Venus Inferno

Click cover for an Excerpt from Chapter One

Venus Inferno comes out very shortly and I'm very excited by it. It represents a couple of firsts for me and one second.

It is my very first - but probably not my last - novella. I rather enjoyed this shorter format, although at times it was difficult to restrain myself from dropping an element into the story that would come up later. There wasn't going to be a later so if I wanted to say something, I had to say it now. I also didn't get the chance to interweave very much social commentary into the story, which I missed more than the chance to expand on the storyline.

It is also the very first story I wrote in the first person, which was very usual. I'm used to the third person and being able to provide different vantage points to allow the reader insight into what is happening. It is also odd using the personal pronoun 'I' all the time. One can't help but to identify with the main character. Admittedly this is an occupational hazard for writers but even more so in this case.

Venus Inferno represents my second published work with Champagne books. Hopefully there will be many more but having a second story accepted and published make it seem all the more real.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about Venus Inferno was that all of the main technology there is real.

Ion drives are real. They are slow compared to chemical rockets but they do exist.

Tellurium is real. It really is one of the nine rarest minerals on earth and it really does fall as snow on Venus.

Thermoelectric Materials are also real. And tellurium - in the form of bismuth telluride and lead telluride - really is a working element of thermoelectric devices.

Who knows? Maybe one day in the future they will be as commonplace as they are in Venus Inferno.

Let's hope so.

Cheers

David

Posted by David Boultbee

Excerpt - The Gender Divide by David Boultbee

“Hmm,” Olivia murmured, “I wonder why they don’t want any interruptions.”

“Yeah, I wonder,” Ryan chuckled and then his eyes widened as Olivia toyed with the knot of her sweatshirt nervously. He took a deep breath and somehow his nervousness made hers fade away. Emboldened by his reaction, she stood up and untied her sweatshirt and, before she lost her nerve, she pulled her T-shirt over her head. His eyes drank her in as she shimmied out of her jeans and stood in just her bra and panties. Somehow the further she went, the easier it was and she did a little wiggle for his benefit. She could see the evidence of his reaction clearly now and she reached behind her and unfastened her bra. She coyly held the loose cups to her breasts, teasing him, before she tossed it to the ground beside her jeans. She slipped out of her panties and stood before him naked. She smiled at the look on his face and then pirouetted gracefully, letting the sun warm her skin, feeling freer than she had in years.

“I thought that maybe we could work up an appetite, given that we’ve got all this food to eat,” she said suggestively and he grinned appreciatively. “Sounds like a plan to me,” he said as he stood up and removed his own clothes. Olivia had seen him with his shirt off before, but that paled in comparison to how glorious he looked nude. His body was firm and muscled, and his tanned skin looked perfect. He looked like a Greek Adonis or Michelangelo’s David, and she felt the perfection of this moment deep inside her. They came together slowly and kissed each other gently, exploring one another’s bodies with their hands. After a while, they sank down onto the blanket and continued their journey of discovery.

~ * ~

Olivia took a bite from the bruschetta and grimaced as a piece of cold tomato dropped onto her naked breast. Before she could wipe it away with her napkin, Ryan leaned over and gently licked it off.

“You’re awfully handy to have around,” she laughed and then moaned softly as his mouth moved down across her breast to her nipple.

“Stop that,” she groaned, “or we’ll never get anything to eat.”

“Speak for yourself,” he teased. But, to her relief and disappointment, he sat back up. They were both still naked and Olivia had never felt more satisfied or free in her entire life. Though it wasn’t the way she had pictured the afternoon, it felt so right. Even the food was perfect. Ryan hadn’t removed most of the appetizers from their thermal containers. Although the containers had been sitting out in the sun for over two hours, they were still the right temperature, as evidenced by the cold bruschetta. Olivia couldn’t say the same for either her or Ryan. A light sheen of perspiration covered both of them and Olivia eyed the stream thoughtfully.

“Is that swimmable?” she asked, and Ryan looked over at it.

“Technically, yes. However it’s fed from runoff from the surrounding mountains so it’s ice-cold.” She looked at him speculatively and he shook his head. “No way, José.”

“Aw, come on, don’t be such a wimp. And don’t tell me you’re not just as hot as I am.”

“Well, actually I think that you’re hotter, if you’ll pardon the pun,” but he levered himself to his feet and then came over and picked her up.

“Hey,” she squealed, “what are you doing?”

“You did say that you were hot.” He jumped into the stream with her still in his arms.