Book Series
Water: Generation Mars, Book Three is coming!
In anticipation of the release, I am putting Kindle editions of each of the first three books on sale in October. Each book will be available for $0.99 for one week.
Scratching the Surface – October 1-7
Air – October 8-14
Shelter – October 15-21
Available from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P5P3986?binding=kindle_edition
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.
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
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
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
Here’s the soundtrack I play in my office lately while I write. I don’t know how a collapsing glacier on Mars would sound to those stuck within, but I imagine it wouldn’t be too far from this.
The lights have gone out. The tunnels have broken and shifted around you. And these sounds constantly rumble and zing up through your feet and the thin atmosphere outside your helmet. Do you have enough air to find your way out?
My gosh, this book might be too scary for kids!
This has been brewing for a while, but I’ve had to keep it quiet. Generation Mars is being developed into a live-action series. And they are not messing around.
Readers of all ages,
Shelter: Generation Mars, Book Two is now officially released.
The family is on an away mission when a solar particle event forces them to seek shelter where they can. As conditions go from uncomfortable to desperate, it falls to the sisters to save the family. It’s a struggle for survival in which they learn the full meaning of shelter.
Available now on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1733731040
Sometimes, twisting of magnetic fields within the corona gets so tight that the tension abruptly snaps, sending massive loops of plasma racing away from the Sun in an event called a coronal mass ejection (CME). Most of the time, these clouds of particles dissipate into space without causing any harm.
Sometimes, the cloud of particles is pointed straight at one of the inner planets. When this happens, the high-speed charged particles slam into the planet in what is called a solar particle event (SPE). For planets with thick atmospheres and strong magnetic fields, most of the energy dissipates far above the surface. Mars has neither a thick atmosphere nor a strong magnetic field. When an SPE occurs on Mars, the surface is flooded with high energy particle radiation.
Sometimes, two or more CMEs will happen in the same place on the Sun, one after another. When this happens, the first clears a path for the ones that follow, allowing them to race even faster out into the solar system.
Sometimes, two or more CMEs will happen in the same place on the Sun and point straight at one of the inner planets. When this happens, the SPE on the planet can go on for several days.
One time in particular, when a mother and father and their two children were on their first camping trip, that planet was Mars.
Shelter: Generation Mars, Book Two
Coming March 1st
(available for pre-order now: https://www.amazon.com/Shelter-Generation-Mars-Book-Two/dp/1733731040)
(image: Luis Peres)
“I’m open,” said Nyla. Cas looked up and saw that her mother was standing with knees slightly bent, ready to receive. Cas passed her the ball, and her mother trapped it and dribbled to another spot before passing it back. They continued this—laughing, dribbling, chatting, and passing—until their shadows grew long and the fat blue Sun fell behind the rim of Dao Vallis, far down-canyon from them.
The Hollywood Reporter