When I set out to conclude my debut series, I knew that I had to choose a path that would close the story of the surviving Kar’Kali warriors on a hopeful note. With a diplomat as my male hero, I immediately decided that a nascent alliance between ‘Deviant’ and ‘Deadhead’ should be the goal at stake. 

When I wrote The Alien’s Handler, I had no idea what my writing career would grow into. I finished that manuscript in the thick of the pandemic, having done zero preparation for the world of indie publishing. I simply hired a Fiverr artist for the cover, edited and formatted it on my own (I KNOW), and published it into the ether without having a single other human lay their eyes on it. I certainly didn’t have any future plans other than the basic lead-in for the sequel, The Alien’s Criminal.  

In hindsight, I’d call that painting myself into a corner. On top of which, when Kiri’s character came into the world during The Alien’s Boss, he was a relatively flat iteration of the Kar’Kali warrior archetype I’d created. He existed more as a foil to Pakka seen through Jen’s eyes. So when I went to drawing board for this book it sometimes felt like I was in a pickle. What I knew I wanted was for Kiri’s story to nicely sum up the overarching themes of the series. Each hero has had their own struggles with understand how to love someone. For Kiri, his hang up has a lot to do with the way Kar’Kali warriors are trained to give everything of themselves to the cause without thinking of the consequences. He wants to be useful to Juana, so much so that he neglects to ask her permission when he decides she needs the protections that come along with being his wife. 

When it came to creating Juana Navarro, I knew that Kiri’s mate would be one of the many missing women I’ve sprinkled through the Voss ‘Verse. I actually scrapped an entire storyline where Kiri’s mate was a film starlet with memory loss caused by the stasis pod. I later decided that where that plot was going did not promote the themes I wanted to explore for the final installment of the series. The idea of ‘coming home’ felt right to me, snugly tying in with the Kar’Kali efforts to reclaim their planet. So, because the film crew came from Hollywood, the idea of a woman whose hometown was L.A. came into my mind. After spending months surviving on her own, Juana dreams of going home to family and familiarity. But when she’s finally free to return, she’s afraid she’s too altered by her experience to reinhabit her normal life. 

The Setting

Originally, the meeting with Deviants was to take place on Vanskiikii, the jungle planet that Pakka has turned into his Kar’Kal headquarters, but my writer brain refused to believe that my clever King Makiva would risk an assassination. In any case, I don’t prefer to write a story with only one location. Ra’Vaga added the excitement I felt was lacking with an embassy-focused storyline. It’s a gritty location, forgotten by time and reclaimed by forgotten people— deserters, outlaws, and thieves. Once built as a garrison for Kar’Kali forces, its fort is now manned by a former mercenary crimelord, and its ‘airfield’ is now a ramshackle tent city. It was mentioned in passing during The Alien’s Cargo, as Vala and Quinn make their way to Okrila. Since the Deviant King Makiva is a king of pirates, he has connections there, and he finds comfort in the communication dead zone. And if you’re interested in the young ruler’s future, you might want to start reading my Deviant Warriors of Kar’Kal series… 

The End of An Era

Looking back on the series as a whole, I explored the archetype of the starchy, Vulcan-esque, virginal warrior as deeply as I can muster for the time being. This robotic sort of man is something I personally love, mostly because it is a great jumping-off point for stories that put the value of passion and emotion on a pedestal. Certainly, the virgin Kar’Kali warrior shares many traits of the ‘Born Sexy Yesterday’ trope that tends to pop up in many sci-fi books, films, and tv shows. In my humble opinion, ‘Born Sexy Yesterday’ is not just for the male gaze, but also for us romance readers to enjoy. Trust that you’ll find this theme in future works from me. In the future, I might return to the idea but my days of ‘me no understand feelings’ will have to go on the shelf for a while. As it is, I think my editor and I are in agreement that keeping watch for contractions is getting pretty old… 

Still, it’s bittersweet to put my beloved Kar’Kali warriors on the shelf for a while. They were the inspiration that took me from having unfinished story ideas lying around to having a growing career as an indie author. 

The Alien's Woman will be available on Amazon starting August 22nd, 2023. You will be able to purchase an e-book or use your Kindle Unlimited subscription to read.  Click here to get it now!