Introducing Grace Richard
Author of Universe of Passion
I am 42 years old and I live in upstate New York. I was born in the Bronx in 1982 and I am an old school gamer. I started playing Dungeons and Dragons when I was 13 years old and I still play to this day. I love playing board games like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Betrayal on House on the Hill, Munchkin, Sentinels of the Multiverse, and Pathfinder.
I ended up marrying my dungeon master and my house is a nerdvana of games and medieval weapons. I'm also a trained martial artist and sword fighter, which comes in handy at work.
I work as a correctional officer for the state and I work at a maximum security prison. At work I am known as the jokester with timed wit and a foul mouth. I am a sweetheart who loves to help people and make them smile but get me angry and the hulk comes out.
Growing up in the 80's and 90's I loved watching cartoons and movies that were not afraid to push boundaries. My creativity comes from playing make believe with my big brother and later with my game group. I love going to conventions and Renaissance fairs in costume, I also love going to murder mystery dinners.
What made you become a writer?
Growing up in a traditional Roman Catholic Italian family I came up with my own world to escape to. Pretending to be someone else inspired me to come up with different characters and what their lives are like so I started writing it down.
For years though I didn't have the skills to write but four years ago during the pandemic I was stuck at work so much I needed an escape. One day I saw a piece of paper and I took out my pen and started writing and I haven't been able to stop.
Where did the idea for Universe of Passion come from?
I wanted to get my name out there so I looked for a writing contest and I found a science fiction challenge. They give you the first line and you build a story from there. I am a huge Babylon 5 fan so a lot of the story is inspired by B5.
I also added in some of my real life experiences such as my relationships with all the people I have met over the years. My experiences discovering my sexuality and falling in love.
What is Universe of Passion about?
Universe of Passion is about a race of aliens called the Zard come to earth after finding an old video tape on an abandoned space station and when they watched it they loved it so much they had to find the people who made it.
When they find the earth it has gone through an apocalyptic event. The human race is divided into several colonies and after years of warfare there is little food, clean water, pollution, crime, very little medicine, and lands are barren.
The Zard offer their technology to heal the earth and some colonies accept their help and others don't want them claiming they were trying to enslave the human race.
After the humans sign a treaty the Zard use their technology to heal the earth and announce they now own the right to the earth's entertainment. They tell the humans about the video tape they found and it was an old porno called Debby Does Dallase.
Zards look just like humans except their sex organs are in their throats so when they mate it's silent so when they watched the tape it was the most beautiful thing they ever heard. They turn earth into the galaxy's first porn hub with all different aliens coming to live on earth to work.
100 years later the story revolves around a young human girl named Avery and she is an assistant for a story director for a porn production. She dreams of becoming a director herself and she also dreams of falling in love. Avery loves to read and her favorite book is The Princess Bride. Her team earns a place on a new space station that used to be a prison for the terrorist group Pro Earth. The book tells the story of her adventures on the space station.
Tell us about your main characters are they based on anyone you know?
Avery is based on myself. A smart, spunky girl who has big dreams and is a romantic. I have a sensitive palate so I made her the opposite by having no sense of taste or smell.
Ted is a combination of Ted from How I met your mother and Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z. He is an alien porn star but is shy and sweet. He is in love with Avery but is too shy to tell her how he feels.
Candy is a human porn star who is sweet as sugar but also tough as nails. She is always sweet to Avery and Ted is her best friend. She keeps trying to get them together but something always gets in the way. I didn't base her on anyone.
Jack is one of Avery's roommates. He is an android porn star who is gay but gets cast to work with women and he hates it. I envision him as a gay Dwayne the rock Johnson.
Truffle is Avery's best friend and roommate. She is a plant alien who secretes a sap that stinks at first but gets it processed into lube. She's not based on anyone.
Striker is Avery's boss, he is an angry asshole who hates his job but he has a fathers love for Avery. I based him on my husband who is an asshole but a sweetheart.
Garrick is the other director who choreographed the love scenes. He is an arrogant entitled bully who always gets what he wants. I didn't base him on someone I just needed a hateable villain.
Jason is a Zard chef and Avery's father. I based him on Gordon Ramsey.
Logan, the mystery boy who catches Avery's attention. I didn't base him on anyone.
What tips would you give a new writer?
The best tip I can give is just write. Write what you are passionate about and don't let anyone stop you.
What are your favourite books?
I love reading original fairy tales. The dark tales that would give a child nightmares but I loved them as a kid.
Fascinating