Everybody's Exploring Space These Days!

It's a happening thing. So many companies and organisations are opening up, developing their own spaceflight programs, building the hardware out of sheet metal in their garage, or networking with people to spread their vision of colonising the Moon or Mars or even further afield. You can go online and help to discover planets orbiting other stars; you can chat with the volunteer colonists at Mars One; you can sign up to be an astronaut. No doubt there's a lot I've missed, because there's just so much happening!

By the way, the Book Signing Show at Chapters went very well. I met lots of friends, and the pack of boys seemed to enjoy it all, including the Win-A-Book quiz (well done Noah!) and the Choose-Your-Adventure story.

Wanna-be-Chris-Hadfield: Singing a snippet from 'A Space Oddity'

So here's my list, which I will update from time to time on the page listed in the margin on this site. Let me know in the Comments if you find more good ones.

Some Internet Links Relating To The Exploration and Settlement of Outer Space

Planet-Hunting Online:

Zooniverse

Developers of spacecraft:

Reaction Engines - developers of Skylon

SpaceX - a successful private space company

100 Year Starship - developing a starship in the next 100 years

Studies for propellant depot in Low Earth Orbit

Private Danish team developing manned space program in garage

Another homemade space program

A number of organisations and companies interested in lunar expeditions:

Golden Spike

Moon Express

Shackleton Energy Company

A paper by Boeing

Space Tourism ventures:

Excalibur-Almaz

Asteroid Mining ventures:

Deep Space Industries

Colonisation of Mars and elsewhere:

MarsOne

The Mars Society

The Space Settlement Initiative

Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station

Space Law and miscellaneous

Text of the U.N. Outer Space Treaty (1951)

Property rights in space - article

Proposal for a U.S. Space Guard

American citizen makes claim on asteroid - article

International Institute of Space Law - statement

Well, I never! DIY Space Rockets!

I remember travelling by train in England along a route which I'd normally driven. The difference was marked - you see the countryside and town from a startlingly different angle. It's not as blatant as the wow-factor in flying over your hometown for the first time, I know.

I experienced something comparable, though, while doing a little background research for this Chapters book-signing event (see last post). Looking into the many and varied efforts people are putting into private space travel ventures is like old-style barn dancing - who will be your partner next time around? And the next? I looked again at SpaceX on Wikipedia (bless their cyber-socks) and clicked on a link that said 'private spaceflight'. Way down the bottom of that page under the exciting 'External Links' section I found two intriguing companies called 'Starchaser Industries' and 'Astrobotic'. Who could resist finding out about names like that? Starchaser is building its own rocket to launch two people up to 100,000 feet - that's about 30 km - not quite 'real' space which is 100 km, but still impressive. Here's what it looks like:

Thunderbirds Are GO!

And they're recruiting astronauts to fil the navigator's seat! Need I mention that it's based in the UK, in Cheshire to be exact, where they make such good cheese.

Sadly, Astrobotic's page didn't load. Oh - wait a sec - I tried again and here's a picture of one of their planetary exploration rovers.

Anyway, you get the idea. I spent a few other web crawls finding out about the advantages of orbital tethers, LEO refuelling depots, the Outer Space Treaty of 1951 and its ramifications for private space investors, and the Mars Society. It's all out there. Isn't it wonderful that so many people are taking the initiative? My favourite of the week is the Danish engineer who is building Denmark's first manned space program in his (rather large) garage, along with some buddies. They're called Copenhagen Suborbitals. Look!

Shiny rocket cones! I like! This is the liquid oxygen tank.

I'll be adding a whole list of similar links after the book signing. See you then.

Book Signing - And More

After an impressive pause, the local branch of Chapters has made some shelf space for The Calling. I delivered 15 copies on Thursday. On the evening of Friday October 25th there will be a book signing show, including a picture show I'm planning.

Since the book's intended readership is from 8 up to teenagers, I'll be talking about the science in science fiction - artificial gravity, orbits, the Solar System and so on - as well as introducing the book and the main one or two characters. A special feature will be a picture story where members of the audience will choose what happens next! Then there will be time for questions and (if I'm on the ball) answers.

If you're in Thunder Bay, perhaps I'll see you there! It starts at 7 pm (and not the 7.30pm I mistakenly posted here originally!).

Here's the Facebook event page link.

What's A Website To You?

Have you ever found a totally neat website? Some are full of jiggery, dancing graphics, or eye-pleasing images, smart features; some feature links to all sorts of interesting places, and some are so well written you can't click away until you've scrolled right to the bottom. Maybe you read that text and you come face-to-face with another human being and their thoughts so beautiful, or outlandish, or provoking. And a very few have all of the above.

I confess that this here page hasn't got there yet. Yours truly has been sucked away into a strange massively-offline-multi-player-game-universe called "Real Life" in which you have to get something called a "job" in order to earn a reward called "money". You can then swap this money for all sorts of power-ups and inventory items. I've recently slid back down a short greased ladder to the stage of again searching for one of these "jobs". Not complaining, just saying. So anyway, it takes up my time, this "Real Life". Maybe you're playing it too.

But what do you look for in a good Young Adult or Pre-Teen website devoted to a science fiction novel like The Calling? Have you gone for a ride in my 'Valin's Log' site and checked out the different pages? (See the sidebar to the left and click.) Do you have any suggestions for what you'd like to see there?


So far, I've aimed to make 'Valin's Log' an extension to the story itself, a filling-in of the background universe. 'Killian's Story' is a seedling of an idea to make a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure; if I notice a lot of traffic there I will invest time in expanding the story.

So log in and leave a comment. I haven't seen many comments here yet... but traffic on the site is slowly growing. Give me some feedback and I'll have a better idea where to go with 'Valin's Log'.

Tips for parents!

A big hello to all parents of The Calling's readers. This blog is really, honestly, about science fiction for kids, but, well, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. So this post's an exception.

Recently I received an email from a lady who writes helpful articles on the subject of how to find childcare when you want or need to go out. The following article is about encouraging your children to behave well in restaurants. The real-life bloopers and catastrophes that drive someone to write on this subject I will leave to your imaginations - or perhaps it's happened to you! Here's the link.

Forgiveness and Courage in Real Life

Someone wrongs you - maybe speaking about you in a bad way, or taking what's yours, or breaking their promise - and of course your feelings get hurt. It happens to us all, one way or another. In The Calling it happens to Valin and to Mertyl, and much of the story involves how they deal with their hurts.

The hardest hurt can be when it's someone close to you that wrongs you - a parent, a sibling, or a close friend. I remember when I was about 7 or 8 or 9 having some terribly loud, door-slamming arguments with my older sister over terribly small things that I can't recall now. And I get on very well with my sister now - when she's not rolling her eyes at what I wear or the odd things I do... ;-)

Where does courage come in? Both Mertyl and Valin have need of it when facing the Vreymak raiders, but another form of bravery comes when they have to let go of their anger and forgive. After all, when you're angry with someone who's wronged you, you just know that they don't deserve to be forgiven, and that they owe you a big apology. Why should you let them off the hook? Why can't you show them how it feels, and hurt them just like they hurt you? Wouldn't it make you feel better?

No. Just ask Mertyl about that. It doesn't solve your pain, and you won't get back what you've lost.

Courage, in this situation, is letting go of your hurt and refusing to let it rule you anymore. This way, guess what? You win! That's right. Release the other person from your anger, and tell them about it. Who knows? They might realise what they've done and make it up to you, or they might not. But at least you won't be weighed down and tormented anymore.

You'll be free.

It might be that you feel you don't have what it takes to forgive; you just can't. Then you need help from outside, from one who is always prepared to help and to change you a bit more into the person you should really be. He's just waiting for you to call.

What's in a name?

As part of my ongoing quest to make my writing as good as it can get, I'm renaming a major character. (Can you guess who?) I joined a facebook group of writers and several strongly felt that this name sounded more like a pharmaceutical product than someone a reader could identify with and cheer for throughout the ups and downs of the adventure.

On reflection, I have to agree. Thing is, I don't buy that many drugs so it didn't have that connection in my mind. And I doubt that many of my readers, aged around eight to thirteen, would think, 'Ugh! Sounds like medicine!' But for those for whom it would create a bad taste in the mouth, here goes...

I formally rename Merratol as...   Mertyl.

I hope you'll continue to make her welcome in The Calling, whatever her name is.

Mertyl. I'm not used to it yet. OK, what does that remind you of? Any associations? Maybe a Welsh mining town? Or a trademarked variety of roofing material? ;-)  I don't know. Maybe 'Valin' sounds too much like that other drug, whatsitsname...

Anyway, you can see the immense power of publishing on the internet. I can upload an updated version of my manuscript for free, at any time, both to Amazon Kindle and CreateSpace, so that the ebook and the printed book reflect the very best that I can do. The CreateSpace book does become unavailable for about 48 hours while the file is updated and reviewed.