A Pets in Space® 4 Blog Roundup!

I thought it would be fun to do a blog roundup today—rounding up all the Pets in Space® 4 blog posts. Each author blogged about Hero Dogs and their pets, so I organized them in that order. 

And just to remind you what Hero Dogs is all about:

Proud supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space® authors have donated over $7,100 in the past three years to help place specially trained dogs with veterans and first responders. 10% of all pre-orders and the first month’s royalties of Pets in Space® 4 will again go to Hero-Dogs.org. Open your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Pets in Space® 4 today so together we can continue to assist this worthy charity!

Our donation period for Hero Dogs ends November 11, 2019, so there is still time to grab Pets in Space® 4 and do your part to raise that number! 

S.E. Smith – This is my fourth year of writing a story for Pets in Space® and I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of something that has taken on a life of its own and a project that gives back so much to our community. What do I mean? Well, Pets in Space® 4 is one of those very unique opportunities that you get in life to pay it forward.

Anna – I have the best job in the world – everyday, I get to sit down and write action-packed stories about heroes. I write about men and women who face overwhelming odds and terrible circumstances (like being abducted from Earth by alien slavers, taken to a lawless desert planet, and being rescued by dangerous cyborgs).

Tiffany – All our books tend to be conceived around their central characters—our process almost always has the characters created and fleshed out first, and then the story is built around them based on who they are and how they mesh together.

Veronica – My father and my uncles served hitches in different branches of the military so I grew up with a great respect for the job soldiers do in support of our nation and our freedom. My late husband was on active duty in the USMC for three years and then rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant in the Reserves at the time of his death (which was not related to his military service). I was a military wife in the early years of our marriage!

Pauline – When Veronica Scott and I conceived the idea for our Pets in Space anthologies, one of the first things we talked about was supporting a charity that benfited our military and first responders—those who run toward danger when others are running away. And we hoped for some kind of pet tie-in.

Laurie A. Green – So why does supporting our military vets strike a chord with me?

Donna McDonald – Therapy dogs of all sorts are miracle workers of the best kind. When my mother was hospital bound for months in 2018, it was a therapy dog coming to see her twice a week that kept her from sinking into depression over being so ill.

E.D. Walker – My family has some connection to the military: my grandfather and father both served in the armed forces. My grandfather in WWII, and my father as a marine reservist, although he was never deployed. Growing up, I was instilled with a deep sense of pride for their service, and a healthy respect for the sacrifices our armed forces and their families make.

Kyndra Hatch – When Pets in Space® first came out in 2016, I was in love. Combining science fiction romance with furry companions was every bit as good as it sounds. The stories were fantastic! Then combining all of that to help Hero-Dogs.org and I simply had to be a part of it.

Regine Able – I knew of guide dogs and detection dogs, but finding out about the hero dogs tickled me pink.

Alexis Glynn Latner – A good dog can make even more of a life-changing difference if the dog is specifically trained.

JC Hay- For a person in need, these service animals provide a sense of independence, of self-reliance, that might not otherwise be available.

Kyndra   – When Pets in Space® first came out in 2016, I was in love. Combining science fiction romance with furry companions was every bit as good as it sounds. The stories were fantastic! Then combining all of that to help Hero-Dogs.org and I simply had to be a part of it.

Cassandra Chandler – My dad was stationed outside of Sicily while he was in the navy.

S.E. Smith

Anna Hackett – In my novella, Dark Guard, my cyborg cat started her life as a small hunting cat from the lawless desert world of Carthago.

Tiffany Roberts    – Before we had any inkling of the details of our story, Tiffany already had a strong sense of the pet who would star in it.

Veronica Scott – Usually I start with the concept of the pet for my Pets In Space® stories and develop the plot from what the animal ‘suggests’ to me but this time my jumping off place was legends about tourists having bad luck after removing rocks from national parks as souvenirs.

Pauline – Welcome to another special Pets in Space edition of Dead Author Live! I’m excited today to talk to you about Pets in Space 4! One of the things that gives the Pets in Space anthology an extra dose of heart, in my opinion, are the pets.

Laurie – My “pet” in Pets in Space® 4 is called a SpyDog. Her name is Maura and she’s the third StarDog character I’ve written, with one each for Pets in Space® 1, 2 and now 4. These three stories have added rich new layers to the ongoing saga as well as important new characters in my Inherited Stars Series.

Donna McDonald- When I was in the process of picking my pet for my story in the Pets In Space 4 anthology, I was spending time with an Australian friend.

Regine – I had always wished to write my own spin on the transfer of consciousness theme found in The Matrix, but I wanted the whole thing happening in the real world. This led to the creation of the Xian Warriors and their Soulcatchers: the psychic women of the Vanguard capable of holding the souls of fallen warriors until their rebirth.

Alexis -The Ascendance Fair is a huge interstellar tourist attraction, held every summer.  When I wanted to write a Pets in Space story set in Wendis, I had the notion of a smaller, warmup fair, something even more like today’s Renaissance Festivals. Winter would be a good time for it, giving the Fair organizers time to solve logistical problems before their big showtime the following summer. (They do end up with their hands full of problems!)  Of course, taking take place five thousand years from now and on the other side of the colonized stars, the Winterfair would have much less to do with actual history than myths and legends. As soon as I started thinking along these lines, Prince wanted in.

JC Hay – Goanna are a relatively new introduction to the TriSystems books – they were referenced in a couple of places before now as an aside, but Heart of the Spider’s Web marks the first time I’ve spent any significant time with them. To understand Darcy and goanna in general I must dive into a bit of history.

E.D. Walker  –   Adding another layer to the theme of my loyalty is my pet this year: Pym the caliba.

Kyndra Hatch  – Meet Squeak, the playful pet from my Pets in Space® 4 story, “Interrupting Starlight.” He provided food and companionship to Tessa, who was stranded on the desolate desert Korthan world for two years.

Cassandra Chandler – One of the best aspects of being a writer is when the story, the characters, or the world surprise you.

And here are some guest posts from other sites:

Booklight Radio with Lisa Kessler – Interview with Veronica Scott!

What Inspired the authors? – But how do the authors come up with these wonderful stories? You might wonder what sparks of imagination fueled these pet-enhanced SFR adventures. Today, we have many of the bestselling, award-winning PISA4 authors here to talk about what inspired them to write their stories! Enjoy!

Know Thy Heroine – It’s late, she’s bored. What does she do? Juli would probably research the next stop for the Nebula Zephyr, since she’s the Cruise Director, and identify fun things for her passengers to do while on the planet.

About Pets in Space

Pauline Talks About the Fun of SFR

An interview with JC Hay

Cassandra Chandler on Paranoral Romanics blog! – I love reading many different genres, but most enjoy stories that take me to another world. The key factor for me is getting lost in someone’s imagination — whether it’s fairies and magic, aliens and spaceships, or a mix of both! The same holds true in my own writing.

Putting the Pets in Pets in Space!

I hope you learn something new from browsing the posts and that you’ll consider supporting Pets in Space® 4 and Hero Dogs!!

Perilously yours,

Pauline