Welcome to my blog! Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration in what if questions. The crazier the better. Then I try to answer them in as many ways as possible. Usually the most creative or hilarious answer is the one I like the best and turns into a story.
Why did you choose to write F/F stories?
It wasn’t so much a choice as it was what fit the character. I like writing female protagonists, and so this story had to be F/F rather than M/M in the bisexual nature of it. I much prefer strong female characters who are independent.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I’m sort of a mix of both. I usually have 3-4 main ideas in my head as I set out to write a novel and then rest gets filled in as I go. So there are some things plotted out and there some that aren’t. It’s amazing, really, that it all fits together into a cohesive novel.
What is a typical writing day like for you?
I don’t have a typical writing day. I’m very inconsistent about which days I write and which days I don’t write. Probably why I have yet to complete my second novel, but I am still semi-working on it!
How do you celebrate a new release?
Interesting question. I didn’t actually celebrate the release of Across Worlds: Collision. I was in the midst of a lot of life changes at that time and extremely busy. Normally I have a big giant glass of wine that night and go to bed with a smile on my face.
Publisher: Supposed Crimes, LLC
Cover Artist: Heidi DeCausemaker
BUY LINKS: Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | B&N | Smashwords | Kobo | iTunes
Find it at Goodreads
BLURB:
Jane expected six months undercover to be hard; she expected it to be lonely and bleak. She didn’t expect to find love.
Jane Butler, a CIA operative, is assigned the task of infiltrating the Xanthians and determining if they’re a threat to humanity. Going undercover as a Xanthian mate, she boards the transport ship and meets Usnavi—her new mate. After spending six days traveling through space, Jane is ecstatic to explore the Xanthian station and soon sets out to complete her mission. The only problem? Usnavi—and the feelings she is quickly developing.
Fumbling their way through varying sexual expectations, cooking catastrophes, and cultural differences, they soon discover life together is never boring. As Jane and Usnavi careen into a relationship neither of them expected, Jane uncovers dark secrets about the Xanthians and realizes she may no longer be safe. When it becomes clear she’s on her own, Jane is forced to trust and rely on Usnavi. Simultaneously struggling with her mission, her feelings for Usnavi, and homesickness, Jane faces questions she never imagined she would have to answer.
Categories: Bisexual, Erotica, Romance, Science Fiction
Pages: 206 pages
EXCERPT:
“I am not a man.”
Jane took a long sip from the drink, using it to bide her time before she asked the question on the tip of her tongue.
“What are you, then?”
“I am Xanthian.”
Usnavi stood up straight, zher back tense as zhe moved over to stand in front of Jane.
“Is it really that hard to understand that I am neither man nor woman, male nor female, that I am simply Xanthian and Usnavi?”
Grinding her back teeth together, Jane nodded minutely.
“Sometimes it is. Sometimes it’s not,” she responded.
JADE’S REVIEW:
4 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I requested a copy for review because I love sci-fi stories and the premise intrigued me. While there were a couple things that I didn’t quite get, overall I found this to be a fun, fast-paced read.
What I appreciate the most about this book is the bisexual nature of it and the message of how a person’s (or alien’s) parts are not nearly important as who they are inside. Interestingly enough, I didn’t realize it was a bisexual story when I requested it (my fault, didn’t read the info well enough, I guess). I’ve never read any stories with F/F components, but since I requested it, I gave it a chance and I’m glad I did.
I don’t think this is too spoilery, considering the excerpt, but just in case…Warning: Potential spoilers ahead… Xanthians can change their sex to be either male or female at any given point. They also exchange genetic material – a process called melding – rather than engage in sexual intercourse in the way humans do. So this is all, understandably, a lot for Jane and the other humans chosen to be Xanthian mates to get used to. Xanthians are referred to with gender-neutral pronouns, which was a bit confusing for me as a reader at first. The story is told from Jane’s perspective, and it uses these gender-neutral pronouns from the first moment Jane meets a Xanthian, even though she isn’t aware of the gender situation yet. That aside, Jane has somewhat of a hard time accepting that Usnavi is either male nor female but just Xanthian and Usnavi (as is referenced in the excerpt).
But Jane gets used to this being neither one nor the other and sex-changing that Usnavi can do, and she realizes she enjoys Usnavi’s body in either form, hence the bisexual nature of the story. She comes to love Usnavi, not Usnavi’s parts, and this is the part of the story that I love. I also love the fact that (Warning: Spoilers ahead!) Usnavi is the one who eventually becomes pregnant with their child. That further challenges the idea that because Jane is the female, Usnavi must be the male of the relationship.
While I enjoyed the intricate plot weaved through the story, I didn’t quite get a couple things. It turns out that Usnavi is deceiving Jane as much as Jane is deceiving Usnavi, and they are able to embrace the truth and move past it. However, then the Xanthians Jane is working with to try to save humanity deceive her again. She is initially crushed and destroyed by this betrayal, but after a very brief conversation – with a Xanthian she’d never even met before – suddenly, she understands everything and all is well. It just seemed too easy. For being a CIA operative among aliens, she just seemed to be too trusting, too accepting, too forgiving.
Other than that, though, I enjoyed this story. And the last scene was hilarious. I loved ending on a laugh.
*I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
PRIZE GIVEAWAY:
Enter the drawing for an e-copy of Across Worlds: Collision.
TOUR DATES/STOPS:
17-Nov
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
18-Nov
Butterfly-O-Meter
Parker Williams
19-Nov
Hearts on Fire
Up All Night, Read All Day
20-Nov
Jade Crystal
21-Nov
Molly Lolly
24-Nov
BFD Book Blog
25-Nov
Velvet Panic
26-Nov
Amanda C. Stone
27-Nov
Rebecca Cohen Writes
Inked Rainbow Reads
28-Nov
Prism Book Alliance
Cate Ashwood
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
After chasing around puppies and corralling kittens, S.A. Snow flips open her BSG replicated console and enters her mysterious world of imagination. Seeking to escape the rigors of her day jobs, she enters flight mode and powers her engines full-speed ahead.
A prolific writer of non-traditional erotica, S.A. Snow grew up on a small alpaca farm high in the Andes Mountains. A lover of yoga and meditation, she spends her free time constructing alien space stations, organizing werewolf governments, and cataloging all episodes of Star Trek in order of technical soundness. A firm believer that one need not choose between Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas, she also has closely examines all Star Wars movies in order to determine which episode is more factually based.
S.A. Snow writes truth and only truth, factoring in all evidences she can find. She writes only about parallel universes she has personally visited, and believes if something about her books isn’t shocking, she’s not effectively telling the story.
Author Contact:
Email: booksbysnow@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/booksbysnow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/booksbysnow
