A #gem of a #scifi book

Kayelle Allen 03/28/2015 New Book

A gem — and charming too

I got a sweet review: “This gem of a scifi book offers tips for scifi writers, and secrets for fans of Kayelle Allen’s Tarthian Empire series.”

This is more true than you’d think. I’ve partnered with EssenTiles on Etsy to create beautiful gem-like charms of the cover, and my friend Paige created handmade glass beads (also a gem) that match the planets on the cover. She put beads and charms together to create a unique dustplug you can use with your cellphone.

How do they work? (in the phone image, it’s shown at the bottom. Your phone will have this jack at the top.) Insert the plastic plug into your cellphone’s audio jack and it keeps the dust out. It also makes a pretty gem dangle of bright color. I’ll give away one of these to the first five (US address only, please) who ask. You don’t have to leave personal info here. You can email me your contact info at author@kayelleallen.com and I’ll get back with you.

Paige created the beads by melting the glass and adding “frit” — fused or partially fused materials used in making glass — to create the markings on the “planets”. This ensures each bead is unique. The charms are quality glass with the image embedded inside.

fused or partially fused materials used in making glassRead more: http://www.answers.com/

I loved creating this unique gem as a giveaway, and hope you’ll enjoy using it!

About the Tarthian Empire Companion

For the science fiction writer, this volume teaches you how to build believable worlds, track details of your story, organize your writing, and lay out your story bible. Novice or experienced, you will pick up tricks and tips here. This EPIC eBook Award winning writer shares organizational tips, links to marketing sites, groups supporting writers, science fiction groups, and more. Material from the author’s 90+ page website is included.
For the science fiction fan, the Companion reveals the worldbuilding magic that makes Kayelle Allen’s Tarthian Empire tick. She shares every character in every book, 10k years of future history, offers inside peeks at scenes and stories, lays out a quick tour of the Empire, and dishes up a surfeit of secrets, all in one illustrated volume. Original art by Jamin Allen and Kayelle Allen.

Purchase

Amazon http://bit.ly/companion-az

Remember #reading the first book in a #series? #IAN1

Kayelle Allen 03/20/2015 Science Fiction Books 1 Comment

Remember reading a series?

When you picked up the first book, it held such promise. There would be more to learn, more to see, more worlds for you to explore. When you finished it, you had a kind of “book hangover.” You were still so tied up in that book’s world that you weren’t sure you could handle another one. But the promise of seeing what happened to your new favorite characters was too strong. You succumbed and started reading the next book. And just like that — you were lost in the characters’ world again.

You can recapture the world you read about in Surrender Love, and Wulf. The Empire you explored in Alitus, Jawk, At the Mercy of Her Pleasure, and For Women Only is waiting to be found in the new Tarthian Empire Companion, an illustrated World-Building Bible and Guide to Writing a Science Fiction Series.

If you loved the universe in which those original stories were set, then you’ll be glad to know the Tarthian Empire is alive and well. This new book features all the characters, places, and things that made the other stories unique.

Before writing the first book in my Tarthian Empire science fiction romance series, I wrote 10,000 years of future history. The Tarthian Empire Companion features that history, plus Earth and its colonization of the galaxy. The companion focuses on the big picture. What events drove the wars? Who won them? What made the peace so short, and the centuries of fighting so dire? Did the immortal Sempervians evolve or were they created? What do they want from mankind? What characters, places, and incidents shape the Tarthian Empire today?

The Tarthian Empire Companion contains a full list of every character in every book, and peeks at books to come. This is the book I use to keep all the details straight. It’s written for readers as well as writers. If you write Scifi Romance and want to know how to keep a huge story world organized, this book is for you. I share all my details in this illustrated volume. If you love reading SF and loved my books, you’ll be able to look up details, go through the character lists, and learn inside secrets about the people and places. Always wondered what Peril, the game of the immortals, was all about? It’s in there.

The companion book is illustrated with original art and a few stock photos. My son, Jamin Allen, helped me create many of the images in this book. He’s a digital artist and began assisting me when he was in college at the Art Institute of Atlanta. In fact, he taught me how to use Photoshop. The work I’m able to do today is because of him.

Slang

I’m not a fan of changing basic terms for the sake of making them sound alien. For example, we “inch” along, not “millimeter” along, so I apply the same principle in my books. Diamonds are diamonds. Water is water.

Language, however, is malleable. Considering how far in the future my own stories are, there would be few (if any) words in English that we’d recognize. Being the practical sort, I kept many current terms.

What better way to describe rock music than to call it rock? Why call a flashlight a “mobile light source” or some other phrase for the sake of sounding different? It comes across silly and pretentious instead.

People shorthand words and phrases to things like OMG, LOL, BFF, deets, and probably one of the most famous shortcuts of all — the abbreviation for “more of the same” — “etc.” I prefer to use natural, understandable language whenever possible.

If you create a language, write down the words you use and keep a definition handy. This will keep you from later misspelling or contradicting yourself. You should also create a phonogram chart (list of sounds). This will help you create a richer language.

What terms do your characters use for slang? Define these and list them so you have a ready reference for future books. List how and why the words became slang. This not only helps you maintain consistency in creation, it also helps you with creating future slang you might need.

Here is a list of Kelthian Street Slang. It’s used in limited places, and there is far more listed here than I used in my actual books. However, I wanted a big list from which to choose a term.

Kelthian Street Slang

Cobber is Kelthian street cant (characteristic language) used on Kelthia by slaves and gangs. The slang was used by Senth and Khyff in the books At the Mercy of Her Pleasure, and For Women Only. The characters Trink and Yvan (who own Batchelors) sometimes use it too.

Boastin’; mess with, put on a front, tease, etc.
Clinkers; great, fine, no worries
Going all Kin; becoming feral, unruly, wild
Hawkin’; watching from the sidelines
Junk me; pay no attention to me
Leave me sly; forgive me, let me off
Lipped; said, explained, told
No new coins; same stuff different day, nothing new
Notta boasted you clean; shouldn’t have messed with you, or shouldn’t have put on a front with you, teased you, etc.
Ride my pocket; Follow me, stay on my tail
Right clinkers; perfectly fine, totally great
Royal; excellent, top notch
Scam-butt; cheater, scam artist
Scat these taggers; get out of these clothes, undress
Screech, the; sickness of any type
Seein’ you slip; noticing you’re not doing well
Smacked; happy, pleased
Smackers; general swear word with unspecified meaning. Dang, damn, hell, etc.
Sotted; drunk
Spacin’ me; In my space, close to me
Space me; give me some room, move away
Street freak or freaks; homeless person or people
Street; the street in general. Culture of the street.
Tawkin’; looking for action
What’s down; what’s up or what’s new
You skinnin’; you’re skin and bones
Shake out those taggers; what’s under those clothes
Taggers; clothes

All my books are being re-released in new formats. Surrender Love and its long-awaited sequel, Surrender Trust will come out at the same time. At the Mercy of Her Pleasure and For Women Only will be re-released with their sequel, Crystal Clear Truth, and will introduce a third Antonello brother, Darq. In the meantime, I’m sharing all the details of my world with fans.

If you not only read but also write science fiction romance, this book will guide you to build believable worlds, track details of your story, organize your writing, and lay out your story bible. My website has over 90 pages of material for my world.

Writer or reader, you’ll get a glimpse of the world building and complexity that is the Tarthian Empire.

Have questions about a character, or about writing? Leave me a comment and I’ll be glad to answer. Please sign up for my newsletter while you’re here.

Available now on Smashwords, and Amazon.

Amazon http://bit.ly/companion-az
Smashwords http://bit.ly/companion-sm
Coming soon to Barnes and Noble and CreateSpace

Visit Spooky Scifi Planets @kayelleallen #amreading

Kayelle Allen 10/19/2012 Science Fiction Books

When I started writing Science Fiction Romance, I needed planets for my characters. Where were they born? What was it like there? This was my strong suit. After all, I’d been thinking about it all my life! I decided to create a “tour” of the Tarthian Empire on my website, and have art and information about each of the planets. This month, Coffee Time Romance designated the tour on my site as one of its elite spots — one of the top twelve for the year. So, when the Just Romance Me blog tour came along, I figured the spookiest planet on Tarthian Tour Company’s site would be perfect.

A little about the Tarthian Tour Company — their slogan is “Where do you want to wake up tomorrow?” They can take you to any of over twenty planets or drop you off on side trips to visit the Conqueror’s palace or see the Droid Discovery Force in action. There’s an interactive star map where you can click the name of a world to visit its page. From each world’s page, you can click the tour logo to return the company’s home page or click the list on each page to visit any other planet in the empire.

Clicking the pictures on the tour itself will open them full-sized, and some are amazing to see. When my son was in art college, ~~I forced him coerced him begged him~~ he volunteered to help me create them. ^_^

The Ministry of Emigration’s official statement reads: “While terraforming is complete, the life-cycle of the planet Drated is not yet within parameters for habitation. Initial investigations revealed a lack of certain necessary nutrients in the soil which will be provided at the proper time. All inquiries should be directed to the Terraformer’s Circle of Fellowship.”

The TCF refuses to comment. Sources inside the corporation say that wild energy fields are not to blame as were previously reported. Speculation abounds.

Gates of Life

Archaeological digs on several barren worlds in the Tarthian Empire and all the non-human ones (Tyris, Felidae, and Ezraki) uncovered the ruins of towering arches. (See picture below) Natives called them the Gates of Life. For an idea of their true size, note the bottom left corner of the drawing.

It is speculated that they originated as monitoring devices for tracking the progress of genetic mutations, but no true use is known. Rituals of “passing through the Gates” after birth are common to Tyrans, Chiasmii, and Kin alike. All three worlds have legends that link the Gates to a god who descends from the sky in a burning chariot. The Tyrans called him Sandargen, the Chiasmii Arjensa, and the Kin Adel Jansaara. When translated to Etymis, the tradestandard language of the empire, all these names mean Saint of Silver.

A detailed description of this saint’s arrival suggests a spacecraft. According to the legends, he was the size of a god, and had white hair. He always wore silver, and demanded a sacrifice of two virgins, male and female, which he took back to the sky with him. Those who did not please him, or had failed in worshiping at the Gates were punished severely, and some were killed. When thousands of years passed without the Saint of Silver’s return, the inhabitants destroyed the Gates. Gates were also found on the planets Ohy and Sanity IV but there is no evidence that intelligent life ever existed on any of these worlds. What happened to the inhabitants is a mystery that is likely never to be solved.

Sanity IV – Gone Forever

Sanity IV is nearing completion of mining. The myth that Sanity I, II, III and IV destroyed themselves in a civil war is false. They were surface-stripped and mined for raw materials, and exist now as asteroids in the Sanity system. The name origin is lost, but legend says Sanity IV began as a slang term in a song often sung by miners. The gravity well in the Sanity system makes it an ideal jump point. Occasionally, an errant asteroid interferes with navigation. It is a myth that jumping into Sanity IV’s space can trigger space time disruptions. If that were true, events would repeat at random intervals. This has never been observed. If that were true, events would repeat at random intervals. The name origin is lost, but legend says Sanity IV began as a slang term in a song often sung by miners. Sanity IV is nearing completion of mining.

Begin your own tour

Click here to see all 22 planets and side trips: https://kayelleallen.com/ttc

Caution: While you’re hanging out on the tour, or perusing the excerpt pages, be on the lookout for little icons that seem out of place. Clicking them might transport you to a hidden rebel base, or land you in the custody of the Praetorian. Whatever you decide, I hope you’ll enjoy the visit to the Tarthian Empire, where Romance Lives Forever.

UPDATE
The winner of the blog contest was Jennifer M. JustRomance.me picked her name from the list as my winner. Jennifer received a puzzle book and the first edition of the Tartian Empire Companion book, a nonfiction look at the tour on my website.
Congratulations, and thank you to everyone who took part.

Tag: Sci-Fi Romance