Romance among
the stars
Many thanks to
Jim for having me here today to talk about my novella, An Endless Sea of Stars.
I've been a sci-fi fan since 1977, the year that a little film called Star Wars
hit the movie screens. I was only six years old back then. While my friends
wanted to go see Bambi I was begging my dad to take me to Star Wars. My mother
thought I was nuts and refused to go, saying my dad was just wasting his money
because I wouldn't understand the movie. Seven days later and seven consecutive
trips to the movies with my dad and she had to admit she'd made a mistake. :-)
To this day
Star Wars remains a big part of my life. My home is filled with about a
thousand pieces of memorabilia and photos of myself with many of the actors. I
also love shows like the original Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Firefly,
Buck Rogers, Babylon 5, Fringe, Doctor Who and Alien Nation. I also read sci-fi
novels voraciously.
An Endless Sea
of Stars follows the lives of a test pilot and an engineer as Earth strives to
build a starship that will take them beyond the Milky Way and into deep space.
My friend Gina calls the book a "futuristic romance" and I love that
description. While it has sci-fi elements to it, the story takes place entirely
on Earth with its focus on the love story between Toby and Cade.
I hope you
enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
BLURB:
The year is
2121. While Earth has conquered exploration of the Milky Way, we have yet to
develop an interstellar engine to take us beyond our own galaxy. Thus the
Intergalactic Exploration Alliance and the Gemini Project were formed.
Lieutenant
Tobias Dekker is fresh out of the IEA academy and determined to be assigned to
the Gemini engineering team. Putting career above all else. He knows from
experience that relationships have no place in the Alliance. Commander Caden
Flynn is equally determined to see the Gemini prototype take flight to
uncharted space. The engine is his late father's design and he wants nothing
more than to be the test pilot that breaks the next light speed barrier.
Two men
dreaming of a sea of stars find that it's instead an ocean here on Earth that
brings them together. Can Cade convince Toby to open up his heart and take a
chance on love and explore the universe with him, side by side?
EXCERPT:
Toby rolled his eyes and crossed
his arms over his chest. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a smartass?”
At that Cade finally let loose
with his suppressed laughter. “I had you going there, though, didn’t I?” he
smirked.
Toby waved his hand in dismissal.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll have you know that’s never happened to me before. I
would’ve gotten us outta there. I just needed another minute…or two,” he
finished with an embarrassed grin.
“You know, I really should report
this to Hank,” Cade quipped as he finished removing his wetsuit. “But!” he held
up his hand before Toby could say anything. “We can forget about the entire
thing if…” he trailed off for a second and rummaged in his duffle bag, pulling
out a bottle of Kentucky bourbon and showing it to Toby. “…you have a drink
with me.” He shrugged one of his shoulders. “Since I couldn’t get you to a bar
with me I thought I’d bring the bar to you.”
Toby paused. Alone, in the dark,
sharing a few drinks. This wasn’t a good idea. He should politely decline and
say they needed to start heading back. But his mouth was apparently not
listening to his brain, because before he could stop himself…
“Deal.”
A very pleased smile crossed
Cade’s face and he reached over and squeezed Toby’s bare shoulder before
turning back to the duffel bag and producing two plastic cups. A few minutes
later they had donned their t-shirts and shorts and were relaxing on the bow,
sitting close enough that their shoulders were almost touching. The clouds had
dissipated, revealing millions of stars twinkling in the clear sky and a full
moon reflecting on the water.
Cade took a swallow of bourbon
and turned his head toward Toby. “I can’t get over what an amazing feeling it
was, being down in those caves tonight.”
Toby took a drink as well. “Been
through those caves ‘bout a hundred times. But like I said earlier, there’s
something different every time. It never gets boring.”
Cade looked up toward the sky.
“It’s like being out in the stars. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.”
Toby couldn’t help his wistful,
and envious, sigh. “Closest I’m probably ever gonna get to the stars is in one
of the flight simulators.”
“From what I hear you’ve made
some fabulous improvements to those simulators,” Cade said. “I wish I’d had you
building and programming them when I was in flight school.”
Toby turned to look at him. “How
did you know I was on the simulator team?”
Cade shrugged, took another
drink. “After we met I took the liberty of looking into your Academy history.”
He grinned. “I was curious as to who was going to be teaching me.” Cade shifted
so that he was turned more fully toward Toby. “And I was damn impressed at what
I read. You need to stop selling yourself short when it comes to your dream of
working on the Gemini project. You’re in the top two percent of your class,
Toby. Alliance Command is not going to overlook that when they hand out
assignments next month.”
Toby shook his head. “Don’t you
think they’d want someone older, more experienced, working on something as monumentally
important as Earth’s first hyperdrive engine?”
“Just because you haven’t been in
space doesn’t mean you’re not qualified to work on a starship engine. It’s
about technical expertise, not flight time.”
Toby now turned to face Cade, a
tinge of excitement in his voice. “Tell me about that. What’s it like up there?
I’ve gotta admit that as much as I want to experience it for myself, it makes
me kinda nervous, too.”
“It’s a lot like scuba diving,
actually,” Cade began, then tipped his head up toward the sky, his voice gone
quiet. “Surrounded by an endless sea of stars instead of water. It’s beautiful.
And so serene. But there’s so much more out there to explore than in just our
galaxy.”
Toby couldn’t help but smile at
the passion and wonder in Cade’s voice. “You said we’re close to breaking
barrier three?”
Cade nodded and finished off his
drink, poured himself another and topped off Toby’s. “The engine tests we’ve
been running are really promising. Captain Hoffman’s team is burning the
midnight oil.”
“From what you told me last month
it sounds like you are, too.”
Cade blew out a breath. “You know
how badly you want in the Gemini program? That’s how badly I want to pilot that
next barrier flight. It’s going to come down to myself, Logan Ramsey, Kenji
Tran or Padma Singh. And they’re all damn good test pilots.”
“Well let me give you some sage
advice that a friend of mine gave me,” Toby said with a grin. “Don’t sell
yourself short.”
Cade gave him a look. “Now who’s
the smartass?”
Toby just laughed and knocked his
cup against Cade’s. He settled back to look up at the stars, and Cade did the
same. They let the quiet of the open ocean surround them for several minutes,
nothing but the sound of gentle waves against the hull.
“Does this place have a name?”
Cade asked quietly.
“Not that I know of,” Toby
answered.
“Then I think we should call it
Dekker’s Cove.” He once again turned his head to look at Toby. “Thanks again
for taking me out here. This is your spot and you didn’t have to share it with
me.”
Toby turned his head to look back
at Cade, his voice sincere. “I wanted to. I knew you’d appreciate how special
it was.”
Cade pinned him with a gaze full
of hope and desire. “There are a lot of things I’m finding are special down
here.”
Toby’s breath caught in his
throat. It would be so damn easy to give in to Cade’s flirtations. To say the
hell with it and just reach over and touch him. Because Toby knew that’s all it
would take. One touch. But then what? A summer fling, like they were teenagers
away at camp? Toby just wasn’t wired like that, for one-time hook ups.
Especially with someone like Cade. He knew he’d want more and he knew it’d
never work. He just needed to keep reminding himself that it was Cade’s friendship
that was most important, what he really wanted, was the only thing that would
work between them. But it was getting harder and harder to do with each passing
day he spent with Cade. His heart was warring with his head. And he honestly
didn’t know which was going to win.
The moment stretched on between
them, Toby knowing Cade was waiting for something from Toby, but he
didn’t trust himself to speak.
Cade glanced away, then back.
“Toby, I…”
And Toby’s stomach somersaulted,
certain of what Cade was going to say next. He wasn’t ready for this…
“…I have to leave tomorrow.”
Toby blinked and released a
breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Wh-what?” he stuttered, completely
caught off guard by Cade’s words, so far from what he had been expecting.
Cade sighed. “I’m needed back at
Alliance HQ. I found out this morning but was putting off telling you.”
“That – that’s okay. I
understand,” Toby replied, trying to hide his disappointment.
“I even brought a holo vid of a
rugby match I was hoping to show you tomorrow,” Cade grinned and Toby chuckled.
“Next month, okay?”
Toby nodded. “Next month.”
Next month. One last chance for
Toby to sort out his feelings for Cade. And be able to live with that decision
with no regrets. He had a sneaking suspicion that was going to be easier said
than done.
~~~~~~
BUY LINKS:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/364Outk
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2uZjk9S
Barnes and
Noble: https://bit.ly/2v0ha9Z
Also available
at the iBookstore
Information on all of my backlist books (pictured below) can
be found at my website:
https://jamielynnm.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/men-in-uniform-and-out-gay-fiction-by-jamie-lynn-miller/
BIO:
Jamie Lynn Miller has been writing fiction since childhood and
decided to take the plunge and go pro in 2008, finding to her amazement that
people truly enjoyed her love stories. She’s a romantic at heart, and her tales
reflect the desire we all have to find “the one,” persevering through trials
and heartache for that happy ending.
Jamie has a degree in fine arts and has spent the last twenty-five
years working as a graphic designer, though she’d much rather be writing. She
was born in Chicago and still lives there today with her husband and their two
furry, four-footed children, er… cats.
If she’s not brainstorming story ideas, you can find Jamie at a
sci-fi convention, in front of a furnace doing glass blowing, or on a mat
twisted into a yoga pose.
CONTACT INFO:
Jamie Lynn
Miller
jamielynnmiller@live.com
@JamieLynnAuthor
An endless sea of stars. Sounds pretty romantic, right? But what would it be like to actually experience?
Like all of Jamie Lynn Miller's books, her characters are multi-faceted. Interestingly enough, there are no other characters but the two main characters, Toby and Cade. Others are mentioned, of course.
Some readers would start reading and, once they realize there are no supporting characters, would abandon a book. Doing so with this one would be the wrong thing to do. To me, having extra characters interacting with the main characters would detract from the awesomeness of An Endless Sea of Stars.
The story is lighthearted, but also intense and will have your heart in your throat before you realize it. But then, it wouldn't be a Jamie Lynn Miller book if the main characters didn't go through some hell.
This is science fiction at it's best. Sci Fi is my favorite genre, so of course I had to read it.
There are so many books out there that are sex-centric. I've read a couple such books and it got to the point where I felt I was reading the screenplay for a porn film... every other chapter was wham-bam-thank-you-man. Meaningless sex in order to entice readers. Not this reader.
An Endless Sea of Stars is very refreshing in that the sex scenes are an extension of the love between Cade and Toby. No thrust-by-thrust commentary. I love books that focus more on what happens outside the bedroom (or anywhere else the characters have sex), and boy does this book have a lot of it.
I love the scuba diving scenes, especially the one at Roscoe's Cove. Didn't see that one coming, did you Cade?
One thing I don't love though, is how long the author is making us wait for Gemini Project #2.
Hopefully soon we'll read more of the adventures of the starship Genesis IEA-01 and her intrepid crew of explorers, led by ** SPOILER ALERT!!!!! ** Captain Caden Flynn and Commander Tobias Dekker. ** END OF SPOILER**
An Endless Sea of Stars deserves as many stars as there are in the night sky.
An Endless Sea of Stars is very refreshing in that the sex scenes are an extension of the love between Cade and Toby. No thrust-by-thrust commentary. I love books that focus more on what happens outside the bedroom (or anywhere else the characters have sex), and boy does this book have a lot of it.
I love the scuba diving scenes, especially the one at Roscoe's Cove. Didn't see that one coming, did you Cade?
One thing I don't love though, is how long the author is making us wait for Gemini Project #2.
Hopefully soon we'll read more of the adventures of the starship Genesis IEA-01 and her intrepid crew of explorers, led by ** SPOILER ALERT!!!!! ** Captain Caden Flynn and Commander Tobias Dekker. ** END OF SPOILER**
An Endless Sea of Stars deserves as many stars as there are in the night sky.
