Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
You know how much I *love!* Speculative Fiction, right!? You might have seen my admiration & wicked sweet joyfulness each time *November!* pops back round wherein I’m gushing about my participation within the realms of our lovely book blogosphere event #RRSciFiMonth!? Or, maybe you’ve seen me threading the stories I’m reading in both Fiction & Non-Fiction with my personal tag of happiness known as #FuellYourSciFi? As the tag explains it all really – I have a hearty appreciation for the genre & the world-building found within it! I’ve been reading Science Fiction with a tendency towards disappearing into worlds lit in the Cosmos (a la Space Opera) since I was seventeen – the year, where I not only discovered the Sci Fi Book Club (those wonderful hardback editions arriving by postal mail) but I started to curate my fascination with specific authors who were drawing my eye and heart into their stories.
In recent years, I’ve happily read EPIC serials within the tomes of Space Opera (ie. The Clan Chronicles) whilst I have also sought out wonderfully quirky stories (such as the untitled series by Cindy Koepp) as much as the odd audiobook which truly not only rooted me straight into the world itself but left me wanting more out of the sequel (Rimrider). I truly move in and out of the genre – seeking reads which not only strike the hearty balance of being character-driven with this realistically spun world by which they live but I love seeing the writers who push the boundaries – of giving us wondrous new portals of joy in which to reside within their Sci Fi escapades!
Thus, when I first learnt about Andorra Pett – I thought she would be a keen character to get to know and I was overjoyed I could host her writer, Mr Dee during the blog tour which celebrates her debut story within a series which has already inked out *four!* installments thus far into her development. Therefore, if like me your hankering for a cleverly plotted series set in Space, maybe you’ll be as overjoyed as I am finding out this lovely is available in *print!* I nearly thought it would be in audiobook – as it has something about it which I think would do well with spoken narrative!
Be sure to add your comments & thoughts for the author below my conversation – I’d be interested to hear what you thought about *Andorra Pett*, the developing series & why you personally love stories set in Space! Brew a cuppa, heat up a scone and settle in for some fun!
Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Cafe
by Richard Dee
Meet Andorra Pett; with her trusty sidekick, she’s taken over a derelict café. On a mining station. It just happens to be orbiting Saturn! She’s hoping for a fresh start, away from all the drama of her old life. It’s a chance to relax and start again in a place where nobody knows anything about her or her past.
But the café holds a secret, and secrets have a habit of coming out; whether you want them to or not. And being accident prone doesn’t help. The more you try to pretend that you know what’s going on, the worse it gets. Andorra’s plans for peace and quiet get lost amid the revelations and skulduggery and she soon realises that the fate of the whole station lies in her hapless hands.
In space, you can still trip over your feet; the question is, will you land upright?
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-0995458161
on 15th June, 2017
Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook
Converse via: #AndorraPett or #RichardDee + #SpaceOpera +#SFF or #SpecFict
Aside from taking the traditional lead-in of a beach cafe to the outer limits of where a cafe could become the center focus out in Space – what initially drew you to writing a character like Andorra and why do you think she’s finding traction with readers?
Dee responds: Initially, Andorra was written as a response to a challenge, to write a sci-fi version of the rom-com, cosy crime sort of novel. As I did so, I realised that there was more to it; now I see Andorra as a symbol for independent people who discover that they can do so much more than they ever thought. And what they perceive to be their weakness can often be their strength. All they need is the chance to show it.
I love how you took on a challenge and in the process discovered an amazing character you love creating whilst enjoying the setting in which she thrives. Cosy crime novels are amongst my favourites to read but what drew my eye is how you’ve crafted Andorra to be partial to sleuthing but also wickedly attached to keeping a thread of humour within her adventures as well. Humour by far is what makes life more interesting I think as it helps set our attitudes towards the positive. I also agree about how sometimes our hidden strength is best concealed within a weakness. Sounds to me like you’ve enjoyed showing her growth and the potential for her self-discovery to be as entertaining to read as the rest of the story.
As you love to write stories in Speculative Fiction, what do you love most about exploring Science Fiction & Space Opera? What initially drew you into the stories you’re now writing yourself?
Dee responds: There is a certain amount of freedom of expression in writing Sci-fi. If you write any other sort of fiction you are limited by the properties of the Earth and the time, there’s not a lot of room for manoeuvre. In speculative fiction, you are only constrained by the one basic fact that underpins the science. Working from that, you can invent to your heart’s content, stretching what is into what might be. The Universe is your canvas, humanity will probably always be the same, with the same faults and vices but given a different stage to operate on, who knows how they might behave. Inventing situations for your characters in sci-fi is always interesting, adapting what we already know and modifying scientific facts to possible conclusions is fun!
This is absence of perimeters is what originally drew my own eye into Speculative Fiction – as a writer and as a reader. You get to set the bar wherever you want to traverse – including if you want to write Hard or Soft Sci-Fi based on your own preferences of how much tech and specifically scientific details you want to incorporate into your stories. Oddly, I tend to read more Hard Sci-Fi than Soft; but yours just spoke to me as being one of the few times where I was charmed by the character herself and look forward to reading her adventures one day. I would imagine the best fun is the inventive line in the sand where you can shift things one way or the other or re-bending what is probable against what isn’t readily known as being possible today. The jolly fun in having that kind of freedom of creativity I would imagine is addictive!
Andorra seems like the kind of character who refuses to give up and give in to the adversities life brings to her – what do you think motivates her to have this go-to attitude of not just re-inventing herself or trying something new, but of willing herself to realise anything is possible – even if it feels like resolution is hard-won?
Dee responds: Andorra is tenacious and clever; she just needed to be put in a situation where she could see it for herself. The “fish out of water” approach was ideal for her. I put her somewhere that she would never have imagined being and gave her an improbable situation to deal with. Then I stood back to see what she would do. In a way, we all need to be taken out of our comfort zone once in a while, just to see what would happen, it might not be as bad as you imagine.
I truly love ‘fish out of water’ stories – they have such a keen insight into how all of us would do in similar circumstances but with the benefit of a bit of distance. Very true – when we walk outside our zones of comfort we can sometimes discover the most about each other whilst becoming more intuitively aware of ourselves and the world around us.
What are the top three best dishes at Andorra’s Cafe? And, how did you want them to ‘stand-out’ from Earth diner/cafe faire?
Dee responds: I actually wanted the café to be a point of reference, a place that was familiar and made the reader feel comfortable. I didn’t see it as different; I wanted the characters to feel comfortable in it as well. So it had to provide normality, food is a good source of that; there’s no sci-fi in a sandwich or a baked potato. So the menu is very recognisable. It also gave me a place for people to meet, and a use for the produce from the farm that I put on the space station. In that way, I could introduce sub-plots and hopefully make a more interesting story.
Ahh, and here I thought you created a menu which would only make sense in Outer Space! lol I do agree though – food is a great icebreaker of how to bring people together and create a bridge of entrance into how they start to interact with each other past their first acquaintance.
What did you like most about setting a story this close to Saturn? Were there ways in which you loved adding to the world-building which gave the allure of visiting this part of Space?
Dee responds: I had an idea about mining the rocks in the rings of Saturn. We don’t know a lot about them, perhaps they contain useful minerals? It was an idea that I could develop. It gave me a reason to put the space station there. Once you have that, you need miners to do the work and they need to live and eat. The farm was logical, after all, we would need a huge fleet of ships to supply them with food and water.
For the world of the novel to exist, things like how would the people eat need a logical explanation or the whole premise fails. You have to consider what the space station needs to survive and think of a way of putting it all in place. A source of food, power and life support, they all need to be invented and added. If you do it right, you create a functioning, believable world. Then you can start telling the story. And as you do, you can add to your creation as required by the plot. And the more you add, the more complex it all becomes, the more there is to write about.
This seems to be one of the fall-backs I’ve observed lately – interstellar mining operations! I like how you built the layers of this story – of taking care of the necessities first and then, allowing yourself the time you needed to write the back-stories and present situations for your characters. Quite true of course – if your at an isolated Space Station – food, life support, energy, etc are going to become the prime necessities needed on a regular basis. Now, I’m looking forward to seeing what you did differently to approach the ‘farming’ in Space thread of interest!
Of all the planets mankind could attempt to visit and settle a colony, do you think Mars was the ‘best’ first choice or do you think another planet might have been a better choice? If so, why?
Dee responds: Mars is probably the most likely place for a human colony after the moon. Philip K Dick used the lava tunnels which exist on Mars in his story “We can remember it for you Wholesale” (filmed as Total Recall). And so many others have chosen Mars, who would I be to buck the trend?
Anyway, Venus is too inhospitable. With the gravity situation, we could live on Mars more easily than we could on the Moon. The one thing you have to be in writing Sci-fi is reasonable. It’s better to work with the probable rather than the impossible or difficult. Why make your world building harder than it needs to be?
Quite true, quite true – yet I love to ask the question whenever I can to see how everyone else is weighing in on the situation currently at hand. For me personally, I have always maintained we should have travelled ‘left’ and not ‘right’ when it comes to which planet(s) to explore either for resettling or exploratory reasons. In essence, back to what you said about the ‘necessities’ there is more than one planet with better water resources than Mars.
As you have four stories projected to run in the series, with a potential fifth waiting in the wings – how far do you think the series will expand? What do you look forward to in seeing develop as the stories move forward?
Dee responds: Andorra can keep having adventures; after all, there is a whole Galaxy out there for her to play in. And who knows what might be discovered to keep her amused. The titles of the next books give you some idea of what she will be getting up to, “Andorra Pett on Mars,” “Andorra Pett and her Sister,” “Andorra Pett takes a Break.”
Perhaps we might see Andorra travelling far and wide as mankind starts to explore the universe, after all, she is us and who knows what our future holds. One thing is for certain, Andorra will keep finding improbable crimes to solve as long as people enjoy reading about her exploits.
Ah! She’s going off to Mars – how cheeky of you – that’s why you answered my question eluding to Mars being the right place to go! lol Clever! Looks like we’re in for a lovely series – I know I’m looking forward to one day picking up a print copy of this novel – although, I really do think it might benefit an audiobook environment, too. Something about its premise made me think *audiobook!* – only to realise it’s not yet narrated as such! lol I am thankful I had the chance to talk to you about Andorra and the lively inventive series your assembling for your readers! I hope some new readers will find this conversation interesting enough to take a chance on Andorra!
About Richard Dee
A native of Brixham in Devon, Richard Dee's family left Devon when he was in his teens and settled in Kent. Leaving school at 16 he briefly worked in a supermarket, then went to sea and travelled the world in the Merchant Navy, qualifying as a Master Mariner in 1986.
Coming ashore to be with his growing family, he used his sea-going knowledge in several jobs, including Marine Insurance Surveyor and Dockmaster at Tilbury, before becoming a Port Control Officer in Sheerness and then at the Thames Barrier in Woolwich. In 1994 he was head-hunted and offered a job as a Thames Estuary Pilot.
In 1999 he transferred to the Thames River Pilots, where he regularly took vessels of all sizes through the Thames Barrier and upriver as far as H.M.S. Belfast and through Tower Bridge. In all, he piloted over 3,500 vessels in a 22-year career with the Port of London Authority. Richard was offered part time working in 2010, which allowed him to return to live in Brixham, where he took up writing and blogging.
He retired in 2015, when he set up and ran a successful Organic bakery, supplying local shops and cafés. The urge to write eventually overtook the urge to bake but Richard still makes bread for friends and family. Richard is married with three adult children and two grandchildren.
This author interview is courtesy of: Rachel’s Random Resources
Rachel & I first crossed paths whilst celebrating our mutual love of ChocLitUK novels – this blog tour marks the first I’ve been able to host for her after discovering recently she has a blog touring company! You’ve might have seen her badge in my sidebar!? I am looking forward to bringing Guest Author Features, Book Spotlights w/ Notes & Reviews to Jorie Loves A Story hosted by Rachel! It’s quite lovely when someone you know in the twitterverse has started their own company & has followed their passion for helping others. I look forward to working with Rachel more often starting in 2018!
You will next see me hosting her blog tours on the following dates:
- the 27th of February, 2018 : Lord Ravenscar’s Inconvenient Betrothal by Lara Temple
- the 16th of March, 2018 : Interview with the writer of The Best Boomerville Hotel
- the 22nd of March, 2018 : Author Guest Post & Review of The Invisible Hand (a re-telling of Shakespeare)
Similar to blog tours where I feature book reviews, as I choose to highlight an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog. I provide the questions for interviews and topics for the guest posts; wherein I receive the responses back from publicists and authors directly. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them; I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers.
{SOURCES: Cover art of “Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Cafe”, book synopsis, Andorra Pett character image, author biography, author photograph of Richard Dee and the tour badge were all provided by Rachel Random Resources and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Conversations with the Bookish and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.
Comments via Twitter:
Hallo, hallo dear hearts! 😊
Happily hosting @RichardDockett1 on his #SpecFic #blogtour feat. #AndorraPett & her wicked crazy humourous adventures in this #SpaceOpera #Mystery series!
Find out more via the convo I had w/ him!
🚀https://t.co/PVU7YD2tE0 @rararesources #SFF pic.twitter.com/OduE37NEjd— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) February 12, 2018
.@Dvmheather Thanks Heather for alerting me to the #FoodiesRead challenge on your lovely #bookblog!👍😁#sohappy to know this as I'll be taking an active part in it from now on! Thrilled #AndorraPett will find some new #readers thru your blog! Have a lovely Monday! Top cheers😁🤗
— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) February 12, 2018
Thank you for putting together a great post.
You’re most welcome, it was a fun book to discuss! :) I liked how you approached bringing Andorra to life & how you envisioned to capture her life in Space! I hope others will find her quirky adventures to be inspiring ones to read whilst I eagerly awaiting reading them myself! This blog tour was a heap of joy to become a part of, truly!
This was a great book and I’m not a cozy mystery fan. I have a link up for books about food. Cozy mysteries set in cafes totally qualify. You are welcome to link up for a chance to win a gift card. http://www.spiritblog.net/february-2018-foodies-read
Hallo, Heather! :)
I’m so happy you’ve dropped by today – I can’t wait to read this one myself, although I am seriously addicted to Cosies – I love how they are lighter to read and do not push me out of my comfort zones. To me they are as comforting as comfort food! However, I’m thrilled to hear you’ve read it and loved it! How wonderful is that?! You must have loved hearing the author’s thoughts on how he set-up the series and Andorra’s adventures in Space!!
Thank you for inviting me to participate in your Foodie Reads 2018 Challenge – I added this interview for February and as I am planning to have ‘food’ centred stories (fiction & non) sprinkled into my reading life this year, I’ll continue to link & share what I am blogging about whilst having the chance to visit with others who are participating as well! #Blessed for your visit!