Stacy Gail and Zero Factor

I feature guests with some regularity and all of them are special... but Stacy is SPECIAL (and I'm not using that as a euphemism, though as a double entendre it might not go amiss). You see... Stacy is one of my early Harry Potter friends. We've been friends since 2005, and from the very start we knew we were kindred spirits... a little too zany for many, certainly more gutter-minded... she says her laugh scares children, but to us grown ups, it is CRAZY infectious, even online. Never a dull moment. In fact I've been known to tell people Stacy is the only person I know more 'out there' than I am...

Ice-skating coach by day, Penguin always

In fall of 2006 I had a conference in Dallas, and I couldn't be so close without going the extra couple hours to meet up with Stacy (she lives in the Austin/San Antonio area). We met for dinner and she told me I HAD to write real books (I'd been writing fan fiction at the time). I confessed to my early couple chapters of my first book (there were more than three and less than ten at that point)... and she confessed to being a romance writer...

That sneaky sneak-o-penguin had not told ANY of us she wrote! She had had a very near miss heart break (book sold, the publisher was acquired, the new publisher didn't print it) and had given up sending them out, but had NOT given up writing...

So in many ways, Stacy and I began on this journey together—my only long time friend to HIT IT at almost the same exact time I did, which, if you have had anyone go through parallel motions and successes with you, you know is pretty cool... she'd been writing longer, but I had the chutzpah of a not-before-disappointed newbie... I wrote... I polished (in my cluenessness about what rewriting really meant) and then I dived into the social networking... and started chipping away at this.... THING... and encouraged HER to dive back in.

Stacy showing off my Austin hotel as birthplace of O Henry

This May I had a conference in Austin and got to meet with her again. MAN, we had fun--spent the whole day together, touring Austin and laughing—I blogged about it, if you don't remember...

Stacy is really a success story in alternative routes... She dived in on tweeting and learned stuff about 'calls for submission'... she has been writing so long that she was all over writing something to fit their parameters rather quickly—a new challenge... and she had success right away. Her editors at Samhain LOVE her—she has two novellas for them this fall and one for Carina, which is an imprint of Harlequin... the FIRST, part of an anthology, is an unusual genre—Cyberpunk Romance... It's called Zero Factor and comes out TODAY!!!!

So without further ado... one of my VERY favorite people on the planet (and that's saying a lot... I like people, for the most part), Wecome Stacy!



My First Book Release EVER! SQUEEE!

Thank you, Hart, for allowing me to be a guest on your blog today. You know, THE day. The ultimate kick-butt day of my entire life, otherwise known as… AUGUST 30th! YAY!

Okay, I can see you’re unimpressed, so I think I’d better ‘splain. For several months now, the mere thought of this fabulous date has landed me smack in the Depends undergarments aisle. Why, you ask? Because August 30th – TODAY – just happens to be my first-ever release day of ZERO FACTOR, a cyberpunk romance published by Samhain Publishing, Ltd!

Now can I have a yay? ^_^

I’ve always been a HUGE fan of sci-fi and alternate-reality fiction, so when I stumbled upon Samhain’s open-submissions call for a cyberpunk story, I was SO ready. I was going to do some gritty, acid rain-soaked world-building – a place where the sun never shines and your rugged leather combat-gear never gets a chance to dry out.

Yet somehow my story wound up in Vegas, or what’s left of it (I totally wrecked the place, heh). Go figure.

At least my main characters are wearing leather (after all, this IS a romance), but there’s no rain, acid or otherwise, but again that’s okay. A waterless wasteland where a meched-out soldier and genetically-altered woman can still find enough hope to build a future together was a perfect backdrop for the story I wanted to tell. Talk about a love that can endure anything, right? When you come right down to it, that’s what romance is all about.

ZERO FACTOR is one of three cyberpunk novellas released individually as ebooks by Samhain now. These three cyberpunk projects will then be released as part of a print anthology in July, 2012, under the name CYBERSHOCK (hope that makes sense). I’ve just received the cover art for the print release from my editor, but can’t show it off just yet (sorry). For now, I’m happy to share with you the cover art and blurb for ZERO FACTOR. Enjoy!

Blurb:
A Cybershock story.
Born a Psionic—a rare human prized by the government for her gifts—Agridome worker Via Brede lives by two simple rules: slip into stealth mode whenever the cybernetic-enhanced militia is near. And never remove the gloves that block her psychic ability.

During a routine delivery, a tear in her glove connects her with what should be her worst nightmare. A meched-out soldier with bulging muscles and a scarred face that makes her heart pound like a pneumatic drill. She also envisions his death in an attack that happens…now.

Locke’s typically ho-hum mission goes sideways when the stunning, green-eyed bubble farmer plants a sensual kiss that sets fire to every one of his remaining man-nerves. He also sees her vision. His own commander is about to kill him.

He needs Via to find out why. First step is to get her to Old Las Vegas—and do it without succumbing to a raw, sexual need that burns in him like fever. Getting there alive will be a snap. Getting her to trust him—and getting out alive—might be a little tougher.

Warning: This title contains mild violence, blow-your-mind Psionic sex, buns of steel (literally) and the usual hanky-panky at a bordello. Author is not responsible for side effects, including locked-and-loaded hunks taking your dreams by force.

Again, thanks so much to Hart Johnson for allowing me to bounce into her space for a bit any make myself comfy. And, ahem, if anyone is interested in picking up ZERO FACTOR, it’s now available at:

Samhain’s website
Barnes & Noble
Amazon

Bio: A competitive figure skater from the age of eight, Stacy Gail began writing stories in between events to pass the time. By the age of fourteen, she told her parents she was either going to be a figure skating coach who was also a published romance writer, or a romance writer who was also a skating pro. Now with a day job of playing on the ice with her students, and writing everything from steampunk to cyberpunk, contemporary to paranormal at night, both dreams have come true. Ms. Gail is published with Samhain Publishing, Ltd, and Harlequin’s digital-first imprint, Carina Press. She also thinks she’s a penguin.

Tart Note:  She IS a penguin.  LOVE YOU STACY!!!

(Penguin art at top by Marissa Montano)