Why Veronica Scott Wrote GABE: A BADARI WARRIORS SCIFI ROMANCE NOVEL

Thanks for having me over to share the thinking behind the latest story in my award winning Badari Warriors series!

Gabe’s been an important supporting character since the first book in the series. He’s fun to write, since he’s an ex-Special Forces soldier from the Sectors and also a daredevil pilot. I always knew he’d have his own book at some point and relish his time to be completely in the spotlight. I don’t plot in advance, although I do have the overall series arc in my head. I try to make sure each novel supports the series arc and with this novel I’ve thrown in a new factor and a complication. I usually start a novel knowing the hero, the heroine, the beginning, the ending and a few events in between, which is how I wrote GABE. The book flows for me once I sit down to write.

Teeny tiny spoiler for the major plot development that gets revealed really early in the first chapter – Gabe’s lady love isn’t human. She’s something everyone on the planet believes doesn’t exist, which if you’ve been reading the series will probably give you a huge clue.

SPOILER

SPOILER

SPOILER: Keshara is a female Badari.

I always knew I was going to write at least a few female Badari into the series plot somehow. They were an irresistible development to me and who better to have a mate bond with than my dashing human,  Gabe? So when the time came as I was writing this latest book, I had to really ponder under what circumstances a small pack of these women might have been created by a Khagrish scientist despite the fact their alien customers didn’t want any females to be in existence. I even had two senior Khagrish scientists talk a little bit in MATEER (book two) about the rumor there might have been female Badari and dismiss it with a laugh.

I needed to know why there was absolutely no hint anywhere that Badari females did exist, or were even possible, and that set up some intriguing stuff for me about the scientist in charge of this particular experiment and the whys and wherefores. I also had some fun with the fact these ladies are more like Generation One or Two, and hence aren’t exactly like the Generation Eight Badari males who are the heroes in the other books. Aydarr, Mateer and the others are the result of eight generations of heavy experimentation by the Khagrish scientists whereas Keshara and her sisters come from much earlier in the process.

An author must have her challenges!

Fiona Jayde gave me her usual gorgeous cover and I have to say that inspired me – I think Gabe on the cover is an excellent embodiment of my sexy hero.

Here’s the blurb:

Gabe Carter, hotshot pilot and ex-Special Forces soldier, is far from his home in the human Sectors, kidnapped by alien scientists to be the subject of horrifying experiments.  Shot down by the enemy over desolate territory far from his Badari allies and gravely injured, Gabe’s only hope is a mysterious woman on the run herself.

Keshara has to decide whether to abandon the human to die of his injuries on a windswept mountain top or give up her own quest for freedom and take him to a place he can be helped. The undeniable spark between them complicates matters.

His attraction to her is off the charts but when she betrays him to the Khagrish enemy, Gabe doesn’t know what to believe. Trapped inside an alien lab bursting with mysteries and lies, his only hope may be to trust her…again.

Because the renegade alien scientist running her own private experiments wants to use him to accomplish her goals and perpetuate the evil, no matter what she has to do to ensure his compliance. Keshara’s life hangs in the balance and Gabe has to make a choice.

This is the sixth book in the Badari Warriors world (and the fifth book in the series) and each novel has a satisfying Happy for Now ending for the hero and heroine, not a cliffhanger. Some overarching issues do remain unresolved in each book since this is an ongoing series but romance always wins the day in my novels!

The excerpt – Gabe and Keshara meet for the first time after his flyer crashes, early in Chapter One:

Deciding not to risk herself in the storm for mere curiosity’s sake, she prepared to return to the cozy den when a flash of lightning illuminated the sky and she caught sight of a new problem. A man was falling, clinging to a strange harness. He seemed to be fighting whatever was slowing his fall, and it was clear to Keshara he was descending much too fast.

Heart pounding, hand on the hilt of her knife, she watched him attempt to blunt the shock of hitting the ground by allowing his body to go limp. As he collided hard with the muddy, rock strewn ground near her den, she winced in unwilling sympathy. Through the driving rain she watched him, but he made no attempt to rise. After a minute, she heard an exclamation of pain and a few words with the force of a curse.

Enemy or not, Keshara didn’t have the heart to leave the poor man to die in the cold rain. She could at least go check out the situation, see if he had any chance to survive his amazing fall.

Adjusting her rain cape, knife at the ready, she crawled from the tunnel, rose to her feet and ran to where the man lay. Cringing as thunder boomed overhead, she prayed the lightning would hold off. The man lay on his back, one arm flung over his eyes and, as she drew close, she froze in astonishment.

He had no large crest of red and yellow hair and his skin tones were pale. He wasn’t Khagrish.

He was of some species unknown to her, similar to her own perhaps.

Groaning, he attempted to sit up but cut the move short with a jerk as he realized she was nearby. He fumbled at his hip as if searching for a weapon that was no longer there, lost in the turbulent fall perhaps. Then he spoke in a variation on her own language, the secret tongue the Director was unaware the sisters all knew. His accent was odd, some of the words made no sense, but the general meaning was clear.

“Well, you’re the last thing I was expecting.” He managed a lopsided grin despite obvious injuries, blood welling from a bad cut on one thigh and another on his head. He swiped moisture from his face. “Can we get out of the rain before we do introductions?”

Tongue tied, she stared at him. His face was undeniably handsome, although set right now in lines of pain, radiating from his eyes and lips. He was probably the same height as she was, well over six feet, and since his odd uniform was plastered to his body by the rain, Keshara could tell he was solidly built, with the muscles and sinews of one who was a deadly fighter. And what the wet fabric outlined between his legs was impressive as well. Her primary knowledge of males was gleaned from study modules, and observing the few Khagrish men left at the Retreat. This man put them to shame with his physique.

Thunder crashed again and lightning stabbed a tree at the far end of the meadow, throwing massive sparks high into the air and breaking her concentration. “We’d better get inside,” she said in her own tongue since he obviously understood the language. Reflecting on his aborted search for a weapon, she showed him the knife. “I’ll help you, but don’t think me easy meat for your taking.”

“Aww, seven hells, lady, if you’re what I think you are, you have better weapons than that.” His smile, although strained, was warming. “Do you have a shelter?”

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USA Today Best Selling Author

“SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today Happy Ever After blog

 Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.

Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job, not her romances!

 She read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “The City On the Edge of Forever.”

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Thank you so much for stopping by, Veronica! I love having you here and can’t wait to read Gabe’s story!

Perilously yours,

Pauline