'Spaced Out' at the Author Roast and Toast

You're invited  over to the Author Roast and Toast where we're entertaining my Fellow Wild Rose Press  'Faery Rose' line romance author,  Emma Lai..  Come and join us for an Author feature with a difference, as we discuss her book 'His Ship Her Fantasy' and find out more about this talented fantasy author and her books.

http://authorroastandtoast.blogspot.com/

Announcing the release of 'His Ship, Her Fantasy' by Emma Lai

Today sees the release of 'HIS SHIP, HER FANTASY', By Emma Lai:

Ellie Woods is in love…with a ship. When an argument with the ship results in a bump on the head, she finds herself in the strong arms of Alastair. But, who is he, and where did he come from?

Alastair has loved Ellie from afar for years, but duty has kept him from revealing himself to her. When a grave threat reveals his true identity, he hopes that Ellie will choose reality over fantasy


Here is an Excerpt:

She fought to stay aware by focusing her gaze on the intriguing cleft in her rescuer’s chin. After a few moments, she tried to tilt her head back to get a look at the rest of his face, but the action made her dizzy once again. She gave up with a sigh and relaxed against his firm, broad chest.

She shrugged. Chances were she would not recognize him anyway. Over two hundred people served on the ship. She knew the dozen or so engineers who worked the first and third rotations and maybe another dozen crewmates by sight, others who worked the same rotation and happened to eat their meals in solitary silence at the same time she did. She would guess from the fact that he had to ask her name that he was not any of those two dozen individuals.

Maybe she should not have told him her real name. At least that way, when he talked about finding a woman helpless in the bowels of the ship, no one would have known who it was. Yeah, right, whom was she trying to fool? She was the sole person assigned duty to this area during fourth rotation. Her breath caught, and she stiffened in his arms. Who was he, and what was he doing in a restricted area?

“Relax,” he said.

“Who are you?” She tried to sit up in his arms, determined to get a look at him and an answer to her question.

He lifted her higher in his arms, which wedged her head between his head and shoulder and prevented her from getting a good look at his face. “Alastair.” His warm breath fluttered against her forehead and cheek.

This is what Emma says about her book and the character:

Ellie’s character is the primary driving force behind the story. Her difficulties in being the only female space engineer lead to the story.

But, how did I get inside her head?

I pursued my Electrical Engineering degree with a handful of other women. When I started looking for a job, I went where the money was. When you live in Houston, TX, this means oil and gas, specifically a large service company.

The industry has always been male dominated with a healthy dose of chauvinism. My first day at work I had one engineer ask me if my daddy put me up to this…meaning a career in engineering. For the entire five years I was with the company, one engineer outright refused to speak to me…even if we were supposed to work together. However, as with the bad, there is good as well. My manager did an excellent job of helping me grow professionally.

I took the remembered frustrations, grouchy characters, and silent support of the few and used them in His Ship, Her Fantasy. My hope is the reader will see Ellie’s strength and understand her quiet determination. She is a part of me.

As for the question, did my daddy put me up to this?

We’re all influenced by people in our lives, and my dad was a huge reason I went into engineering, but he was still surprised when I told him what I wanted to study. I’m not sure why. After all, he helped me put together my science project on series and parallel circuits, let me take apart his radio to see how it worked, and bought me my first computer, which I promptly used to write a program in BASIC, all when I was eight.

What comes next?

His Ship, Her Fantasy inspired a whole series of shorts that cross over into multiple genres to include sci-fi, fantasy, and time travel. The second story, His Hope, Her Salvation, of the Mates of the Guardians series has been contracted with The Wild Rose Press and has a tentative release date of Wednesday, December 16th. It is the story of Judith and Donovan. However, as with all strong, determined women, Ellie has decided her story isn’t done. I’ll be offering her continued story on my website next year.


This sounds wonderful, Emma. I'm looking forward to reading this series. The covers are beautiful too. To find out more about Emma and her writing see her blog and website:
http://emmalaiwrites.blogspot.com/
http://www.emmalaiwrites.com/

I'll be putting all the names of anyone who comments here today, into a hat and will draw the names tomorrow- the winner will receive a download of Emma's new release 'Her Ship, Her Fantasy'. Please leave your email address if you'd like to be in the draw, or pop back here to see who the winner is.

Interview with Emma Lai

I am so happy to welcome Emma Lai here today. Welcome Emma, tell us a little about yourself.

I’ve sampled many professions and industries in the last decade or so…administrative assistant, electrical engineer, software designer, and project manager. They’ve all been satisfying in their own way, but nothing has inspired me like writing. I am a student of life and a lifetime student. Since I started school at age 5, there has only been four years of my adult life when I haven’t been taking classes. This month, I receive my Masters in International Relations, and I would love to pursue a Doctorate.

Wow, im-pressive! There has to be more to Emma Lai than work and study though, what do you do for fun when you're not writing?

Right now, my fun is limited to playing toss with my dogs, going to movies with my husband, reading, and preparing for baby. However, I love to travel and can’t wait until I get to brush my passport off again.

I'll bet! So when did you start writing?

Well, I’ve been writing work and school related papers for years, but I only started writing romances last year as a diversion. I’ve always been an avid reader and decided to start using the ideas I have, to write stories for my husband.

Aw, that's so sweet, Emma. I guess a lot of us start of by reading and then just have to write ourselves!What comes first: the plot or the characters?

I always start with a scene, but that one scene tells me a lot about the characters. I’m just a witness recording the events of their lives.

Please tell us about your latest release and what you think readers will enjoy about it.

His Ship, Her Fantasy is a short story coming from The Wild Rose Press on August 12. I think it will appeal to many different readers. Ones who like science fiction; sweet romance; a little mystery; a woman who knows what she wants out of life, but has to fight for it; and a man who knows how to protect his loved ones.

Here's the Blurb:

Ellie Woods is in love…with a ship. When an argument with the ship results in a bump on the head, she finds herself in the strong arms of Alastair. But who is he and where did he come from?

Alastair has loved Ellie from afar for years, but duty has kept him from revealing himself to her. When a grave threat reveals his true identity, he hopes that Ellie will choose reality over fantasy.

It certainly has my interest already. As you know I love science fiction and this sounds fascinating. What’s your writing process? Has it changed since writing your first book?

Most of my stories come to me in the small of night. It’s a struggle to hold onto them as I wake, but if I manage to then I hit the computer and don’t stop typing until I’ve captured the scene and the story that unfolds. I’ve had to do a little more planning since I started writing. His Ship, Her Fantasy is just the first in a series. As I write the rest of the series, I have to make sure I’m consistent. Plus, each successive story requires a little more research as the world of the Guardians unfolds.

Do you have a support system? Did you have a writing community? What valuable lessons have you learned from them?

I have a great support system, starting with my husband, who thought it was a great idea for me to take a year off to write and see where it went. The rest of my family has been supportive as well.

After I signed my first contract, I connected with other Houston area authors of The Wild Rose Press, and we’ve formed a little group…Roses of Houston. We meet at least once a month and talk about promo and story ideas. When I found out I was pregnant, another group of writers had just started MamaWriters. They’ve been great in helping me see how I can write and have a baby. Numerous other authors, to include yourself, have all been great in assisting me in getting my name out there through doing author interviews on my blog.What have I learned from everyone? More things than I can probably remember, at the moment. The most important thing I’ve learned is that you have to keep writing.

What is your personal definition of success?

Success is meeting whatever goals I set for myself. My goals continually change because the one thing I’ve learned is it doesn’t pay to be successful if you’re not happy in the process.

Emma has very kindly offered to give away a copy of my first novel 'Starquest' to someone who leaves a comment today. (If you've already read 'Starquest you can opt for one of my other two books instead.) That's really sweet of you Emma, thank you so much, it's been wonderful having you here today.

Please visit this blog on 12th August, when Emma's book is released, to find out more about ' Her Ship, Her Fantasy'.