Book Series
This is a riveting interview with the Starliner astronauts about their experiences with that capsule in its maiden crewed flight.
Orbital dynamics, proximity operations, thruster failures: all play a big role in the coming Generation Mars book. It’s interesting to read about similar events IRL. I had to stretch physics a little for narrative purposes, but it turns out I’m not far off.
Current word count for Food: Generation Mars, Book Four.
Parts one and two are tight. I stalled for a bit in part three, but the momentum is back.
Never written an opus before, but this kinda feels like one.
I was about to post that both Shelter and Water made the recently announced short list for the Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Fiction awards. But then I noticed that CIBA has already posted the list of Semi-Finalists, and… both are on it!
The 2024 Gertrude Warner Semi-Finalist for Middle Grade Fiction
Be sure to check out all the books on this list. They look great!
Scrolling back through my writing journal, I see that today is exactly one year since I started work on Food: Generation Mars, Book Four.
My entry from that day outlines some elements of the plot that have made it into the manuscript. But, oh my!, the Doug writing that entry had no idea of the many wonderful and terrible things that would find their way into the story over the next year. The manuscript I am working on now bears only passing resemblance to what I had in mind then.
And that’s awesome!
I still have a long way to go. What new surprises are lurking out there (or in my subconscious), waiting to find their way in? I don’t know!
And that’s even more awesome!
image: generated by ImageFX
Once in a while, Kurzgesagt hits it out of the park.
“You get to live in a world that’s deeply flawed but also the best it ever was. And you get the opportunity to make it better.”
Status update for Food, Generation Mars, Book Four
At some point during the past week, the manuscript passed 50K words.
Manuscript is a loose term that covers everything from get-it-down-and-fix-it-later sketch to fully edited and ready for formatting.
At this point, Food is closer to the sketch. A 50K sketch. I won’t say much more, but I will say this: It keeps surprising me, and I think it will surprise you too.
It looks so close! This is an actual image taken from Earth of Mars emerging from lunar occultation. Taken by Andrew McCarthy using a 14″ telescope.
The next Generation Mars book, Food, takes place on both Luna and Mars. And points between…
This image shows the progress on the next Generation Mars book as of May 30. Since then, I’ve been on a wild and wonderful vacation with the family and haven’t written a word. I expect this number is about to start growing. A lot.
Here’s an interview I did with Elena Jagar at Willow Wren Books recently.
From the interview:
What do you hope young readers will take away from your books?
Optimism is a superpower. Kindness is strength. Society is something you create with those around you; what do you want it to be? In the confines of Martian habitation, tolerance is a key virtue. Care for others, as well. No one can exist without the help of others and nowhere is this more evident than in a colony on a distant planet.
Willow Wren Books
Rick Tumlinson has a lot to say about our future in space. There is much in this piece that fits with the ideas I present in Generation Mars. Give it a read and see what you think.
“But suppose we can get past this first phase of government’s trying to use space to dominate Earth and establish the first viable communities in the beyond. These can be based on underlying principles that focus on caring for life, evolving humanity and exploring the cosmos, and yes, funded by new industries and vast resources we no longer have to rip out of the MotherWorld. In that case, we may have a chance to move to a new level of human culture, where war, conquest, and control make way for more peaceful, collaborative efforts to expand the domain of life for all.”
This is the sort of culture I describe in Dawn, the Martian colony of my books.
Ars Technica 
