Author Danielle Price graciously answered all of our questions about her slow burn sci-fi romance, Under Cover of Stars! Under Cover of Stars is full of high stakes action, enemies-to-lovers tension, and anti-authoritarian rebellion. It's the perfect escapist read for lovers of simmering romance, found-family themes; and fans of Star Wars, Polaris Rising, and Hunt the Stars.
Keep reading for juicy tidbits about the book and a peek into Danielle's writing process.
First Thing's First: About The Book
Fenn Kensie just wants to stay invisible. Hiding from the corrupt Galactic Union on a dusty backwater planet, she keeps her head down as a shipyard tech. That is, until her best friend lands in the crosshairs of a brutal crime syndicate. To save him, Fenn agrees to one reckless job with a smug, frustrating, maddeningly attractive thief named Torren.
All she has to do? Fly to her home planet, use her ID chip to gain access, and help Torren pick up a package of highly illegal contraband. Easy.
But nothing about Torren is easy. He’s galaxy-famous for all the wrong reasons, infuriatingly good at what he does, and hiding scars of his own. As their uneasy alliance deepens into something more, Fenn finds herself pulled into a dangerous web of heists, undercover intrigue, and a slow-burn romance that threatens to crack her carefully built walls.
When the mission goes sideways, Fenn will have to decide: Is she ready to stop running and start fighting back?
Q&A With the Author
Q: One of the first things I noticed while reading Under Cover of Stars was your rich world-building, full of everything from smugglers and corruption to unique flora and foods. What was your approach to world-building?
A: I’m a big fan of escapism entertainment. When fictional worlds have their own slang, food, animals, etc, it helps you feel like you’re getting away. So creating a unique, immersive world was really important to me! When I started the book, I began with a pretty generic Star Wars-esque sci-fi world, and as little details came to me, I’d go back and sprinkle them in accordingly. I tried to think, “If X thing is true… how does that affect Y and Z?”
Q: Which authors or books have influenced your approach to world-building?
A: Brandon Sanderson speaks a LOT on the Writing Excuses podcast about worldbuilding, and I’ve seen that come through in his writing. So he's probably my biggest influence as far as world creation. He has stressed the importance of thinking through the good and not-so-good implications of any new “thing” you introduce to your world. This is not to say that everything in my book is perfectly thought through, but I sure tried!
Q: I noticed themes of found family and resistance against injustice. What other themes did you most want readers to take away from the story?
A: One thing I tried to weave in is the idea that when things are dire, it’s important not to bury your head in the sand. As stressful as it may be to stay informed about the bad things in the world, you can only enact change when you know what’s really going on.
Q: Why do you think readers continue to love enemies-to-lovers dynamics?
A: This is SUCH a fun question. I’m a big fan of enemies to lovers, rivals to lovers, etc, any kind of romance that starts rather unfriendly. I can’t speak for other readers, but for me, it adds a thrilling amount of tension, and it makes the inevitable getting-together of the couple all the more rewarding. I like seeing them slowly gain mutual respect over time. It feels more real and earned to me than love-at-first-sight.
Q: If you could spend a day with one character from the book, who would it be?
A: This is hard, because I want to say Rego. He’s SO sweet, and he’s a good friend. But I’ll have to go with Egan Crue. Egan knows all the best restaurants in his city, he makes a great cocktail, and has a fabulous wardrobe. You just KNOW he’d begrudgingly let you try on his silk slippers and robes.
Q: What piece of advice would you give to other authors working on their debuts?
A: Write the book YOU would want to read. You have to cater to readers' tastes to some degree, but staying true to your vision will give your book authenticity. Also, get beta readers if you can. They’ll help you identify issues before it gets into the reader's hands. I have known indie authors who don’t work with beta readers, because they don’t want anyone else having “influence” on the book, but many major authors utilize beta readers, writing groups, editors, etc. Beta readers should not tell you how to fix something, they should just tell you what they have issues with, so you know what to fix. I fully believe the reviews of my book are as positive as they are because my beta readers sussed out most of the sticking points readers would have had.
Q: What was the most fun scene to write?
A: Ooo, it had to be the chapter where Fenn and Torren cram into what is essentially a telephone booth, and he teaches her how to hack into the government’s data logs. It’s at a point in the story where they’re still antagonizing each other, but mutual interest and respect are starting to take hold. It’s cozy, and they’re forced to stand close, so it’s a bit of an intimate moment, even though they’re conducting “business.” It was also fun to come up with the logistics of how the “hacking” would work. It couldn’t be too easy, or everyone would do it, and the government would have more security in place. I had to come up with a feasible explanation of how Torren had figured out how to do it.
Q: What was the most challenging scene to write?
A: I struggled with the interrogation scene. I had to research how a person may physically react to be tased, slapped, and strangled. It was not the most “fun” stuff for me to write, but I thought the scene needed it, in order for the situation to feel scary. The government and its police are the faceless antagonists for most of the book, it’s only in the third act that you finally meet the big villain Markens, so I knew his scenes couldn’t be passive. I also knew I was introducing him with the intent of bringing him back for the next two books. He needed to be scary, and my strategy for that was giving him a kind of restrained aggression, making him a psychopath who is very in control of his emotions...to a point. Again, it’s not my favorite stuff to write, but I’m happy with how it came out.
Q: What's one behind-the-scenes fact about the novel that readers would be surprised to learn?
A: I am REALLY big on blocking out what the characters are physically doing in a scene. It’s probably an unfortunate side effect of me being as big of a film/TV watcher as I am a reader. There were times I’d be writing, and I’d go find my husband and ask him to stand still while I acted out a moment where the characters touch. I had him stand in for Torren when I tried to figure out the physicality of the scene. He has experience acting on stage and on screen so I think he had fun being “modeled” by me, haha.
Q: What are you working on next?
A: Thanks for asking! I am working on two projects now. One is the sequel to Under Cover of Stars, book two of the planned trilogy. I’m also working on a standalone book that’s completely unrelated. Something kind of genre-bending that should be a pretty fun read if I can pull it all together. It’s nice to have two projects to bounce back and forth between, when one becomes exhausting and I need a break.
Under Cover of Stars is Now Available!
A big thanks to Danielle Price for taking the time to dig into the details of Under Cover of Stars with us. Ready to read this simmering, high stakes, sci fi romance? Grab a copy of the book here.
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