Guest Blogger: Linda Andrews

What if? Those two words are the most powerful tool in a writer's toolbox. Ask any writer and they'll probably say their stories started with those two words. What if vampires existed? What if people changed into werewolves during a full moon? What if steam powered the world and not fossil fuels? What if there existed a magical place that was accessible via a subway station, or a wardrobe, or a bed knob?

If you're a fan of the paranormal I bet you can think of a novel that answered each of those questions.

Now let's take it a step further. Let's explain how those things can actually exist. Let the paranormal world collide with the scientific one.

We'll do the easiest first-steampunk. Not really a paranormal thing, I know, but bear with me. Although we don't see great billows of steam pouring out of our cars, steam does power our world. Coal and diesel are used to boil water to make steam that turn the turbines that produce electricity which power our homes. Nuclear power plants run pretty much on the same principle. And you know what? Some solar collectors are being focused on containers of oil to heat water and produce steam, so the solar power plants continue making electricity long after the sun sets.

We live in the steam age!

As for vampires, zombies and werewolves, they're easy to explain -- genetic engineering. Zombies are obviously a virus that has gone horribly wrong. Werewolves -- the virus is only activated by the wattage of moonlight produced during a full moon. Vampires -- the agent tinkered with the digestive system as well as producing sunlight allergies.

Now, we're at those magical places accessible only through specific locations. Areas that bend space and time have a name: worm holes. Others could actually be inter-dimensional portals. Why not? They're both accounted for in scientific theories.

What about elves, ogres, gnomes, leprechauns and the other decidedly nonhuman beings? How about alien visitors to our planet? Who says they didn't come here through a worm hole or another dimension? There are quite a few fantasy books that suggest this very thing.

And last but not least, ghosts. I propose that our souls are comprised of energy and that when our bodies die, the souls lose the connection to this dimension and transition into another. But some hardy souls (sorry, I couldn't help the pun) are able to make contact with this world by using some form of energy -- be it heat, electromagnetic, or electricity (AC or DC) -- to make the transition back.

So what do you think? Sound plausible? What other beings can you think of that might be explained by stretching science?

In honor of my new release one person who comments will receive an electronic copy of Blue Maneuver.

Here's the blurb:

The extraterrestrials have landed and they're human.

Rae Hemplewhite didn't believe in aliens until a close encounter with out-of-this-world technology drags her into the extraterrestrial security program. Helping alien refugees adjust to life on Earth is difficult enough, but her first clients have a price on their heads. Plus, her new partner seems torn between the urge to kiss her or kill her.

And that's the good news.

The bad news: Alliances are forming in deep space. If Rae doesn't keep her witnesses alive long enough to transfer their top secret information to the right faction of humanity, Earth will become a battlefield.

Blue Maneuver available now:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Smashwords

And if you want to follow my blog tour, I'll be at Tracy Sumner's talking about the relationship triangle between my heroine Rae and two handsome extraterrestrial humans on Friday and with Lynda K Scott on Monday.

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Linda is giving away a copy of her ebook to one commenter. Check back to see if you won.