My guest Charlie Romo talks about his new sci-fi release, Moonglow

I'm glad to welcome author Charlie Romo today as my guest, telling about his new sci-fi release, Moonglow.

What is the sci-fi world like that you have created for Moonglow?

I've dreamed about the MOONGLOW world ever since I was a very small kid. It's a place not so far removed from our present era yet still profound in how technology is integrated into everyday life. There are no aliens or spaceships or teleporting. People are wired into an online existence in a way that's far beyond anything we have today. Society has climbed the sky. The power of the mind has much to do with how technology responds, behaves and exists. There are living dresses! Rest assured, MOONGLOW takes the imagination to interesting places.
 

Your blurb indicates you’ve chosen two settings, the eclectic fictional cities of Moonglow, USA, and Utsukushisa, Japan. How do these differ?

Aside from existing on separate continents, in different countries. Utsukushisa is much more technologically advanced than Moonglow or any other city in the world. They're on the forefront of technology that feeds off -- not only the mind -- but the soul. The concept is introduced in MOONGLOW and will be a MUCH bigger deal in the sequel.
 

Your characters are fashion models and workers in that industry. How does your sci-fi world make modeling different than in present day?

There isn't much difference. The business of beautiful people exists on the grounds of utilizing the finest specimens of the human race to sell collections then, now and forever. That being the heart of the industry, models are unionized in the MOONGLOW era, (although it's not mentioned in book 1, the subject will stand  out in book 2). In that, models enjoy stricter protections that make their lives and careers more enjoyable.

What inspired you to write Moonglow?

I literally dreamed everything. I had always dreamed of the settings in MOONGLOW but -- about 8 years ago -- my dreams began fleshing themselves out. I would dream and daydream these amazing people, things they said and did. After 6 years of that, I decided to put it all down so I took up a pencil and notepad and got to work taking dictation from my imagination. Woven through that, my greatest inspirations are models. I absolutely ADORE these women and the work they do. Not just as models but as people. My model friends (and those I simply admire from afar) are some of the most fascinating, ambitious, endearing people on the planet. So it was easy imagining them in the people I created for MOONGLOW.

Also, love and respect for someone very close to me inspired getting all this down. The book is dedicated to her.

How did you form the title for your book?

I feel an ethereal connection to the moon. Something about it empowers who I am. Also, "Moonglow" is my favourite song in the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifAiE4TExkk

Book Links: 

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/62372
Amazon.com link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054GZ794
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moonglow-charlie-romo/1031434793
Blog: http://moonglownovel.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MoonglowRomance
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/books/23884685/MOONGLOW
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MoonglowNovel
Tumblr: http://moonglownovel.tumblr.com
   

Author links:
Blog: http://moonglowlounge.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/moonglow1980 &
http://www.facebook.com/MoonglowLounge
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MoonglowLounge
Tumblr: http://moonglowlounge.tumblr.com

Blurb:

If anyone had told super model Rena Hilst she would find true love and happiness with someone twice her age, she would have laughed them out a window. Yet, there she was, at 22, living her dream as one of the fashion industry's top talents, in passionate love with her 43-year-old manager at Moonglow Model Management, Shell Dawes. From the outside, no cracks in the crystal of their relationship were apparent save for something on Rena's part: Other women.

Rena never really hunted for people to cheat with but being far away from home on jobs with the most beautiful and interesting people on the planet occasionally led her to party too much and end up in another girl's bed. In fact, Rena repeatedly promised herself to stop straying on Shell. Then, at a fashion & celebrity elite gala, she meets Koko Dean and Lilly Morgan, 18-year-old best friends on the path to stardom in their own rights; Koko, an up-and-coming fashion model and Lilly, a musician with a knack for fashion design. Koko and Rena hit it off right away, which puts a damper on Lilly's plans of finally telling her best friend she loves her beyond the boundaries of friendship.

Rena finds herself wedged between an inclination to get to know Koko better or finally stay true to Shell. Feeling it's about time to change her ways, she opts for the latter but temptation won't let her off the hook that easily. Booze-fueled circumstances put her in line to stray yet again; this time, with her childhood best friend, Shannon Sadoveanu, a socialite who recently lost the love of her life by tragic means.

Shell had always put Rena's flings aside, chalking it up to necessary life experience for someone so young and free-spirited. She rationalized them as indiscretions of youth, fully believing that nothing -- especially a few meaningless affairs -- could rupture their love and bond. However, when she finds out what happened with Shannon, the crystal cracks. Something about it doesn't seem so meaningless. She feels the loss of Shannon's girlfriend may have opened the door to a hibernated love with Rena. Not sure how to deal, Shell wonders if she is to blame for tolerating Rena's occasional bouts of horseplay. For the first time in their four-year relationship, Shell questions the promise of "happily ever after." Together, they must finally confront the skeletons that have hung in their closet for far too long.

Set against the eclectic fictional cities of Moonglow, USA, and Utsukushisa, Japan, MOONGLOW will titillate your imagination, strum your heartstrings and prove that -- no matter what era we live in -- love is our strongest ally.