Guestpost "What if" by Marcella Burnard + Giveaway

Filed in Giveaways , Guest Post , Marcella Burnard , The Geeky Lover Posted on April 22, 2011 @ 6:00 am 15 comments
We are very happy to welcome science fiction romance author Marcella Burnard here at Book Lovers Inc today. I discovered her books this year while trying to achieve my goal to read more scifi in 2011 and her first novel, Enemy Within blew me away. So no wonder I jumped at the chance to get her over to our little place of the internet. Today she will tell us about What If’s and what they have to do with writing. Please give her a warm welcome and be sure to answer her question at the end for you chance to get an ARC of her next book Enemy Games.

Do you ever play ‘what if’ games? You know, silly stuff, like what if the Mayans were right and the world ends in December 2012? What would that look like? Would the old gods, hungry for the blood sacrifices they’re no longer receiving rise up to come after us? Post-apocalyptic hide and seek in the worst way for the survivors, right? Or what if you were a simple lab technician prepping samples for the doctors and research scientists when you accidentally infect yourself with one of the bio-agents under study? What happens? If you do toy around with ‘what if’ games, congratulations. You’re qualified to be a storyteller.

I’m Marcella Burnard. I write science fiction romance for Berkley Sensation. What if games are something I mess around with while I’m lying in bed in that half-awake, half-asleep state. Most of mine center on science. I have a serious addiction to science shows and books. This is an expensive and space intensive hobby – turns out most nonfiction books only come out in hard back. It’s gotten easier on my book shelves and on my bank account with the advent of e-books, but still. It’s the mix of science mingling with ‘what if’ that sometimes sparks characters and stories.
That’s how Enemy Within and Enemy Games happened. (Enemy Within came out in November of 2010. Enemy Games comes out May 3, 2011.) A friend’s husband had come home from serving in Iraq. He suffered from PTSD that completely disrupted his life. I’d done some reading about how PTSD is treated (the upshot is that various therapies can help, but ultimately, it is the patient who heals, not the treatment). This got me thinking. What if a soldier has been captured, imprisoned, tortured, accused of spying and then is suddenly released? She’d come out of it with her sense of safety shattered (PTSD). Her military commanders would assume she’d been brainwashed, at the very least, and they’d dump her like a hot rock. What if the hero has to subsequently capture and imprison her in order to find out what she knows about the enemy? How’s she going to recover if she’s a prisoner again? How’s she going to handle being interrogated yet again?

The story could have gone a number of ways. It could have been a blood bath. Instead it’s a romance. The hero works out almost immediately that she’s had to develop all kinds of coping mechanisms for pain and interrogation. She has no defense against tenderness. He gets to seduce information from her. That sounded like a lot more fun. I made it science fiction simply because I’m a geek, and because at this juncture in our technological and social development, women can’t currently captain their own space ships. I wanted her to have a lot on the line – her command, her crew and her ship – to make her want to prove she’s still a good soldier, that she hadn’t broken.

Enemy Games happened a little differently. See, one reasonably well known fact about me: I live with my husband and four cats aboard a sailboat on Puget Sound. Yes, it’s my very own pseudo space ship. On the water. Laugh if you like. I told you I’m a geek. I’d wanted a much smaller space ship in the second book – one the forced the hero and heroine into close contact simply by virtue of the tiny vessel (like the 34’x14’ catamaran). The ‘what if’ for that book was what if you were a quiet scientist who kept to shadows cast by your famous friends and relations? Why would you do that? Excess of low self-esteem? Or because you have a secret you don’t want anyone to uncover? Yeah. I went with that second one, too. If only because I wanted to see how the hero would coax the heroine, Jayleia, to confide in him. The zombie homage I stuck near the front of the book helped, too.

Do you see why I love writing science fiction romance? I get to indulge my geek nature with intriguing science – I even have access to a PhD in astrophysics and another PhD in neurobiology. Neither of them laughs (to my face) at my amateurish questions. How cool is that? Beyond that, however, because of the word ‘romance’ tacked to the end of my chosen genre, I get to explore some really interesting, intense and occasionally sexy psychology. Don’t ask me what defect of personality makes me so vulnerable to the myriad ways people twist and turn and manipulate and jockey for what they want – even when what a hero wants is the heroine and she, him. I want to know if it’s still manipulation (a bad thing) if someone is doing it to help…Does intention trump action? I haven’t decided yet. If all goes according to plan, I still have three more ‘what ifs’ to work on the question.

Weigh in! What are your ‘what if’ scenarios? What’s your take? Does intent matter more than action?

PS: Little known fact: My husband and I are about to cast off the dock lines and go sailing up the Inside Passage for five months. This is on the western coast of the US and Canada. Follow along on my blog where we’ll post photos and travel info.  Updates subject to cell availability!
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~*~*Giveaway*~*~

Marcella has generously offered an ARC copies of her next release Enemy Games to 1 lucky commenter!

All you have to do is answer her question at the end of the post.
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please leave us a way to contact you.
(Email in blogger profile or twitter name – no way to contact you – no entry).

This giveaway is open worldwide!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, April 30 and we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!

Copyright 2010-11 Book Lovers Inc.

About Susi


Susi is a geeky vegetarian from Gemany. She just finished university and now works as a civil engineer in steel construction. Besides her reading addiction she also knits like a maniac while listening to audiobooks. Susi also blogs at the Secret HEA Society.

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15 Comments

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  • Jenna McCormick April 22, 2011 at 6:21 am

    I love what if, second only to my favorite question why? My husband has told me I'm like an annoying two-year-old with the whys.

    My absolute favorite what if to mull over is what if the world stopped spinning on its axis. From research I know we wouldn't all go flying off but so many other things would change. No more day and night, six months of total darkness and six months of relentless sunlight depending on where the planet was in its orbit around the sun. Continental drift would change,the oceans pulled toward the poles leaving a giant landmass in the center. Fresh water would be scarce. How would people live then? Yeah, I could geek it up for hours like this.

    I can't wait to see photos from your trip, such an exciting adventure!

    authorjennamac@gmail.com

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  • Birgit April 22, 2011 at 6:42 am

    Not only do I love science fiction I also love what-if's. Of course all fiction is more or less a what-if, but the truly fascinating themes are those that are the, uhm, least likely to really happen. Alien invasion, anyone? And we're back to our science fiction universe.

    danaan at gmx dot at

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  • debbie April 22, 2011 at 8:37 am

    I love the what if question. It is a big part of my hobby, studying influenzas and pandemics. What if we had another Spanish Flu outbreak? Could we handle in, and unfortunately,the answer is probably not.
    twoofakind12@yahoo.com

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  • Lil April 22, 2011 at 11:26 am

    I honestly haven't decided if intent trumps action. What if the intention was good for one culture but not considered so by the culture experiencing the action?

    I play the "what if" thing a lot when packing for trips. Drive my hubby crazy and means I love gadgets for travel.

    little lamb lst at yahoo dot com

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  • van_pham April 22, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    I have a lot of "what if" moments…just randomly haha. My family usually gets annoyed, but I agree with a previous commenter..i guess it's more fun when it in an unlikely/unrealistic situation.

    thanks for the giveaway! Have fun on your trip and stay safe 🙂

    Van
    Littopandaxpress(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  • Robin K April 22, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    My what ifs are often, what if we have to move and could only fill the van! What would I take, leave, miss? What if we lived on an island and what would I want there. Yah, I think about this far too much 🙂

    These books look great. Just added them to my wish list.

    robin [at] intensewhisper [dot] com

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  • Sullivan McPig April 22, 2011 at 5:42 pm

    *waves at Marcella*
    May 3? Oh, that is good news. Bookdepository said still 90 days to go.
    And I love playing the what if game!
    What if I had a teleport machine. What if I could time travel, etc.
    As for intent: yes that matters more than action I think. Because what's in your heart matters the most. That being said: you should also take action because no matter how beautiful your intent without action it's nothing.
    So conclusion: intent = important as that's what leads you to action.

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  • Jen B. April 22, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    I try not to live my life full of what ifs. I do sometimes think about the War of the Worlds scenario. What if that happened? Would mankind finally ban together against a common enemy? I do feel that intent matters but so do actions. I don't know if they are equal but both are important.

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  • Marcella Burnard April 22, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    @Jenna – Ooo. I did not know that about an earth not turning. I perceive something I now need to look up. 😀

    @Birgit – I'm married to a geek, so half of our marriage has consisted of 'what if the zombie apocalypse hit…' and then the subsequent planning sessions. Granted, 'zombie apocalypse' equates to 'any disaster'. But still. We get funny looks in restaurants.

    @debbie – Oh! I read The Great Influenza while writing the first book in this series. What a terrific and horrifying account that was. All the medical stuff is so fascinating.

    @Lil – you're thinking along the same lines I tried to – how do you define good intentions? And what if those intentions result in disaster? Tough question.

    @Van_pham – My family used to get annoyed, too…sometimes still do when an idea pops into my head in the middle of dinner. 😀

    @Robin – You're doing the Zombie Apocalypse game! Quick! They're coming! What do you grab and where do you go??

    @Sullivan – Hey, Sullivan! Good to see you – when you fire up that time travel machine, can I go?

    @Jen – I do understand not living your life filled with anything that might increase stress or anxiety – and 'what if' can do that unless you force yourself to stick to obviously ridiculous and unlikely 'what ifs'. And heck, not everyone *has* to be a geek! 😀

    Thank you all for stopping in! The book is waiting and ready to go…

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  • Barbara E. April 22, 2011 at 9:58 pm

    I play the "what if" game quite often. What if my house were on fire, what would I try to take? Should I think about that and gather those things all in one place just in case? What if I won the lottery? What would I do with all that money? That's always an entertaining one, that can go on forever.

    Barbed1951 at aol dot com

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  • marybelle April 23, 2011 at 2:10 am

    My big WHAT IF is what if I had not gone to that party that night. How different my life would have been.

    marypres@gmail.com

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  • BooksforCompany April 23, 2011 at 8:03 am

    Omg l am always doing this!
    My boyfriend always says how he was going to go to that party neither was l. What if we hadn't?
    These questions go through my head daily!
    Thanks for the giveaway
    booksforcompany @ gmail.com

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  • Tore April 23, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    Weigh in! What are your ‘what if’ scenarios? What’s your take? Does intent matter more than action?I think alot of science fiction and paranormal books are what ifs. I like what ifs. I like using my imagination and I also like action. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com

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  • Meredith April 24, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    Lots of what-ifs right now….what-if I don't have a job before the savings runs out….what-if I don't pass my finals….what-if my son doesn't squeak by and graduate….

    I like to see action more than intent. I'm guilty of good intentions myself, and so often regret not taking more action.

    meredithfl at gmail dot com

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  • mbreakfield April 30, 2011 at 10:38 pm

    I love what if questions. I think action trumps intent.
    marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com

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