Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Talking with author Pippa Jay


Hi, I’m Pippa Jay, author of scifi and the supernatural with a romantic soul. I’ve just released the second book in my scifi romance series Redemption. The original inspiration for Keir’s Fall came from a single line of lyrics from Livin’ in a World Without You by The Rasmus. The exact line is "You paralyzed my body with your poisoned kiss." So I thought I’d talk about five killer kisses (and in some cases, that’s literally!) that helped inspire mine.

A Dementor’s Kiss
Any fan of Harry Potter will know of the soul-sucking deadly kiss of the creepy Dementors. Ghostly, dark entities who feed off the good memories and feelings, causing depression, and eventually leading to their victims becoming as empty and evil as the Dementor. According to Snape, the kiss of a Dementor is a terrible thing to witness but something he was willing to face to see his old adversary Sirius Black get some payback for years of bullying.
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Dementor

Poison Ivy
A DC supervillain, an adversary of Batman, and an eco-terrorist, she uses various plant toxins instead of lip-gloss which can cause rapture or death (but her kiss can also cure). So you’re taking a real gamble letting her kiss you for the first time with a very literal kill or cure. Would you be willing to try it?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_Ivy_%28Batman%29

Farscape: A Kiss is but a Kiss
In this particular episode of the much underrated scifi series, lost Earth astronaut John Crichton is kissed by an alien princess. Apparently the sweetness of the kiss indicated that he was the only one capable of giving her children, a requirement for her to rule. Of course, the antagonists in this episode had set it up so the princess would never find a mate, and so the crown would pass to another. The deadliness of this kiss lies in the probable assassination of Crichton so their plans aren’t thwarted! http://www.farscapeworld.com/episodes/synopsis/10210.php

Stargate (The Tok’ra Part One) -
If you’re ever asked to kiss a Tok’ra, beware that their alien symbiote isn’t looking to move home. While the Tok’ra are supposedly benevolent in that the hosts volunteer and work in partnership with their parasite rather than being slaves to it (like the Goa’uld, and especially the System Lords) there’s still a dark side to it. While the symbiote may heal, offer longevity, good health and a wealth of knowledge, be sure you want to be home to a parasite before any smooching.
http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Tok%27ra

Velvets (Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, BBC TV adaptation)
Hapless hero Richard Mayhew accepts Lamia - one of the Velvets, a group of black clad, gothically dressed women - as a guide through London Below. Unfortunately for him the payment she wants come as a kiss that sucks all the heat from his body, like some heat vampire. However, he’s saved from becoming a ‘cold, dead thing’ like the Velvets by the Marquis de Carabas.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neverwhere

Can you think of any others to add? Or have you had a killer kiss of your own?



Blurb

A seductive tyrant. A lost hero. And a galaxy about to fall...

It’s been a year in paradise for Keir and Quin, but now the idyll is over. After Quin falls sick, they return to the hidden sanctuary of Lyagnius, and what she learns there will not only change their lives, but set them on a journey that could separate them forever.

When Keir falls victim to a ruthless Nercaandi Empress bent on conquering the galaxy with her cybernetic army, it will take all Quin’s diminishing powers and the help of her son to find him. But what waits for her aboard the tyrant’s ship will test her strength and the limits of their love, and put everything she cares about at risk. Including Keir.

With the galaxy itself about to fall, will she be able to save him?

A Science Fiction Romance novel, Book Two of the Redemption series and part of the Travellers Universe.

Giveaway! A print edition of Keir’s Fall is currently up at Goodreads here - https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/168505-keir-s-fall
(open internationally until the end of February).

You can also pick up book one - Keir - at NetGalley to read and review for free here - https://s2.netgalley.com/catalog/book/80361

Buy links


Excerpt
Fragmented sunbeams fell through the gauzy insect netting at the windows to pattern the smooth timber floor. Keir paused, and his breath caught. Dappled light touched the woman sprawled across the bed, asleep under a woven blanket in shades of blue. Her tousled red hair half-covered her face, one arm was folded across her stomach, and the other laid palm upward on the pillow beside her head. The elfin face was childlike, her skin pale gold with freckles scattered over her small nose, her expression one of contented oblivion.
His chest tightened. Even now, it seemed beyond belief that he should be here, that he should have such a peaceful life and someone as beautiful and loving as Quin to share it with. The idyll of Kasha-Asor would be nothing without her by his side. Each day with her was a blessing. All the more so because he had once believed her dead by his own actions.
On impulse, he lifted the netting aside, but as his shadow passed over her, her gray eyes snapped open. In a flurry of blankets, she leaped from the bed and knocked him to the floor. Pain speared through his body as she straddled him and pinned his hands.
“Never,” she told him in a low growl, “ever try to sneak up on me in bed!”
Winded, he could only nod, and she gave him an impish grin before leaning down to kiss him. Freeing himself from her grip, he slid his hands slowly along her back as he returned her kiss, ruffling the short, turquoise shift she wore. The pain faded into irrelevance as he buried his fingers in her hair and pulled her close. Her lips were sweet and hot, her body warm and soft against his. The scent of azuri flowers filled his nostrils, and heat spiraled through him.
“Ahmiri.” The Metraxian word for soul mate had become his special name for her, and her kisses deepened. For a few blissful moments, he lost himself in her response, in the fiery glow of her thoughts. Then she sat up, shattering the rapture as she disentangled herself from his embrace.
“Where are you going?”

Bio and links

After spending twelve years working as an Analytical Chemist in a Metals and Minerals laboratory, Pippa Jay is now a stay-at-home mum who writes scifi and the supernatural. Somewhere along the way a touch of romance crept into her work and refused to leave. In between torturing her plethora of characters, she spends the odd free moment playing guitar very badly, punishing herself with freestyle street dance, and studying the Dark Side of the Force. Although happily settled in the historical town of Colchester in the UK with her husband of 22 years and three little monsters, she continues to roam the rest of the Universe in her head.

Pippa Jay is a dedicated member of the Science Fiction Romance Brigade, Broad Universe, and EPIC,  blogging at Spacefreighters Lounge, Adventures in Scifi, and Romancing the Genres. Her works include YA and adult stories crossing a multitude of subgenres from scifi to the paranormal, often with romance, and she’s one of eight authors included in a science fiction romance anthology—Tales from the SFR Brigade. She’s also a double SFR Galaxy Award winner, been a finalist in the Heart of Denver RWA Aspen Gold Contest (3rd place), the 2015 EPIC eBook awards, the 2015 RWA LERA Rebecca (2nd place), and the GCC RWA Silken Sands Star Awards (2nd place).

You can stalk her at her website, or at her blog, but without doubt her favorite place to hang around and chat is on Twitter as @pippajaygreen.

Blogs –
Adventures in Scifi - http://www.pippajay.blogspot.co.uk
Spacefreighters Lounge - http://www.spacefreighters.blogspot.com

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