First of all, a big ‘thank you’ to Cary for hosting me on his blog today.
I’d like to introduce you all to Quality Times, star of my new ‘Quality Times’ series. She’s an English lass who’s a bit ballsy, a bit snarky and, most important of all, flawed.
She’s not some buxom, drop-dead gorgeous, kick-ass heroine who can handle a laser gun as easily as she can handle men. No, she’s mildly attractive (though, as that old chestnut goes, ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’), can be stroppy and selfish, at times, and as you can find out from The Whispering Tombs novella, she’s not the best at piloting a space ship.
In short, and I suppose I’m directing this next bit at the males, as well as the females, Quality represents you and me. She’s an everyday person who just happens to be able to travel through time and space. A genius Timelord, she is not.
If she found herself face to face with a villain, she’d fight them purely out of the fact they’d start attacking her first. Self-preservation would kick in. In her mind, when she is faced with anything dangerous or scary, her inner thoughts read like this - ‘ohshitohshitohshitohshit’.
That’s not to say she’s a coward of Arnold Rimmer-like proportions (a character from UK sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf). After all, she does stand up to [SPOILERS] in The Whispering Tombs, but, let’s face it, most of us would be crapping ourselves if faced by some scary and deadly situations she finds herself in.
Here’s an example of another thing that many of us can relate to - speaking before thinking. Quality embarrasses herself here, much to the delight of her travelling associate, Tim.
‘What about the rest of the boxes,’ I asked, heading in their direction. The sweat on Qez glistened in the light.
‘We only really need the monitor and my little gadget,’ Qez explained. ‘If we do find anything, Tim and I can come back and get the rest of the stuff.’
‘Or I could help you,’ I offered, as casually as I could.
The hot blue humanoid grinned. ‘Thanks, but I wouldn’t want you to injure yourself,’ he replied.
‘Yeah, you want me fit for later, don’t you, you sexy... police siren.’
Oh shit, I’d said that out loud.
His dark blue eyebrows shot up in surprise, his grin disappearing almost as quickly. I wasn’t sure whether to try to talk my way out of the embarrassment or wait until we came across one of the tombs and put myself in it. Thankfully, Bob came to my rescue and began discussing some technical stuff with Qez. Tim wandered over to me, smirking.
‘Whoops,’ he said in a hushed tone.
‘At least I didn’t melt Barbie,’ I retorted.
‘Sorry, that doesn’t really compare. I mean, police siren? Okay, I get the blue reference, but is that the best you can come up with?’
‘I meant the other type of siren,’ I said, thinking fast. ‘Y’know, the mythical ones.’
He furrowed his brow, thinking. ‘What, the ones who seduce sailors and lure them to their watery deaths?’
‘Oh... shut up, Timothy.’
‘No, I don’t think I will. This is fun.’
To celebrate the release of The Whispering Tombs, I’ve giving away an ebook copy to a random commenter. All you have to do is comment and tell me which fictional character you can relate to, and why. The winner will be picked on the 3rd June, after the blog tour ends, and will be sent a coupon code for Smashwords, where you’ll be able to download the book in the format of your choice. Don’t forget to leave your email address with your comment.
BLURB
Meet Quality Times, just your average 21st century woman who happens to own a shrinkable time machine. Along on her intergalactic adventures is Tim, a self-confessed sci-fi geek who takes everything in his stride.
In 'The Whispering Tombs', Quality and Tim are residing at the luxurious Baala Haven Resort, on an unpronounceable planet, when they're invited on a quest to find ancient hidden treasure by a wealthy alien archaeologist. Reaching the caves of Azrokaran, however, loyalties are tested to the very limits as those within the group reveal their true colours.
A light-hearted mix of science fiction, adventure and humour.
(British spelling)
BIO
Gayle Ramage is a writer, living in the Scottish lowlands. She would love to grow her own TARDIS if only to go back in time to find out if her ancestors were as mad as she is.
LINKS
Read snippets from other SFFS authors here: scififansat.blogspot.com
