2024 COVERS

2024 covers

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We are writers mainly from Australia and New Zealand who write speculative fiction with romantic elements. Be it fantasy, paranormal, dark urban fantasy, futuristic and everything in between.

Saturday 14 June 2014

Enchanted Orb with Marie Dry

On Enchanted Orb, we love to learn more about how a writer found their inspiration for either a story, the characters or even the inspiration behind the life of being a writer. Today we have Marie Dry joining us with a post about how she came up with her book, Alien Mine. (Release date 21st June 2014.)

Welcome, Marie.

My inspiration for Alien Mine came when I saw the Predator movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The alien had this skull in his hands that he stroked with an admiring finger. I thought what if there was an alien that wasn’t so ugly. That saw an earth women and admired her and decided to keep her. An alien that would still be ruthless, bent on conquering but has the capacity to learn to love the heroine in spite of their differences.

I saw this scene where the heroine hit him over the head with a club and the characters fell into place for me. I knew exactly what the setting would be. Dystopian worlds have always fascinated me. The one element that always fascinated me was at what point does a civilization realize they are collapsing. Many people still believed they were part of the Roman Empire long after it fell. With that question in my mind my setting fell into place as well.

I loved working on this book and hope anyone who read it have the same enjoyment.


BLURB: ALIEN MINE He wants to conquer…
In a bleak future where government systems are breaking down and lawless bands of men terrorize the country, Natalie, a botanist, lives alone in a cave in the Rocky Mountains for safety. When she is captured by raiders, a fierce striking alien appears and slays her attackers. Natalie is now held captive in her own cave by the alien, Zacar, who informs her, that she will be his breeder. Natalie soon realize these aliens worship strength. What will she do when he finds out she has severe asthma?


Excerpt Alien Mine © Marie Dry 2014

She had to get away from the aliens, but running down a mountain in the snow and freezing temperature probably wasn’t the best idea either…

Her muscles ached and her hands felt like frozen claws, even with her gloves, as she tried to grip the rocks and pull herself up the slope. In spite of her need to hurry, she stopped every now and then to scan the area behind her for aliens.

Tired and cold, fed up with constantly feeling afraid, she wanted to just lie down under a tree and forget about everything. Forget that aliens had landed on her mountain. Forget that Zacar was probably hunting her.

Maybe being a breeder wouldn’t be that bad.

A shiver snaked through her at the thought, spurring her on. She tried to pull herself up by holding onto a bush, but she couldn’t feel the branch. Her hand was too numb and weak and it kept slipping from her grasp.

Her feet were cold, and her mind had trouble commanding them to move, to climb. She knew she was risking developing frostbite, but she continued to move on, sluggish and cold. She had to get to town. She just had to.

She fought the nagging desire to lie down on the soft snow and go to sleep.

Just another half an hour and you can rest, Natalie.

Even her own thoughts were starting to sound strange, slurry. She lifted her tired arm in slow motion and gripped the rock above her.

Her glove made contact with something. Even with her numb fingers, it didn’t feel like a rock or a bush.

Confused, she lifted her head, and stared up into Zacar’s frighteningly emotionless face.


Buy Links: Black Opal Books | Amazon

About the Author: Marie Dry

Ever since she can remember Marie Dry have wanted to travel and had the privilege to live in Zambia, Morocco and Spain. She sees herself as a bit of a gypsy and every few years she gets antsy and has to be someplace new.

All her life she read romances and at a young age decided she would write the story that has all the elements she’s looking for in a romance. In 1997 she shared a pizza with a friend and promised her she would go all out with the writing and get published. With her friends cheering her on ever since, Marie said it’s a wonderful experience to see the characters in her head coming to life on the page. Being published by Black Opal Books is a dream come true for her.

There are several wonderful moments in her life she would never trade for anything else. One of them is meeting President Nelson Mandela and the second being published.

Where to connect with Marie: Website | Facebook

1 comment:

  1. Woot - you got to meet Madiba?! Love the background information on what inspired you to write the book.

    ReplyDelete

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