Frontier
Resistance
Frontier
Book
Two
Leonie
Rogers
Genre: Science Fiction, Young
Adult
Publisher: Hague
Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9872652-8-9
ASIN: B00MTACKWK
Word Count: 133,000
Cover Artist: Emma Llewelyn
Book Description:
The much awaited sequel to
Frontier Incursion.
The Garsal have landed and
Frontier has changed forever. Now Shanna and her friends must master their new
gifts that will enable them to seek out the alien invaders before they enslave
her world.
On the plateau the Council under
Tamazine (the Senior Councillor) allies with the Starlyne race. Only united do
the Scouts, their starcats, and the Starlyne have any chance of surviving, but
Tamazine's distrust of the alliance creates a fatal weakness.
Below, the Garsal plot. They need
a new pool of human slaves to expand their empire, but first, they must locate
the humans already on Frontier and subdue them. Time is running out for both
invader and settler, and the outcome hangs in the balance.
Book
Trailer: http://youtu.be/tvymDYRwj6Y
Chapter
One
SHANNA ran. Insectoid limbs
scythed through the vegetation behind her, and red beams slashed past on either
side, scorching as they grazed her skin. Her feet seemed mired in mud, and her
pack dragged her backwards, overbalancing her towards the six-limbed creatures
that dogged her steps. She flung her head frantically from side to side,
desperately seeking her starcats. Where were Storm and Twister?
Ahead of her, she saw Allad
stumble and fall, the tall scout’s body a smoking ruin as the beams sliced
across him. Satin snarled and leapt at the invaders, only to perish in turn.
Where were the others? What had happened to them? Still alone, Shanna struggled
on, forcing one leaden leg after the other. She tried to discard her pack, but
the straps refused to loosen, and then she stumbled over the first body. Storm.
His fur was burnt and his eyes staring, and she burst into tears, sobbing as
she ran, wanting to do nothing more than stop and cradle him, yet unable to do
so for fear of the aliens hunting her. The tears threatened to blind her, but a
voice, screaming from ahead, spurred her on.
Her breath was like fire in her
throat, and now she could hear the sounds of offworld footsteps only seconds
behind her, while a mound in the vegetation ahead told the tale of another
body. Frantically she tried to change her course, but her heavy legs refused to
turn and she almost fell as she tried to hurdle the still form. A plaintive
“No!” burst from her lips as she recognised the familiar cadet insignia and
name on the sleeve of Verren’s bloodstained uniform.
Interview - Leonie Rogers, Frontier Resistance
Tell us your latest news?
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About
the Author:
Originally from Western
Australia, Leonie now lives in NSW in the Upper Hunter. She is the author of “Frontier Incursion” (YA
Speculative Fiction) published in October 2012 by Hague Publishing, and also
works part time as a physiotherapist. She dabbles in poetry, and has had a
short story published in Antipodean SF.
Frontier Resistance, part two of
the Frontier Trilogy was published on the 3rd of October 2014, and she has also
finished the first draft of the concluding book. They’re full of
glow-in-the-dark cats who like to sleep on the bed, alien invaders, and a
planet out to kill the unwary.
She has a past life as a
volunteer firefighter and State Emergency Service member, and once trekked
almost six hundred kilometres with eight camels and several other human beings.
She is married with two late teen kids, two dogs and two cats, one of whom
frequently handicaps her ability to use a laptop computer.
Twitter: @RaeYesac
Wordpress blog: www.leonierogers.wordpress.com
Interview - Leonie Rogers, Frontier Resistance
Tell us your latest news?
My second book
(Frontier Resistance) was published as an eBook in October! I guess you already
knew that though, so my other news is that Christmas is coming, just in case
you couldn’t already tell from the displays in the shops!
When and why did you begin writing?
I’ve written on and
off for years, however it was probably in my teens that I began to really
write, thanks in part to two particular highschool teachers who were very
encouraging. I liked to write, but I wasn’t sure if I was any good, so if Ingrid
Frengly and Carol Bowman ever read this, thank you! Now I write because I love
to, and even if I wasn’t being published I’d still be writing.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
The day I received
a piece of school work back with comments like ‘talent’ and ‘What can I say?
Amazing!’
was the first day I
thought that perhaps I could call myself a writer. The words of encouragement
from a special teacher can never be dismissed as ‘nothing’ - and you can
probably see that even many years later, I can still remember them. They
provide confidence, pride, and a sense of self worth, and they inspire you to
keep on doing something you love.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I’m a bit weird. I
write from pictures I see inside my head - it’s a bit like watching a full colour movie
- and one day I saw an image of a young girl scaling a cliff face above a
dangerous jungle. Fortunately (at the time I thought it was unfortunately) I
had a little skiing accident some years later, which slowed my life down for
long enough that I had time to sit down and begin to write the story that went
with the picture.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I tend to write in
third person past tense, but include more than one point of view if that can be
called ‘style.’
I do write in first
person as well, and I’m toying with writing one particular story in first person shortly.
How did you come up with the title?
Frontier Resistance
is part of the Frontier series. All the stories have ‘Frontier’
in the title, and
one other word that I hope provides an idea of what a reader might expect
inside the book, while not giving the whole plot away. It’s really hard (well
I think it’s really hard!) to pick a decent title that might be interesting and
encourage a reader to pick your book up!
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Shanna and her
friends come from a completely egalitarian society - it’s a society where
gender isn’t important, and neither is how you look. It’s a society that’s had to work hard
to just survive, so that it values its people for their skills and talents and
hard work. The people of Frontier haven’t had time to become materialistic or self
focused, because they’ve been working on surviving in a hostile environment and that takes
cooperation.
I like to think
that those messages are a bit counter-cultural within the framework of our
current societal values. So much importance is placed on ‘looking right’
and conforming to a
ridiculously narrow physical ideal, that skills and talents and amazing
character traits are often overlooked. I think it’s even harder if you’re a girl.
Shanna’s clever, but her
story is all about being really good at what you do so that your entire culture
might have a chance at survival. There’s not a lot of room for hair and makeup
(in fact there’s none) in there. There is room for friendship though, and love, and
integrity and skill.
How much of the book is realistic?
Well, it’s a science fiction
book, set on another world (invented by me) and they have huge 100kg starcats
as companions….but…the people are realistic and many of the skills they have are very
real and possible to develop in this world; however their life experiences are
influenced by the dangerous environment they live in, and of course the alien
invaders. They’re very real human beings, though, so there’s pettiness, anger,
frustration, love and fear - the whole gamut of normal human emotions, and
there’s relationship
conflict and growing up that forms a significant part of the story.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
In the Frontier
series, you’ll find starcats. Huge, glow-in-the-dark cats. They’re completely
invented, but if you’ve ever been owned by a cat, you’ll recognise your tiny feline friend very
easily. Despite being really big, they still like to sleep on the bed with you.
You’ll also find
cyclonic storms, which I’ve experienced in real life, map reading and navigation and abseiling,
which are also things that have formed part of my life experiences. Someone
once said “Write what you know.” It’s good advice.
What books have most influenced your life most?
The books I read as
a child influenced me greatly. I loved reading from a very young age, and I’d often wander off
with The Famous Five, or visit Narnia, or get lost in the Worlds of Middle
Earth. As I’ve grown older, I’ve appreciated just about every kind of writing
in some shape or form, but I return most often to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, Anne
McCaffrey’s Pern, and Brandon Sanderson’s multiple worlds.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Now that’s very hard to
choose. If it comes down to just one writer, then it has to be CS Lewis, who
was unashamed to read and write what he called ‘fairy tales.’
I’ve read many of his
books - Narnia, his Science Fiction Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters…the list goes on. I’d love to have been
able to listen to him talk about how he wrote so clearly and beautifully, and
what motivated him to write the things he wrote.
What book are you reading now?
I’ve been reading
Terry Pratchett’s ‘Snuff.’ I love the way Terry Pratchett incorporates the big themes into his
writing, and writes a story that draws you so deeply inside it that you see and
hear the characters. Sam Vimes is one of the best characters I’ve ever read.
Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
There are several
new authors who’ve recently grasped my interest - Patty Jansen, who writes Science
Fiction, Brent Weeks and his ‘Lightbringer’ series and Andrea
K. Host - I really enjoyed her Touchstone series.
What are your current projects?
I’ve just submitted
Book 3 of the Frontier series - Frontier Defiant - and I’m now experimenting
with a few new characters. The stories are all speculative fiction, and they
range from plagues in space, to alien invasions (on earth), and talking wombats
on the end of the bed.
What would you like my readers to know?
More than anything
I’d like your readers
to know that they are all valuable people. We’re all unique, and we all have something
different to contribute to the world around us. We have skills and talents and
traits in combinations that are completely ours alone, and we can do remarkable
things if we work hard and respect each other.
Thanks so much for interviewing me on your page!
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