Author Spotlight Week -Vijaya Schartz shares her passion for Science Fiction

After a period of being fascinated by the classics, then by Mystery novels as a reader, I discovered science fiction and fell in love. So many possibilities... It became a passion. What if?

Yet, as I was reading more and more science fiction, one element was always missing. Sometimes the stories ended on a depressing note, and there was nothing to deter from the somber themes. Even when the hero won in the end, he was usually alone.

For superheroes of comic books, victory was always bittersweet, as they had to protect their anonymity. I found that disturbingly unfair. Of course if they could just get the girl and be happy, it would be the end of their career. Can't imagine Superman kissing his wife and a bunch of snotty kids goodbye before jumping out the window to go save the planet from a nefarious intergalactic villain...

Later, when I discovered traditional Romance, I found it a little too mild and lacking in action and external conflict. I yearned for a grander scope to the stories, not just two people's happiness. I did however appreciate the guarantee of some kind of happily ever after at the end. It made me feel safe and fuzzy.

Then, when I decided to write for publication, what came naturally to me was science fiction. But I still yearned for a romantic thread.

Some of my friends say I come from another world, that I am a time traveler from the future who forgot who she was. I don't know about that, but it would explain a lot. LOL. I believe I have a solid imagination. But is it really imagination?

Thanks to my extensive travels and contacts with many earthly cultures, I can also discern which elements of a culture are purely Human (if any really are), which are dictated by survival, and which are ingrained from a young age, learned through experience, or forced upon an individual to fit specific cultural standards.

This discerning skill now allows me to write believable futuristic worlds and characters, even if their looks, their circumstances or origins would be unlikely in our world. It's a matter of justifying the differences to suspend the reader's ingrained beliefs.

So now, I write romantic science fiction with a kick, where I get the best of two worlds, with a guaranteed satisfying ending through the love story. So many science fiction novels tend to be dark and depressing. Not mine. My action-packed stories and kick-butt heroines lend themselves to many romantic conflicts, and I found that science-fiction is a perfect stage for it.

Find out more about my books at: http://www.vijayaschartz.com