Synopsis:
Teenager Jane Benedict is awakened by her father and ordered to memorize a mysterious code. Hours later, Mathias Benedict is dead and Jane and her brother, Will, are wards of United Earth Corporation. To evade the company’s murderous clutches and uncover the meaning of her father’s last message, Jane leads Will on a desperate escape across the galaxy aboard the Freetrader smuggler ship, Solar Vortex. Tangled in the crew’s fight against UEC, Jane saves the life of young smuggler Maclan Sawyer and learns her father’s code identifies a secret cargo shipment that may spell doom for the entire Freetrader cause and the extinction of an alien race.
Piracy, intrigue, romance, and a daring rebellion from Earth wait on the planet Rimrock. Will Jane answer the call to adventure and find new purpose on the galactic rim or will death for high treason be her fate?
Best-selling Kindle author, L. A. Kelley lives in Florida where the heat and humidity have driven everyone slightly mad. Every aspect of Mother Nature in Florida is evil and wants to kill you. The state has hurricanes, tornadoes, rip currents, floods, brush fires, and giant sinkholes that will drag you to hell without even time to pack a change of underwear. She considers it a favorable place to write fantasy/scifi adventures with humor, romance, and a touch of sass. Her favorite pastime is to call in Bigfoot sightings to the Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife. They are heartily sick of hearing from her.
Where are you from? Tell us a little about yourself!
Real Biography:
I was born in the North, but have spent most of my life in the South. After a tour in the military I started working in higher education. I now live in Florida with my family and spend my days avoiding the heat and humidity by staying indoors in blessed air conditioned comfort. A few years ago, I began to write fantasy/sci-fi full-time and now have six novels under my belt with two more due out in 2017.
Biography I wish I had:
After being swept into an alternate universe, L. A. Kelley was immediately elected Queen of the Galaxy. Her first act was to return with her mutant army to her own space/time continuum and give all mean people a Melvin.
Tell us about your book? How did it get started?
I wanted to write a space opera and focus on a girl’s evolution from typical teenager to space pirate. I also decided to make Rimrider a loose parallel of the American Revolution. On Earth, the colonists on the galactic rim are considered pirates and outlaws, plotting revolution against legal authority. Meanwhile, Freetraders see themselves as fighting tyrants who make rules to only benefit Earth, ignore colonists’ rights, and treat them as cheap, exploitable labor. I especially wanted to add a lot of interesting female characters. For most of American history, women’s contributions were hidden or dismissed. They couldn’t vote or participate in politics or military campaigns. The girls and women in Rimrider are equal partners in the fight for freedom from the very beginning, and their voices are loud and clear.
Mostly, I didn’t want a dark tale full of angsty neurotics searching a dystopian wilderness for their ‘specialness.’ Rimrider is fast and fun with plenty of both humor and adventure and not a whiney puss in sight. The full story of Jane Benedict couldn’t be told in one book and became a series. The second book, Outlaw Jane, is out now. The third, The Boneyard, will be released in 2017. At least two more are in the works after that.
How do you create your characters?
Inspiration can come from the most unexpected sources. The heroine, Jane Benedict, was inspired by an ancestor of mine who immigrated to America around 1900. Barely sixteen, she traveled alone with no knowledge of English or American customs and culture. She had no money, few skills, and carried nothing more than a beat-up suitcase held together with rope and a burning desire for a better life. As I thought about her, it struck me a girl crossing the ocean might have a lot in common with an interplanetary settler who also had to leave everything behind. Return trips would be difficult, if not impossible, due to expense or political unrest. Communication home wasn’t quick or easy. A new land also brought new foods, climate, and terrain. Sounds like what someone might experience settling a distant planet, doesn’t it?
What inspires and what got you started in writing?
I’ve written stories since I was old enough to chew on a number two pencil, but never allowed anyone read them. Then a few years ago, someone found out I wrote and encouraged me to publish. Actually, she snuck up behind while I typed, read over my shoulder, and shouted in my ear, “Hey, this is good.” Nearly gave me heart attack, but I started submitting manuscripts to publishers and received my first contract in 2013.
Where do you write? Is there something you need in order to write (music, drinks?)
I don’t write at a desk. I’ve never found one that’s comfortable. Instead, I sit in my ‘writing chair’ which is large and so overstuffed it’s difficult to get up once I’m settled. A cup of tea is usually at hand. Nobody sits in my writing chair, but me. Nobody. I’m not normally a violent person, but don’t even think about it or I’ll hurt you.
How do you get your ideas for writing?
Seriously, I have no clue. Random weird stuff just pops into my head. Sometimes it makes a good story.
What do you like to read?
This sounds odd, but I rarely read fiction anymore. I invariably come to a part or character I want to change and can’t because it’s not my story. I’ve always been a science geek, so I read a lot of nonfiction and sciency stuff. I never read self-help manuals. They usually boil down to a starry-eyed author telling the reader to grab a rainbow and release your inner child. No one wants to meet my inner child. She’d make your gramma clutch at her blouse in horror and say, “Oh, lawdy lawd. What is wrong with that girl?”
What would your advice to be for authors or aspiring in regards to writing?
Write down descriptions of everybody in your life who ticks you off. Take your revenge by turning them into characters that are killed slowly and painfully. It’s cheaper than counseling and you won’t end up in jail.
Anything else you’d like to share?
The ebook of Rimrider is available for 99 cents on Amazon. If you’re a member of Amazon Prime, you can read it for free.
Also, if you’re nerdy like me and a mean girl ever says, “I’m cooler than you.” answer with, “If you’re cooler than me, that means I’m hotter than you.” Booyah.
Giveaway:
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