2009 PRISM Awards...

The Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter of RWA is pleased to announce the final placements in the 2009 Prism Contest.

Dark Paranormal:

First Place: Mona Lisa Craving by Sunny

Second Place: Immortals: The Redeeming by Jennifer Ashley

Third Place: Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden

Light Paranormal:

First Place: Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready

Second Place:La Vida Vampire by Nancy Haddock

Third Place: The Trouble with Moonlight by Donna MacMeans

Erotica:

First Place: Siren Singing by Isabo Kelly

Second Place:Carnal Desires by Crystal Jordan

Third Place: A Mermaid's Kiss by Joey W. Hill

Fantasy:

First Place: The Dragon Master by Allyson James

Second Place:Dragonborn by Jade Lee

Third Place: King of Sword & Sky by C.L. Wilson

Novella:

First Place: "Dark Nest" by Leanna Renee Hieber

Second Place: "Kung Fu Shoes!" by Jade Lee in These Boots were Made forStomping

Third Place: "The Spacetime Pool" by Catherine Asaro in Analog Science Factand Fiction magazine

Futuristic:

First Place: Shades of Dark by Linnea Sinclair

Second Place:Fallen by Claire Delacroix

Third Place: Moonstruck by Susan Grant

Time Travel:

First Place: Twist by Colby Hodge

Second Place:A Sexy Time of It by Cara Summers

Third Place: Madman's Dance by Jana G. Oliver

Young Adult:

First Place: Sleepless by Terri Clark

Second Place:CHOSEN: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast

Third Place: Cave of Terror by Amber Dawn Bell

Best First Book:

La Vida Vampire by Nancy Haddock

Best of the Best:

The Dragon Master by Jennifer Ashley w/a Allyson James

Congratulations to all who placed, and a big thank you to all who entered,all who judged, and to the FF&P board for making it all possible.

Jennette Heikes & Theresa Kovian,

FF&P Prism Contest Coordinators

******

And congratulations to all of my friends who won, and who have been such an encouragement for my writing. Thank you. I hope that I can get to know the rest of you soon. You did well.

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance

Real Love in a Real Future

Science Fiction Romance Week...

I sometimes feel like the odd man out in the regular Romance community because; besides the fact that I enjoy historicals, paranormals, and contemporaries, I also like Science Fiction Romance. It's what I write it after all.

I am particularly fond of: Linnea Sinclair, Lois McMaster Bujold, Susan Grant, C.J. Barry, Elizabeth Lowell, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Linda Howard, all of whom have written great SFR. I truly admire the imagination and intellect of all of these authors. There are others such as Catherine Asaro, whom I am only now getting to know. They just write such great plots and characters!

If there are any of you who also like this up-and-coming genre, the Spacefreighter's Lounge is having a Science Fiction Romance Week. I am a little late to the party because of the blasted computer, but it's still going on. Go join the fun, and find out what is happening in the future of Science Fiction Romance. :-)

The Spacefreighters’ Lounge.

Happy reading,

Frances

Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future

Review: MOONSTRUCK by Susan Grant

Last week, I got a good-goodie in the mail. :-D I won a copy of Susan Grant’s MOONSTRUCK from the Galaxy Express Blog. Not only that, but Heather, the GE Mistress, listed me as one of the future Science Fiction Romance writers to watch. MOONSTRUCK and dumbstruck all in one day. LOL Thank you Susan and Heather. And you, inquiring reader, may find their links in my sidebar. Enjoy.

Well, I have finally finished reading MOONSTRUCK (not easy to do when one is trying to blog and write a book at the same time). Although I think that CONTACT may still be my favorite Grant, MOONSTRUCK is a close second. Time and rereads will eventually make all clear. In any case, I highly recommend MOONSTRUCK as fun Space Opera and Science Fiction Romance, with some serious underlying themes. Susan did a really good job of exploring a wide range of emotions in this book. Being a former military officer, and presently an airline pilot, she created a fully believable military world in which her characters could live.

For me, the characterization in MOONSTRUCK was its strongest point. Susan took a gutsy gamble in introducing her heroine as a cold blooded user. It was a gamble which pays off. This was the trick for me: as an author, she made me immediately wonder why the heroine, Admiral Brit Bandar, was behaving in this manner. Brit fascinated me the same way that she fascinated the hero, Finn Rorkken. She is the victim of a terrible grief, and is coping to the best of her abilities. The moment that she truly won my heart was when I realized that she was trying to be fair in spite of all prior prejudices. I admired her for that.

MOONSTRUCK is a good study of the recovery from grief. Brit is hard, but events have shaped her. She changes and grows throughout the book. Finn also has to confront his prejudices, which come from an unexpected source. I liked that these two adults acted professionally. I liked that Finn was always trying to do what was best for his crew and for Brit. I liked that Finn didn’t play the tortured hero. It was refreshing to see a practical man.

Happy reading,

Frances
Writing Science Fiction Romance
Real Love in a Real Future