Is there a genre you’d like to
write? Is there one you’ll probably stay away from? Why?
I think I’m finding it now. I started on
a contemporary romance but As Dreams Are Made On is my first foray into SF -
and it feels good! I think I’d also like to dip into paranormal and fantasy, to
let my imagination run riot (which it does anyway).
I think I’d have to stay away from
historical romance though, I’d be no good at getting it right. I’d probably
have my Regency hero texting the heroine while she’s checking her email on her
iPad….
Please tell us about your newest release
and where the idea came from.
As Dreams Are Made On is my sci-fi
lesbian update of Shakespeare's The Tempest. I like to think it's where the
Bard might have taken it had he seen Star Trek. It also features a very, very
adaptable android who almost comes between my two heroines. I've taken elements
of the T1000 from Terminator 2, mixed in a bit of Maria, the robot from Fritz
Lang's 'Metropolis' and added elements of Robbie the Robot, of course.
It was kicked off by a Facebook group of
a few authors floating the idea of a Shakespeare inspired anthology of short
stories. The Tempest has long been a favourite of mine from when I saw the 50s
SF movie 'Forbidden Planet' and someone explained that it was Shakespeare in
space. I've also seen the Royal Shakespeare Company do it with Patrick Stewart
(Captain Jean Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise) as Prospero. Frankly, once
I typed the word "bo'sun" it practically wrote itself.
What
kind of research did you do for this book?
I dived straight into Shakespeare on my
kindle and hit Wikipedia and Google for dates, events and themes in Shakespeare
and for images to inspire me. I also revisited Forbidden Planet and a lot of
Star Trek. That wasn’t hard though as I am a total Trekkie.
If
this book was made into a movie, who do you see playing the main characters?
Very interesting question… I think Helena
Bonham Carter could bring some wistful whimsy to Miranda, or possibly Winona
Ryder. Sandra Bullock would be my Captain Ferdinand though, for sure. Miranda’s
father is older and world weary - perhaps Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from
Buffy). As for my adaptable android… he might be Russell Brand. I can see him
embracing the character completely!
How
do you come up with characters names?
Sometimes they leap out at me, if a
character is like someone I know - then I just alter it a bit or chooses a very
similar name. Sometimes they have to fulfil a plot need. In my first book, His
Secret Dancer, I had to have a male transvestite with a name that would do for
a boy or girl, so he was Daniel/Danielle. To keep the gender twist theme his
female partner had to be Francine/Franci.
In As Dreams Are Made On I’ve largely
kept Shakespeare’s characters… except I made the ship Prospero and called
Miranda’s father Jacques-Pierre Guillaume :-) Ariel became the android R.E.L.
See what I did there?
What
do you do in your free time?
I play guitar, ukulele and bass and sing…
well, I sort of sing. Any opportunity, I’m up there strumming and singing.
People avoid asking me places now because of it. In fact, I could do a number
now if you like… *strums a G major*
How
much of your own personality bleeds into your characters?
Yes, you know those parts of you that you
don’t really like people knowing about? Those parts sometimes seep out. And
that can be good or bad. Otherwise I think it’s me projecting myself onto
people I know and pretending it’s them really.
Do you have a list of movies like me that
you are itching to see or have seen? What about ones coming up? Any that draw
your eye to it?
My favourite films are The Vikings, with
Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas (just a fabulous romp with the BEST theme music) and
the original Adventures Of Robin Hood, with Errol Flynn (the BEST BEST BEST
sword fight EVER). Right now I’m in a love/hate thing with how they’ve managed
to drag The Hobbit, a lovely short little book for children, into three (count
‘em) epic overblown blockbusters. Dreadful. But I’ll watch every one at least
twice.
You are hosting a dinner party. If given
the chance to invite characters from other series, who would you invite?
Merlin, from The Once And Future King, to
explain how it feels to be living backwards, Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues
Under The Sea to tease out what he did before he built the Nautilus and James
Bond to help choose the right wines to go with the food, bearing in mind that
he did shoot the bad guy in From Russia With Love when he chose red wine to go
with the fish.
If
you only had twenty dollars in your pocket, what would you buy?
I’d find the nearest pub and have a pint,
or three. I’d have a ukulele with me though and I’d busk and make enough
for a packet of pork scratching as well.
Of
all your heroes that you’ve written, is there one that you love above all?
Two are vying for that accolade in my
head right now. Captain Ferdinand in As Dreams Are Made On is bugging me for a
series exploring her back story as is the mysterious alien empath Anchises. But
more on that later…
What’s the most interesting way you got
around a plot problem?
Don’t tell anyone as I’m still writing
it, but in my WiP I had to get one of my alien empaths out of a sticky
situation so I had her tune her empathic powers into the guard she had to get
past and give him an emotional overload orgasm that rendered him unconscious.
Not sure I can use that one too often…
If you owned a bookstore, what book would
you make sure was in stock?
Winnie the Pooh and Homer’s Odyssey.
Those are two books that are always with me. Everyone should read them and then
go back and read them again. And then keep Pooh on hand for inspirational
quotes when the going gets tough.
What is next for you? Anything you want
to mention?
I'm currently working on a longer sci-fi
romance where the captain and first mate of a starship on a dangerous peace
mission have their emotions and sexuality challenged by the mysterious alien
empaths tasked with bringing about peace on a planet ravaged by a gender war.
I’m giving full rein to my SF imagination and trying to explore and explode
gender preconceptions on the way.
As
Dreams are Made on by Faberge Nostromo
Science
fiction F/F
ISBN:
978-1-77101-239-3
Release date: March 7th, 2014
Words:
25023
Heat
rating: 4
A stricken
starship, a captain lost in space; a beautiful alien girl, marooned and adrift
in time; the perfect robotic servant. Can he help them come together and find
the space and time for love?
Her
starship, Prospero, out of control and hurtling toward an uncharted
world, Captain Jane Ferdinand takes to the escape pods. Finding herself alone
on an island, the last thing she expects to find is love.
Miranda,
marooned since a baby with only her father, Jacques-Pierre, and their
ultra-adaptable android servant, R.E.L, spends her time exploring her father's
books and dreaming of love. And on a night when a mysterious shooting star
flashes across the horizon, she finally makes full use of R.E.L.'s adaptability
to explore her emerging desires—desires that, with gentle guidance from Captain
Ferdinand, help her discover her awakening sexuality.
But
can her dreams and their love survive when R.E.L.'s gender adaptability
threatens to come between them and Captain Ferdinand uncovers the secret that
her father has kept from Miranda for twenty years?
Faberge Nostromo takes Shakespeare's 'The
Tempest' far into the future and onto a world where two women find that love,
with the aid of a very capable android, can be such a thing as dreams are made
on.
Adult Teaser Excerpt:
"I am a woman, Miranda. Flesh and
blood. The same as you."
Miranda breathed in slowly, her gaze
flitting from Ferdinand's eyes to her lips.
"Yes. Yes. You are. Captain, kiss me
again."
Ferdinand sought Miranda's mouth now,
more eagerly, and darted her tongue inside. The kiss was full and deep, both
girls probing and tussling with their tongues as Ferdinand ran her fingers
through Miranda's long purple tresses. Miranda put a hand on the small of
Ferdinand's back, pushing harder, and with her other hand stroked Ferdinand's
neck. She used her hands to explore every inch of Ferdinand's back and
shoulders, gently sliding over the silver of her uniform, tracing her spine and
muscles through the tight material, kneading and caressing in turn.
Their mouths parted, tongues teasing
until Ferdinand leaned to one side and danced a series of butterfly kisses on
the smooth blue skin of Miranda's neck and throat. Miranda gasped and slid her
hand around from Ferdinand's back and inched toward the curve of her breast.
"Captain..." Miranda whispered.
"Jane. It's Jane," Ferdinand
replied in between the pattern of kisses she was placing on Miranda's neck.
Miranda inched her fingers toward Ferdinand's breast until they gently brushed
the smooth lower curve. She stopped.
"Jane, should I..."
"Yes, Miranda," Ferdinand
replied. She placed a hand on Miranda's and gently moved it up until Miranda's
slim blue fingers covered her breast. "Let your emotions and desires tell
you what to do."
Ferdinand's nipple hardened as Miranda
gently explored the curve and outline of her breast through the tight silver of
her uniform. Ferdinand released her hand and placed her own on Miranda's pert,
firm breast, feeling her nipple already hard through the silk. She circled the
tight button with her thumb and felt Miranda mirror her movements.
They kissed again, deeply, as each felt
the other's soft curves and hard nipples, Miranda's fingers exploring,
Ferdinand's confident and insistent. Ferdinand was wet now and wanted those
smooth blue fingers to explore inside her. She knew she had to gently lead
Miranda there, to teach her, guide her.
About the Author
I
grew up in the East End of London before escaping to East Anglia. I’ve been a
civil servant, a tea boy, a sound engineer, a librarian and an IT consultant
but deep down, I always knew that I was a writer. I now live deep in
the heart of Suffolk with my wife, son and too many guitars.
Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/FabergeNostromo
Twitter -
https://twitter.com/FabergeNostromo
Blog -
http://fabergenostromo.blogspot.co.uk
1 comment:
Thanks for having me, Dawn - such an interesting set of questions!
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