Ghost Planet Blog Tour

Hey all, today I'm hosting a tour stop for Ghost Planet by Sharon Lynn Fisher! 

I loved all the science and theory that goes into this story and I'm so happy that Sharon is stopping by today with a guest post to let us in on:

The Research and Theories of Ghost Planet

Don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post!

Author: Sharon Lynn Fisher
Publication Date: October 30, 2012
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance
Pages: 342
My Review HERE

Synopsis: 

Psychologist Elizabeth Cole prepared for the worst when she accepted a job on a newly discovered world - a world where every colonist is tethered to an alien who manifests in the form of a dead loved one. But she never expected she'd struggle with the requirement to shun these “ghosts.” She never expected to be so attracted to the charming Irishman assigned as her supervisor. And she certainly never expected to discover she died in a transport crash en route to the planet.

Reincarnated as a ghost, Elizabeth is symbiotically linked to her supervisor, Murphy - creator of the Ghost Protocol, which forbids him to acknowledge or interact with her. Confused and alone - oppressed by her ghost status and tormented by forbidden love - Elizabeth works to unlock the secrets of her own existence.

But her quest for answers lands her in a tug-of-war between powerful interests, and she soon finds herself a pawn in the struggle for control of the planet…a struggle that could separate her forever from the man she loves.

Guest Post: Solving the Mystery of Ghost Planet

My debut novel, GHOST PLANET, released three weeks ago. In that same time period I have probably written a guest post on just about every topic you can imagine. I was excited when Ann suggested this one, because it's something I haven't really covered yet.

In January 2008, I came up with the title of my book, and that’s all there was. The rest of the story was the result of noodling on what a planet with that name would be like.

As I sat down to write my first chapter, a conversation unfolded between my heroine (Elizabeth) and hero (Murphy) about the origin of the "ghosts" -- aliens that manifest in the form of dead loved ones, attaching themselves to colonists. This conversation was the beginning of character development for the planet itself. (For those who’ve read the book: In the final revised version, this conversation takes place later, between Elizabeth and Ian.)

While writing that first chapter, I made a key decision -- that my planet would not possess consciousness, which would make it very challenging for the characters (and for ME) to ever get at the truth of what it was up to. Without going into spoilers, the heroine makes a brilliant connection between something the colonists were doing when they arrived on the planet, and the manifestation of the ghost-aliens, which happened a few months later.

As I worked on the book, I read SYMBIOTIC PLANET, by biologist Lynn Margulis, who developed the groundbreaking theory of symbiogenesis. (She was also once married to Carl Sagan.) Her theory -- at first controversial but now widely accepted -- asserts that many species have made giant leaps in evolution due to symbiosis. It emphasizes collaboration between organisms, rather than competition. My favorite Margulis quote: "New tissues, organs, and new species evolve primarily through the long-lasting intimacy of strangers." Isn’t that wonderful?

The more I read about symbiosis and symbiogenesis, the more convinced I became it was the foundation of my novel. (Which readers of the novel may recognize as paralleling Elizabeth’s experience.) I wove it into every aspect, from the ghost/host relationships, to the effect these pairs had on the ecology, to the genesis of the planet itself. I loved the beauty and simplicity of it.

For those who haven’t read the book, I won’t spoil it by going further! But I will say I made a conscious decision not to answer every question readers might have. Some reviewers have taken issue with that, and that’s fair.

From my own perspective, what I hoped was that readers would feel the characters were on the right track. That once they had access to the right resources, they could begin to do true research. I also hoped readers would feel satisfied with the story’s conclusion, but find themselves still thinking about the planet, and how it might be different a decade or two later.

Do you have any favorite novels that kept you thinking and wondering, piecing things together long after you’d finished the book?

About the Author:

Sharon is a three time RWA Golden Heart finalist who lives in the Pacific Northwest and in her spare time loves to mountain bike, hike, "battle writerly angst with baked goods" and enjoys a good cup of Irish tea, champagne or craft beers. Her upcoming projects include ECHO 8 featuring an energy "vampire" from an alternate Earth and her third untitled work which is a post-apocalyptic biopunk romance about transgenic humans who are like a futuristic version of fae (<- coolest idea ever!)

You can find out more about Sharon here:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

You can find out more about Ghost Planet here:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Chapters/Indigo

Giveaway!

Huge thanks to TOR for providing a copy of Ghost Planet for one lucky winner! Enter in the Rafflecopter below (US/CAN ONLY) for a chance to win this awesome Sci-Fi romance! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway