Tag Archives: Battlestar Galactica

Bicker vs Banter and other topics from Sarah Madison

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Hey! I’ve got a guest post up at The Armchair Reader and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. It’s called Bicker vs Banter. In it, I discuss what I find to be an uncomfortable trend in romance stories to confuse aggression and brutality with ‘overwhelming attraction’. Do stop by and tell me what you think!

My swag for Galacticon3 is starting to roll in–so every day it’s like Christmas at my house with some new package arriving! pens

On May 4, I have a guest post up on Savvy Authors, in which I discuss Authors Behaving Badly, and some of the things we all need to keep in mind when interacting with others on the internet. That link will follow when it goes live.

I also want to share with you a very well-written and well thought out letter from a mother to her son on the nature of consent: just one part of a series of conversations she’s had with her son over the years, but now that he has reached the age where he is entering into relationships, his mother wanted to have a very particular conversation with him. It is, in a word, brilliant.

Cherry tree

In the meantime, Spring is finally here in full force! The weather today is utterly gorgeous: a crisp, sunny morning with flowers blooming everywhere and grass so brilliantly green it almost hurts your eyes. Lambs are gamboling in the field across the street, and the dog is waiting oh-so-patiently for me to take him for a run in the woods. When I get back, I’m going to sit down and pull out the beginnings of the sequel to Unspeakable Words that I started last year but never finished. You guys have convinced me that the time is right to tell the rest of Jerry and Flynn’s story, and I am very psyched about it now! Thank you!

The Boys of Summer is continuing to sell astonishingly well for an indie published story, and I am very pleased with the response that it is getting. It was a LOT of work self-pubbing, however, and I now have a much greater appreciation for how much of the background stuff I took for granted. I think that will definitely be a factor in my decision as to whether I move forward with other self-publishing projects or not. I owe so many people for helping me with the process that I need to give an Academy Awards-style speech to thank them all!

But for today–a long walk in the woods with a happy dog as I brainstorm for the evil interesting things I plan to do to Jerry and Flynn. So enjoy your day, I know I will!

Coming Soon From Sarah Madison!

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I have to snort a bit at the title of this post–it feels as though I should run a movie trailer, doesn’t it? But there are a lot of things going on right now that I’m very excited about!

Next month (32 days by the website’s counter!), I’ll be attending Galacticon 3 for the 35th anniversary of Battlestar Galactica! I’m a BSG fan from way back, and I was delighted to be invited to attend this convention as part of a panel discussion on fanfiction, as well as helping to host a workshop on writing fanfiction (or really, writing sci-fi in general). Imagine my glee when I found out that ComicPalooza was being held at the same time! Or when I discovered that Galaction is a HUGE event! I’ve been to sci-fi conventions before, but never one of this magnitude. I’m thrilled, and just a little nervous too. BSG Scriptwriter Terrance McDonnell is also going to be on the panel, and I’m not sure I won’t be tongue-tied as a result!

What do you think? Should I bring my Peggy Carter costume? I confess, I am looking for an excuse to wear it again.

Peggy Carter ShoesFirst, there are the shoes. C’mon, these are rocking shoes, aren’t they? šŸ™‚ Then there is the time and effort I put into putting the costume together in the first place. I’m still having trouble with the skirt though. The one I got originally was too long, but when I had it hemmed, I didn’t take into account how short the jacket was that went with it, and I ended up with a gap at the waist. I’ve got another skirt now that fits beautifully, but is too dark. I’m not sure I can match the color to the jacket by May 23rd!

But then there are the extras that go with it! A dear friend of mine found the exact shade of red lipstick I’d been searching for: Victory Red by Elizabeth Arden–the favorite shade of women in WW2 and still manufactured today! You should have heard me squeal when I got my surprise package in the mail. Not only did it contain the right lipstick, but my friend went the extra mile,providing me with props as well! Lipstick

I guess it’s pretty obvious I have a interest in WW2 history. The clothing of the period fascinates me as well. I loved the Captain America movie, and I adore Peggy Carter. I think one of the reasons I love her as a character is that she never lost sight of her femininity, and yet she was as tough as nails. Truly a heroine I can look up to and admire. So you can imagine my reaction when, along with the lipstick, I discovered an era-authentic compact by Stratton, which my friend assured me was what all the women used in Britain during the war. But the crowning glory of the package was the antiqued locket that my friend made for me–complete with a picture of Steve Rogers in it!

Locket and CompactI mean, seriously? How cool is that? So you see, I really HAVE to take my Peggy Carter costume with me to Galacticon/ComicPalooza, right? I thought so.

Sadly, I have to confess that I have at least three Star Trek costumes, as well as one Battlestar Galactica one as well. And a Peggy Carter leather jacket, a BSG jacket, a Stargate Atlantis jacket… I think I’m going to need a bigger suitcase…

In other news, I have an interview and excerpt from The Boys of Summer up at Chris T. Kat’s blog, please do drop by, check it out, and leave a comment. As a matter of fact, I have a bunch of interviews lined up, including some giveaways too. I’m going to be on The Armchair Reader, Savvy Author’s website, doing a Q&A on Love Romances Cafe’s site, and doing some other guest blogging in the weeks running up to Galacticon. I’m going to be hosting people here in the upcoming weeks as well! I’m also putting together swag bags for Galacticon, and will be holding a contest soon for swag and a copy of The Boys of Summer.Ā 

I’m planning to upload The Boys of Summer to ARe and Createspace this weekend (barring more formatting issues), so hopefully those of you that have been holding out for a print copy won’t have to wait much longer.

And believe it or not, I am writing. I’m working on two different projects with my good friend Claire Russett–we’re contemplating writing stories together for both of our sci-fi universes. I’m working on other stories as well, but having a hard time settling down to writing a particular one. Oh, I know, how about a poll?

What would you like to see me working on next?

What do you want Sarah Madison to work on next?

View Results

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Don’t blink–You Just Missed Spring!

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It feels that way, doesn’t it? Last week we had six inches of snow in less than six hours–today it was 80 F. Overnight, it seems, everything has come into bloom. The forsythia is out. The pear trees are forming blossoms. Redbud is beginning to dot the mountain forests. The trees are turning green right before your very eyes. Wild daffodils nod their heads alongside banks of periwinkle and phlox as you drive along the country roads.

Daffodil

Let’s not forget the baby animals gamboling along in the emerald green fields! Normally, I like spring–but it would seem this year we’re skipping it and heading straight into summer–my least favorite season.

Face it, if you sunburn easily, wear thick glasses, and have masses of hair that engulfs your entire head when the humidity is just right, like kudzu on a mountainside, well, summer is not the kindest of seasons to you. I like spring, though. Spring around here is cold rain and a lot of mud, becoming gentle breezes and mountainsides that remind me of a wise elderly woman dressed in a colorful shawl.

But darn it, the Groundhog lied this year. Looks like we’re headed from winter to summer at 90 mph with no break in extremes. Just a little light snowThis picture was taken just last week!

If there is one context in which I am looking forward to summer, it is in the fact that I’m close to releasing The Boys of Summer, and I can’t tell you how excited I am about that, as well as the upcoming events at Galacticon and ComicPalooza. There will be more details on both of these things in the upcoming weeks. I have to confess, I’m torn between wanting the time to pass quickly so these highly anticipated events will just hurry up and arrive already–and acknowledging that I have *far* too much to do between now and then to wish those days away.

Right now, I have an interview going on with Anne Barwell–do check it out! I love being interviewed! I love it when people ask me thought-provoking questions and I can just relax and play a little. šŸ™‚ And for your viewing pleasure, have some lambs!

Did I mention there’s an excerpt from The Boys of Summer in my interview? Now that’s a good reason to skip spring!

Spring Lambs

The Boys of Summer gets cover art, a new release, and more!

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Okay, I know you’ve probably heard me shouting about this already, but I can’t help it. Freelance artist Reese Dante has designed the perfect cover for my soon-to-be-released novel, The Boys of Summer. And I just had to share it here!

The Boys of Summer400x600

Isn’t it simply stunning? I can’t tell you how important it was to me to get this cover just right–and it was like Reese Dante read my mind!

This novel is a bit of a departure from my usual style: it’s a contemporary story that has a significant portion that takes place during WW2’s The Battle of Britain. For a little over 4 months in the summer and fall of 1940, the young men of the UK took to the air to defend their home from invasion. It was a brutal time. France had fallen to the Nazi forces and the Luftwaffe had been building airplanes and training pilots in large numbers in order to defeat Britain from the air. What stopped the German Invasion machine from taking Britain was a matter or grit, determination, and a group of badly outnumbered young pilots.

I have to confess, when I began writing this story, the WW2 sequence was a mere indulgence on my part, a simple fantasy that I wished to explore. However, when I began researching the Battle of Britain, the more I learned, the more appalled I was at my lack of knowledge about this time in our history. I read textbooks, I watched films and documentaries, I researched some more. It was very important to me to get the details just right–and I spent over a month in research before I ever put words to paper. Much of it never ended up in the story–except as scaffolding on which to build. I learned too, that not only were these boys barely out of the schoolyard, but also that homosexuality was a criminal offense at the time, a factor which came to play in the choices my heroes made then–and later today.Ā  I can’t wait to share this story with you. The cover is perfect.

The Boys of Summer should be released (hopefully) sometime in April, certainly no later than May 1. *fingerscrossed*

In the meantime, I want to let everyone know my friend Anna Butler has a new release out of her own: Flashwired.

Flashwired

One day, someday soon, Jeeze Madrid was going to wake up and realize just what heā€™d been passing up; heā€™d see what Cal Paxton was offering him so faithfullyā€”ā€Faithfully, Jeeze! Even you canā€™t deny that!ā€ā€”and grab it. And theyā€™d finally have what Cal wanted.


Cal Paxton and Jeeze Madrid are the top scouting team on the Pathfinder-class starship, the Carson, on the very outer edge of Earthā€™s expansion across the galaxy. A Pathfinderā€™s job is to evaluate planets for colonization. Calā€™s and Jeezeā€™s job is to find the planets for the Carsonā€™s scientists to analyze.

Cal and Jeeze are wingmen, best friendsā€¦ and lovers. Cal wants more than a casual relationship but Jeeze, recently divorced, is wary of commitment. When Jeeze is shot down over a planet inhabited by a race Earth has never before encountered, what will Cal find when the Carson can finally mount a rescue mission? Will he ever succeed in persuading Jeeze to take up that offer of hand and heart?

I have to tell you, if you’ve never read any of Anna’s work, you are in for the ride of your life. Her writing grabs you from the get-go–her characters are three-dimensional and so real that they practically step out of the page in front of you. I can’t promise that all of her stories end happily ever after, but I can promise that you’ll *love* them!

Flashwired now at Smashwords and on Amazon.

And if that wasn’t exciting enough, I’m sitting on some announcements that are forthcoming about Galacticon and the writing workshop/ fanfic panel discussion that Anna and I will be co-hosting. (In, OMG, 46 days!!) DidĀ  I mention that Galacticon will be held at the same venue as its sister convention ComicPalooza? That there will be actors from Star Trek as well as Battlestar Galactica at both conventions? Including Sir Patrick Stewart and Edward James Olmos? And that’s not even the special announcements to come! So this really is a case of “Stay Tuned for Further Developments” because they will be forthcoming, I promise!