Virtual Book Tour: Aurora Lightbourne

I am Aurora Lightbourne, I am a PC tech and writer. I am currently working on book 4 of my Space Tripper series as well as two other books, a Steampunk book and a Fairytale/Fantasy book.

So far on my tour I have done interviews, talked about 'brand name' book buyers and self/small published authors, wrote about my writing and latest works. This time I would like to talk about the genre of Science Fiction.

There have been various articles written in the past year about the supposed 'death' of Sci-Fi. And indeed, if you mention you write Sci-Fi to most people they will quickly back away. But, let's consider if this decline in Sci-Fi is really true. For one, the genre has its own channel, I don't get cable but I don't remember hearing of any other channel that is named after a specific genre other than Sci-Fi, so it must be popular. And really, there are many popular classic and new movies, books and TV shows that are classified as Science Fiction.

Although, if asked, many people will deny liking Sci-Fi and even cringe at the thought, the reality is many people actually like, no, love Sci-Fi, they just don't realize it.

Sci-Fi is a varied genre, sometimes you don't even realize it is Science Fiction when you see it. Many times Sci-Fi is classified as Sci-fi/Fantasy as Science Fiction is a type of Fantasy only with some futuristic, alien, alternate history/worlds or technological/mechanical elements.

A few movies, books and TV shows you may not have thought of as Sci-Fi:

Movies: Star Wars, Stargate, Blade Runner, Alien, Terminator, E.T., Planet of the Apes, Total Recall, The Matrix, Tron, RoboCop, Jurassic Park, Clockwork Orange, Fifth Element, I am Legend, The Fly, Mad Max, Back to the Future, Wall-E, The Abyss, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I Robot, The Invisible man, Superman, Godzilla, Inner Space, Independence Day, Wild Wild West, Stepford Wives, Dune, Explorers, Flash Gordon, Cocoon, Batteries not Included, Buckaroo Bonzai, Truman Show, Men in Black, The 13^th Floor, My Science Project, Frankenstein, Last Starfighter, King Kong, Deep Impact, Armageddon, Space Cowboys, Incredible Shrinking Man, Time Machine, Pluto Nash, James Bond, X-men, Ironman, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Weird Science and many, many more.

Books: Dragon Riders-McCaffrey, Crystal Rain-Buckell, Dune, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Wizard of Oz, Island of Doctor Moreau, We, Neuromancer, Frankenstein, Most Superhero Comic Books, Watchmen, Vampire earth series, Jurassic Park, Time Machine, Watership Down, Old Man's War, Maske, Book of the Short Sun, Wizard of Earthsea, The Fountainhead, A Wrinkle in Time, Not Quite Human, I am Legend, Lord of the Rings, Alice in Wonderland, Handmaid's Tale etc.

TV Shows: Lost, X-Files, Twilight Zone, Dr. Who, Sliders, Quantum Leap, Outer Limits, Thunderbirds, Dark Angel, 3^rd Rock from the Sun, Wonder Woman, Jetsons, Stargate, Adventures of Superman, Smallville, Lois and Clark, Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, My Favorite Martian, The Avengers, Batman, Man from U.N.C.L.E., Futurama, Greatest American Hero, The Flash, The Wild Wild West, Misfits of Science, Space Ghost and so on.

As you can see Science Fiction has been and continues to be very popular, people just don't always think 'Sci-Fi' when they see it.

So what constitutes Sci-Fi? How can some of the above mentioned shows or books be considered part of this quirky genre?

Wikipedia defines it as: a genre of fiction that differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically established or scientifically postulated laws of nature (meaning it has imaginary things that are possible in the future).

These may include:

• A setting in the future, in alternative timelines, or in a historical past that contradicts known facts of history or the archaeological record
• A setting in outer space, on other worlds, or involving aliens
• Stories that involve technology or scientific principles that contradict known laws of nature
• Stories that involve discovery or application of new scientific principles, such as time travel or psionics, or new technology, such as nanotechnology, faster-than-light travel or robots, or of new and different political or social systems (e.g., a dystopia, or a situation where organized society has collapsed)

As a means of understanding the world through speculation and storytelling, science fiction has antecedents back to mythology, though precursors to science fiction as literature can be seen in Lucian's True History in the 2nd century, some of the Arabian Nights tales, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter in the 10th century,Ibn al-Nafis ' Theologus Autodidactus in the 13th century,and Jules Verne's A Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in the 19th century.

Types of stories you may not realize are related to Sci-Fi : Steampunk, Cyberpunk, Time Travel, Alternate History, Military (interplanetary war etc), Apocalyptic (Deep Impact, Mad Max etc), Superhuman (abnormal abilities, mutations), Space Opera, Space Western, New Wave.

Science Fiction is very closely related and often times blends the genres such as fantasy, horror fiction (Frankenstein), Mystery Fiction (James Bond), History (alternate versions such as Steampunk) and Superhero Fiction (Fantastic 4, X-men, Superman, Spiderman).

As you can see, Science Fiction is varied and deep and can encompass a wide array of topics and storylines and, as far as I can tell, is far from 'dead' or 'dying'.

So the next time someone mentions Sci-Fi don't take a step back, lean in closer and ask, “What type? What is it about?” You might be surprised by how much you love it.

You can even give it a try right now by visiting my website and getting the whole first half of Space Trippers Book 1 FREE! http://alightbourne.netau.net/

I would classify my Space Tripper Series as Sci-Fi/Fantasy adventure.
The story has a serious plot but also contains a lot of humor, especially when Tim tries all of his pick-up lines on Valesque and gets shot down cold every time. You can read the story synopsis under my Virtual Book Tour information on my website above.

Thank you for joining me on Authors Promoting Authors!

Please continue to follow me on my Online Book Tour April 1-June 1 2010 as well, by visiting the websites on my tour schedule and leaving me comments, even just a 'Hi'!
If you do you will be entered in a drawing to win an autographed copy of one of my Space Trippers books as well as a custom book-thong.

And don't forget, if you follow me on twitter/facebook/myspace you can also play a game with me during my online tour for a chance to win a $25 Visa Gift Card (good anywhere you can spend money).

For my tour schedule, crossword blank and prize details see my event page on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=114666428547534

Or visit my Author site: http://alightbourne.netau.net/

Remember, since this is online, you can leave me comments and see my interviews and posts long after the posting date on the schedule (you may need to scroll down the pages to find my posts). Come join me and have Fun!

A. Lightbourne's Space Trippers Books 1 & 2 are available in paperback as one volume from any bookstore in your town or online such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble: http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=space+trippers+a+lightbourne

Books 1-3 are also available separately as ebooks for ipad, kindle, sony and more from any ebook retailer.