Now Maria has to reconcile her dream space hero with a real flesh-and-blood man, or at least with his personas: actor, waiter, rock singer, enigma with a mysterious past. Which one is real, and what has become of Captain Eternity? And who is it that Maria really loves?
If you’ve ever been in love with a fantasy, and wished it could be real, find out how Maria handles it when that very wish comes true.
Reviews for The Resurrection of Captain Eternity
"What a delight [Captain Eternity] is! I liked the light touch you put on the sexual tensions and love-making. Maria's hero-worship, as a young girl, of "her" Captain presented her with a seemingly unsurmountable problem. And Fritz, who had his own bag of demanding alter-egos that he felt compelled to drag along in his life journey, played to her eager audience. Could these two fine real humans ever be able to, not cast aside these endearing personality parts, but weave them into whole and secure adults? Captain Eternity is a sweet and lovely story, and I say that with a warm feeling for the kind and gentle protagonists and their good and giving friends." - Norah Z.
"I just finished Captain Eternity and loved it! It was funny, scary and teary at almost the same time. It was an interesting fantasy to work with, and one that I think everyone has. What do you do when the situation becomes real? I also liked Maria. It's a great story." - Kelly M.
"The Resurrection of Captain Eternity... is one of my favorites. I read it about once a year!" - Samantha M.
Visit Diana Laurence's web site
Visit Diana's blog
Visit Diana's publisher
Visit the Bloodchained official site
Link for READ FREE books
Read an excerpt from The Resurrection of Captain Eternity
About Diana Laurence
Diana Laurence published her first fiction at age thirteen in 'Teen magazine, and since then her work as appeared in such diverse publications as The Lutheran Witness, Beckett Hockey Monthly, and Suite. In 1998 she published her first full-length work, a self-help book entitled Living Beyond Reality: A Jungian Primer for Enhancing Your Life, and a contemporary romance novel called The Resurrection of Captain Eternity.
After four years of dedicating herself to the publication of a weekly ezine of hockey humor, "Hockey Snacks," Diana went back to writing fiction. Since 2004, she has made a name for herself writing her brand of tasteful erotic romance, dubbed "erotic with soul." Her first collection, Soulful Sex: Erotic Tales of Fantasy and Romance, was an Eppie Finalist and Amazon bestseller. Subsequent collections, and her novel Souls' Embrace, have been recognized by many awards and critical acclaim.
In 2006, with the closing of her publisher, Diana chose to republish her back list under her own small publishing house, Living Beyond Reality Press, and penned the guidebook Do-It-YourSelf-Publishing. Since then LBR Press has continued to release all Diana's works, and also sponsors the LBR Press READ FREE Project, which offers sample Diana Laurence stories for free download. Her most recent release is the paranormal suspense novel Bloodchained.
Diana was born and raised in the area of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she now resides with her husband David and nearby grown daughters, Katie and Amanda. She is a 1977 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she majored in English. Her "day-job" career has included administration, public relations, editing, marketing, and information systems in the publishing, legal, finance, and manufacturing industries. She enjoys webmastering, gourmet cooking and mixology, visual arts, jewelry making, and working in polymer clay. Her diverse inspirations include Jane Austen, Stephen King, Ayn Rand, Robin Hobb, Rodgers & Hammerstein, John Williams, Dream Theater, Joss Whedon, M. Night Shymalan, and Les "Survivorman" Stroud.
Back list
Soulful Sex: Erotic Tales of Fantasy and Romance (Volume I) - ebook, 2004
Souls' Embrace - ebook and print book, ebook, 2004
Soulful Sex: Erotic Tales of Fantasy and Romance Volume II - ebook, 2005
Soulful Sex: Erotic Tales of Fantasy and Romance Volumes I & II - print book, 2005
Soulful Sex: Erotic Tales of Fantasy and Romance Volume III - ebook and print book, 2006
Diana's Deck Romance Fortune Telling Cards - 2006
Do-It-YourSelf-Publishing - ebook, 2006 (as Diane Lau)
Soulful Sex: The Paranormal Collection - ebook, 2006
Soulful Sex: The Science Fiction Collection - ebook, 2006
Soulful Sex: The Fantasy Collection - ebook, 2007
Soulful Sex: The Paranormal, Science Fiction and Fantasy Collections - print book, 2007
Bloodchained - ebook and print book, 2007
An Interview with Diana Laurence
By Katie Raines, Assistant for The Romance StudioKR: Diana, thank you so much for joining us at TRS. Please tell us about your featured book The Resurrection of Captain Eternity. DL: Thanks so much for having me, Katie! I thought it would be fun to change things up and talk about a book few people know that I wrote. Captain Eternity is a book for anyone who has ever fallen for a celebrity or fantasy figure and wondered if that fixation has anything to do with real life at all. And haven't we all been there once or twice? The book's theme is how to find a balance between reality-which is where of course we all must live-and fantasy, which brings with it romance and excitement and joy.
The heroine, a reference librarian named Maria, is coming off a failed relationship and trying to figure out her life. One ordinary day, she is suddenly challenged to find out whatever became of a TV personality she had a mad crush on when she was a teenager. Well, it was more than a crush: this host of a local late night science fiction movie show, aka Captain Eternity, was the embodiment of all her romantic dreams.
So, as a grown woman she actually finds the actor who played him. As she gets to know him while watching him in local theater and helping him reunite his old college band, she finds he has even more sides to his personality. His mysterious past only complicates things. Several other characters in the book play a part as Maria tries to figure out if her youthful fantasies have anything at all to do with reality, and with real love.
KR: You wrote this story years ago. Tell us about where you were in your writing career when you wrote this. DL: Captain Eternity was the third novel I had written. It was penned around 1990, 14 years before I published my first erotic romance book as Diana Laurence. I reworked it in 1997 and was negotiating a contract for it when the publisher in question went out of business. I decided to publish it myself in a short run, along with a self-help book that had been placed with that same publisher. The printing of these two books launched both my little publishing house, Living Beyond Reality Press, and my first website. I am still very proud of this book and though not a lot of people have read it, from my mail I know for many who did, it meant a lot to them too.
KR: How have things changed since then? DL: As for how things have changed for me, that's an interesting question! As some TRS readers know, I had yet another publisher go out of business mid-contract in 2006. Because of my little publishing house that I started in 1998, I had something to fall back on. Once again I turned to self-publishing, releasing all my titles through LBR Press, and I haven't turned back. What was really different though was technology. The 1998 books were printed in short run with a new high-speed copying technology and with two-color web press printed covers, perfect bound. They are nice quality, but the covers can't compare with what POD does nowadays. Back then Amazon was barely off the ground; I sold books through my website only.
How things have changed from the world of 1990, Maria's world, are likewise interesting. Imagine a reference librarian in the pre-internet days! It was reference books or nothing. If you enjoy 70's and 80's nostalgia, you will like this book, since it features a protagonist who lived through those years and includes a lot of pop culture from that time.
KR: What can you tell us about the very special Bloodchained? DL: Bloodchained is my most recent work, released last fall, and it's special because I wrote it with the help of a team of 63 volunteers. Their help was invaluable in the creation of a paranormal suspense novel that especially vampire lovers will enjoy. The terrific reviews and great emails this book has brought me have proven what a fine job the team did in helping me. Since I discussed Bloodchained the last time I was with you here on TRS, I won't go into a lot, but I hope your readers who enjoy vampires and other submission themes will check it out. It's very suspenseful, and I dare say very hot! You can learn all about it on the official site at www.bloodchained.com.
KR: So there is a sequel in the works? DL: In fact there is, Katie... the first one is selling so well I thought I'd better write one! And I did leave open many more possibilities for adventures with the BC characters. So I have started both the plotting and the writing of the sequel, but I have a new surprise announcement to make for TRS. I found, while working on BC2, that a whole nother project was calling to me. While this will require the patience of Bloodchained fans while I am thus distracted, it will make fans of my Soulful Sex anthologies pretty happy. I am back, at least for now, to writing short stories for a new erotic romance anthology. It's tentatively titled Soulful Sex: The Darker Side... at least until I change my mind! But I want to write some stories that explore darker and more unusual erotic themes, a little further afield from the usual formulas. Don't worry, though, Diana Laurence fans, these tales will not stray from my usual style, and will be hot but not coarse. They will explore more secret and strange corners of the libido, but still remain "soulful sex."
KR: What can you tell readers about the Free Read Project? DL: I always like to remind readers that my publishing house offers a number of my works-some of which are personal favorites or have received awards-as free ebook downloads. I like to make these available so new readers can explore my writing, at great length even, to decide if they enjoy it. My most popular story ever, the mild BDSM story "The Scarlet Shackle" (originally published by New Concepts Publishing) is there, along with my fantasy novella Gift of Flesh, also a favorite. And for you Star Wars fans, I have an entire novel called The Golden Padawan. Contemporary, historical…something for everyone, so please visit www.livingbeyondreality.com/readfree.html to sample for yourself!
KR: I'd also like to ask about your fortune telling cards. DL: Thanks, Katie! Diana's Deck is a set of romance fortune telling cards that works sort of like tarot cards. I am very into Jungian psychology, the study of archetypes and how fantasy affects the psyche (there's that Captain Eternity theme again, LOL). So I developed these cards using characters from my Soulful Sex stories. I designed and illustrated the 48-card deck. Producing these cards was such fun, and using them for fortunes is likewise! For more about Diana's Deck, readers can visit www.dianalaurence.com/dianasdeck.html. They are available exclusively from LBR Press.
KR: So you're participating in TRS Studio Diva. Why did you take up the challenge? DL: I'm a fan of a number of competition shows like "Top Chef," "Design Star," and "So You Think You Can Dance." I always wished someone would do something like that with writing, although I recognized TV was not really the proper medium! When I read about TRS Studio Diva, I thought, "Yay, they actually figured out how to do something like this!" All the stages of competition sounded so fun, I thought it would be a blast to be involved whether you won or lost. I love all aspects of this business, from the webmastering to the marketing to the interacting with readers (that most of all)…and I love to write "on assignment." I really hope to last awhile, and that the contest is a huge success and happens every year.
KR: What's your favorite way to interact with readers? DL: I do really enjoy emailing with them. I answer all emails right away because nothing makes me happier than someone taking the time to tell me they enjoyed something I wrote. Over the years I've had great little correspondences with people all over the world, from all backgrounds and cultures, and it just blow my mind every time some new person experiences and loves characters and events that came from my imagination. Hey, if any of you reading this have a favorite story of mine, a thought to share, a question…please do write me at dianalaurence@wi.rr.com!
KR: What would you like to tell readers out there? DL: I really hope you will stop by my website at www.dianalaurence.com, or visit the READ FREE Project and pick out an ebook or read online, or stop by my blog, Erotica with Soul, at www.eroticawithsoul.blogspot.com. On the blog I like to talk about pop culture ("Lost" or "The Office," anyone?), masculinity (that age old question, "shirtless or naked?"), psychology (like why don't I feel sexy?), crushes (Les Stroud and Neil Gaiman top my list), and all kinds of topics related to sex and the human psyche.
And I hope to find a few more readers for my beloved old book The Resurrection of Captain Eternity. If you've enjoyed any of my other works, you will love this one, and the paperback is only $5.05 (that's not a typo!) exclusively from LBR Press (http://www.dianalaurence.com/lbr_ce.html).
Thanks so much for inviting me to talk about this old fave, Katie!
KR: Thank you!
Top
|
