Re-Released! New Cover!
I’m
happy to announce that my popular science fiction short story romance,
“Homesick” has now been re-released! “Homesick” is one those tales that sneak
up on you and tug on your heart. There are two very personal connections to
this story for me; I’ll get into them in a bit. For now, let’s discuss the
inside scoop on “Homesick”.
I
wrote “Homesick” because at the time, I actually was, in fact, homesick. More
on that later. Once the story was completed, I submitted it to a print
publisher of anthologies. “Homesick” was gladly accepted and scheduled to be
included in their newest anthology. The only item they wanted changed was the
title. So instead of “Homesick”, the story was to be known as “Home Of The
Heart.”
Alas,
the publisher had to close its doors before the anthology was released. If
you’ve been reading my Author Notes blogs, you’ll know this happens A LOT.
So
the first thing I did was change the title back to “Homesick”. Next, I looked
for a new home for the story. I eventually used it to promote my contemporary
romance novel LOVE AT THE TOP
released by a now defunct publisher. Here is the beautiful cover:
“Homesick”
was voted a Top Ten Finisher Best Science Fiction Short Story in the
prestigious Preditors and Editors Readers Poll.
“Homesick” was then published by Uncial Press and had
been with them for many years. Here is the original cover.
“Homesick”
was very happily received, and given a rating of 1 1/2 hankies out of 2 hankies
-- “Unusual for a short story, because it's hard to build that kind of
emotion in short stuff. You do it well.”
Here’s
the blurb: “Susanne Marie Knight always tells a good tale, whether long or
short. Homesick is one of her shorts, but it packs a lot into its almost 6,000
words. Jayna is not a scientist; she's an artist. The only reason she's part of
the Mars expedition is because her husband is one of the scientists vital to
the team. Lacking the all-consuming passion of satisfying research, she is at
loose ends and dreadfully homesick for the soft breezes and gentle green fields
of Earth. Mars is harsh, red, and cold. She can't even breathe without a mask.
As she paints the stark landscape, she gradually sees its beauty. And then
something so incredible, so impossible happens, and she has to adapt to
Mars...or die.”
I recently decided to have the rights returned to me
for all my Uncial Press books--a total of five novels and three short stories.
“Homesick” is the second to be re-released. It’s now available on Amazon.com and Smashwords.com!
New Cover!
Just what is Jayna homesick for?
This
book is part of the Fascinating Sci-Fi line.
Here are some wonderful comments:
Homesick is a science fiction that will
make you wonder.--Romance at Heart.
Such a beautiful story! Was not
prepared for the story or the ending!!!! Wonderfully written!--Reader Comment
I really liked this story. I would
definitely like to read more of Susanne’s work.--Reader Comment
Fantastic! Beautifully written! I love
the descriptions!--Reader Comment
Now for the connections to real life as I mentioned in the beginning of this
blog. Way back when, my husband was stationed on Okinawa, a beautiful island
half a world away from where I was from. And yes, at first I was homesick.
Looking up at the night sky, I couldn’t get over how strange it was to see
different stars, different constellations. This thought led me to the idea on
what it would be like looking up at the night sky on a different planet, for
example, Mars. The following passage is the beginning of “Homesick” where Jayna
describes her reaction to her new home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jayna
stared out at the vast expanse of desert undulating before her. The shifting
sands roughly lapped at her booted feet. As she watched, arid winds increased
in tempo, whirling the gritty particles into a frenzy. Soon a sandstorm would
obscure her vision and she’d have to return to the compound.
Not
that she minded. Staying inside the manmade tomb carved into a mountain higher
than Mount Everest irritated her, but being outside was infinitely worse. At
least inside, ordinary, everyday objects surrounded her. Outside, only the
monotonous, pale sand seemed familiar. But instead of reminding her of the home
she’d left behind, the sand’s color made her blood boil. She’d expected the
stuff to be blood-red.
God,
how she hated this place. Even the name of the desert was apt: Hellas. Hell.
How true.
Inhaling
a deep breath of the purified oxygen-nitrogen mixture from the tank strapped to
her shoulders, she took one last look at the velvet skies pierced by intense,
untwinkling points of light. Two tiny moons hung low on the horizon. Two. If
she lived to be one hundred, she’d never get used to that unnatural sight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
second connection shows how Jayna has adapted to this new home, and also has
new life growing inside her. Her miracle baby, she calls her unborn child. I,
too, called my daughter my miracle baby. Below shows how Jayna feels about her
new circumstances.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sitting
cross-legged at the base of the Hellas mountain she now called home, Jayna took
a break from her painting and gazed out at the desolate beauty surrounding her.
The shrunken sun had warmed the thin Martian atmosphere to forty degrees
Fahrenheit, a veritable heat wave. High overhead, the two moons, small Phobos
and tiny Deimos, shone down on her, keeping her company. Soon the larger one,
Phobos, would complete its circuit across the sky and vanish for a few hours.
How strange that the moons appeared to move in opposite directions. But Phobos
would be back. She and Deimos could count on that.
Funny
how two moons instead of one now seemed so natural and right. She smiled. Yes,
a lot had changed in two months.
Her
half-finished canvas propped up in front of her, she picked up an oil tube of
ultramarine blue and squeezed some next to the viridian green on her palette.
Springtime on Mars was beautiful, a cause for celebration. The nearby Mare
Serpentis, once believed to be an ocean, was instead awash with hardy desert
plants: mosses and lichens to decorate the Spartan landscape. New life, new
growth abounded, just as it did within her.
She
patted her generous tummy. Who would’ve guessed she had something in common
with this forbidding planet? As the seed within her took hold, so did the
tenacious desert plants. Each new life struggled against the odds to survive
hostile conditions. Mother Nature’s miracle. Her miracle.
When
she lifted a brush to the canvas, a gentle fluttering in her stomach stayed her
hand. “You’re letting your presence be known, aren’t you, little one?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I
hope you enjoy Jayna’s wondrous story.
Happy
reading,
Susanne
Marie Knight
Read outside the box: award-winning Romance
Writing With A Twist!
