Month: February 2022

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Paths

Everywhere you walk on Earth, you can expect to find a path or a road of some sort. Humans (modern and prehistoric), coyotes, deer, cats, rodents, snakes, ants, slugs: any living organism capable of self-mobility tends to find the easiest way to move across the land and use it, over and over. Life that moves leaves paths. There are no paths on Mars.

Or, at least, there weren’t until humans arrived. The five thousand humans of Dawn Colony had created quite a network of roads and paths around their little town. But, travel only a little way from the colony and you were well and truly in for an off-road adventure.

Shelter: Generation Mars, Book Two

Coming in March

(image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell, tracks of Mars Exploration Rover Spirit near “Husband Hill”)

 

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Author copies

Author copies just arrived!
 
Shelter: Generation Mars, Book Two
 
Coming in March
 
#mars #scifi #childrensbooks #middlegradebooks #writingcommunity
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Outside

“I wish I could just goof around outside,” she said, finally.

“Yeah, I get that,” said her dad. He snatched the ball away again, stood up, dribbled it a couple steps away, than passed it back to her. “All of us adults have memories of growing up on Earth, going out when we wanted, goofing around outside. That’s why we built the Forest.” It was not unknown for an adult to climb a tree or grind a skateboard there once in a while. “It’s interesting that you are feeling this way, since you don’t have those memories.”

“I see kids on shows from Earth,” said Cas. She passed the ball back without getting off the bed.

“Ah,” said her dad, “I see. Well, it’s true that you can’t go outside the way kids on Earth can. But the thing is, you probably have more freedom to explore, goof around, and be a kid here within the colony than most kids have on Earth.”

Shelter: Generation Mars, Book Two

Coming in March

(image: Luis Peres)