GUEST AUTHOR: S.E.Gilchrist

I first met S.E.Gilchrist at a Romance Writers of Australia conference many years ago, and it was then we discovered a shared love of all things paranormal, and that we liked to read many of the same authors.

Today it's a great pleasure to have her as my guest - please make her feel welcome!

S.E.Gilchrist Bio: My home is in the beautiful Hunter Valley of Australia with vineyards, rivers, tree studded countryside and the Pacific Ocean all at my doorstep. I grew up in a small coastal town in NSW, a fantastic place with the ocean, the lake, the Aussie bush, caves, old mines all offering different ‘worlds’ to explore.

I love traveling, meeting new people and exploring their cultures. I have visited Asia and the US and spent several years traveling around Australia, lived on a cattle station, on the gem fields, beside the ocean, camped beside mountain streams and under the stars in the outback – all truly magical experiences.

My dream is to earn a living from my writing and be in a position to travel once more.

My writing passion is in the romance genres of sci fi / futuristic, fantasy, paranormal, post apocalyptic/dystopian, ancient history and time travel. I love to combine adventure and romance and aspire to give my protagonists a goal worth fighting for. And I really enjoy giving them a hell of a lot of problems along the way! Adventure – exploring new worlds, battling aliens, dueling with medieval warriors, vanquishing demons, weathering the storms and embracing the joys of challenging relationships.

My other interests are : the environment, science/new technology, animal welfare, mythology, kayaking and bush walking.

I am a member of the RWA of Australia, Romance Writers of New Zealand,  Darksiders Down Under Blog, Hunter Romance Writers, Hot-Down Under anthology writers and RWAmerica, the SF Brigade, Savvy Authors.

Title - LEGEND BEYOND THE STARS 
Publisher - Escape Publishing 
Setting - The Seven Galaxies 
Hero - Commander Tarak el Rajan of the Darkon Battle Fleet 
Heroine - Captain Alana Knight of the United Earth Corporation 

LEGEND BEYOND THE STARS

Seeking redemption from a mission gone terribly wrong, Captain Alana Knight volunteers to aid a dangerous operation to transport colonists between Earth and alien traders. But on board the spaceship, she learns of a galactic war raging for power. A power that can be transformed into a terrible weapon. 
When the colonists are betrayed and sold, Alana’s mission is re-defined. Nothing will stop her from keeping those in her care safe and finding a passage home. But her new captor is nothing like she expects…

Commander Tarak El Rajan is human, male and equally determined to retain his payload. With his race on the brink of extinction he is under strict orders to transport all females to the planet Isla for research purposes. 
In a world of uncertainty, where the wrong decision could mean the death of an entire race, the last thing either of these two soldiers expects or needs is to fall in love.

Buy Links
Escape Publishing     Amazon     Kobo


Scene you would never cut -
Alana swallowed hard on the bile which burned her throat. She was proud her voice did not quaver when she continued, “And Commander Tarak, does he know too?”
Surprise widened Atolo’s eyes. “Of course. Now we must hurry.” He waved the warrior away. “I am eager to begin. This section here, we have some interesting specimens of our earlier research. Up ahead we have preserved the results of our experiments in more recent years. As you can see, we had almost reached a stage of achieving an actual embryo. Almost but not quite.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Alana shook her head in violent denial, refusing to accept his words. She saw his mouth moving as he gesticulated with pride at the tiny vulnerable life forms curled up in the familiar foetal position in their lonely tube coffins.
Her body spasmed.
A shudder so profound it almost felled her to the ground wracked through her. The monster’s voice had receded to a thin drone in the background. Alana heard nothing through the roar in her ears. She could barely see as she stretched out a trembling hand and touched the uncaring metal. A bitter wave of revulsion shook her to her core and she struggled for air.
And Tarak knew of this?  Could this be the secret her lover had kept from her? That plus the knowledge her friends and herself were destined for these horrendous research chambers? She thought back over all the times she had sensed he had held something back, something of vital importance. She recalled the eerie atmosphere pervading the Darkons’ city, the grim almost despairing auras that clung to Tarak and his warriors. Deep inside amid the cauldron of horror, doubt and remembered grief, murderous thoughts poisoned her mind.
She jerked her hand from her jailor, lurched to the side and vomited.
Over and over until nothing remained but hollowness.
Emptiness.
She scrubbed at the tears on her face and retched again. She knew she would carry the image of a frail shrivelled body until the end of her days.
Her eyelids were as heavy if they were weighted with bricks and her body felt as if lead was in her veins. She shuddered and realised she huddled on the icy floor. The faint sounds of whimpering were coming from her own throat.
So cold, she was sure she would never be warm again. Her movements slow and jerky her hands scrubbed at her face. She wiped her sleeve under her dripping nose. Only one thing mattered now. Her mouth hardened into a thin line as her brain kicked back into gear.
I’ll kill them.
All of them.
Every last Darkon.
And she would save Commander Tarak for last.

Something your heroine would never do or say – Alana would never turn her back on anyone who needed her. She’d also never sing, as she sounds like a drowning cat.

What do you think the readers will like about LEGEND BEYOND THE STARS?
The love story. I hope readers will find emotionally fulfilling Alana and Tarak’s romance. Both Alana and Tarak have to wrestle with duty, their responsibilities for others and the knowledge they need to sacrifice what they hold dear if they should reach out and take this chance at happiness.

There’s action and adventure in this story plus the underlining thread is a war raging in the background and a villain who has yet to be conquered.

What themes or tropes appear in the book?
Sacrifice, protection, responsibility for others. Greed and desperation. 

What's the most fascinating aspect about writing in the science fiction romance genre for you?
Definitely the ability to create entire worlds with new rules, laws, cultures and religions. Power! Give me more power!

Which authors have inspired you in your own writing?
Wow, too many: Elizabeth Peters, Denise Rosetti, Linnea Sinclair, Angela Knight, Karen Marie Moning, John Birmingham, Agatha Christie, Georgette Heyer, Matthew Reilly, JRR Tolkien, Betty Neels, Karen Hawkins, JD Robb, Johann Lindsey etc.

Is there anything else about LEGEND BEYOND THE STARS that you'd like to share?
*Legend has a quirky little side-kick, an alien called Norman who ends up a close and important friend to Alana.
*The need for the colonists to leave Earth for example is because climate change has wrecked havoc on our resources and war has erupted on all borders as people become desperate for the basic necessities of life.
*There’s also some gritty realism in this story. Just like in our reality, people make unpleasant decisions; some with terrible consequences. And not everyone gets their HEA.

*And I’d like to finish with a mention for a hot, short story called THE PORTAL. It's a tale set in the same world as Legend and was released on 1st March by Escape Publishing.

THE PORTAL
When Janni, a young salvager, boards a space wreck, she is caught for daring to steal Darkon tech by a patroller and the one man she had thought never to see again. Several months ago she had allowed him to slip past her defences for a brief and wonderful interlude. But with both of them on either sides of the law, they had walked away. Now they are trapped on a wreck and with an alien life-force hunting them. Will the patroller save her or abandon Janni to her fate?


Kylie, thank you so much for hosting me on your site today. Its been wonderful!

Thank you for visiting, SE, and congratulations on your latest releases!

You can find out more about S.E.Gilchrist at her website or Escape Publishing, or you might like to follow her on Facebook, Twitter or the Hunter Romance Writers blog.


Other books by S.E.Gilchrist:

Released Dec.28th, 2012 w/Smashwords & Amazon

Released Dec.1st, 2012, Momentum Books