Where It All Began

 

Today I thought I’d talk about where it all began. My Zodiac cyborg series that is, not life or any heavyweight topic like that (which is a conversation for a very different time and place, possibly after large amounts of [insert drink of choice here] have been consumed).

I’m a very visual person, so anything, literally anything can spark an idea. The look on a person’s face right down to the reflections on the surface of water (it’s happened, believe me!) but the idea for the cyborg series came a long time ago in my local cinema. Before DD came along, myself and my hubby used to go to the cinema a lot (we’re now way too crabby to put up with people kicking the backs of the seats and munching snacks around us) and one of the films we went to see was Soldier with Kurt Russell.

Now, I’ve always liked Kurt Russell films (Snake Plissken, need I say more?) and I’m definitely more of an action film sort of girl rather than a chick-flick woman, so I was more than happy to go see this film.

I didn’t expect it to affect me on so many levels, or stay with me for years. I have to say that I didn’t expect the sheer level of performance from Kurt Russell as Sergeant Todd, nor the heartbreaking aspects of a character raised from birth to be a soldier. 

Stripped of everything we associate with childhood Todd and his classmates / brothers (I don’t recall seeing any girls in the group) are taught tactics, military strategy, problem solving and how to kill from a young age.

That in itself is bad enough, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that it would then create a group of loud, overbearing and arrogant soldier-types confident in their abilities and the fact they are the best of the best.

This is far from the truth. Todd and his men tug at the heartstrings as we see them simply sitting motionless when off duty, and when asked about his feelings later in the film Todd replies:

“Fear. Discipline and fear. Always.”

The delivery and the look on Todd’s face during this scene and his emotional journey through the film resonated with me on a very deep level and actually sparked two separate series. The Zodiac cyborgs, like Todd, were all selected to become soldiers but unlike Todd, they were genetically engineered to take the cybernetic implants that make them what they are. Like Todd, they have no childhood, but they are never children in the strictest sense of the world as they are matured in tanks to adulthood. Like Todd, they have no choice what they will become, or even what class of cyborg they will turn out to be.  And I’ll admit, I loved the image of the tattoos on the cheek so much, my cyborgs all have their identification numbers on their faces, although most models have a chameleon patch which allows them to hide this should they wish.

Unlike Todd though, who starts his emotional journey from soldier to human being in the film, we pick up with the zodiac cyborgs years after the Fleet has outlawed them. Most were culled, some escaped and are hunted down and destroyed like dangerous animals.

The hero of Aries Revealed, Johnathon, is one such cyborg. An Aries class, he and his squad-mate have been on the run for years and he now makes a living as a stripper on one of the outer system bases. Like Todd, he’s the consummate soldier, like Todd, he’s not taking being obsolete and considered dangerous lying down. Especially when a hot weekend turns into the hijack from hell and his woman is threatened…

But to find out what an Aries class cyborg is capable of when defending the woman he loves, you’ll have to read the book ;)

Sometimes the best place to hide, is in plain sight...

 Johnny makes a living on the strip circuits. His most popular routine is as the Aries 7000. Bronzed and oiled up, he pretends to be the scourge of the universe, one of the deadly and outlawed zodiac cyborgs. But Johnny isn’t a stripper playing a cyborg. He’s a cyborg playing a stripper.

Milly, freighter captain, has had a thing for the sexy stripper for months. But when Johnny, the subject of many of her hottest fantasies, asks her out to dinner, she runs. All is not lost, a chance encounter yields an Aries 7000 sex-bot, hers for a weekend of pleasure.

It seems too good to be true. Sex with the man of her dreams, without risking her heart. Only her bot has some secrets, secrets that could save her life when the past returns to haunt her.

Read more...

Available NOW from Ellora's Cave

ABOUT

Mina Carter was born and raised in Middle Earth (otherwise known as the Midlands, England). After a slew of careers ranging from logistics to land-surveying she can now be found in the wilds of Leicestershire with her husband and young daughter…the true boss of the family.

Suffering the curse of eternal curiosity Mina never tires of learning new skills which has led to Aromatherapy, Corsetry, Chain-maille making, Welding, Canoeing, Shooting, and pole-dancing to name but a few.

A full time author and cover artist, Mina can usually be found hunched over a keyboard or graphics tablet, frantically trying to get the images and words in her head out and onto the screen before they drive her mad. She's addicted to coffee and Nutella on toast.

Where to find Mina...

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