A Galactic Holiday Release!!!

Today I'm very excited to host my good friend Stacy and her anthology sisters, Anna Hackett and Sasha Summers for the release of A Galactic Holiday. The anthology includes three sci-fi romantic holiday novellas and you'll want to hurry and order.

I will let these three, though, tell you about their project and stories. So without further ado, WELCOME GODDESSES!

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Woo!  Release Week-Streak for A GALACTIC HOLIDAY!

You know it’s Naked Thursday, right?  Why not get into the spirit of things, take off those irritating clothes and let’s go streaking to celebrate the release week of A GALACTIC HOLIDAY!  (Streaking was the best possible way we could thank the Naked Tart for allowing us to bounce onto her blog today. :D) 

Who are “we”, you ask?  Why, we’re the sci-fi antho sisters, Anna Hackett, Sasha Summers and Stacy Gail, and we’re delighted to tell you how we got ourselves into this amazing anthology.  And really, how could this concept not be amazing?  Think about it—spaceships and mistletoe. Laser guns and Christmas trees. Captain Kirk and Santa Claus. Science fiction and the holidays—not two things you see together very often.

So how did 3 romance authors come to mix science fiction and the holidays?   It all started when Carina Press Executive Editor, Angela James put out a call for sci-fi holiday novellas. It was a challenge too good to resist!

How A GALACTIC HOLIDAY was Born

Anna: I was fascinated with the thought of how future generations spread across the galaxy would celebrate the holidays. I knew I wanted to explore a different version of the holidays and when I read about Scandinavian Yule, I instantly envisioned an ice world. Harsh, beautiful, with rich geothermal energy. I imagined the people tough enough to settle an ice world would be strong with an exceptional sense of community.

Of course my hero, Savan comes from a world the complete opposite of Perma. A high-tech, energy-dependent world covered by a megacity. On Rendar, families and holidays no longer exist and the pinnacle of Rendarian life is personal success. It was fun throwing Perman Brinn and Rendarian Savan together—then I snowed them in and set an assassin on their trail. Let’s just say, these two generate a lot of heat…in more ways than one.

Stacy: Reina Vedette and Edison Wicke have been bugging me to tell their story for a couple of years now. Their basic background and a general plot involving androids have been in my brain just looking for the right time to get launched. Then, when Carina Press’s call for submissions went out, Reina and Edison INSISTED their launch time was now (they’re so pushy). 

This novella flowed out of me in a mere eighteen days—not that surprising, considering it’s been written and expanded upon in my head for so long.  The technology-dependent society in HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS has lost touch with the simpler, more meaningful things in life, and it was a blast to reintroduce the timeless theme of home, family and love in such a setting.  Not to mention it was nice to shut Reina and Edison up, if only for a little while.

Sasha: I was completely intrigued by the call for a SciFi Holiday novella. I started mulling over the concept and Riley just sort of popped up. It was the first scene, her hanging upside down working on her ship and arguing into her earpiece. She was a very different heroine for me, I don’t normally write overtly strong, self-reliant heroines. But Riley has to be all of those things. She was born in the black, lives on her ship – alone – and likes it that way. Or rather, that’s what she thinks she likes. She doesn’t ‘know’ any other life. So I stranded her to see what would happen.

And the world I envisioned her being stranded on? Well, it was brutal – similar to Hoth – almost uninhabitable. Ice, snow, and man-eating monsters/aliens. At this point the odds were stacked against Riley…

Enter Leo, our mysterious hero. He scoops her – rather – drags her to the safety of Galileo’s Station.  A seriously dreamy space cowboy (Han Solo meets Malcolm Reynolds), Leo takes his work very seriously, keeping his mission priority one. But finding Riley on the ice muddies things up a little and warms things up a bit. Okay, a lot.

Something about these two independent and stubborn characters coming together drove me to write their story.

See?  Spaceships and mistletoe do go together. Happy Holidays!

Blurbs for the 3 novellas found in A GALACTIC HOLIDAY:

WINTER FUSION, by Anna Hackett:

Ex-space marine Savan Bardan survived the Galactic Wars to become the most ruthless trade negotiator in the galaxy. His planet needs energy to survive, and he'll do anything to close the deal for the Perman fusion crystals that can provide it—even if it means seducing his beautiful, infuriating opponent, a rival icier than her planet.

Perma's top negotiator, Brinn Fjord, lost her father when Savan delayed her planet's Trade Guild membership years ago. She hates the handsome Rendarian and the planet he represents. She's determined to finish the deal and get rid of him as quickly as possible, so she can celebrate the holidays.

But soon the rival negotiators are in a fight for their lives. Besieged by mysterious accidents and unforgiving weather, Brinn and Savan have no one to depend on but each other. As they put the past aside, they uncover a desire hot enough to melt ice, and Brinn discovers a secret that may keep them apart.
28,000 words

GALILEO’S HOLIDAY, By Sasha Summers:

Ice miner Riley works alone in the depths of space, and that's the way she likes it. She's proud of her independence, and when her ship gets destroyed by raiders on the icy surface of Galileo, she's not sure she wants to rely on rakish trader Leo and the kindness of a band of settlers to survive.
Despite her attempts to keep her distance, it's not long before Riley warms to the family atmosphere of the settlers' station. As Galileo's Holiday approaches and she develops feelings for the handsome, charming Leo, she questions whether she really wants to remain alone.
But Leo is hiding cargo the raiders want, and when they come back for it, everyone on the small station is in danger. Riley will risk anything to protect her new friends—because if the raiders succeed, the choice between Leo and a life alone won't be Riley's to make.
23,000 words

HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS, By Stacy Gail:

Reina Vedette chose principle over position when the Chicago police department ordered her to accept performance-enhancing body modifications or lose her rank. Demoted to a level one detective, Reina's stuck chasing a bizarre, Grinch-in-reverse break-in case with fiery bod-mod enthusiast and level five top detective Edison Wicke.
Wicke has had his eye on Reina for ages, and as the two of them hunt down the benevolent burglar, they take turns warming each other with body heat in the subzero Chicago winter. Despite professional friction and their opposing views on bod-modding, Reina soon has to admit that she and Wicke are perfect for each other.
But when they track down their philanthropic quarry on Christmas Day, an unexpected glitch in a homemade android brings out Reina's emotional side, and she and Wicke must decide whether love between a Neo-Luddite and a "walking toaster" is a gift that either of them can give.
34,000 words

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A GALACTIC HOLIDAY – Carina Press | Amazon | B&N | All Romance

Anna Hackett – Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Stacy Gail – Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Sasha Summers – Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads  

NOVELLAS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR INDIVIDUAL SALE IN DIGITAL FORMAT