First, I’ve been so busy finalizing the next book that I missed this announcement in early August. Shelter is a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards Best Book Cover contest in the Children/Young Adult category. Kudos to Luis Peres for hitting it out of the park with this grand and cinematic vision of a human family facing the challenges of living on Mars.
www.thewsa.co.uk Science catching up to fiction
In the manuscript for the next Generation Mars book, I mention that a couple was able to conceive through recent technological developments. Well, here’s science catching up to fiction before the fiction is even published. The tech is called in-vitro gametogenesis, or IVG. It’s not ready for use in humans yet. But when it is, the possibilities are staggering.
Creating a sperm or egg from any cell? Reproduction revolution on the horizon
Researchers are inching closer to creating human eggs and sperm in the lab that carry a full complement of anyone’s DNA. It could revolutionize fertility treatment and raises huge ethical questions.
Wishing Shelf reader comment for Air (#3)
Here is one more comment for Air from a young Wishing Shelf reader. I like this one a lot. I sometimes imagine that The Martian and The Expanse occupy the same universe, with Generation Mars sitting somewhere between.
“I just watched The Martian film which I thought was amazing. This is like that but for kids. I thought this book was very different to most, as the author wants the reader to understand Mars and how it might be possible to live there, but we´ll need to solve a lot of scientific problems first. That´s a good message. This book will make children think a bit.” Girl, aged 11 – with a little help from mum
image: Illustration by Luis Peres Children’s Books Illustrator for Air
Wishing Shelf reader comment for Air (#2)
Here is another one of the comments for Air from a young Wishing Shelf reader. Generation Mars books lean heavily on procedural plots in which the characters must solve problems with what they have on hand. I’m glad this reader enjoyed that.
“The story is good, but I still thought it wasn´t the best part of the book. The best part was the solving problems using engineering and things like that. I love fixing things and trying to work out how things work, so this book was perfect for me. I did enjoy getting to know Cas and Ori, and I will try to find other books from this writer.” Boy, aged 12
image: Illustration by Luis Peres Children’s Books Illustrator for Scratching the Surface (slightly modified by me)
#wishingshelfbookawards #mglit #kidlit #Mars #scifi #mgfiction #MiddleGradeBooks
Wishing Shelf reader comment for Air (#1)
Wishing Shelf is unique in that they involve younger readers as reviewers, providing educational experience for them and demographically relevant feedback for authors. Here is one of the comments for Air:
“I thought this was a good adventure story. Also, the physics stuff is interesting too. It made me think about how difficult it would be to live on a different planet.” Boy, aged 12
Air is a Wishing Shelf Red Ribbon Winner
Air: Generation Mars, Book One is a Red Ribbon Winner from The Wishing Shelf Book Awards.
“Young readers will love this story of children living on Mars–and they might learn a few things too! A RED RIBBON WINNER and highly recommended!”
– The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Shelter is Wishing Shelf finalist
I’m very excited to announce that Shelter: Generation Mars, Book Two is a Wishing Shelf Book Awards finalist in the “Books for 9-12 year olds” category.
Halloween excerpt from Water
At the edge of the crevasse, Cas gave everyone another climbing lesson, this time incorporating the silent rope signals. One could never assume they would have comms.
“I will go down first to see if this thing takes us anywhere we want to go,” she said.
On this side of the crevasse, there were broken blocks they could use as belay anchors. Tony set up as before and Cas tied in. When she was ready, they exchanged their calls and Cas, once again, backed over the edge of a crevasse and descended into the darkness.
If this crack went as far as the one above, it should cross L6. It might even go to L7, near the location of the shelter, though they did not have enough rope to go that far in one pitch.
She slowly picked her way down. They had been in the mine long enough that she had become used to the eerie groans and pops of the ice. But as she dropped further and further from her friends above, into the darkness, into the unknown, she began to notice them again. Some, she could actually hear, as the sound waves in the thin air around her vibrated their way through her helmet and the thicker air inside. Most, she could only feel through her hands and feet where they touched the crevasse wall. She had been climbing for several minutes when she realized there was something different about those vibrations.
She paused at a small ledge, helmet pressed against the ice. She could hear a faint rhythmic thump. That’s weird, she thought. And it was. Everything she’d heard so far had been random noise made by the ice as it sorted itself out after the quake. The sounds were often startling, but they made sense. But this… she could not for the life of her think what would make such a regular thumping.
She realized she had been standing on the ledge for some time. She checked her O2 level. It was low but still safe. So, not hypoxia, she thought. I must just be tired. She shook her head and continued down. Several meters further, she paused again and leaned her helmet against the wall. The thumping was louder. Whatever was the source of that sound, she was apparently getting closer to it. She wasn’t exactly scared by this thought. More curious than anything. But she was also a little scared. She continued down.
Several more meters and she felt something touch her back. She jumped but did not lose her hold on the wall. She took a deep breath then turned to see what was touching her. She was surprised to see her helmet light reflected back by ice just centimeters from her visor. Between her concentration on the climb and rumination on the source of that thumping sound, she hadn’t notice that the crevasse had been getting narrower. She looked down. The crack continued to taper below her. She would not make much more progress there. She looked around. To her left, the crack widened a little. She climbed left and looked down. Still narrowing, but it looked like she could go a ways. She continued down.
A few meters more and she had to traverse left again. This time when she looked down her light was reflected up at her. Was that a bottom? Could it be L6? A wave of relief washed over her. She leaned her helmet against the wall to rest a moment and was greeted by the thumping, louder than ever. The relief vanished. Ok, she thought, time to face the thumper. She continued down.
When she reached the bottom, she realized she was in a grid tunnel. She had made it to L6! Shadows shifted in her light as she looked around. One of them moved differently than it should have. Her breathing froze and she backed away quickly, falling over an ice block. She scrambled to her feet and cast her light in the direction of the weird shadow. It was a figure. In a suit. Lying on the floor of the tunnel. In one hand was a block of ice. The figure dropped the ice and Cas felt the thump as it landed, just like the thumps she had been hearing. The figure raised the hand in the air and waved at her.
There was something wrong with the helmet the figure wore. It was smeared in black such that Cas couldn’t see a face and there was a thin stream of mist jetting out where nothing should be coming out, ever.
(excerpt from the first draft/WIP of Water: Generation Mars, Book Three)
image: created with Stable Diffusion
Climbing kids
Every time I wonder if I’m asking too much of my main characters, eight-ish and ten-ish years old (Mars time is complicated), something like this comes along to reassure me. Kudos to Sam!
(And, yes, there is climbing in the next book.)
CNN Water flowing
I had a goal of 10,000 words by the start of my kids’ Fall Break.
Things are going well.
