by Huss, JA
I never spelled this out in the Junco stories but those people were forever going into tanks to be “leveled up” and this what was happening. Their bodies were being “added to” so they were more powerful when they came out than when they went in.
Tray was also an example of how an AI could live in the real world. He was still humanoid, just “more” than human.
Draden was an example of what could happen if the mind wasn’t taken care of properly. It probably would’ve all been fine if he hadn’t been killed back on Cetus Station in Booty Hunter. Maybe ALCOR would’ve never told him he was different? Maybe the AI parts of his brain would’ve never been activated? Maybe he would’ve went on to live a pretty normal life… but eventually people die. And AI’s don’t. So it was really only a matter of time before ALCOR’s deed caught up with him. Draden was going to find out what he really was at some point. It just didn’t happen the way ALCOR planned.
ALCOR is an example of fully mature AI and the kind of power they can accumulate over many thousands of years.
I had all these different examples in the Junco series too. House was the young AI. Still learning, still making mistakes and she presented as an eight-year-old girl in those books. Sera and Amelia were examples of mostly sane AI’s who ran stations. And there was Web and Deb – evil twins made illegally.
So I’ve been thinking about the AIs for a long time trying to make them feel like real people in my stories and I hope that you got a sense of that in Prison Princess. I also wanted to show what virtual reality was and how time runs different. Again, this all started in the Junco books too.
I am a huge fan of the game The Sims. I can’t play it anymore because I get seriously addicted to that game. I was telling my friend Terry Schott, who is a SF writer of the series called The Game is Life, that the last time I played (which was years ago now. I think my son was like 15 and he’s 22 now) I made a character who was a writer. And I wanted him to be a bestseller so I made him sit at his computer and just write book, after book, after book, after book… seriously, I think I drove my character insane, that’s how hard I made him work. And this was before I was writing fiction. But he did become a bestseller! lol
My point in telling you this is that I based Brigit’s original virtual, the one that Tray made for her, on The Sims. If you’ve ever played The Sims you probably saw some similarities. (Hot tub, hookah, DJ’s at the parties etc.) But the one that they all made together was based more on Sim City. Remember that game? I played it once and I had a huge thriving metropolis! My brother was pissed off and wanted to know my secrets. I really just did what the people told me too. If they complained about traffic, I made roads. If they wanted a stadium, I built one. Stuff like that.
So if you didn’t understand what the Pleasure Prison was, I hope you do now. Even though we didn’t go there, it’s basically all the same. Think Ready Player One with sex.
So explaining the AI’s and the virtual worlds was one of my main goals in this story.
The second major goal was to start explaining ALCOR, the Asshole, and the Baby and how they are different and the same. I wanted to give you *some* backstory into ALCOR because this is book five already and it was time. But not too much because there’s still at least two more books.
Do you trust him yet? If you read Junco then you probably see a lot of similarities between Lucan and ACLOR. Lucan wasn’t an AI but he was this semi-evil all-powerful being. I also told you what Angel Station was. You’re probably still very confused about that and that’s OK. If you say you’re not, you’re just pretending to understand because I didn’t tell you enough yet to fully understand it. More on that place in future books.
But I think I answered a lot of questions in this book so I hope you’re getting some satisfaction from those answers and aren’t to hung up on the new or continuing mysteries. All will be revealed in due time.
Of course the other thing was the love story. Obviously Tray and Brigit are in love but what about Valor? He seemed pretty happy with Tray and Brigit. I think this is a threesome that could maybe work. But we’ll have to see what Valor does when he finds himself Veila’s prisoner and there is no Tray there as a buffer to save him.
Tray is the most unreliable narrator I’ve written in a very long time. Well, I take that back. The Dirty Ones had two unreliable narrators. But I don’t use this device often because Junco was a wholly unreliable narrator too and I wanted to give it space before I did much more.
But there was no way to tell Tray’s story any other way.
I used two “devices” in this story. One was Tray being unreliable as a narrator and the other was telling ALCOR’s story from the third person. My editor said it was “jarring” after so much first person narratives in all the other books and suggested I change it to first person. But honestly, I don’t write third person. Ever. So trust me when I tell you this third person narrative was the only way I could think of to get all the points of view necessary to tell this part of ALCOR’s story without introducing multiple single, first-person POV’s. Which maybe would be OK in an ebook or paperback but I’m always thinking ahead for the audio and that kind of book in audio would be a fucking mess to both produce and listen to. And when it comes to making POV decisions I always think of the audio first.
This third-person POV solved all those problems and I had a lot of fun hopping heads. If that’s a pet peeve of yours, I don’t care. I did it on purpose and it works for me and honestly, that’s the most important thing.
I wanted Tray to have a tough choice at the end of this book. His goal going in was to save Brigit and there was that moment that he had to decide to let Valor take care of himself for a little while or let Brigit go. He chose her, of course. Tray’s choice had nothing to do with not loving Valor and ALCOR’s decision to save Booty instead of Tray and Valor had nothing to do with his lack of love for them either.
It was all about who needed them most. Sometimes touch choices have to be made—the most important thing was that they did their best. Tray chose Brigit but he did his best to get Valor out of there. Didn’t work. Valor is with Veila now. But he did his best.
And ALCOR chose Booty but he helped Tray and Valor out too.
So what happens next? ALCOR has teamed up with Mighty Boss, Valor is on his way to Harem Station with Veila, Tray and Brigit are now in control of a very powerful warship, and Booty Hunter has two soulmates AND her old partner back! That’s pretty cool.
Oh… and that little secret about the Sisters. Yup, there’s a lot more to this story so I hope you come back for the next book. Next up is Valor, then Crux, and then… maybe… I think Draden might need a story too. I hadn’t planned on writing Draden’s story when I plotted this series but I think I have one for him so there’s a pretty big chance that it will get written.
I hope you enjoyed this book. I know it was a little heavy on the science but I’m building a world here. Much like Tray, and Brigit, and Valor build their world. A beach here, a tree there, a house and a waterfall. Then you add a city, then another one, and a train to get between them…
Prison Princess is the train. You needed a way to get from Lady Luck to the final book and this is how I decided to get you there. Just close your eyes, go along for the ride, and let the motion of the train lure you deeper into the story.
I am the first to admit that this is a heavy book as far as content and plot goes. And if you’re the kind of reader that likes a simple story this might not be your thing. That’s OK. But I hope you keep reading anyway because this train ride through the world of AI’s and virtual realities was just to get you ready for what comes next.
Each book in this series was designed to take the reader on a very specific journey. In Booty Hunter I gave you a sexy fated mates story and some people thought that’s all there was to this series – that each brother would find his princess and all would be well by the end. But book one in any series is only there as an introduction. Big Dicker was designed to take you outsi
de Harem Station and see the wider world and also let everyone know there is no neat little bow tied around the soulmate bond. Jimmy and Delphi are still very much up in the air. Lady Luck was meant to expound on all the little hints I was dropping in the first three books. The Spin node was introduced very early. It was talked about a lot in the “prequel” Star Crossed. I mentioned time, I mentioned Angel Station, I mentioned Draden dying (twice), I mentioned Earth (which we have not gotten to yet, but believe me, that’s coming up quick in Valor’s book) and I mentioned this notion that any true Akeelian/Cygnian babies would be born monsters. I also gave you a closer look at the Pleasure Prison because I knew that Tray’s book would be all about virtual reality. So I’ve been slowly introducing you to all the more complicated elements in this series so that when we got here, to this book, you’d get it. You would, at the very least, have been exposed to it before and I wouldn’t just spring you into a virtual world or the mind of an AI without warning.
So the hints I dropped in this book were mostly to do with ALCOR’s past and what was going on with Draden. Because neither of those two story lines are even close to finished yet.
At this point in the series you’re either along for the ride or you’re not. I’ve learned a valuable lesson over the years I’ve been writing fiction. NEVER change your story to sell more books or make certain happy with what you’re writing.
Either you like my story or you don’t. That’s pretty much it. And if you don’t, stop reading. I’ll release something else next month. Maybe you’ll like that better. But right now this is my story and I’m gonna tell it the way I see it in my head. Maybe I would sell more books if I wrote what “everyone was reading” but then I’d be unhappy. Because personally, I love this story and I will be writing more once this series is “over”. I don’t see myself going back to just contemporary romance any time soon.
At the same time I get that a lot of you aren’t here with me for the science fiction romance and you’re taking a chance on this series because you like, me, the author. I so, so, so appreciate that you guys! I really do. And I really hope you’re enjoying the ride. I think, even if you’re still on the fence now, by the time we get to the last book all the plot lines will converge and the story will be satisfying.
The decision to keep writing and releasing contemporary romance (like the Bossy Brothers and the upcoming dark romance that will start releasing in early 2020) was a good one. I’m not going to stop writing those books, I’m just going write both genres for the time being.
Until next time…
Thank you for reading, thank you for reviewing, and I’ll see you in the next book.
In this series that’s Valor’s book. Read the blurb and pre-order below!
(But the next book is actually Bossy Brothers: Johnny, which will release in late September.)
August 13, 2019
Julie
JA Huss
HAREM STATION BOOK SIX
VEILED VIXEN
GOODREADS
Valor only wants one thing for his fated princess, Veila.
Death.
But it’s kind of hard to kill someone when they have total control over your body. He’s on his way back to Harem Station as her prisoner. Bound to a wall, stripped bare, and only one weapon in his arsenal.
The soulmate bond.
Valor has to make Veila believe that their bond is true, that his feelings are real, and that he is willing to sell out his brothers, take over Harem Station, and leave his old life behind to help her win final war with ALCOR and become the ruling queen.
But it’s never going to happen. Valor will never love Veila. Ever. He’d rather die trying to kill her than spend one moment as her puppet king.
There’s just one problem.
The soulmate bond goes both ways.
GET IT HERE
Veiled Vixon is book six in the Harem Station series and features an army of pissed-off princesses, five brothers facing their past, a station filled with ruthless outlaws, and a lesson in what matters. It’s a love story about revenge, and hate, and regrets – but also forgiveness, loyalty, family, and having the courage to see the truth behind the veil.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Find Julie at her website
www.JAHuss.com
See all her books in KINDLE UNLIMITED HERE
CLICK HER FOLLOW BUTTON
to get notices of all new releases and pre-orders.
Chat with Julie
On Facebook
On Twitter
On Instagram
Follow Julie
On BOOKBUB
DO YOU LIKE TO WIN BOOK PRIZES?
Join her Facebook Fan Group to enter to win!
JA Huss is the New York Times Bestselling author of 321 and has been on the USA Today Bestseller's list 21 times in the past five years. She writes characters with heart, plots with twists, and perfect endings.
Her new sexy sci-fi romance and paranormal romance pen name is KC Cross and she writes novels and teleplays collaboratively with actor and screenwriter, Johnathan McClain.
Her books have sold millions of copies all over the world, the audio version of her semi-autobiographical book, Eighteen, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award and an Audie Award in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Her audiobook, Mr. Perfect, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award in 2017. Her audiobook, Taking Turns, was nominated for an Audie Award in 2018. Five of her book were optioned for a TV series by MGM television in 2018. And her book, Total Exposure, was nominated for a RITA Award in 2019.
She lives on a ranch in Central Colorado with her family.
ALL BOOKS BY JA HUSS
BOSSY BROTHERS
Bossy Brothers: Jesse
Bossy Brothers: Joey
HAREM STATION
Booty Hunter
Star Crossed
(Free everywhere)
Big Dicker
Lady Luck
Prison Princess
Veiled Vixen
STANDALONE BOOKS
Wild Thing
Pretty Thing
Sweet Thing
The Dirty Ones
Three, Two, One
Eighteen
Sexy
Rock
In To Her
ROOK AND RONIN SERIES
Tragic
Manic
Panic
Ford
Spencer
The Company
Merc
Sasha
Happily Ever After
THE MISTER SERIES
Mr. Perfect
Mr. Romantic
Mr. Corporate
Mr. Mysterious
Mr. Match
Mr. Five
Mr & Mrs
THE TURNING SERIES
Taking Turns
Turning Back
His Turn
JORDAN’S GAME SERIES
Total Exposure
The Pleasure of Panic
The Boyfriend Experience
Play Dirty
SOCIAL MEDIA SERIES
Social
Media
ANARCHY SERIES (Sci-Fi Romance)
Anarchy Found
Anarchy Missing
Anarchy Chained
I AM JUST JUNCO (science fiction) SERIES
I am Just Junco
I Am Not Junco
YOUNG ADULT
Losing Francesca
JULIE & JOHNATHAN BOOKS
TALL, DARK, AND HANDSOME SERIES
The Sexpert
Pierced
THE SHAPE OF LOVE SERIES
The Triangle
The Square
ORIGINAL SIN SERIES
Sin With Me
Angels Fall
Flesh into Fire
Passion Rising