The Romance Review

The Romance Reviews

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Let me introduce to you author...AUBRIE DIONNE!















Aubrie Dionne is an author and flutist in New England. After reaching a high point in her flutist career Aubrie decided to pursue other creative passions.



“I’d always loved writing and reading fantasy/sci fi books ever since I was little but I always pushed it aside for flute. I felt like I needed to explore more of my interests in life. Ever since I started writing, I couldn’t stop! I use what I’ve learned about craft, diligence, structure, from my flute playing. It’s exciting to start a new discipline and have no idea where my boundaries are: how far I can go with it, how good I can get.”



Paradise 21, Aubrie’s fourth book, was released August 2 as one of Entangled Publishing’s ten launch titles.
Aubrie is represented by Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency. Her short stories have been featured in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Aurora Wolf, A Fly in Amer, Moon Drenched Fables and various anthologies.




What is Recycled Food?


In Paradise 21, the colonists have it easy: living aboard great cruise- ship like vessels with giant biodomes to shelter livestock and grow real food. But the space pirates are stuck on the last working space station: Alpha Omega, and all they have left is recycled food.

So what is recycled food?


Ever see the movie Soylent Green? Or the beginning to The Matrix?

If your stomach is squeamish, then don’t read on.


Recycled food is all of the human waste (including bodies) that is put through a system, filtered, processed, and enhanced with nutrients in a sludge-like substance that is used to feed the rest of the population. It’s the only way they can survive with Earth unlivable, and all the large colony ships taken by the elite.





Although I never come out and say this in the book, it’s hinted at in Chapter 4:


“In Outpost Omega, if you snoozed, you ended up as the recycled food…”


Why did I write it this way? I wanted to create sympathy for the pirates. They’ve got nothing, so finding a paradise planet is everything to them.


My question to you is: Would you rather be a colonist, with all the luxuries of life and a predestined marriage, or a space pirate, with nothing and the free will to choose who you want to be with?


Aries finds a way to do both. Read Paradise 21 to find out how.






Aubrie Dionne excerpt 2

Maybe they wouldn’t come. Giddiness bubbled in her throat with the thought of the ship coursing away without her, but she knew better. They’d turned the New Dawn around before, and knowing Lieutenant Barliss, he’d have it no other way. Not only was he a high-ranking officer, but she was his chosen mate, scheduled to be bound to him in ceremony next month. Her escape would prevent Barliss from passing on their combined genetic code. There was no doubt that a man who followed the Guide to the letter would come after the woman whose DNA he needed.

The orange bulk of Sahara 354 claimed the horizon on the main sight panel. Aries soaked in the sight of the small, forgotten planet, like the first time she’d seen pictures of old Earth. Although the conditions of life on Sahara 354 were reportedly bleak, to Aries it looked like a haven. Blue and red lights flashed on the panel in front of her, warning her of the change in trajectory as the pod entered the planet’s gravitational pull. Aries shut off the thrusters and allowed the vessel to sail into orbit. She glided in space, using the pod’s sensors to complete a full scan of the surface, searching for signs of resources or life. Although she had enough food and water for days, they’d only delay an inevitable death if she couldn’t find further sustenance.

Time ticked away, seconds she knew she couldn’t waste. The New Dawn traveled much faster than an escape pod, and she needed time to fake her own death and disappear. The vast wasteland stretching before her only had small pockets of water and plant life. If she didn’t choose her landing spot wisely, she’d be plummeting to a real demise.




Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind’s last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew—a planet that won’t be reached in Aries’ lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.


But Aries has other plans.


When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates—humans who escaped Earth before its demise—are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet’s native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price.


The life of the man she loves.











Aubrie's books are published by Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, Gypsy Shadow Publishing, and Wyvern Publications.