Colby Hodge was a big fan of Star Trek growing up.  Then Star Wars came along and she couldn’t help herself, her imagination took off to galaxies far far away.  Luckily for her she has her feet planted firmly on the ground with her day job, writing historicals under the name Cindy Holby.  But occasionally she finds that its best to just let her imagination take off to visit those far away places and then tell the stories that she finds while she’s visiting there.

An Interview with Colby Hodge

PNR: Have you always known you wanted to be a writer; when did you begin writing?

Colby H.: Always.  As long as I can remember I wrote.  We moved a lot so I was something of a lonely child with only my imagination for company.

PNR: Most writers are avid readers, is this true for you? If so, what titles would we see in your TBR pile?

Colby H.: I used to read before I started writing.  Now it's hard to find time.  In my TBR pile are all the Crimson City books, Boys That Bite by Marianne Mancusi and I just started the Grail King by Joy Nash

PNR: How do you develop your story ideas? What do you feel are the essential elements of a great story?

Colby H.: I usually have something that triggers the story.  A song, a minor character in a movie with a peculiar quirk.  I have a romantic suspense story that came to me from listening to a song by Basia.

PNR: You have been very successful writing historical romance as Cindy Holby; what made you decide to write futuristic romance?  And to use a pseudonym?

Colby H.: Stargazer was the second book I wrote after Chase The Wind.  I didn't want to be limited to what I could write so I wanted my editor to know I was capable of other genres.  She decided to put it on the back burner for a while until I established my name in historicals.  We chose to go with a pseudonym because the readers identify my real name with the historicals.

PNR: For readers who are not familiar with your “Star” series, could you give us an overview?  

Colby H.: Stargazer takes place in what I think the future might be like after other planets have been settled.  I see the planets as colonies set up by different sects of people with different beliefs.  Oasis, the home planet of Shaun and Lilly is settled by strict conservationalists.  There is also a race of women who have developed telepathic abilities who want to take over the universe.  I'm exploring how they came about getting their abilities in the third book in the series which I'm working on now.

PNR: Could you tell us the development of your hero and heroine, Shaun and Lilly?

Colby H.: Lilly is driven by responsibility and guilt.  Shaun is a rebel.  They're at two extreme ends of a line and have to come to the middle to be happy and save their planet.  I think Shaun is my all time favorite hero.  I'm writing them now in middle age and it's interesting to see how they’ve matured.

PNR: STARGAZER features a politically motivated plotline and dynamic characters that have captured readers; do you feel your writing is character driven or plot driven? How do you balance these two elements?

Colby H.: I am definitely character driven.  I also thought writing a futuristic would be easy because I could make things up but the politics was really hard because everyone had different motivations and different agendas.  Keeping it straight was hard on the brain.

PNR: Your upcoming release, SHOOTING STAR, will continue the Star series with sexy smuggler, Ruben's story; can you give us a sneak peak?

Colby H.: Ruben crash lands on a planet that shuns technology, meets a beautiful slave woman and her precocious son and ends up in the middle of a drug smuggling ring.  I'd say it's a lot like Witness in outer space.

PNR: You have been complemented by readers and reviewers on your excellent world-building; can you tell us about the challenges you face in creating a futuristic society?

Colby H.: Making it real.  It has to make sense.  And keeping everyone's political agenda’s in line.  Greed is a great motivator.  When greedy people have power it makes for all kinds of trouble.

And making up slang is kind of fun.  I really like the Murlaca, the gladiator type battle with hooked blades worn on the fore arms.  I would love to see that on the big screen.

PNR: In your opinion, what is it about the futuristic/sci-fi genre that seems to cross the traditional male/female reader boundaries? Do readers expect more or less romantic elements in this genre?

Colby H.: I think every story needs some romance.  Isn't the happily ever after what everyone wants?  It's great to save the world but you've got to live in it after you save it.  As far as the male/female boundaries, I've always had a lot of male readers because I write a lot of action. 

PNR: Could you tell us about your current projects, what can readers expect to see in the coming months?

Colby H.: I'm working on the third star book, Phoenix, which is about Shaun and Lilly's twins, Zander and Elle and Ruben's step son Boone.  There will be a down and out battle with the Circe, more of the Murlaca and dolphins play a role in this story. 

I'm also plotting out a vampire time travel called Twist.  Can't reveal the plans for it but I'm real excited about the prospects.

PNR: Thanks Colby, for taking time out to talk to us. Where can readers find out what’s new and how can they contact you?

Colby H.: I’m revamping my web site at www.cindyholby.com.  For current news sign up for my newsletter and visit my blog.  Thanks for having me!

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a.k.a. Colby Hodge  

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Book 2: Star Series

SHOOTING STAR
Fast-talking, hard-hitting, devil-may-care, Ruben could outmaneuver anyone who sought to attack him, charm any he chose to befriend. At the helm of his star ship he was invincible; when driving a hard bargain, unbeatable; in the bedroom of a beautiful woman, unstoppable. But the secrets of Ruben's past were about to catch up with him and put everything he thought he knew about himself to the test. Now his ship had crash-landed on a primitive world, the voice of his long-lost brother whispering in his mind was causing him to question his sanity, and a mysterious beauty had cut through all his defenses to the lonely man beneath. In Tess's arms he would find his true self, igniting a love that blazed through the night like a...

SHOOTING STAR  

Book 1: Star Series

STARGAZER - Do Not Revive Without Authorization Those were the words stamped on the cyro tube holding the prisoner. Gazing in fascination at the bulging muscles of his arms, Lilly wondered if the heavy cables binding his wrists and ankles would be enough to hold him when he awoke from his enforced sleep. Nor was she reassured by the crime committed by her fellow passenger: murder. Or his sentence: life, in the deepest hole the Legion could find.

Yet even sensing the rage and frustration within him, she tied her fate to his when their ship was attacked. Chased by Ravigans across the universe, she had no choice but to put her trust in Phoenix. But how was he able to penetrate her mind, filling it with teasing suggestions and hotly sensual images, when that talent had always belonged exclusively to the generations of grey-eyed women in her line? Was the devil with the silver gaze the key to saving her beloved garden planet of Oasis or just a common criminal out to take for himself whatever he could get his hands on?