The African Queen in Outer Space? #SciRom #ASMSG

The African Queen in Outer Space?

A guest post by Edward Hoornaert:

My upcoming science fiction romance, Escapee, is coming out on April 19. What inspired me to write the book?

The 1951 movie, The African Queen. My version is set on an inhospitable moon, rather than the African Jungle, but in both tales the hero and heroine battle nature and, ultimately, the invading enemy.

How did I transform a movie into a science fiction romance?

Analyzing the movie

I rented the movie and looked for two things:

• Stages -- Charley and Rosie's relationship go through a number of stages.
• Turning points -- The events that caused their relationship to change from one stage to another.

I then devised analogous stages and turning points for Escapee. Here are a few of them, so you get the feel for how the analysis worked.

Stage 1:  Polite disconnect between hero and heroine.

• AQ -- Rosie, a missionary in German East Africa, disapproves of Charley, a crude freighter captain who brings supplies, but treats him with chilly politeness.
• Escapee -- Hector, a stuffy career army officer, disapproves of the freewheeling, lower-class airship pilot, Cattaroon who supplies his base.

Turning point:  The enemy invades. In AQ, it's the Germans, who leave Rosie alone and stranded -- until Charley comes by and saves her.

In Escapee, it's humans from the Proxima system. While Hector's on leave, they destroy his entire command, leaving him stranded and alone -- until Catt lands, looking for survivors.

Stage 2:  Rosie devises a near-impossible goal that he doesn't agree with.

• AQ -- Rosie's wants to attack a German warship. Charley agrees, knowing she'll give up when she learns how dangerous the river is.
• Escapee -- Hector wants to attack enemy headquarters. Catt agrees only because she's certain he'll give up when he realizes how dangerous a flight across the moon is.

So far the two stories are similar. Now they start to diverge, though the skeleton remains the same.

Turning point:  When mild danger fails to deter her from her purpose, his true feelings come out explosively.

·         In AQ, after shooting rapids doesn't deter Rosie, Charley gets drunk and insults Rosie. She dumps out all his rum.

·         In Escapee, after getting caught in a volcano's updraft doesn't deter Hector, Catt sabotages a cannon stored in the airship's hold.

Stage 3:  Futile attempts to rebuild a civil relationship.

• AQ -- Charley apologizes for insulting her, but she won't accept his apology unless he agrees to take her to the Germans' ship.
• Escapee -- With the cannon gone, Hector realizes how futile his quest is. Feeling guilty, Catt tries to be nice, but he's too depressed to talk about it.

Turning point:  He agrees to share her goal.

In AQ, Charley's (deeply buried!) chivalry makes him give in.

In Escapee, Catt remembers all the friends whom the enemy has killed. Hearing her cry during the night, Hector finally talks, voicing his idealistic reasons for wanting to fight. Inspired by his idealism, Catt agrees to make the dangerous voyage to the other side of the moon.

Stage 4:  Falling in love

Etc, etc.

"Inspired By", Not a Ripoff

This post is getting long, so I won't bore you with all six stages, but hopefully you get the general idea. Analyzing the movie turned out to be a huge help in developing my plot. You ought to try it some time.

I'd like to emphasize that Escapee ended up having a different feel than the movie. Here are some of the key differences:

• Although both environments are hostile, they're different -- river rapids vs. hurricanes and volcanoes.
• The characters’ genders are reversed. Their wounds are very different, as are the lessons they need to learn.
• I added secondary characters. They capture an enemy who tries to sabotage the airship. Hector has an alien pet that is ugly/lovable. Finally, Catt's android co-pilot provides comic relief as well as the book's most poignant scene, when he dies.
• The ending is more believable, IMHO. AQ's ending requires an act of God (a rainstorm that floats their grounded boat) and a wild coincidence (their sunken boat nonetheless sinks the German ship). Escapee has a logical ending.

What's It to You?

If you have a favorite movie you love, you might want to turn it into a book of your own. If so, consider analyzing it for stages and turning points.

What movie would you like to turn into an "inspired by" novel? Tell us about it in the comments.

PREORDER ESCAPEE NOW ON AMAZON: http://amzn.to/1WAxssv

Release Date: April 19 2016

About Edward Hoornaert

What kind of man writes romance? A man who married his high school sweetheart a week after graduation and is still living the HEA decades later. A man who is a certifiable Harlequin hero in his own right -- Ed inspired Vicki Lewis Thompson’s Rita Award finalist Mr. Valentine, which is dedicated to him.

Ed started out writing romances for Silhouette Books, but these days he concentrates on science fiction romance. In addition to novelist, he’s been a teacher, principal, technical writer, salesman, janitor, and symphonic oboist. He and wife Judi live in Tucson, Arizona. They have three sons, a daughter, a mutt, and the world’s most adorable grandson. Visit him at http://eahoornaert.com. 

Enjoy alien aphrodisiac liquor at the Summer Cafe @sfrbrigade #SFR #Giveaways #ASMSG

Here at the SFR Brigade's Summer Cafe its time for some supernova hotness with space opera erotic romance. Dine in with Scifi Romance Excerpts and a giveaway! 

Care to join me for brunch?

Here's all the places we'll be visiting durning the Supernova Hotness week of the blog hop with the SFR Brigade:

In my cafe, as we dine among alien artifacts, we appreciate the finer qualities of aphrodisiac liquor distilled for concubines of the Gran....

Excerpt  -- Lots of Fun (NSFW)

Instead of striking me or chastising me as I expected, he clicked approval and grabbed another bottle of liquor from his cabinet. He poured my glass full once more. After the fifth cup, I felt nothing. No desire for Cesar. No need for Cesar. No desire to be rid of this tall, furry, striped son-of-a bitch with his huge cock swinging in front of my face. I felt nothing but a floating haze of inebriation.

Liquor was the answer to my problems.

After the sixth cup, I’d was a grinning fool who could barely stand, perfectly content sprawled across the Captain’s lap, my cheek rested against his thick, warm cock. There was something about his gloriously large cock that made me happy, even though I’d never get it inside me.

I buried my fingers in the fur of his thighs, giggling and enjoying the feeling of his powerful musculature. I rubbed my face against the soft fur on his chest. I knew what he wanted, the same thing every male wants. Instead I teased him and avoided his ever-hardening cock. When I tried to stand up I fell over and found myself whisked into his powerful arms. He laid me out on his couch-lounger and hovered over me, a look of satisfaction on his face.

“I understand you, Angel. I know you are pained by the loss of your men. For this reason I forgive you … this time.”

He unzipped my suit and I did not fight him. He stripped my one-piece off and all I could do was giggle. He grabbed my knees in his clawed grip and squeezed hard enough to draw blood. The pain brought more trickles of euphoria and a smile to my face. It didn’t matter if he wanted to hurt me. He’d already destroyed me when he took me from Cesar. Physical pain was nothing more than pleasure to my twisted nervous system.

Bleeding and smiling, I curled up naked in his arms, loving the sensations of his slippery, soft fur on my skin. I had to face the fact this was my place, right here, playing pretend for the Captain. If I couldn’t be with Cesar, I had to try to salvage a future.

I had to accept the harsh truth: I was not made to be loved. Who could love a thing designed in a laboratory, an experiment? No love for Angel. But I could still have fun. Lots of fun.

Excerpt  -- Make Him Pay (NSFW)

With Cronin’s ship cruising double-time to reach the jump site at the outer edge of our solar system, I found my fellow concubine curled into a ball, passed out on the couch in her cabin. Chilla’s beautiful green-striped fur had bloodstains from a recent round of punishing sex with Cronin. If there was a hell for Cats, that son-of-a-bitch Cronin had a special corner dedicated to him.

Seeing her miserable condition lit fires of fury in my veins. My hands shook with the intense adrenaline rush, the need to lash out and hurt someone. If he fucking came near me, I’d probably break his claws off one a time and use them to castrate him.

He tried to enter our cabin a few hours later, without permission or warning. I kicked him so hard in his fat, fist-sized balls that he puked all over the hallway as I shoved him back out the door.

Chilla moaned from the couch. “If I deny him, he will short my payment.”

“And if you’re dead, how will you collect your money?”

She didn’t argue that one. Concubines had died servicing males who lost control while high on amixa. She’d admitted as much, and I feared she’d end up like one of her lost sisters, dead on the floor, fucked and mauled to death.

Chilla’s thighs showed deep scarring from the many times she’d been mauled during sex with males high on amixa. Her nanomed cream healed her wounds in a couple days, but it didn’t get rid of the scars. That cream she used religiously was the only reason she’d survived this long.

The Captain and I couldn’t really have sex, and he didn’t do any permanent damage to me. Though his massive cock didn’t fit me, he was creative with his games of pretend. Luckily, my skin healed in hours without a mark. I could serve him well enough to keep him away from Chilla until she recovered.

Cronin waited a few hours before he knocked on our door with a polite growl, requesting entry. I hoped his balls were too sore to get it up and enjoy his drug addiction. Chilla, the fool, answered the door and let him in. The stupid female worried she wouldn’t get paid if she refused him service.

Though I wanted to crush his swollen testicles in my hands so I could watch him mewl and puke, I volunteered to service him, to keep him off Chilla for another day. Like a good little concubine I followed Cronin back to his cabin. He laid out the bottle of spiced amber-colored liquor with little spongy squares of spice cake –Angel treats – and watched me strip off my one-piece suit. The Cats, specifically Cronin, preferred I wear the clothing of a female Cat – a barely there bra, and a belted skirt thing that left my legs, thighs and most of my ass bared. My zipper suit was quickly discarded as the Captain brought out my new outfit, another facet of his pretend routine.

Standing naked before this massive male, with a swinging dick as long as my arm, I was glad for the liquor. The potent aphrodisiac liquor allowed me to perform for this motherfucker, instead of killing him like I wanted to. He bent me over, sprayed amixa on my back and ass, and rubbed his monstrous cock between my thighs, pretending to fuck me. With the heavy meat of his erection rubbing my inner thighs and pussy raw, I knew somehow, some way, I’d make him pay. If not for all he’d done to me – for Chilla.

 Join Angel 6.0 in her struggle to survive as a concubine to the Gran:

http://smarturl.it/Angel6Series1

And don't forget about the AWESOME GIVEAWAYS!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enjoy your time among the stars, and don't overdo it at the bar, that aphrodisiac liquor packs a wallop. You just might find yourself enslaved to a warlike race of alien Cats...

Custom artwork inspired by Angel 6.0