Our First Fictional Pet by Tiffany Roberts

Anna here, and happy to report I’m having an awesome release week! Embrace the Passion is now out and finding so many readers. And a huge bonus is that we are generating lots of support for the Hero Dogs charity!

Today, I’m welcoming husband and wife sci-fi romance writing duo Tiffany Roberts to talk about their Embrace the Passion story, Hunter of the Tide. They’re talking about the cutest-looking fish cat I’ve ever seen (okay, maybe the only fish cat I’ve ever seen, but still the cutest!)

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Throughout the books in our Kraken series, we’ve done our best to create vibrant alien environments both above and below the waves, but we knew our needs for Hunter of the Tide would be unique. The creatures we’re already established in the world of Halora were firmly planted either on land or in the sea (apart from the titular kraken, of course, who get to enjoy both), and none of them would quite work to suit the circumstances of our hero, Randall. As a human, Randall would spend most of his time in the air, but his life among the kraken meant he’d be in the water quite a bit, too. He needed a pet that could thrive with him in both environments.

We had a few criteria to meet in the creation of his companion—as mentioned, the animal needed to function well on land and at sea, it needed to be endearing to both the characters in the story and the readers, and it needed to be something that felt like a real, living part of Halora.

We looked to some earth creatures for inspiration, particularly semiaquatic mammals like seals and otters, but they weren’t quite alien enough as they were. Some inspirational artwork added the last bits we needed to create the prixxir, a semiaquatic species that lives along the coastlines of Halora. Part otter, part feline, and part fish, the prixxir present something vaguely familiar to Halora’s humans—a faint echo of the dogs and cats that were their ancestors’ companions on another world—while all the same having alien features.

The prixxir Randall befriends, Ikaros, is little more than a pup in Hunter of the Tide, but he demonstrates some of the best qualities a pet can have—loyalty, empathy, cunning, protectiveness, and affection. Ikaros is the first pet we’ve written in any of our stories (which is surprising to realize, now that we look back), but he was great fun to create and bring to life in the story. Though Hunter is about Randall and his relationship with Rhea, Ikaros provides the story’s heart and soul in true Pets in Space fashion, and we hope everyone enjoys reading about him as much as we enjoyed writing about him.

Hunter of the Tide Teaser

“He is eating so well,” Melaina said, twisting to grin at Rhea and Randall. Her attention immediately swung back to the prixxir. She offered another bite of fish, and the creature devoured the morsel, long tail waving eagerly.

“That’s good. It’ll help him heal faster,” Randall said.

Rhea watched her daughter pet the creature. Melaina’s face was aglow with delight, and her eyes sparkled with adoration. Rhea’s chest tightened; the youngling’s wanderlust had caused trouble over the last year, but seeing Melaina so happy filled Rhea’s hearts near to bursting.

And it was because of Randall. He’d made it possible by agreeing to care for the prixxir.

Ikaros chirruped, cocking its head and tilting it back when Melaina dangled a bit of fish higher up. The prixxir followed the moving food with large eyes, and the instant the meat came within its reach, it darted up to snatch the food out of Melaina’s fingers. She giggled.

“Once he’s fully grown, you won’t be able to hold food out of his reach anymore,” Randall said. “Not until you grow up, yourself.”

“When I’m as tall as you?” Melaina asked.

Randall glanced at Rhea, sweeping his gaze over her from tentacles to head, before looking back at Melaina. “You’ll probably be taller than me when you’re done.”

“Are you done growing? You don’t seem so tall for a male.”

Rhea smirked.

“Yeah, I’m all done growing. Maybe I’m not as big as Dracchus—”

“No one is as big as Dracchus,” Melaina interrupted.

Randall smiled. “But I make up for it by being the hairiest one in this whole place.”

Melaina laughed, pointing at Randall’s chest. “You are!”

“Everyone has to have something they’re good at.”

“Being the hairiest cannot be all you are good at,” Rhea said.

“I might have a few other talents,” he replied, eyes roving over Rhea’s body again. Her brows rose, and her lips curved into a smile. “But I usually let other people judge that for themselves.”

Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space 3

Bio: Tiffany Roberts, a husband and wife writing duo, are now actively living their dream creating happily-ever-afters one monster or alien at a time.

The pets are back in this new, exciting collection of eleven original stories from today’s hottest Science Fiction Romance authors! Feel the action and passion! https://www.petsinspaceantho.com