GUEST POST
My new novella Free Fall began with an impulse purchase. Just of fun, I was browsing the website of one of my favorite artists, James Help (https://goonwrite.com). His strikingly original pre-made covers always impress me, while his hilariously snarky demo titles often have me laughing out loud. Most of the time, unfortunately, the genres on which he focuses don’t match my work very well. On this visit, however, I noticed a cover that really spoke to me. It featured an evocative image of two beautiful women, one blonde and one brunette, sitting close together in some sort of a futuristic night club.
I didn’t have a book for this cover, but the drama and passion lurking in that image were so strong that I just had to buy it. The JPG file sat, untitled, on my hard disk for more than a year while I worked on other projects. Finally I cleared my WIP backlog and started thinking about what to write next. I pulled up the draft cover and got the same punch-in-the-gut feeling about the women that I’d experienced when I first saw it. I realized that I had to write their story—even though, at the start, I had no idea, aside from their obvious mutual attraction, what that story might be.
Creating Free Fall was far more difficult that most of my writing projects. Usually when I begin a book, I have at least a mental outline, with the major events and the expected ending already established. With this novella, I was feeling my way, trying to discover just who Rain and Mariel were, why they were in love, and how they were going to survive. When I sat down to write the first chapter, it flowed onto the page, desperately erotic. After that, though, I really had to dig. The fact that this was science fiction made things even harder; that genre requires a delicate balance between imagination and plausibility. And sometimes too much thought and calculation can stifle inspiration.
Now that the book’s done, I’m pretty happy with it. It captures the sense of danger I felt when I first saw the cover, as well as the love-and-lust connection between the two protagonists.
I only hope my readers agree.
Blurb
Welcome to Xanadu. For its elite customers, a space-based paradise of pleasure. For the slaves who work there, hell orbiting Earth.
Innocent and inexperienced, Mariel Linderman sells herself to Xanadu to rescue her farming family from starvation. Streetwise Rain Delgado accepts assignment as a Pleasure Rep in lieu of a prison sentence for murder. In a world that strictly prohibits same-sex relations, the passion that flares between them brings terrible risks. Their unexpected heart-and-soul connection turns their already precarious existence into a clandestine struggle for survival.
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Excerpt (Mariel)
With the moon on the other side of the planet, the port set in the outside wall shows the velvet blackness of space. It’s beautiful. Peaceful. Mariel yearns for peace.
Rain is the only thing that keeps her from disarming the outer door, flipping the double lever and stepping out into the void.
There’s no sense of movement, but as the station rotates the Earth swings back into view, its blue-green swirls luminous and jewel-like. From up here you can’t see the wildfires or the swathes of dead ocean.
Minutes crawl by. Her frantic pulse slows. Now there’s a deeper ache, as if a giant fist clutches at her heart. She closes her eyes and wills herself to be patient. There are a million reasons why her lover might be delayed.
Finally she hears the soft whoosh of the latch. Slinky and silent as a cat, her midnight-dark hair tumbling over her shoulders, Rain slips into the airlock and pushes the door shut. Then she reaches down to pull Mariel up and into her arms.
About the Author
LISABET SARAI writes in many genres, but F/F fiction is one of her favorites. Her lesbian erotica and romance credits include contributions to Lambda Award winner Where the Girls Are (“Rush Hour”), Ippie-winning Carnal Machines (“Her Own Devices”), Best Lesbian Romance 2012 (“Clean Slate”), Forbidden Fruit: Stories of Unwise Lesbian Desire (“The First Stone”), Best Lesbian Erotica 2015 (“The Late Show”) and Lammy-nominated Coming Together: Girl on Girl (“Sundae, Bloody Sundae”).
She has also published a number of standalone lesbian titles including historical tale By Moonlight and high-spirited paranormal romance The Witches of Gloucester.
Lisabet holds more degrees than anyone would ever need, from prestigious educational institutions who would no doubt be deeply embarrassed by her explicit literary endeavors. She has traveled widely and currently lives in Southeast Asia, where she pursues an alternative career that is completely unrelated to her writing.
For all the dirt on Lisabet, visit her website or her blog Beyond Romance
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