I'm not gonna lie - I've always struggled with holiday stories. I'm not sure if it's just me, or if scifi is a genre that doesn't lend itself easily to such (hint - it's probably me!). Several years back I had a hankering to do some holiday tales, but somehow my mind struggled to wrap itself around such concepts as Christmas in Spaaaaaaace, But while I battled to create a cosmic Christmas, I did manage to persuade muse into a paranormal short set around Halloween, back in 2014.
At the same time that I was writing Hallow's Eve, I'd also gone back to basics with a Christmas story idea, looking at a more astronomical concept of holidays. Many of the pagan holidays later swallowed up by Christianity followed the course of nature, the movement of the planet, stars and moons, the changing of the seasons. Maybe that would give me an alternative route into a holiday story. And so I started one set on the winter solstice on another world rather than a cosmic Christmas...
Skip forward a couple more years. I found myself thinking about what Christmas means to me. I'm not religious, so for me Christmas was a time for family, for taking my kids to buy one new decoration of their choice each year, putting up the tree together, stuffing our faces on Christmas Day, playing games and opening presents. And in that personal celebration, I finally found the inspiration to do a story for my main scifi romance couple in my Redemption series. At first I released it as a freebie with a cover I put together myself, but last year it got a professional edit and a proper cover.
But even though I finally had my Christmas in Spaaaaace, that solstice story was still sitting in my files, seven years after I started it. SEVEN YEARS! That's...a long time. One benefit of the pandemic has been I had an extended stretch at home unable to work, and in the midst of that, against all odds, I felt inspired to try and finish a few things. One of those was Solstice on Vintro, my incomplete scifi mystery with a love story at the heart of it. I finished it and I'm currently working on it with my editor. I'm hoping for a December 21st release - the winter solstice in the UK for 2020 - but right now that's looking pretty tight. Fingers crossed that I can finally put it out into the world...
In the meantime, here's a few other Christmas in Space stories you can enjoy.
Beware of aliens bearing gifts
Christmas is coming and so is All I Got For Christmas. Inside you’ll get the evocative and haunting, ”Riding for Christmas,” and the offbeat and heartwarming, "Up on the Housetop.”
Riding For Christmas:
A mesmerizing tale of interstellar time travel and romance!
Jane MacKenzie, visiting her grandfather’s abandoned ranch, discovers something in the snow. When she opens the ribbon-wrapped box, it mysteriously returns Sam Harrington, who “disappeared” in an 1885 blizzard.
There’s nothing alien in this enduring tale of holiday homecomings and the hope of love that lasts a lifetime.
Up on the House Top:
Will her Christmas be ho, ho, ho? Or oh no, no, no?
Gini knew Christmas in Wyoming would be challenging as she headed over the frozen crick and through the woods to the family cabin. The lights are going out in her mom’s attic, the guy who broke her heart is on the porch…and there are aliens on the roof.
According to her mom, it’s going to be the best Christmas ever.
194 pages, $3.99
Amazon, Kobo, Nook
Love Transcends Circuits
Zoe is all alone on an outpost monitoring a lonely quadrant of space. It’s nearly Christmas and all she has for company is her computer AI, Rupert. She isn’t expecting a present from Xion Corporation to help pass the time, but when she opens the box to find a sex bot, a whole world of steamy entertainment possibilities come to mind.
When Zoe activates Sam she doesn’t realize the trouble she’s in for. Sam takes Zoe to sexy new heights and Rupert does a stellar impersonation of a jealous boyfriend. Zoe struggles to ground herself in reality despite her growing lust, but it’s becoming more and more obvious she’s falling in love. But with who—Sam or Rupert?
When a computer virus is unleashed on the outpost, Zoe must choose—or risk losing them both.
128 pages, $1.99
Amazon, Kobo
A Christmas romance with a Sci-Fi twist!
Noelle has made the same wish for the past six years to the angel on top of Father Nathan’s Christmas Tree. All she wants for Christmas is someone with warm arms to hold her and who can understand that she has commitments – commitments which include the twenty-six children at the foster center she volunteers for.
Stranded on Earth six years ago, Steve and his crewmates have done a pretty good job of secretly finding a place in human society, but it doesn’t erase the loneliness that hits hardest around the holidays. He longs for companionship and someone who will understand that his alien heart can love just as deeply
Hey, Santa: SciFi Holiday Romance by Jessica E SubjectShe doesn’t want a lot for Christmas…
Claire Otton dreads spending another holiday alone. When her best friend convinces her to approach the sexy mall Santa, she takes the chance and asks him out, hoping for so much more.
He’s waiting under the mistletoe…
Although Andreas Castellanos blends in on Earth, he knows he will never belong. But when the gorgeous woman he’d been staring at invites him to dinner, he has a hard time saying no.
All they’re asking for…
Can these two lonely souls find magic together or will their secrets steal their chance of a happy Christmas?
Amazon
A Galactic Holiday: SciFi Romance trilogyDo androids dream of electric sugar plums?
A detective who refuses to modify her body teams up with her cyborg rival to track down a burglar who is putting toys into homes. A solitary ice miner finds love and friendship while stranded on the surface of Galileo. And two hardheaded negotiators put their differences aside to evade an assassin and save their planets. Enjoy these visions of Christmases yet to come with three science-fiction novellas from Carina Press.
How the Glitch Saved Christmas, by Stacy Gail
Galileo's Holiday, by Sasha Summers
Winter Fusion, by Anna Hackett
Stories also available for purchase separately. 86,000 words
Amazon, $7.99
It's Chicago's favorite city son vs Delilah, daughter of Dr. Charm. America's second city will never know what hit it.
Bootleggers, drug dealers, crooked cops, and dirty politicians... Chicago has always had a reputation for indulging in the finer vices of life. That’s why Doctor Charm’s favorite daughter found America’s Second City so appealing; criminals are never boring. As second in command for the powerful Subrosa Security group, Delilah Samson finds opportunities to use her superpowers at every turn. Whether it’s stealing a priceless French painting from a mobster or stopping a drug deal, she’s game.
In fact, the only thing she doesn’t care for is Chicago’s favorite native son, Deputy Mayor Alan Adale, the man who made Lucifer jealous. Sinfully handsome, or possibly just sinful, Adale has been pursuing Delilah since she first arrived, and she’s been dodging.
When she finds ties between the new kingpin in town and a drug The Company wants to buy so they can create more superheroes, Delilah takes the gloves off. Teaming up with the spooky Spirit of Chicago, she aims to take down the dealers, the mobsters, the kingpin, and The Company. All without falling in love with the one man capable of capturing her heart.
Amazon
Kaddy Chaak’s career is in jeopardy, her social life is non-existent, and instead of spending the holidays at home with everyone she loves, she’s in the hospital with her chronically-ill, probably-dying nephew Everett, wondering if her dead sister could have fixed this. The one bright note in an otherwise bleak winter is a potential visit from the Polar Terror, the only super villain north of the 66th parallel, to make little Everett’s hospital wish come true.
Kaddy’s not really expecting him to show. At best, she expects a lackluster cosplayer with a half-hour to spare.
What she gets is a swoon-worthy stranger full of secrets, who might just sweep her off her feet–and maybe help her leave the past behind, once and for all.
Publisher's website
(not set at Christmas but it is mentioned, and the book is set in Alaska).
Led by her glowing pendant, Adria follows a faint blue light deep into the snowy forest. She runs headlong into the mysterious Lorcan who seduces her onto his ship. Once on board, they begin an adventure that will change both their lives forever.
Is their love strong enough to defy the odds or will they lose each other beyond the stars?
5 comments:
Pippa,
I enjoyed Hallow's Eve! I can't even imagine Christmas in Space. Thank you for giving me some book ideas. Great post!
Pippa, I think you are definitely on the right track with using Pagan holiday traditions in space. Most planets have seasons of some kind (unless you are unfortunate to live on one of those planets that doesn't spin so one side is always cold and the other always hot). One would imagine that any intelligent species would create a variety of celebrations to mark things of importance in their lives. You don't have to even call it Christmas. The beauty of SF is you can make up a holiday name but sprinkle in a little relationship to our winter holidays and still market it as a holiday story. :). Is your story, Solstice on Vintro, a short story or perhaps a novella?
What a great list, Pippa! Keeping positive thoughts that "Solstice on Vintro" is released on Solstice 2020 aka 12/21/2020.
Pippa, I love your Holday tales! Also am a big fan of Liana Brooks' Polar Terror and Even Villains have Interns. Can't wait to read your other recommendations!
Thanks for featuring my book! Yours is at the top of my TBR pile! I also love "Winter Fire" by the great, late Jo Beverly.
Post a Comment