Sci-fi Romance with Elsa Jade

I'm excited to introduce you to an author who is a friend of mine. Years ago, she graciously let me spend the night in her house while I attended an RWA event in Portland. 

Elsa Jade grew up reading SFF, buying the biggest books she could with her chore money. While she loved the action, adventure, and exciting worlds of classic SFF, most of those stories were missing…kissing! Now she reads and writes paranormal romance, science fiction romance, and fantasy romance that mix the best of all worlds. You can find all her books (including free ones!), social media links, and newsletter signup at http://ElsaJade.com.    

Paty: What is Sci-fi Romance?

Elsa: To me, Science Fiction Romance is when a Science Fiction novel and Romance novel are standing on a Star Trek transporter pad, minding their own business—when all of a sudden something amazing happens! The two are mixed together somehow! Romance gets all wild and weird, and stuffy ol’ SciFi gets hot’n’bothered. Turns out, they love each other very much and they make a new genre: Science Fiction Romance.

But much like any Star Trek episode featuring a transporter glitch, SFR can be…a little tricky. Some romance readers aren’t looking for the extra adventure and worldbuilding of a bigger universe, and some SF readers don’t want kissing books. So I feel like this particular subgenre sometimes struggles to reach a wider audience and hasn’t yet found everyone who would love it. But us SFR authors keep putting out books, like strange searching tentacles…

Paty: What drew you to writing this subgenre of romance?

Elsa:  I love SFR because it will happily swap DNA with anything cool and fun: Robots? Why not! Shapeshifers? Sure! Adventure? Always! Hard science and magical fantasy? Cuz we can, baby! I love the enthusiasm, the hopefulness, the whimsy, the faith that however different we might be (and the differences can be, um, extreme and extremely entertaining) when we lean into communication, trust, and understanding, we make the universe a better place.

Also, it’s super amusing to explain why that universe makes so many sexy aliens physically, biochemically, and emotionally compatible with Earther girls.

Paty: Which is more important to this type of book, the romance or the sci-fi element?

Elsa: I think both the SF and the R elements are equally important, but—and I’d happily debate this point—I feel the romance matters just a nano-bit more. Because no matter what else happens—multi-stage explosions, ships teetering on the edge of black hole oblivion, mysterious appendages—the true beating heart of the story is the deepening relationship between the main characters. Not that every book needs a romantic plot thread, of course, but in a romance novel, love comes first, last, and always.

Paty: What do you feel is the most important thing to know about sci-fi romance or a misconception about the subgenre?

Elsa: As I mentioned earlier, I think SFR can seem too strange to some readers, either too much or too little of what they want. And that’s okay! What I love about romance as a genre is there is literally a story for everyone’s desires. And I find that holds true for SFR as a subgenre: There is a SFR universe for every reader, with the “right” mix of science and smooching for you. Just ask a SFR reader and they will surely recommend a bingo card for you.

Paty: How did the plot idea for this book come to you? 

Elsa: The Intergalactic Dating Agency universe was created by a bunch of authors sitting down at their keyboards, thoughtfully considering their blank pages, and then going… Woo hooooooo! and writing a whole bunch of fast, fun stories full of spacey shenanigans and big love. As idea-generating machines go, keeping that kind of company is pretty awesome. My first book was a relatively straightforward “How do I introduce my Big Sky Intergalactic Dating Agency?” which involved a very confused Earther girl, but the newest trilogy coming this fall is more “What if the Love Boat was haunted…in space? And had more quantum entanglement?” It makes sense in my head, I swear!

Paty: Do you have a favorite character or series that you’ve written?

Elsa: When I was reviewing my Big Sky books in preparation for writing the latest trilogy, I actually lost some time re-reading MACH ONE, which is the first book in the Cyborg Cowboys of Carbon County mini-series (technically Book 9 of the Big Sky IDA). I quite adore the hero, Mach! He’s trying so, so hard to hold everything together in his big, strong, cyborg hands…and then loves along. Such fun. It takes him a little while to learn that he doesn’t have to do it all alone, that he is even stronger when he shares his troubles with the people who love him.

Paty: Who are some of the authors you read who write this subgenre of romance? 

Elsa: Of course I read my fellow IDA authors—and there are a lot of us now! This year will be our tenth season, which seems incredible to me. You can find the whole list at www.RomancingTheAlien.com. I also enjoy Anna Hackett, Grace Goodwin, Hattie Jacks, and Jessie Mihalik who all write wonderful, entertaining, sexy, and loving SFR.

Paty: Just for fun – Tell us what is your favorite thing to do besides writing and reading, because we know that’s a given.  

Elsa: I love spending time outside: gardening, walking and hiking, camping. It’s nice to get away from the keyboard occasionally, and it helps with thinking. But I confess, I sometimes dictate my stories while outside, so even when I’m away from my keyboard, I’m still writing! Can’t ever truly stop the words.

Thanks for letting me share a little bit of my story with you. If you want to escape into the Big Sky universe, you can get the first book ALPHA STAR for free at https://www.elsajade.com/book/alpha-star/ or save with the Original Trilogy +1 box set.

Futuristic Fun with Old Ideas by Elsa Jade

Fall 2019 marks the fourth season of the Intergalactic Dating Agency—a sprawling multi-author universe of science fiction romances featuring aliens who’ve come to Earth searching for love. At the start of this season, the IDA universe was already 63 books strong, and I’ve penned a dozen of them!

From the beginning, the IDA universe was meant to be big, adventurous, romantic fun—for the readers and for the authors. Strangely, science fiction romance hasn’t really had its breakout moment. Because it’s a sub-genre of romance not yet as familiar to a wide audience as some other sub-genres, the first season of IDA authors landed on “alien mail order brides” as our core concept. Mail order brides is a favorite trope for many romance readers, and we thought it would be an easy crossover from lonely men looking for convenient companionship to lonely aliens seeking same!

Tropes sometimes get a bad rap in genre fiction when tropes are confused with clichés. Tropes are commonly repeated and readily identifiable story ideas—including characterization, plot points, themes, and more—that have proven their appeal over time. Clichés are badly done tropes! Done right, a trope signals to readers who enjoy that particular story idea that a new story might appeal to them as well.

One fun game as a writer is grabbing a trope with both hands…and then running wildly amok. J That’s what I’ve done with each of my trilogies within the Intergalactic Dating Agency universe. On top of my original Big Sky Alien Mail Order Brides trilogy, I sprinkled historical romance Regency tropes—Dukes! Rakes! Lords!—into my second Black Hole Brides trilogy.

BLACK HOLE BRIDES TRILOGY

With the last complete trilogy (which is actually four books!) I roped in Western tropes for the Cyborg Cowboys of Carbon County. My most recent trilogy which launched earlier this month includes drops of Atlantis tropes—and thus was launched the Mermaids of Montana!

CYBORG COWBOYS OF CARBON COUNTY

When I was brainstorming my most recent four-book trilogy (hey, it’s alien math!) I knew my alien heroes had crash-landed their spaceship somewhere in Montana, not too near the Intergalactic Dating Agency outpost where the rest of my Big Sky Alien Mail Order Brides stories are based. Thinking about what a handful of sexy aliens might’ve done to fit in with the locals… Cowboys, of course! And because I love alliteration the cowboys became cyborgs—the Cyborg Cowboys of…of Carbon County, yeah!

Cowboys (at least the romance version) are strong, sturdy, silent types with gentle hands and big, um, belt buckles. And they take good care of their land and the creatures on it. Cyborg supersoldiers are also strong, sturdy, and silent. Okay, maybe their hands are more murder-y than gentle, but see how those tropes fit together sorta? And my alien cyborg warriors didn’t crash with horses on their spaceship, but they do have an alien beast they rode into battle. Almost the same, right? And since they’d escaped a bad situation in space, they are even more protective of their adopted home, Earth. How lucky they have the muscles for all that protecting. J

Splicing common romance tropes into science fiction is like when you were a kid crashing your Star Wars TIE fighter into the Barbie Dream House…and then Barbie and Ken fall in love and have a Jawa baby! Er, wait… Maybe that was just me? J Anyway! I use romance tropes in my science fiction romance stories to make the strange science-y, space-y parts more accessible.

And now with my Mermaids of Montana, I’m diving into all sorts of undersea tropes. (Confession: Mostly I’m thinking of Jason Momoa’s Aquaman…) All the mystery and beauty of the Earth’s oceans might seem like an odd overlay for the middle of Montana, but prehistoric Montana was once covered by the Sundance Sea, a series of invasions by the Earth’s waters over what we now think of as a place far from oceans. So making Montana a home for mermaids isn’t too out of this world.

Morphing the long-time beloved into something unfamiliar but hopefully beguiling sounds like an alien shapeshifter’s tricks. J But playing with tropes is definitely an author trick too. Unless authors are actually aliens… Maybe that would explain why our heads are always in the clouds!

If you are new to science fiction romance, the first book of the
Big Sky Alien Mail Order Brides series, ALPHA STAR, is available free at http://www.elsajade.com/book/alpha-star/

***

Bio: Elsa Jade is the paranormal romance and science fiction romance pen name for Jessa Slade. In addition to the Intergalactic Dating Agency, Elsa Jade has written the Wolves of Angels Rest paranormal shifter romance series and the Obsidian Rim space opera romance trilogy, the third book of which just released on October 15. The next two books of the Mermaids of Montana trilogy come out in October and November.

Out of This World with Jessa Slade

Out of this world and out of my mind…to yours!

by Jessa Slade writing science fiction romance as Elsa Jade

Imagination is weird. You can’t see it or touch it. It doesn’t have any weight or texture. It comes seemingly out of nowhere and yet is informed by literally everything around. It has no inherent value and yet as a writer I use it to pay my rent!

And here’s the really weird part: Imagination is completely incorporeal and yet binds me indelibly to you—the reader.

The first book in the latest trilogy of my science fiction romance series the INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY: BIG SKY ALIEN MAIL ORDER BRIDES just came out, and as I created a new storyworld of alien cyborg cowboys, I was weirded out again by how imagination links us. Here I am, spinning letters into words into a story right out of my imagination, and there are you, somewhere on the other end, gathering the adventure, the thrills, the love into your imagination.

Some readers have told me they aren’t interested in science fiction romance because it might be “too weird” for them. I say, if you are a reader, you already understand quantum entanglement and spooky action at a distance! Writer and reader are linked together in a dance of the imagination, a force as invisible as quarks, as powerful as orbiting suns. You are already weird and spooky! How cool is that?

While I was writing MACH ONE, the book that just came out, I had a moment where I was doubting the story. I was at the Oregon Coast for a writing retreat with other writer friends, where all we do is sit and writewritewrite. But for a day, I wasn’t writing. I just couldn’t figure out why this mattered, why would these characters come together, who would want this adventure? My imagination was failing me, like shooting stars crashing to Earth…

   

(Sunset of my writer soul, minus stars, with obligatory seagull for scale)

And that night, as I was meditating contemplatively at my little netbook (well, banging my head against the keyboard after drinking a high-caffeine sparkling water, whatever) I thought about the reader—you. And that other reader (who is my mom, tbh). And all those other readers (some of whom aren’t related to me!). All those tiny, far-away points of light shining down on me, waiting to be connected by that tenuous thread of imagination.

Okay, maybe it was just the caffeine and I was standing outside in the cold looking at the stars… But! I started typing again, and as if he came down from the heavens above—which he kinda did—was MACH ONE.

He came from my imagination—which sometimes seems even more remote and dangerous than outer space!—and now he’s leaving again for your imagination. Spooky action at a distance—out of this world and just in time for Halloween.

___________________________________________

It’s autumn in Big Sky Country, and crash-landed aliens are falling in love!

Oversized Montana rancher Mach Halley’s very big Stetson and giant belt buckle are hiding a secret of cosmic proportions: He’s a survivor of a transgalactically prohibited private army of cyborg alien warriors built to kill. But with a long-dormant member of his unit about to be born, he needs a healer—even if it’s a pretty little lady doc who must forget everything she sees.

Making a name for herself in rural, large animal veterinary medicine has been tough for Doctor Chien Lun-mei, so she takes a strange midnight call to prove herself—only to discover a secret wilder than any bucking bronc. If she rants about UFOs and ETs, she’ll be laughed out of the county, but this strong, silent cowboy who feels even more out of place than she does touches her in more ways than one.

Together they’ll fight to save an alien life, but for Mach to escape a war he never wanted, he’ll have to risk an alien love.

On the outskirts of the Big Sky Intergalactic Dating Agency, the Cyborg Cowboys of Carbon County are rounding up earthly pleasures for their forever mates.

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MACH ONE

Cyborg Cowboys of Carbon County #1

Intergalactic Dating Agency

by Elsa Jade

Read more at ElsaJade.com

MACH ONE is part of a bigger constellation of stories—the Intergalactic Dating Agency—and this autumn, five new trilogies are falling into your hot little hands. You can read all about them at RomancingTheAlien.com and join the out-of-this-world adventures from our imaginations!

 Bio: There are too many cool worlds to explore! Which is how Jessa Slade got started writing paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance and science fiction romance…but then dabbled in hot contemporary romance as Jenna Dales…and now also writes sexy shapeshifting romance and more science fiction romance as Elsa Jade. All her worlds feature mighty alpha males and strong, smart heroines with a bit of attitude. New to science fiction romance? Start with ALPHA STAR for free!

Is it too late?

By Jessa Slade

Is it too late for you to be a doctor or lawyer or shoe salesman? Yes? Damn, sorry. Well, if you’re doomed to be a working writer, here’s one thing (not the only thing, mind, or even the most important thing, but a thing) I think you should know before publishing:

Have a strategy.

I know this is sort of boring, business-y advice, but it’s something I wish I’d done. I’ve always been more interested in the art of writing than the business side, and that hasn’t helped my publishing career. I’ve made decisions on a whim and spread myself too thin. I’ve jumped on good opportunities that I haven’t been able to capitalize on. I’m playing catch-up now, learning the boring business side on the fly* and trying to retrofit a plan to multiple pen names and titles when having a strategy from the start would have been easier and likely more profitable.

Obviously, everyone’s strategy is going to be customized. But I think there are some core questions to noodle upon on your way to crafting a publishing strategy.

1. What do I want out of publishing? (A traditional contract? Self-publishing control? A one-and-done books just so I can say I did it? Fame and riches?)

2. How can my personal strengths support my publishing goals? (And if my skill set isn’t sufficient to reach my goals, should I be rethinking my plan?)

3. What creative and business choices are likely to contribute to my success? (How can I make my stories even more appealing to my sort of readers? Who are the key players around me and what can I learn from them?)

4. How am I going to implement my plan? (What is my timeline? Who is going to be on my publishing team? What else do I need to know?)

5. Eh, ef it. Let’s do this thing!

Once you are published, the situation gets much more chaotic. You have to oversee the released book** while managing the pipeline on the next books and at the same time looking ahead to possibly changing your strategy based on how your plan is executing. You will never have more time and less stress than you do before you publish, so make the best use of those brain cells to position yourself properly. In the end, you’ll probably find you rushed the process anyway (thanks a lot, #5) and made mistakes, but having strategized once, you’ll be able to salvage the best pieces and rethink as necessary.

I take a certain amount of twisted comfort in knowing that I can revise my career at least as much as I revise my stories. :)

* The world of publishing is going through a lot of changes, and I don’t see it coming to a peaceful status quo anytime soon, so learning is going to be an on-going task. I just remind myself learning new things is good for my brain.

** Even traditionally published authors are finding that many of the tasks involved in making a book successful are falling on their shoulders.

Bonus hard truth: no one cares as much about your career as you do, so due diligence is always on you, no matter how or where you publish.

If you have a creative or business strategy that worked out well for you -- or that failed miserably! -- please share so we can all learn more.

 Bio: There are too many cool worlds to explore! Which is how Jessa Slade got started writing paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance and science fiction romance… but then dabbled in hot contemporary romance as Jenna Dales…and now also writes sexy shapeshifting romance as Elsa Jade. All her worlds feature mighty alpha males and strong, smart heroines with a bit of attitude. You can get QUEEN OF STARLIGHT free most places ebooks are sold or HERO for 99¢ at Amazon or free with Kindle Unlimited.

You can find her online in the usual haunts:

JessaSlade.com | JennaDales.com | ElsaJade.com
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