Space Opera... not Soap Opera

Space Opera: A space opera is a grand epic drama or adventure set in a distant sci-fi future; an epic adventure in space that focuses less on the technical details and more on good vs. evil and character development. The mechanics of how things work ('hyperspace', 'the force') tend to be glossed over, as opposed to traditional "hard sci-fi" in which the technology is as much a character as those using it.

I have always been a character-driven writer. I care more about the people in the story than necessarily the things happening around them. Not to say those events aren’t important, but it’s about how those events affect the character, changes the character, rather than how the character externally reacts to the event.

I remember the first time a reviewer called my Phoenix series a space opera. First I thought “What? Like a soap opera?”. Then I began researching the genre and realized, yes, my series is very much a space opera. Sure, I have tech and I have aliens and I have explosions and battles. I have, in the immortal words of Colonel Jack O’Neill, “Big, honkin’, space guns”. I have space travel and amazing ships, but I also have men and women and children trying to find their way in a universe that has flipped them on their collective ears.

Instead of talking about favorite books in the genre of space opera, I’d rather talk about my favorite television series categorized as a space opera. Much science fiction can be categorized in some degree as a space opera, this particular show is the epitome of space opera in my mind.

Farscape.

I love this show because of the thought put into the backstory of each character right along with the movement of their lives through the larger arc of good vs. evil. Follow with me…

You have a living ship called a leviathan named Moya carrying a ragtag group of escape prisoners, ousted potentates, runaways, an outcast soldier, and an astronaut from Earth who was tossed across the universe through a renegade wormhole.

“Once upon a time there was a boy named John and John was an astronaut. He lived in a far away place called Earth which is so far away you've never heard of it. One day when John was out doing astronaut things a big, blue wormhole gobbled him up and spat him out at the far end of the universe. Things were looking grim in Mudville, till our hero met an amazing living ship, made some nice new friends, and he hooked up with his dream girl. We could've lived happily ever after, but the Peacekeepers raped, chased and tortured us for years on end.”

~~John Crichton, The Peacekeeper Wars

You’ve got an entire race of people known as Peacekeepers whose entire purpose was to, well, keep peace but they turned into bloodthirsty dictators instead… oh, and they are genetically engineered descendants of humans. In this mix you have a gentle warrior, a schizophrenic lunatic, a slug-based potentate, a sex-starved runaway, a former savage-cum-priestess, an outcast soldier, the list goes on.

I’m a romantic. Anyone who knows me knows this about me, so yeah… the love story is key for me. Of all the television shows and movies and books I’ve read, the love story of John Crichton and Aeryn Sun rank right up there at the top. It’s beautiful, really. Maybe it’s Ben Browder and Claudia Black… maybe it’s the writing, but their story is the core of it all. They are the glue, the driving force. 

 

And that is why I love space operas. I love the story of people. People suffering but coming through. People loving. People losing. People fighting. People giving all they are for someone else, sometimes everyone else. People facing adversity, reaching for hope. People lost in despair. People clinging to each other for peace, for strength, for a reason. Fathers. Mothers. Brothers. Sons. Daughters. Friends. Wives. Husbands. Leaders. Followers. Soldiers. Doctors. Civilians. Children lost in the world. Holy men and evil men. Righteous and corrupt. Misguided and lost, seeking a reason to live. The hopeful reaching for the desperate. The criminal who longs to be more. The politician sick of his own rhetoric.

Give me a space opera any day.

I decided I wanted to add a little video to show how much I love these two...

 

Read more about The Phoenix Rebellion and Phoenix Rising at http://www.GailDelaney.com

End Game is climax of science fiction series that appears worthy of the often overused word “epic”....This is a gripping saga that any sci-fi fan is guaranteed to enjoy.

JERR -- 5 Stars

Gail Delaney: Attack of the Interview

I know people doing interviews are supposed to slap their interviewee on the back and tell them how great they are. That's part and parcel for these things. This time the greatness is well deserved. Back in 2006, I was just becoming a published Romance author and basically was still learning the ropes. I'd read Historicals like forever and had just learned about paranormal romances. Then, somebody told me there was such thing as Science Fiction romance. I scratched my head and said, "I don't see it." Coming from a SciFi background, I didn't even want to sample this travesty. There was very little smooching in outer space. Han Solo was the only exception to that rule, thank you very much.

Then, because you knew it was coming, I met Gail Delaney. Well, met in a messenger window, but met nonetheless. After talking to her, I reluctantly rethought my stance. She had grown up on all the things I had. She talked the talk. Which talk? Geek, of course. So, I read the First Phoenix book and was floored. Sure there was some smooching, some angst and other things you'd expect from a romance novel. As I read on the smallest ebook reader ever made, believe me in 2006 you could go blind reading ebooks, I became a fan. Phoenix was everything I loved in Science Fiction. A little while down the road, I reread the newer version, and it held up to the test of time and rereading. No, it was better the second time around!

So, where's this interview? It's coming, just hold your jump drive and I'll get around to it. I've got a few more things to say first. If you've never read this series, you're missing out. I just hope by the end of this interview, you'll see why you're missing out and get off your keyboard and see why I'm not only a fan, but a fanatic when it comes to Science Fiction and Romance.

Gail, hope I didn't gush too much, but you were the one who turned me on…uh… I mean turned me onto SciFi Romance.

Jmo: I want to ask do you consider your books Science Fiction foremost, or Romance with SciFi elements?

Gail: Hmm, that's an interesting question. I actually see it as sci fi with strong romantic elements. I say that because there is much more going on in each book other than a story of a boy and a girl, although that is a primary storyline. There are deep friendships, there are familial relationships, there's danger and intrigue, mystery, deception, all kinds of stuff. And because the 'story' of any given couple doesn't always fully resolve in a single book (John and Jenifer in Janus being a good example), it's also not a typical romance in that aspect.

Jmo: Phoenix is more than a series. It's even more than anything I've ever read in a series before. The world building is amazing. When the idea for Phoenix came to you, was it this grand in scope? If not, how did it evolve to where it is now?

Gail: I would love to be able to say I imagined the entirety of the 'world' when I began Revolution, because then I could claim brilliance. But in truth, I had no idea when I began where Phoenix would lead. Sometimes, I was just as surprised when something was revealed as I hope the reader was. The entire Phoenix universe has become so real to me, I just feel like I'm relaying history, not writing fiction.

Jmo: The world isn't the only thing big. I'd have to say you have the largest cast of characters I've ever seen. How hard is it for you to keep all those voices under control? Under control! How do you keep them straight in your head? As long as we're on this subject, how do you decide which characters get to take center stage?

Gail: Man, you are just full of questions. I imagined the series from the beginning as a 'cast of characters' type of approach, much like a television series with a large cast. Each episode focuses on one or two people or storylines, but that doesn't mean the rest of the people in the series don't do anything.

As far as who takes center stage, that grows from the development of events. It's a natural flow from one book to the other, with little to no pause, just like in life. Keeping them straight hasn't felt like an issue for me because I feel I know them all so well. Now, sometimes I do have to remind myself "This book is about ___ and ____. You should get back to them".

Jmo: That brings us to Janus. We've talked about the origins of Phoenix. The evolution of Phoenix. The characters of Phoenix. So, what have you got in store for us in this new addition to the mythos that is Phoenix?

Gail: John Smith and Jenifer came from the original series, although they never knew each other. They do, however, have a connection neither realizes until different points in the book and it's a connection each of them reacts to differently (can't say more than that). So, just as I alluded to in the last question, their story has grown from the development of events. In the first series, John was introduced as an alien stranded on our world after the Sorracchi attacks and he proved himself to be a strong ally. So much so that in this new series he serves as ambassador between our worlds.

Jenifer was a fleeting character in the first series, appearing only at the end of book two and the beginning of book three. She hadn't ever been intended as a main character. But, as their stories unfolded I realized there was much more to her than originally met the eye.

Our world is very different from the world first introduces in The Phoenix Rebellion, and so the stories are very different. We are now a world devastated by global war, a world that has learned we are far from alone or isolated in the universe.

Most of the characters readers came to know and care about in The Phoenix Rebellion are here again in Phoenix Rising, but their roles are different. Some will still be in the forefront, though their stories will not be the main driving forces of the books. Some will only appear as the supporting cast where they had once been in the spotlight. People readers met only in passing, or briefly, become the driving force. And some stories never had a solid enough ending to say they are done.

And there will be new characters. In Phoenix Rising you will meet a man from today (2011) who wakes up to a world so drastically different from the one he knew he can't quite absorb it. All he knew is gone. You will meet men created by, trained by, and exist only for the purpose of serving the Sorracchi. But the Sorracchi are gone, and where does that leave them? You will meet a woman trapped in a body stolen by an old enemy, an enemy still determined to find revenge. You will get to know better a brother once believed lost, and walk with him as he makes some terrible mistakes, and finds redemption again. And there will be more, but I haven't met them yet so I can't introduce them.

Jmo: The end of Rebellion had pretty much tied up the entire series while leaving us with bated breath on what came next. How hard was it to kickoff this new chapter in the series?

Gail: Very hard. Really really hard. It took me over three years to write this first book because I had to find my feet again. The world had changed, and I had to discover just how much before I could put myself into it. Janus picks up less than a year after the end of End Game in the first series, but a great deal happened in the final book and in that year in between.

Jmo: How far ranging are your plans for the series? Do you see it an ongoing and unfolding story with no end, or do you see it with a definite end point?

Gail: Right now, I see no end. I already have the idea to write another series titled Children of Phoenix, which will explore our future when the next generation takes control. These are the children who were young and lived through the war, children born from the ashes of a nearly-destroyed world. Children raised with the knowledge the war brought to us, whether we wanted it, or not. After that, who knows?

But, I also want to explore the roots of Phoenix. The mythos of the series talks of the birth of Phoenix in the years following first contact with the aliens who would eventually become our enemies. We know who founded Phoenix, we know who came into it. But, I'd like to write that story. Beverly Surimoto is a leader in The Phoenix Rebellion, and it is know she was raised within the embrace of the rebellion. She leads as Vice President in Phoenix Rising. Her parents were some of the early founders of Phoenix. I want to write Birth of Phoenix, telling the story of Cecelia Bennett and Kaemon Surimoto (Names subject to change, except the Surimoto part), how they came to be founders of the rebel group that would eventually save the world. And their story of love.

Jmo: Before I wrap this up with something insanely silly, what is the one thing you would like your readers to take away from the Phoenix books?

Gail: Hope, I think. There is a great deal of bad and wrong that happens in Phoenix. But, we as 'humanity' stand together in hope of survival, hope of the future, hope of justice prevailing. Remember always we are one creation under God, and in the end, the good guy wins. It's not always easy, but to be the good guy you've got to stand up and fight.

Jmo: Okay, because this is my interview and I can pretty much do what I want… Brahwahwahwahwa. If you were the copilot on a starship, who would be sitting in the chair next to you? Han Solo? James T. Kirk? Or, Captain Mal Reynolds? Answer honestly now and notice there are no Doctors in the house to make this easy.

Gail: Hmmm... those are my three choices, huh? Cuz, you know... Jack O'Neill was known to pilot a ship or two.

Okay... Well, in all truth, I rule out Kirk. Too much of a playboy. Solo or Reynolds. In truth, they are very similar men. Hmmm... Okay, I'm going to go with Mal Reynolds. I can't compete with Leia in a gold bikini anyway. But, Mal had a nobility I appreciated. He often "aimed to misbehave", and although Solo did what was right, I think Mal had a bit more conviction.

And he totally rocked those pants! Humina!

Thank you for this awesome interview, Jmo. And for the ego boost.

Casting Janus

I don't think I can begin to adequately express how excited -- and nervous -- I am about my upcoming release of Phoenix Rising Book One: Janus. This book is a couple years in the making, and I've wanted to get the next stage in the Phoenix stories out there for awhile. I just hope people haven't forgotten me!

Today, I want to have a little fun. Everyone has seen the 'cast your characters' posts, so that's what I'm going to do today. But, I'm going to do more than just the hero and heroine of Janus, I'm going to cover a few characters who appear in the book. The Phoenix books are told as a 'cast of characters', which I love doing.

We'll begin with the main characters of this book.

First, we have John Smith XXXIV, Ambassador from Aretu. Yes, that works out to "John Smith the Thirty-Fourth. He tells Beverly Surimoto in the first series the Areth are a people of tradition. Or a lack of imagination. John was introduced in The Phoenix Rebellion as an Areth soldier stranded on Earth when his ship was destroyed during an attack by the Sorracchi. Now that we have won the war, John has set aside his weapons to stand as an ambassador between our worlds.

I use Christopher Eccleston as my inspiration for John. (Yes, if you're a Doctor Who fan you see my side there). Christopher Eccleston isn't your typical Hollywood Sexy kind of hero, but there is definitely something about him that appeals to me. And much to his chagrin, John Smith is seen as a bit of a sex symbol on Earth.

His counterpart is Jenifer. Just Jenifer. He sometimes thinks of her as Jenifer Of No Last Name. There is a reason she uses no last name, but that reason is only revealed with time. She's a tough, independent, snarky woman with an intelligence John can only guess at and a beauty hidden behind cold, angry eyes. And you'd better hope she never shoots at you. You're as good as dead.

I had a harder time focusing in on who I might cast as Jenifer, but ultimately I chose Claire Forlani. My father thought Claire was just beautiful, and he said it was because of her eyes. They hid a great deal. And that is a key element of Jenifer... the secrets she hides behind her eyes.

A lot of past characters from The Phoenix Rebellion are still integral parts of the ongoing series, and I'm putting them below -- as they say in Hollywood -- by order of appearance.

The book opens with Lieutenant Colonel Connor Montgomery and his Second-In-Command Mel (Melanie Briggs). Connor and Melanie command the Firebirds, an elite group of Earth Force soldiers. The best of the best. Connor is brother to First Lady Caitlin Montgomery-Tanner, and for much of the first series, assumed dead. He and Mel appeared in End Game to help save the day and now they work for The Prez.

When I think of Connor, I think of Ben Browder. A bit of that southern charm to him, although Connor grew up in France. He's cocky, sexy, and hunky. Mel is a soldier, but she's also a woman (a fact Connor isn't likely to forget). I see her as a short-haired Mandy Moore. The point about Mel is she isn't afraid to break a nail, but put her in a dress and Connor's jaw is probably on the floor.

Colonel (Ret.) Nick Tanner was a major player in the first series, and now he's a very, very important man. Nick Tanner is now known as President Nicholas Tanner... and that would be president of the world, by the way. In The Phoenix Rebellion, Nick finally got Caitlin Montgomery to the altar and now she's his first lady.

If you're a sci fi fan, these two look familiar. Actually, many of my inspirational actors and actresses probably look familiar. Nick Tanner is without question a character personification of Richard Dean Anderson from his Jack O'Neill stage on SG-1. All that sexy silver hair and sexy arms and... *ahem*... sorry. Tangent there. And his Caitlin is Amanda Tapping, also known as Sam Carter on SG-1. Worked out well like that.

Although other characters come around... Jace and Lilly Quinn... Beverly Surimoto and Victor... along with the introduction of new characters, the final two who really make an impact in the book and series are Michael Tanner and Jacqueline Anderson.

Anyone who followed the first series knows I love Michael. Of all the characters I have ever written, Michael is "The One". The character I'm so glad came from me. There are so many reasons, but mainly it comes down to there can never be anyone else like Michael. He is unique... and beautiful. I'm sure that doesn't make sense, but if you saw Michael the way I do, you'd understand.

Because Michael is Nick's son, and often said to look just like Nick twenty years younger, Michael is in essence also inspired by Richard Dean Anderson. Just more of a MacGyver era versus SG-1. Michael perpetually has his hair too long, and is slow to smile, but he's brilliant and has a heart so pure it's fascinating.

I wish I could say who inspired Jacqueline. In truth, I found this image years ago and it fit her well. Jacqueline is great for Michael because she challenges him in ways no one else can. She is very opposite to him, but he's made her into a different woman for loving him and being loved by him.

Okay, that's it. The next book, Triad, will have some old characters and some brand spankin' new characters... but that's for a future post. 

If you haven't read The Phoenix Rebellion yet, you have a great opportunity to buy all four books at a discounted rate. Now you can buy a 4-book pack, in your choice of five different electronic formats, through the Desert Breeze Publishing website. An almost 30% savings!

Faith, Belief, Religion, and Science Fiction -- Is it really a conflict?

I was once told by a woman of 'advanced generation' in our church that a Christian couldn't enjoy, watch, read, or write science fiction because it was sacrilegious. I was very young, and worried about what she said for a long time, but with the maturity of my faith I fully accepted I didn't agree.

My father once said, "I think we'd be pretty stupid to think we're the only ones God bothered with." That struck me as far more true than the idea of imagination being sacrilege.

Psalms 8:3 says, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place."

In the age old debate of Science versus Faith, those who scream the loudest about either side don't seem to see what I see. I believe in creation, but I also see science as proof for my faith. Proof, you say? Yes, proof. I see again and again how the study of our world, our bodies, chemistry, biology, physics proves to me we are the result of divine creation and not a random event when nothing became something and exploded with such ferocity to create everything with such perfect intrinsic beauty and purpose.

So, if I can see science as proof of our divine origins, it isn't a long stretch to believe God in His desire to create life would look beyond the third planet of a single solar system. If all He wanted to do was create life on a single planet, why create all of the universe?

Religion is an element in just about every major vein of science fiction, in some way or another. In Star Wars you have The Force and the Jedi themselves were a type of religious sect. Star Trek addressed religion in the atheistic lack of religion. It's still an element in that they chose to present an anti-religion stance. Stargate addressed religion by using the existence of the stargate as the origin of many of the ancient 'gods' on Earth. On Firefly, the crew of Serenity included a Shepherd, a minister/pastor/preacher/man of the cloth from our future who often referenced the teachings of the Bible.

My favorite quote of his, while loading a weapon for a battle and Zoe asks him "Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?", to which he answers "Quite specific. It is, however, fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps."

So, how have I handled religion in my Phoenix series? Just like in life, my characters range in their belief systems. In the first series, Lieutenant Jace Quinn is the son of a preacher and ordained himself. He is grounded in his faith, but as he is absent for a good portion of the series it doesn't play much until the second series. Although never directly addressed, I see Nick Tanner as a man of faith though not a man who would be in a church every week. He sees God in creation. I do point out how the bad guys were so convincing on so many things, they convinced much of the population of the Earth to forget the religion of their forefathers.

Religion plays a larger part in the second series because in the second series I explore the concept of other worlds, other cultures, other evolutions of society much more than in the first series that was very much Earth-bound. I cannot recall a science fiction world that has a religion like Christianity in a society not originating from Earth. If the basis of Christianity is that Jesus Christ, son of God, came to Earth for us, I had to ask myself a question. If I believe God created all of existence, and God loves all His creations, why would his son choose Earth if other planets and life forms exist?

I endeavor to answer that question in Phoenix Rising, not as part of the series arc, but just as I addressed religion in the first series, as a part of the development and culture of the various people living in this Phoenix 'universe'. I've actually had some very interesting, thought provoking, and inspiring conversations with my pastor about this element of my story.

He actually thinks it's a pretty cool idea, and almost as excited about the concepts I've worked up as I am. Quite the left turn from Sister Esther back in Milo, Maine who told me just imagining such a thing was heresy.

You can read more about The Phoenix Rebellion, and it's upcoming sequel Phoenix Rising, at my website.

http://www.GailDelaney.com

Hello, I'm Gail R. Delaney and I'm a Sci Fi Geek

I have always been a fan of science fiction. I was only six when Star Wars: A New Hope was released, but I can remember watching it at school when I was in fourth grade on the last day of school, and I was completely hooked. Star Trek: TOS was in syndication when I was in elementary school, and I looked forward to four o'clock every day to watch. I discovered Doctor Who on PBS when I was in junior high, and Star Trek: TNG premiered around then, too. The seeds of sci fi were planted young.

I was also a writer from a young age. I wrote my first short story when I was in fourth grade. My best friend and I didn't get together to play, we got together to write. I wrote a novel (still buried deep under my bed) when I was fifteen (speculative Christian fiction before there was such a genre), and decided around twenty I wanted to write novels. But my interest then went toward contemporary romance. I never imagined myself as a sci fi author because twenty years ago sci fi was just sci fi, no romance involved, and I loved romance.

Thankfully, genres have expanded in the last few years. Nonetheless, I was actually a reluctant sci fi writer. I was urged (read that as urged with a virtual cattle prod) to try my hand at sci fi. A few years ago I was in a slump. I had just finished writing my first romantic suspense novel, having always written contemporary romance prior to that, and just couldn't find that next great storyline to sink my literary teeth into. I tried several ideas, got about three chapters in, and hit a brick wall. So, I'd try something else.

When nothing original would feed my muse's need to create, I turned to writing fanfiction. For those who don't know what fanfiction is, this is a genre of writing in which a writer will enhance, expand upon, or create new storylines based on established characters usually from television or movies. I had written fanfiction in the past for an 80's television show I loved as a kid, but this time around I delved into the fanfic world of Stargate SG-1, my favorite sci fi show at the time( Partially because of Richard Dean Anderson, and partially because I loved the forbidden romance sub-story). In a year's time, when I couldn't find anything else to hold my attention, I probably wrote the equivalent of 250k words in Stargate fanfiction.

A good friend of mine, also a writer, kept asking me "Why don't you write sci fi?" I thought she was nuts. I couldn't just create this stuff! But, she kept asking and asking and poking and encouraging, until finally an idea began to form. The great thing was I saw how I could take some of the ideas I'd already tried in a contemporary setting and make them work in a futuristic setting. Characters began to form and plots began to unfold.

But, I didn't see these books as being a typical 'romance' outline where boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, gets her back and they live happily ever after in the course of 100k words or less. I saw a whole cast of people whose lives intertwined and fed into each other. I decided this was a whole new thing for me, so why not do it in a whole new way?

At the time, I was new published with an established ebook publisher, and was surprised when I was approached by the editor of another house. She told me she had seen my posts and was impressed with my online personality, my activeness, and most importantly my writing. She asked if I had any books in the works I might be interested in placing with her house. I told her about The Phoenix Rebellion, or at least, the ideas I had because I was only a few chapters into the first book. I also told her it wasn't a typically told romance.

She listened and she loved it. And she said to feel free and go with my 'cast of characters' concept. I wrote the entire four book series in about nine months, and then waited to see if people loved or hated my approach. I've never had anyone tell me they don't like the way I tell the stories. In fact, I've been told frequently they feel like they're reading a television show or movie.

And along the way, I discovered I really love writing futuristic romance, and I really like "living" in the world I've created. Which is one of the things I like about writing series. I don't have to leave anyone behind as quickly as with single titles. I'm currently working on a new series, Phoenix Rising, which is a sequel to The Phoenix Rebellion, with many of the main characters from Rebellion returning in a secondary status. I'm working out in my head details for another series, Children of Phoenix, which would take place twenty to thirty years after both The Phoenix Rebellion and Phoenix Rising. And I would like to write a prequel single novel titled Birth of Phoenix that tells the story of how Phoenix came to be.

I've dabbled in other story ideas by doing a short story in the Borealis series titled Forgive Us Our Debts, and I have a couple non-Phoenix related ideas I might work with down the road -- one a 'near-future' suspense and another far future/off world concept. I enjoy the freedom of living in a world not strictly defined by the present, and creating storylines and possibilities we have yet to see. I've always enjoyed playing "What if…" with my critique partners, and the answer to the "What if…" question is so much more interesting when it's asked with sci fi in mind.

Prior to writing sci fi, I never used 'models' for my characters. I just wrote from the nothing in which my characters were born. But, when I began Phoenix, I realized my main character Nick Tanner paralleled the character of Jack O'Neill on Stargate (played by Richard Dean Anderson). And as I move on through writing, I find I like keeping an actor in mind when writing. It helps me visualize expressions, motions, reactions with better detail. And my heroes are almost always actors from sci fi somewhere. Take my new series, Phoenix Rising, for example. My heroes are inspired by Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who), Ben Browder (Farscape and Stargate SG-1), Jonathan Lapaglia (Seven Days) and Christopher Pine (Star Trek: Reboot).

I've fully given into my geekdom now. I love it, I embrace it, and I share it. I hope you enjoy it.

You can see more about The Phoenix Rebellion and my other works at my website:

Gail Delaney Dot Com :-)

I'm most active at my Facebook page.

Or you can email me at gail@gaildelaney.com