My award-winning science
fiction romance, JANUS IS A TWO-HEADED GOD, had a bit of an unusual start. I’d
always wanted to write in that genre, but at the time, I was busy with
Regencies, paranormals, and mysteries. My current project was THE
MAGIC TOKEN, a Regency, and I was at the library doing research. I honestly
don’t remember what triggered it, but in the middle of looking for books on the
English countryside, the phrase JANUS IS A TWO-HEADED GOD popped up in my mind.
I stopped what I was doing, pondered those words, and then wrote them down in
my notepad. “What a cool title! I thought. The rest, as they say, is history!
After I finished THE MAGIC
TOKEN, I began brainstorming, and then researching for JANUS IS A TWO-HEADED
GOD. Janus, the two-headed Roman god had to play a part in the novel and, since
this was to be a science fiction, I needed a setting, preferably in the future.
A clash of cultures soon followed with the heroine, Sophia, from the backwaters
planet Earth butting heads with one of the leaders of the Galactic Core
Coalition, JorVaal 5 Lanquist.
Seeking a cure for her ill brother, Sophia McLaren must
leave Earth to journey into the unknown to Xaspaar, in the center of the Milk
Way Galaxy. She finds dangerous intrigue... plus a love transcending the vast
expanse of space. But can she persuade JorVaal 5 that love can be forever?
JorVaal 5 Lanquist has a galactic catastrophe on his
hands¾plus a headstrong
female from the despised planet Earth. Will he be able to set aside age-old
prejudices and admit he’s actually feeling an ancient emotion called love?
As I previously wrote for my
Author
Notes on ALIEN HEAT, world-building in science fiction stories can be very
difficult. And for JANUS IS A TWO-HEADED GOD, I had some heavy duty research
ahead of me. The planet Xaspaar, in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, is a
distance of over 30,000 light years from Earth. With today’s technology, by the
time a spaceship arrives, roughly three million years would have passed.
Obviously this is not an option! To keep the science in science fiction, an
author must follow the natural laws of the universe in order for the novel to
be believable. So I used wormholes or black holes--tunnels in space with
gravitational fields so intense that nothing can escape, not even light--as a
plausible method to cut through the stellar highway. I bought two of
theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking’s works to help me with these concepts.
Not easy reading!
What
happens when the Human leader at Milky Way’s core must deal with a headstrong
female from the despised planet Earth?
JANUS IS A TWO-HEADED GOD
has had a home from the beginning at Awe-Struck
Books (Mundania Press) where it won the prestigious Preditor’s and Editor’s
Award for Best Science Fiction.
Also, my novel was selected
as a finalist in the prestigious EPIC Awards (now EPIC eBook Award) for Best
Fantasy/Paranormal/Science Fiction Romance.
In addition, JANUS IS A
TWO-HEADED GOD was a Golden Rose Award Finalist for Best Science
Fiction/Fantasy, on the #1 Best-Seller list for Fictionwise.com, and earned the
highest review rating from the Romantic Times Magazine.
Here’s a snippet from real
life. As Sophia does, I used to wear a Yankees’ baseball cap as a kid. For
awhile, the Bronx Bombers’ hat was rarely off my head. Sophia has another
reason for wearing her cap. The first section, below, is where Sophia learns
from Fredd, a genetically altered Human, that long hair is forbidden on planet
Xaspaar. The second section shows how she tries to hide her long hair. The
third section reveals that the jig is up!
1.
Fredd turned back to the console. “As you wish, lass. We have fifteen of
yer Terran days remaining to the trip so I suggest you study the viewer to
learn the ways of Core civilization. It will go easier on you if you do.”
“Yes, thank you, Fredd. That’s a great idea.”
“You might find some of the information disagreeable. Fer example, you
must cut the flowing cascade of yer rich, dark hair.”
“I must?” Sophia fingered a lock and curled it around her finger. “And
why is that?” At times Fredd spoke so poetically.
“No one, male or female, wears hair below the base of the neck on
Xaspaar. Long hair represents the barbarous past -- a symbol of more sensuous,
less disciplined times. If you refuse to cut yer hair, once we land, you must
expect confinement with other criminal violators.”
Oh great, she was a criminal now? And over what, the length of her hair?
Incredible.
Fredd spread his hands. “My regrets, Sophia.”
“Don’t worry about it. Maybe I’ll just stay inside the ship.”
She furiously cleaned out the water bottle and slammed it down. Just
what kind of society equated someone’s hairdo with theft or murder? Or perhaps
those activities were tolerated?
“Well, it seems I have a great deal of viewing to do. See you later,
Fredd.”
_________________________________________________________
2.
Sophia stood and smoothed down the stiff fabric of her cabin suit. She
was comfortably warm, but for her neck. Newly bare, her skin produced goose
bumps in the cool pressurized air.
She fingered a wisp of hair coiled by her ear. No, she hadn’t cut it,
certainly not! Instead, her long, barbarous hair was neatly wound into a bun
atop her head. Also, to further hide the offending tresses, she’d pulled on a
Yankees’ sports cap. Maybe not très chic, but it would have to do. Imagine
having a law against long hair! Still, a law was a law, and she couldn’t stay
inside the ship as she’d quipped earlier. Plus, she wouldn’t be much help to
Mart from inside a GCC jail.
_________________________________________________________
3.
JorVaal pulled her away, which caused Sophia to lose her balance and
stumble on the jagged rock. When the brim of her Yankees’ cap hit the stone, it
flew off her head, landing at her feet.
JorVaal reached down to fetch it. “My apologies, Sophia, for this
mishap. You are so slight, I miscalculated the force...”
His gaze met hers. For one long second, she was suspended in time --
lost in his magnetic presence.
JorVaal’s brows then lowered, meeting at the bridge of his hawk sharp
nose. Extreme displeasure radiated from him.
She dusted the seat of her pants. Why was he annoyed? She was the one
who fell. Shaking her head, she stopped short. A long tendril of hair had
escaped from her makeshift bun.
Oh, good heavens! He knows. I hope this doesn’t
mean I have to cut my hair.
_________________________________________________________
Also available is JANUS IS A TWO-FACED MOON--taking
place six years later and follows a different couple, Blade and
Christopher--however Sophia and JorVaal do play a role.
I
hope you enjoy
Sophia and JorVaal’s story.
Happy reading,
Susanne Marie Knight
Read outside the box: award-winning Romance Writing
With A Twist!
