Gifts and giving

Hello everyone! After a really difficult year, I'm back at the Supernatural Underground and delighted to be here.

It's a great time of the year to get things going again. Even with all the stress of preparing for Christmas (I still haven't done my shopping - eek!), this feels like a time when anything is possible. Miracles can occur.

Such as the fact we once again have a good Star Wars movie on the screen.

I'm not going to spoiler it for anyone - although I do want to note it's been kinda interesting to see US friends talk about going to the opening night when I knew Aussies already on their third viewing. For once, the time difference has worked for us.

But for someone like me, who grew up with Star Wars (I was 7 when I saw the first movie), this new movie is a real gift. I sat in the theatre, almost giggling like a child, wriggling in my seat and shaking my hands in the air with excitement as each old favourite was introduced. I once again got to fall in love with Han Solo, and find a kick arse girl to worship (Rey is the awesome).

In short - JJ Abrams and the team gave me the gift of being a child again. Of being overwhelmed with happiness. Of being so excited I couldn't sit still.

With all the pressure that comes with adulthood (and while sometimes it is fun, sometimes it is damn hard work), it's great to have the moments where we can escape.

That's what The Force Awakens did for me. In the middle of a heatwave, with an ear infection building, it still pulled me from the world I knew into a wonderland where everything is fun.

Of course, we here at the Supernatural Underground know that books can provide that same wonderful escape. In particular, I've tried to do it with my Jorda series of SF romance (which was actually inspired by Star Wars and in particular Princess Leia).

So I want to give you all the gift of that wonderment. So anyone who tweets a link to this article (make sure you put me in it - @nicole_r_murphy) will be get a free copy of Loving the Prince, book one of the Jorda series.

I hope you all have a fabulous holiday time - and let's keep an eye out for those for whom this is a hard time and see what we can do for them.

Nicole

About Loving the Prince



From Escape’s fresh, exhilarating science fiction romance catalogue comes a story of corporate espionage, betrayal, sex, and bodyguards. Just another day in the colonies.

Cassandra Wiltmore is the heir to the throne of Rica, but it’s unlikely she’ll be stepping up any time soon. So she spends her days managing and building the Rican Balcite Mining Company. The company has made her family wealthy beyond imagination, but that kind of power needs careful control, and Cassandra is just the Wiltmore to control it.

When a new bid for the mining license is announced, Cassandra is determined to squash it. Then the thefts and threats begin, and every step she takes seems to be wrong. Taking on a new protector seems like an indulgence Cass can’t afford, but she equally cannot afford to be caught off-guard. If only the best man for the job wasn’t also the best-looking man she’s ever seen.

Kernan Radaton has ambition, and as protector to Cassandra Wiltmore, he’s well placed to reach all his long-held goals. If only his new all-business boss didn’t make him think of only pleasure. With the company, the heir and the family under attack, the last thing anyone needs is a distraction. But once everything is safe again, Kernan is developing new ambitions — ones that involve a lot of very personal time spent getting to know his boss on a very personal level.

And so 2015 is underway

I don't know about you, but it's only three weeks old and already 2015 is hammering my butt!

Some years are like that - there's so much to do, right from the start, that you look at the 12 months ahead and just feel exhausted. There are other years that start quietly, hiding from you all that's going to befall you over the course of the 52 weeks.

I've got three (probably four) books coming out this year. I've got two (probably three) books coming out next year and they all need to be written. This year's motto - 'Churning out the words'.

How is 2015 looking for you? Hopefully whether it's jam packed already, or still lithe and ripe with possibilities, it's going to be a year of making dreams come true for everyone!

I'm hoping that I'll be able to catch up with you all more - the Supernatural Undergound crowd are fantastic!

Tomorrow sees the release of 'Winning the King', book two in my science fiction romance trilogy (although depending on where you are in the world when you read this, it could already be out!) I had such fun writing science fiction romance last year - love being able to do relationships, and loves, and hope, amongst cool geegaws and thingummies.


Blue eyes, golden curls, a body songs are composed about, and part of one of the most powerful families in the colonies, Diana Wiltmore is not used to ever hearing the word ‘no’. So when she sets her sights on a fling with the gorgeous, potent and single King of Angonia, Gareth, she is shocked when he turns her down flat. In an effort to put the rejection behind her, she agrees to her sister’s plan to gain some political leverage by cosying up to a rival planetary ruler.

Gareth has responsibilities and no time for a woman like Diana. She is all temptation and distraction, but Gareth wants more from a woman than decoration. But it is Diana standing by his side as his beloved home of Angonia is attacked and he starts to see that underneath the surface is a strong woman even more beautiful than her picture-perfect exterior.

Gareth’s people need him and to be there for them, he needs Diana. But has he ruined every chance he has of winning her heart?

You can pre-order or buy Winning the King here: All Romance ebooks  / iTunes / Amazon US /  Amazon UK /Google Play / Kobo / Nook / Amazon Aus

Living and loving science fiction

So here we are, one month into the second half of the year. Here in Canberra, that means we're into the depths of winter. To give you an idea - last night, the temperature dipped to -2 degrees C (28.4 degrees F) and the top during the day was 15 degrees C (59 degrees F). A glorious winter's day, the sun was shining, no wind, and I went for my first ever Segway ride!

There's something about a Segway, despite the fact the technology is really quite simple, that is very science fictional to me. So it was fitting that I lived out my own little bit of science fiction, because on August 1 my first science fiction novel comes out!

While fantasy and romance have been the genres I've done most of my writing in, science fiction is the genre I was brought up in, thanks to my dad. My earliest television memories are of hiding behind Dad's beanbag, peering over his shoulder at which ever monster was the feature of that week's episodes of Dr Who. Movie wise, my most important moment at a movie ever was when I was seven and Dad took me and my younger brother to see Star Wars. I can still remember vividly walking out and feeling like my brain was somehow bigger than it had every been before. I was too young for Star Trek on the television, but Dad made sure we saw all the movies.

I'll admit, I've not kept up my science fiction cred - I've not watched enough, and I've not read nearly enough. But still, I can safely say that the cancellation of Firefly still upsets me. That I loved both versions of Battlestar Galactica but while I think Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck was inspired, Richard Hatch will ALWAYS be Apollo to me. Red Dwarf still makes me laugh and Inception fricken blew my mind.

But really, in my heart and soul, it's Star Wars - beating out the Doctor by a sonic screwdriver. And so, when I was 14 and it came into my mind that I wanted to write an epic, what I wrote was a homage to the greatest space princess who ever lived - Leia Organa.

Of course, one's childhood scribblings generally don't go any further than that, right? And the space princess I developed as a 14-year-old really didn't deserve to go any further than that. Princess Cassandra of Rica was so idealised, and perfect, and really was just me pretending I could be as kick arse as Leia.

Except for some reason - maybe because she came from a place of such pure love - Cassandra never left me. From time to time, I'd pull her out and have another go at writing her story. She developed, her world developed, but I could never find the perfect story.

Until last year. Last year, I got it. And thankfully, my publisher loved it and now, on August 1, Cassandra will finally live!

From Escape’s fresh, exhilarating science fiction romance catalogue comes a story of corporate espionage, betrayal, sex, and bodyguards. Just another day in the colonies.

Cassandra Wiltmore is the heir to the throne of Rica, but it’s unlikely she’ll be stepping up any time soon. So she spends her days managing and building the Rican Balcite Mining Company. The company has made her family wealthy beyond imagination, but that kind of power needs careful control, and Cassandra is just the Wiltmore to control it.

When a new bid for the mining license is announced, Cassandra is determined to squash it. Then the thefts and threats begin, and every step she takes seems to be wrong. Taking on a new protector seems like an indulgence Cass can’t afford, but she equally cannot afford to be caught off-guard. If only the best man for the job wasn’t also the best-looking man she’s ever seen.

Kernan Radaton has ambition, and as protector to Cassandra Wiltmore, he’s well placed to reach all his long-held goals. If only his new all-business boss didn’t make him think of only pleasure. With the company, the heir and the family under attack, the last thing anyone needs is a distraction. But once everything is safe again, Kernan is developing new ambitions — ones that involve a lot of very personal time spent getting to know his boss on a very personal level.

You can pre-order the book now from all good electronic bookstores. And it's just the beginning - Loving the Prince is one of three set on the planet Jorda. The second book, Winning the King will be out in December and the third, Saving Her Heart, will be out next year.

Want to win a copy of Loving the Prince? Tell me your favourite science fiction hero or heroine. I'll give five copies at random to those who comment.