Guest Blogger: Kate Douglas (Contest)

Guest Blogger: Kate Douglas (Contest)

WINNER: Beth[carolc…] won Kate’s prize! Congratulations, and I’ve sent you an email to arrange delivery! To the rest of y’all, thanks for dropping by! ~DD

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Thanks, Delilah, for the invite to blog. There’s nothing I love more than talking about my books, and the one releasing this next week (June 26) DREAM BOUND, is really special to me, because this entire story popped—almost full blown—into my head in an afternoon.

You know how people always ask writers where they get their ideas? Well…how about I tell you!

My husband wanted to see the Allen Array. That’s a huge array of big satellite dish antennas up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at a place called Hat Creek, not far from Mt. Lassen. It was built, primarily by Paul Allen, who was a co-founder of Microsoft, and it’s part of the SETI project, which is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence—ie: Aliens.

So, we packed up the motorhome and made the long drive up, where we took a tour of the site. It’s pretty amazing, and the array is huge, and it’s so weird to see it up there in the middle of frickin’ NOWHERE! Anyway, we’re walking through this place and I’m half listening to the tour guide, and my brain is absolutely spinning. The dishes are designed to pick up signals from space, but what if they could also send signals? And what if those signals were the sexual fantasies of specially trained telepaths, intent on contacting an alien species being held prisoner aboard a huge starcruiser? By the time we’d finished wandering around this place and my husband had gotten his fill of information (actually, it was a GLUT of information, but definitely interesting) I had my story.

However, I knew I couldn’t tell it in a single book, and I also realized I needed to set it up twenty years in the past, and that’s how I ended up with MacArthur Dugan, a young computer science graduate student at the dawn of the personal computing era—1992 in the Silicon Valley. In a novella in the NightShift anthology from Kensington’s Aphrodisia imprint, Mac falls in love with a beautiful alien named Zianne, but she’s a creature from the future, and she’s gone back in time, drawn by Mac’s amazing mind, because she believes he’s the only one capable of saving her people. The novella ends with their commitment to saving the Nyrians and Zianne and Mac in love.

But a lot can happen in twenty years. Mac does invent the technology he’s going to need, and he becomes hugely wealthy from all of his scientific developments, which gives him the funds to pay for the huge array he builds for his telepaths to open a mental gateway to Zianne’s people.

And since sexual energy is the most powerful force in the universe, that’s what Mac’s Dream Team uses. In Dream Bound, you’ll meet the members of Mac’s Dream Team and follow their story to the eve of the rescue. The actual rescue is in the second book, Dream Unchained, which releases in November, but I can guarantee this first book will draw you in to the Nyrians’ story, and I hope you find Mac Dugan as sexy and as fascinating as I did while writing him.

Have you ever wondered about life on other worlds? Ever wondered who else is out there, and what they’re like? My father used to say to me, “Don’t ever say you don’t believe something you don’t understand.” There’s a hell of a lot I don’t understand, so that leaves me wide open to all sorts of possibilities, and the Dream Catchers series is the result.

What’s your take on the age old question—is there life on other worlds? Leave a comment and you’ll be entered in a contest for a copy of DREAM BOUND, or if you’ve already ordered the book, I can put you on a list to receive DREAM UNCHAINED, the final book in the series, when it releases in November.

68 thoughts on “Guest Blogger: Kate Douglas (Contest)

  1. I’m so excited to see a new series of books! Yay! Hmm…I definitely believe there’s other life out there. I think it’s arrogant to think we’re the only ones. I’m just waiting for them to return for me. 🙂 *snickers* *Waves at Delilah*

    1. LOL…I dunno. I’ve got good aliens and bad aliens in my story, and the bad ones are REAL bad, so I’m not sure I’d want them coming for me!

  2. Kate, I love that quote from your father. He was a very smart man. You know that I love your books. But I’ll bet you don’t know that I am a Trekki from way back to the original series!! I have a very open mind when it comes to “are we alone” and I agree very much with your Dad. It does seem to me that space is far to large for there to be just us.
    My very best wishes with your new series….. they are on my TBR list!!

    1. Dad was pretty amazing, Betty. I wish he’d lived longer–he died of cancer when I was 23, so he never got to know his grandchildren or the fact I became a published author. I like to think he knows, but certainly miss the chance to talk about things with him. I would love for him to have gotten to know my husband better. They would have totally gotten along, but he’d known my guy for less than a year when he died.

      1. Its sad that you lost your Dad so young. I had mine untill 1987. He was so much an anchor for my whole family. Once he was gone we all sort of drifted. I do feel like he watches over us though. I’ll bet your Dad is watching over you and yours as well! Again, best wished with the new series!!

  3. Yes, I believe that there are others out there in the world. Humans can not be that naive to think that we are it. Great post and congratulations on the release.

    Marika
    maw1725@gmail.com

    1. Great post, Kate. I love what you shared about your dad. I have often wondered about life on other planets and even if they sometimes leave their planet and slip incognito to take a few snapshots of our life down here. I can imagine some of them are a bit confused at the human race, especially those of us who walk our dogs (or in my case, my dog walks me), carrying a doodee bag. They must be thinking, “hmmm, who really is in charge down there?”

      1. Either that or that we collect very odd stuff. 🙂 When I walk Rufus and clean up after him, he always acts SO proud of himself. I’m convinced he thinks I save his “gifts” for some important reason. I’m just thankful he’s a LITTLE dog!

  4. I think it’s terribly egocentric and small minded for humans to think we’re the only sentient species, and I love to imagine what might be out there. And Betty, I changed my college major, in part, so that I wouldn’t miss afternoon Star Trek reruns!!

    I’m going to be away much of the day, but will check back this afternoon in case anyone has questions.

  5. I believe there is live other than our own. Some I think could be far more advanced than us and I bet there is even some that are not. There is so much that people don’t understand and I try to keep an open mine to all of it. I love the what you have written above and you can count on me on becoming one of your fans. Good luck in the future with al you set out to accomplish.

    1. Thank you, Deb. I really had fun with this particular series because I wasn’t sure what the bad guys were like until I started to write about them. I knew the good aliens really well, but the bad ones were a discovery I hadn’t expected.

  6. Hi Kate, who could not believe in Aliens after E.T???? I prefer to think of the beings ” out there” as friendly! Just call me Pollyanna, LOL. Seriously, I am going to read Dreambound… 🙂

  7. Hi, Kate, I agree with your father. Never say you don’t believe in something just because you don’t understand it or have proof. I told my sons that and, at 27 and 19, they have still not said that there is no Santa Claus! I don’t know why people would believe that we are the only beings with any kind of intelligence in this entire universe surrounding us. It’s narrow-minded to say the least.

    Can’t wait for Dream Bound. Already on pre-order! Although I wouldn’t mind another copy autographed by my favorite author!!!

    1. LOL…you can NEVER have enough books! My husband, however, doesn’t appear to agree. He went into my office a couple of days ago (he rarely makes the trek up the stairs) and sort of stared around, shook his head and left. He hasn’t, however, said a word, but that look spoke volumes!

  8. Hi Kate….love your books can’t stop reading them..Well I do believe that there is life other then human life, this whole universe is full of things that we can’t even imagine.

    1. Thanks, Amy! I hope readers find the series! There are so many books out there now that it’s difficult to get a title to stand out, and this one is really fun–and sexy!

  9. Hi Kate,

    I definitely believe that there is life out there. I remember watching the moving Contact, and thinking that scenario made total sense.

    caity_mack at yahoo dot com

    1. Cathy, isn’t that just the coolest movie? It was on the other night and my husband watched it–probably the fourth or fifth time he’s seen it. I’ve watched it a couple of times, and it takes a LOT to get me to sit through a movie!

  10. Hi, Kate. I agree with everyone above – we cannot be the only ones, maybe we just don’t have the technology to reach them.

    I wonder what they would think about us. A Star Trek TNG episode discussed it once. A super sentient being found Wesley, and when the alien was asked why there was no contact before, he smiled and said we were boring up until then. Scrounging for food, learning to fly, etc.

    Or are the other life forms the space equivalent of bugs – no sentience, no consciousness?

    Oh, the things to ponder on Sat morning drinking my tea….

    1. That is SO appealing to me right now–sitting with a cup of tea. Unfortunately, it’s laundry day. And I love that reasoning why aliens haven’t been here yet…or have they?

  11. Of course theirs life out there, the sheer size of the universe means there has to be. For those who hide behind religious texts and say its not mentioned, neither are mosquitos, but I bet you believe in them!!

  12. hi kate – i very much believe we aren’t the only intelligent beings in the universe and i am looking forwaed to reading dream bound

    1. thanks, Judy. One thing that happened in this book that I didn’t expect was the relationship between Mac and his best friend Dink (Nils Dinkmann) Dink had been a secondary character when I first thought of the story, but he sort of moved in and took over in Dream Catcher, the novella in NightShift, and he ends up with a much larger role in both Dream Bound and Dream Unchained.

  13. I do believe that there is other life out there, always have. How you think we got here? Most of my life I figured I was from another planet. Kinda wished they’d come and get me. I got my
    my idea for Miss Violet from a broken egg timer. Yes I still have it.

  14. I have been a fan since the first Wolf Tales book came out. I am looking forward to reading your new bookq

    1. Thanks, Candy. Then you’ll be glad to know that I’ve got the first one for my Spirit Wild series, which is the second generation of Chanku stories, turned in to my editor.

  15. Yes, I completely believe that there is other life out there. Thats just crazy to think that there’s not. I also think that they choose to stay clear of us, b/c of how CRAZY and violent we sometimes can be.

  16. I believe. When my aunt and I drive from Arkansas to California (2 a year) I constantly watch the heavens at night. My aunt laughs but I tell her just you wait one day I will see a UFO. Lol. Kate, what if when a person dies instead of going to heaven/hell they actully go to another planet. That would explain all the ancient alien sightings history buffs try to explain. Ha ha ha. That sounds like a good story, I wish I could write. Can’t wait until Tuesday happy writing Kate.

  17. I firmly believe that there is other sentient life out there but I think that we are probably considered too immature to be bothered with right now. Yes, I grew up on Heinlein, Asimov, Norton and all of the rest…as well as being a staunch Trekker! Thanks for sharing, your book sounds wonderful.

    1. I grew up on the same stuff, Elf, even though I used to think that Heinlein was SUCH a sexist bastard! I would read his books and get SO MAD at him, but I think he was writing for teenaged boys at the time.

  18. I’ve always believed that there is life out there because the universe is too large for there not to be.

    Thanks for the heads up on the Dream books I liked the concept and have added them to my wishlist 😀

  19. Hi Kate! I just got to Friday’s emails and found your link in your newsletter. I so want this book but you know I have all of your two big series since you signed them all, lol. Yes I believe there could be other worlds out there :-). I love to let authors take me there with their imagination 😉 I’m glad to hear you got To Love A Dark Wolf off to the publisher ~ awesome!

    1. Hey darlin! Yep, another new series, but until my warped mind runs out of ideas, I plan to just keep on writing them. Still trying to figure out how to get back up to Oregon. Had such a good time on that trip last year.

  20. Yes, I believe there is life out there. I’m really surprised that they haven’t found us yet as sloppy as we are with all the signals our planet has been putting out for the last century or so.
    Can’t wait to read the new series. 🙂

    1. So true…we’ve been sending all kinds of crap out there, but when you figure how long ti takes those signals to travel, if they’re only now getting I Love Lucy reruns, they probably think we’re idiots!

  21. I’m not sure at all that we can even define life, or sentience, well enough with our limited understanding, But I’m sure there must be forms of–something–at least as interesting as we are.

  22. I enjoyed reading about the inspiration for your new series. It sounds like a fun trip.

    Best of luck with your Dream Catcher books! I look forward to reading them.

    Best~Adele

  23. Hey Kate/Delilah,

    I had to stop by and say hello to two of my favorite writers :).

    I can’t wait to read Dream Bound – I was intrigued by the short story in Nightshift.

    Good luck on the new release.

    1. Thanks, Heather. That one leads directly into the new novel, though you don’t have to have read it to make sense out of the novel. Hope you like it!

  24. Hi Kate! You have so many different ideas; from shapeshifters to demonslayers to aliens coming to Earth. What will you come up with next? Hope Spirit Wild lasts a long time. I love spending time with my Chanku 🙂

    1. Thanks, Kerry. In this business, it all comes down to sales, so if enough readers buy the books, my publisher will continue to want more. One can only hope!

  25. I like to think that there is life on other worlds. I can’t believe that we are all there is.
    Also, I just want to say that I absolutely love your work! Love it! 🙂 So I’m excited about this new series.
    Also, thanks for sharing that story.

  26. There are aliens in some movies. There was one movie The Gifted One and he could see what was wrong with some one and it was so neat but most aliens are good ones if we treat them right
    horseunicornkey@aol.com

  27. I truly believe there have to be other intelligent life out there! We can not be so vain as to think we are the only sentient beings in the ENTIRE universe.

    I cant’t wait to read all about Mac & Zianna.

  28. When I sit outside at night looking up towards the sky under the stars, I have a feeling there is something out there watching me. I do believe there is live out there, to much open space not to be. My imagination goes wild, are they evil, are they friendly, what if they kidnap me or a lot of other people. Do they experiment on us study us or eat us. See I do think about this kind of stuff a lot. I’ve been told that I’m not wrapped right. Good Luck with books and keep them coming.

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