Cara Bristol, author of Stranded with the Cyborg (A Cy-Ops Sci-Fi Romance)
Multi-published, Cara Bristol is the author of 22 erotic romance titles. She writes science fiction, contemporary, and paranormal erotic romance. Her most recent book is Stranded with the Cyborg. No matter what the subgenre, one thing remains constant: her emphasis on character-driven seriously hot erotic stories with sizzling chemistry between the hero and heroine. Cara has lived many places in the United States, but currently lives in Missouri with her husband. She has two grown stepkids. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading and traveling.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I’ve always loved to write. I wrote my first “novel” at age 10. Way before that, when I first started learning to read and write, I used to list all the words I knew how to spell. By high school, I knew I wanted a career involving writing, and I got a college degree in journalism and went to work worked as a news reporter. But writing romance is my great love.
Do you have a favourite place to write?
My home office. My husband and I used to share an office and a computer, but now I have my own computer and my own office and it’s wonderful.
Do you have a writing routine or process that you adhere to?
I hit the computer by 5:30 a.m., answer email and check social media and then start writing. My daily goal is 2K a day. There’s also assorted promotion tasks to attend to.
Are there any authors or specific books you aspire to?
I admire lots of authors for their storytelling and writing ability. I care about what I write, and I want to be the best that I can be and continue to improve my craft.
What inspired you to write Stranded with the Cyborg?
I fell in love with cyborgs when I read Eve Langlais’s C791. I though, ooh, I want a cyborg! Part man, part machine, cyborgs are the perfect blend of brawn and brains. My cyborgs are secret agents working for the covert Cyber Operations or Cy-Ops. Brock Mann, the hero of Stranded with the Cyborg, is like a cyborg James Bond.
Can you tell us a little about your book?
Love to! Here’s the blurb: Penelope Aaron, the former Terran president’s daughter, regrets how she got Agent Brock Mann booted from the security force. But now that she’s an interplanetary ambassador about to embark on her first diplomatic mission, she still doesn’t want him tagging along. Especially since he seems to be stronger, faster, more muscled, and sexier than she remembers. And pretending to be her husband? This mission couldn’t get more impossible!
Ten years ago Penelope Isabella Aaron had been a pain in Brock Mann’s you-know-what. Much has changed in a decade: “PIA” as he code-named her, has grown up and is about to attend her first Alliance of Planets summit conference, and Brock has been transformed into a cyborg after a near-fatal attack. Now a secret agent with Cyber Operations, a covert paramilitary organization, Brock gets called in, not when the going gets tough, but when the going gets impossible. So when he’s unexpectedly assigned to escort Penelope to the summit meeting, he balks at babysitting a prissy ambassador. But after a terrorist bombing, a crash landing on a hostile planet, and a growing attraction to his protectee, Operation: PIA may become his most impossible assignment yet.
Do you have a favourite amongst all your characters?
I’m definitely in love with Brock Mann. He’s tough, macho, but noble. He’s willing to go to the mat to protect the woman he loves.
Does your book contain a message for readers to consider?
I drew inspiration from recent real world events involving terrorism. I’ll let readers draw their own conclusions.
Would you be interested in sharing a teaser?
Ten years have passed. Penelope is different now,” Carter said.
Brock doubted that. “Does she know about me?”
“That you’re a cyborg? Of course not. She hasn’t been told anything about the program or even that you’re the one who’s been assigned to her.”
“Yeah, spring it on her. That will go over well.” He could envision the tantrum, and, after she calmed down, the scheme she would devise to circumvent the decision. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been emerging from his quarters half-dressed, a triumphant smile tilting her lips. Shortly thereafter, two fellow agents had come to arrest him.
President Aaron had exonerated him, the transcripts from the investigation had been sealed, and he’d been offered reassignment. Instead, he’d taken a position with an anti-terrorist investigative organization. His unit got attacked; his fellow operatives had died. Carter, who’d been working with Cy-Ops all along, had swooped in and saved his ass.
“I’m not saying I’ll do it, but, hypothetically, if I had a computer meltdown and agreed, what would be my cover story? I couldn’t tag along as her bodyguard because that would unsettle the Xenians.”
Carter poured another shot of Cerinian brandy and downed it. He met Brock’s gaze dead-on. “You’d accompany Ambassador Aaron as her husband.”
“Oh, hell no!”
What would say has been your biggest challenge and achievement in writing Stranded with the Cyborg?
I’ve written science fiction romance before (The Breeder trilogy), but there’s a space opera style to Stranded with the Cyborg that was new to me. Even though it’s erotic romance, and the focus is on the growing relationship between the hero and heroine, there’s a lot action.
What have you learned about yourself as a writer through writing Stranded with the Cyborg?
I’ve learned that making things difficult for my characters challenges me as an author. To raise the stakes, I have to put my characters through dire situations—but then I have to get them out of it! How do I do that? It’s a challenge. But I think it makes the “dark moment” more dramatic.
Do you have any advice for other aspiring authors?
This is the best time ever to be an author. There are many more publishing options than there used to be. Learn your craft, work hard, and don’t give up.
Anything else you would like to say?
Thank you for the interview! It’s a pleasure to talk about my book. I really do love writing romance. Stranded with the Cyborg is my 22nd title, and my 7th indie title.
And finally, do you have any future works planned?
Mated with the Cyborg, the second book in the Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance series will be published January 5, 2016. I’ll probably have a third Cy-Ops book next year too!
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Thank you for the interview!
Thank YOU. I enjoyed reading it.
I LOVED Cara’s Breeder series and I love Cyborgs. This is the perfect combo!
Thank you, Cynthia!
The scene you’re talking about with what’s happening today in our world was very powerful. I loved the story, but it’s that scene that stays with me. Also Brock. He stays with me… 😉
Thanks, Natasha. I really ramp it up in book 2, Mated with the Cyborg.