Science Fiction Specialties with Katherine McIntyre of SOLID GROUND

Science Fiction Specialties

When working on any story, food tends to be a component—after all, everyone enjoys a good meal, right? With sci-fi, I’ve seen a plethora of different foods, however the good ol’ standby tends to be protein or meal bar—reconstituted food, etc. Granted, a lot of that stuff is what’s eaten on ships. Or details on food tend to get ignored. Since I was working on a science fiction short, I had to strike a balance. If I delved too far into alternate world cuisine, suddenly this short story is a Tritanian cookbook. However, use the old meal bar schtick and I lose the chance for some nice worldbuilding flair.

For my sci-fi romance short, Solid Ground, I tried to strike a balance between new and familiar. While certain items were brought into play, like muffins, I left it open as to what they were constituted of, and introduced some new flavors, like greenberry. Same principle with alcohol—while I could see beer translating over well, I also thought any bar on a different planet would have their own unique types of liquor. (After all, the sheer array we already have is astounding.)

What I’ve noticed in certain sci-fi shows, books, and movies, is that food is often glossed over. But I think that misses out on a great part of the human experience, because sharing a meal and a drink happens to hit pretty high up there on bonding. So with Solid Ground I wanted to take the opportunity to add a little of my own flair into the sci-fi cuisine world. Hope you enjoy! 

Solid Ground

by Katherine McIntyre 

Kindle Edition, 26 pages

Expected publication: June 12th 2015 by Boroughs Publishing Group

ASINB00YO390ZK

Mags Javiks has one day left until she boards a spaceship to start her ambassador training, one day in which to admit her love for her best friend Lex. To do so, she will have to trade the solid ground of a comfortable past relationship for the unknown frontier of a possible future together.

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