A.I. Art for February 2023 Like most endeavors, learning to use A.I. tools takes time and practice. Plus, the tools are in active development, meaning we users are all shooting at a moving target. This is my A.I. art for February 2023. Click the images below to see bigger version. For people using smaller devices, […]
The Shady Pet Trade Industry in My Space Opera Series The Galactic Pets Collection in my space opera series features three tales of adventure, romance, and pets. In the background of all three stories is the shady pet trade industry. The Pet Trade Operates in the Shady Parts of the Galaxy In the far future […]
Spotlight on Pet Trade Pet Trade was my first science fiction romance novella for the Pets in Space® anthologies. This book has a spiffy new cover design by the talented Amanda Kelsey at Razzle Dazzle Design. Therefore, in honor of its upcoming publication anniversary and its lovely cover, I’m shining a spotlight on Pet Trade. […]
Women In Science Day My trusty calendar tells me that Tuesday, 11 February, is International Girls and Women in Science Day. Hooray! I grew up with scientists and have worked with them a lot over the years. Science fascinates me, so it’s probably no surprise that I write science fiction. My Central Galactic Concordance space […]
Habitable Planets in the Central Galactic Concordance In my far-future Central Galactic Concordance space opera series, humans have expanded to 500+ colonized planets, with more on the way. The key technologies behind this achievement are faster-than-light (FTL) drive, near-instant communications, and terraforming capabilities. These allowed us to find potentially habitable planets and remodel them with […]
Celebrating Holidays on Distant Planets In my Central Galactic Concordance space opera universe, society at large has very few holidays. Traditions became fragmented as humans explored the galaxy and found new planets to terraform and settle. Timing became an insurmountable problem. For one thing, 00:00 hours on 1 January on one planet could be 09:43 […]
About the Big Damn Story Arc in My Space Opera Series I recently appeared on a writer’s panel at the 2019 Denver Pop Culture Con. The panel’s goal was to give the audience tips and tricks on how to write a bingeable series. My esteemed co-panelists, Trai Cartwright and Marin Lepore, are both screenwriters and […]
Pet Trade Release Day is Here! Limber up that one-click finger, because Pet Trade release day is finally here. It’s space opera, with pets! Amazon Kobo iTunes Nook Google Play Amazon CA Amazon UK Amazon AU Pet Trade (A Central Galactic Concordance Novella) by Carol Van Natta An injured veterinarian and a cyborg with unusual […]
Pet Trade Teaser #2 Pet Trade is a standalone novella that originally appeared in the USA TODAY bestselling anthology, Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2. In the timeline for my Central Galactic Concordance series, Pet Trade takes place between Pico’s Crush and Jumper’s Hope, but it’s not part of the big damn story arc […]
Pet Trade Teaser #1 Pet Tradeis a new standalone novella that originally appeared in the USA TODAY bestselling anthology, Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2. In the timeline for my Central Galactic Concordance series, Pet Trade takes place between Pico’s Crush and Jumper’s Hope, but it’s not part of the big damn story arc […]
Cover Reveal for PET TRADE (A Central Galactic Concordance Novella) Pet Trade was my contribution to the award-winning (2018 SFR Galaxy Award, Library Journal Best of 2017) and USA bestselling science fiction romance anthology, Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2. The limited-edition anthology has since left this universe entirely, leaving us authors free to […]
Pet Trade Preorder Available in 3… 2… 1… And we have lift-off! The Pet Trade preorder is up and available at all retailers. Reserve your copy today to have it automatically sent to your ereader on release day, Tues., 20 March 2018. Amazon Kobo iTunes Nook Google Play Amazon CA Amazon UK Amazon AU Pet […]
Reader Favorite Characters, Pet Trade, and Whimsy Con Carol Van Natta’s Video Podcast #3 This is my author podcast number 3, about reader favorite characters, Pet Trade, and Whimsy Con. Authoring may seem serious, but I’m mostly silly, at least on video. Astute readers will note the number above and deduce there are two previous […]
Future Frontier Planets in the Central Galactic Concordance Several of my stories (Last Ship Off Polaris-G, Pet Trade, Minder Rising) deal with future frontier planets. In my series, they are an important part of the economy, and a good way to make use of our human drive to explore. Like most predators, humans find that […]
Cosplay for My Cat, or, Authors Are Daft To promote Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2, I decided to come up with a cosplay for my cat. This is a cautionary tale for those of you planning similar endeavors. In my novella, “Pet Trade,” one of the twelve stories in the Pets in Space […]