Laurie's Non-paranormal Thoughts and Reviews: Tangerine by Wodke Hawkinson

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Tangerine by Wodke Hawkinson - Character Interview, Excerpt

A young scientist, Ava Majestic, is pitted against an egotistical billionaire, Augustus Agnotico. He believes she is in possession of an artifact with special powers and hires a rogue, Needle, to follow her as she travels through space, investigating planets to clear them for habitation. Needle, drawn to Ava, quits working for Agnotico and teams up with her.
On the planet Tangerine, they encounter life forms never before seen, confront danger, and discover a treasure of immense power. She and Needle learn they are the heirs to this fantastic device. In the face of Agnotico’s relentless pursuit, the couple must find a way to prevent Agnotico from gaining possession of their legacy, even if it means his death.
From the wild reaches of space and back again, Tangerine takes the reader into a future where long-distance space travel is commonplace and aliens are a natural part of everyday life.

Thank you for inviting us to share our work with your readers. We also want to announce our giveaway: Tangerine will be free today, February 22, 2012, on Amazon Kindle. Now we'll turn things over to our character.

-Wodke Hawkinson

Hello! I am Dr. Ava Majestic, the main character in Wodke Hawkinson's futuristic novel, Tangerine. Pleased to meet you and your readers!

Where do you dream of traveling to and why?

I don't have to dream of traveling! I'm fortunate to be able to roam not only across the vast reaches of space but also through time via my legacy, a complicated little device I call the "Khi". I am a Traveler. It's my role.

Who is your favorite author?

My favorite author has not yet been born in your time. I can't call my favorite author a he or a she for this particular alien writer is neither. The subject doesn't come up in the book, Tangerine, but my favorite author writes rather technical and detailed books on alien species. As a biologist, this interests me very much.

Tell us about your family.

This is a sore subject for me. My family now consists of my love, Needle, and my small feline-like traveling companion, Pisk. My dear parents were murdered and I struggle to accept their deaths.

What was the scariest moment of your life?

I think the scariest moment thus far was when one of my trips (using my legacy) resulted in a death. I returned to my present time fearful that I had activated the reciprocity elements of my device and inadvertently caused the death of someone near and dear to me, like Needle or Pisk. I was so relieved to find them safe!

What songs are most played on your Ipod?

I have learned about music from Needle so I understand what a song is; but, what is an Ipod?

What are you passionate about these days?

I had a brief lapse from my usual good judgment and used my legacy to exact revenge. I pledge not to repeat that error. I am now devoted to finding a higher purpose for my legacy. In addition to the passion I have for my work as an interstellar biologist, I also feel driven to use my legacy in the noblest of ways.

Tell us about your favorite restaurant.

I love the Galaxy Eats in the Moon City on Tangerine's primary moon. It has a giant telescopic lens in the ceiling and you can lean back in your chair and watch a planetary display unlike any in the universe. At least the parts of the universe I have been lucky enough to visit. The food is delicious. I really like the scrambled saurus ova; plus, the service bots who are mostly efficient, though it's easy to confuse them.

EXCERPT

A shadow loomed over him. Pisk raised his eyes. "Look," he said.

“I’m looking,” Ava said softly, amazement lighting her features. They were surrounded by a group of silent bovines, larger than Earth giraffes, but delicately fashioned like deer. Covered in long silky auburn hair, they grazed peacefully, their delicate ears the size of dinner plates and wispy as gauze. Their approach had been ethereal, as if they had suddenly materialized. Ava resisted the urge to stroke one of the animals and settled instead for photos and vids. She pulled her cam from its cord around her neck and began filming. The animals were indifferent to her and Pisk. They moved to the stream and began drinking deeply, barely disturbing the water with their long, hollow, spoon-shaped tongues. Ava and Pisk watched as, in unison, the herd turned their heads and fanned their ears in a listening pose. The next instant they were gone, racing and leaping across the plain like colossal gazelles.

“They’re beautiful,” Ava said breathlessly. “I wonder why they ran away.”

She and Pisk stared after them, admiring their bounding dance over the swaying grasses when a warning screech was wrenched from Pisk’s throat, a primal sound born of instinctual fear.

“Run! Flee!” he cried, and leapt toward the skimmer. Ava turned to see a great winged creature zooming down on them from the sky, its body that of a huge insect, its shrill drone piercing her ears. She scrambled into the skimmer and powered up. They were airborne in seconds.

“Shields,” she screamed, just as great insect pounded into the side of her craft and knocked it into a wobble. She overcorrected, and the small raft skipped roughly over the field like a stone over water. Swift as beacon, the monster turned and flew toward them again, its mandibles opening and closing like jaws of death. Ava leveled the skimmer and went into evasive maneuvers, but the insect matched her move for move, swooping for the craft again and again.

Ava activated the discharge field just as the thing rammed them again, zapping their attacker with high voltage when it made contact with the shields. It sizzled, twitched, and fell dead on top of the craft, its weight dragging the small skimmer down with a hard thud and thrusting it into a wild scoot along the surface. The skimmer tore through the tall grass before slamming into a small rock formation. The monstrous insect was flung from the skimmer and came to rest several yards further, flopping into the meadow like a huge bag of sand.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

PJ Hawkinson grew up in the Midwest. She is a Hutchinson Community College graduate. An avid reader since childhood she is now the published author of Half Bitten. PJ's interest include sightseeing off the beaten path, fishing, and paint-by-numbers. She admits to no favorite writer but enjoys the works of Stephen King, JRR Tolkien, Kent Conwell, and Douglas Adams. PJ envisions life of writing, both on her own and with her long-time friend and co-author, Karen.

Karen attended HCC and Kansas Wesleyan University. She grew up in the Midwest and has played in various bands off and on since childhood, writing many of the songs herself or with co-writers. She is now narrowing her focus to creative writing. She has always been an avid reader, having a wide range of literary interests. Tangerine is her first co-written novel with co-author, PJ.