Selena Caryll lost everything in the war: her ship, her crew, her family. The only thing keeping her going is the hope that somehow the feuding, ground-bound settlers and the fuelless space fleet can set aside their differences. But getting the politically-fractured fleet moving again is more than she can manage alone. For now, she has to settle for working undercover with the planetary police force.
When someone tries to reignite conflict between the planet-siders and the fleet, there’s only one person who has the rank and ability to help Selena protect the fleet: Titan Sciarra, Fleet Guardian—the one man she’s tried hardest to avoid since the war destroyed her life.
In a world where the stagnant weight of tradition can be as deadly as any knife, the only way to survive is to keep moving.
Behind The Title: Newton’s First Law of Motion states “A body in motion will stay in motion until acted on by an outside force”. We usually think of this in terms of physics, physical objects, and friction but it applies to choices and lives too. Often a person will set their course and stay on it unless acted on by something external force, even if the destination is catastrophic. For Selena Caryll her course is a downward spiral, she’s lost everything and has no future to look forward to. For Titan Sciarra his life was headed for an early death until he was shot down in the war, the subsequent injuries and his absence from the battle lines allowed him to change direction.
In a world where two stagnant cultures are on a collision course with mutual destruction it will take something extraordinary to change the world. And what’s more extraordinary than love?
For readers who enjoyed the Time and Shadows series, what does BODIES IN MOTION offer? The Time and Shadow series (The Day Before, Convergence Point, Decoherence) with Sam and Mac was SF-lite. Clones and the multiverse, but less high-tech space exploration. Still, it shares a theme of choices with BODIES IN MOTION. Sam realized she was an einselected node and that even her smallest choices affected the fate of the multiverse. In BODIES everything is post-war, people are dealing with the trauma of having lost people they loved, of having killed people they once considered friends, and there’s no one in Selena’s age group who wasn’t effected. They didn’t get to opt out of the war. When a society is that fragile, every choice matters. Every word, every action, every inaction has a long-term consequence. This is only the start of the series so we don’t get to see everything yet, but you get to see the start.
For readers who enjoyed the Heroes and Villains series, what does BODIES IN MOTION offer?
One of the big draws of the Heroes and Villains series is the super powers. Being able to fly, or use telekinesis, or manipulate emotions were all part of Dr. Charm’s family’s charm. It’s fun to see ordinary people using powers most of us don’t have. In BODIES IN MOTION science allows anyone to have it (with some notable exceptions) and we get to see what a world full of superheroes looks like. What makes you special when everyone is superpowered and able to teleport?
And while BODIES IN MOTION isn’t as intentionally comedic as EVEN VILLAINS FALL IN LOVE there is the same sense of warm humor and family that you get from the Heroes and Villains books. Plus: happy endings! Who doesn’t love a happily ever after?
You really like choices as a theme, don’t you? I do! I think one of the biggest lies people believe is that their choices and actions don’t matter. And maybe some of them don’t. Maybe the color of your shirt or whether or not you wear make-up won’t have a long-term consequence. But how you treat other people, how you interact with them, that always has life-long consequences. When you look at the patterns of history you can often pinpoint the one rash decision that brought a culture tumbling down. Even on an individual scale, from day-to-day, choices matter. And sometimes you don’t know what the right choice is, you just have to choose and hope for the best. But, yes, I love this as a literary theme. I love exploring what happens when one person makes a choice that changes everything.