons and doorways to alternate dimensions. What, in your opinions, is the next thing in science-fiction to burst into reality or do you believe our governments withhold new technology from us?

DL Jackson: Bionics. Actually the science has already started to emerge. What's really neat is that scientists and doctors have designed the prosthetic limbs to function based on the electrical impulses that travel down nerves. The phantom limb syndrome that you often hear amputees talk about is actually the disconnected nerves still getting signals from the brain. Scientists apply pads that sense these electrical impulses from the brain and a mini-computer inside the artificial limb takes that data and converts the signal to motion. So the wearer of the bionic limb thinks and the electrical impulse travels down the nerve all the way to where it is severed and then viola, it is carried the rest of the way by technology. What happens if they build a full body suit with built-in sensors. Would those with spinal injuries be able to walk again, using the same technology? I know the blind are able to see with it, the deaf can hear, and fingers open and close, wrists turn all by natural thought. 

Here's a fascinating article in National Geographic about this very subject.http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/bionics/fischman-text/2

I actually have a heroine with a spinal injury in one of my stories that uses such a suit. I think the next decade will have some amazing advances in medical science.

Wow, D.L.! Bionics certainly tantalizes the mind with possibilities, doesn’t it? I wonder if this particular science will one day lead the way to cyborgs as they’re known in science-fiction. However, placing a human mind in a synthetic body could also create chaos in religious worlds. Would it be ethical? What lengths would some people go to in order to live longer or even forever?

So, Jessica...what’s you’re viewpoint on conspiracy and sci-fi technology?

Jessica E Subject: I've believed for a long time that the government withholds information and new technologies from the people. Why? To prevent pandemonium and for our own safety. 

As for headlines in the scientific community that are of interest to me right now, well, the whole idea of dark energy and dark matter is truly fascinating. And right now, labs all over the world are trying to figure out what dark energy is and prove whether or not dark matter exists. Two years ago when visiting Science North with my family, I watched a film at the Between the Stars Object Theatre about what the universe is made of. Scientists have only been able to measure 5% of the universe, and as it continues to expand at an increasing rate, they are starting to question their theories based on the information they know, including as Einstein’s Theory of Gravity.

And the empty space in outer space is no longer considered empty, consisting of dark energy and dark matter. But what is this stuff? Scientists have many hypotheses, and I wait anxiously to find out more about all the unknowns of space.

Here is a cool link:

http://www.sciencenorth.ca/science-north/exhibits/index.aspx?coll_id=9   

Cassiopeia A courtesy of Flicker Commons

Dark matter is something that has always frightened me. I can only imagine what people are dabbling in it who should be behind bars. And even those with good intentions often go astray and use something for their own benefit. Science, even in science fiction, is a power of epic proportions. Although science opens doors in a writer’s mind, what about the cold, hard facts and know-how landing in the wrong hands? Scary stuff.

Thanks for taking a ride through the galaxy to chat with me, ladies.

Well, dear readers, weigh in with your thoughts on today’s topic!

Check out Elatia’s science-fiction romance titles. And if you'd like to write for Decadent's Elatia series, click on the world building and submissions tabs at the top of this page.

What Do You Want?

I'm sorry I missed my last two posting days. With school starting for the aliens--er, kids--and some writing deadlines looming in my nearby future, I totally forgot. Yes, I'm a bad girl. So whip me with a lazer strap, beat me with a light saber, smack me with a....

Oh, sorry.

Anyway, I've been paying close attention to SFR titles of late. I've even been watching the new books that are hard science-fiction. There are so many sub-genres that incorporate sci-fi elements it's difficult to keep track of the markets. There's soft sci-fi, sci-fi opera, hard sci-fi that involves factual techie stuff, and there's also military science-fiction. Oh, and there's sci-fi horror, too. And let's not forget the basis of Decadent's Elatia blog, our wonderful sci-fi romance.

What do you look for in a science-fiction book? Is it the world building? The romance set in a futuristic world set far, far from here?

Well, I invite you to try one of Decadent Publishing SFR titles. You won't be sorry. Here are a few for you to investigate further:

Celestial Seduction by Jessica E. Subject

Dead or Alive by L.J. Garland

Conquering Venus by Azura Ice and Maria MoonStar

Rebel Souls (futuristic) by D.L. Jackson

And the Elatia Series HERE.

Music Traveling through Space

Image courtesy of Public-Domain-Image.com

In 1977, NASA sent a probe out into space with a golden record on it. The record contains images, sounds on Earth such as surf and a crying baby, and several different songs, each one a different genre.

It was done in the hopes that if an alien civilization found it they would learn something about us and perhaps follow the directions on the record to find Earth and visit. Here's a LINK about the record.

However, the vast majority of scientists believe it was pointless to send such an object out into the universe. They feel the chances of an alien ship finding the probe are almost nonexistent.

I think they’re wrong. My belief is that various civilizations have already visited Earth. I also feel there may be many already among us but remain invisible to us because our brains are too limited--for the time being--to enable us to see them. If not that, then perhaps humankind's mentality is too infantile for advanced races to bother revealing themselves...just yet.

But there is hope. It’s obvious others were here thousands of years ago (mainstream archeology ignores the proof) so these interstellar (or inter-dimensional) people see something in the human race. Maybe they’re just waiting for us to grow up a li’l more. And if that's the case, why did they show themselves to Man so long ago; what was different about those people compared to us now?

Music, however, seems to be a “language” that everyone understands, so I see why NASA chose to include it on the record and incorporate several different songs and song styles such as Bach. And music is also mathematical, especially Bach’s pieces. Math is the basis for so many things in science and in time travel, too.

Whether it’s historical or even science-fiction, music is an integral part of lives throughout the ages and it will be in the future. What have you read lately that used music as part of the plot or in an important scene?

Here are a couple of Decadent’s science-fiction romance titles with music in them. The author is Jessica E. Subject. And while you're at it, check out the latest Elatia release, Lethal Beauty by Sara Brookes.

Unknown Futures:

http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=435&osCsid=33fqka4a6oaov11ddp7gme94i4

Satin Sheets in Space:

http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=552&osCsid=jfhe9cotli1j2mje9qo2hhi975

Visit all the current Elatia SFR books available at Decadent Publishing HERE!

Azura Ice

http://ablueice.wordpress.com