Friday Updates

Woot, Friday! Double woot, spending the weekend at the virtual Nebulas.

But I do have some updates:

If you don't have your copy of Firewing yet, maybe this review from Liliyana Shadowlyn will convince you to take the plunge.

And I have not one, not two, but three Prolific Works giveaways to check out:

Mythical Creatures

Research Rules

Library Lovers

Fantasy, science fiction, and all-genre respectively! Check out excerpts of Araña or Firewing and please download from some of the other authors too.

...or not.

I apparently should have checked the weather for Florida before making yesterday's post. Needless to say, the rocket didn't go anywhere. (NASA? Why did you not scrub at T-35 before fueling? It was clear to anyone watching that weather was red and likely to remain so).

Also, astronauts have a ridiculously excessive amount of chill.

I'm going to be busy over the weekend with the virtualized Nebulas conference (kind of bittersweet; I couldn't afford to go to LA so at least I get to attend, but...)

Taking Off

Today, we will be sending a man into space. This wouldn't be a big deal, but it will be the first crewed launch of SpaceX's Crew Dragon and the first launch from the US in over a decade.

Fingers are crossed for everyone, especially the brave astronaut...even with all the testing there is still a risk something will go wrong.

But it's about time.

(Although I still think better rockets will only take us so far...)

Balticon Roundup

So, virtual cons work. It's no true substitute for seeing all of your smiling faces and certainly not for the hugs that I'm saving up for when it's safe to hug again.

Sessions from Virtual Balticon were recorded and will be posted over the next few weeks. The con has an amazing team of volunteers who are going through and editing the recordings. They will also be adding closed captioning.

My reading has also been recorded. I'll post the URLs to the sessions I was in here and on social media as they go up.

Oh, and Dr. Inge Heyer remains the best science presenter on the local circuit!

(The furry panelists were also fun).

Firewing Release!

Firewing is now available through most outlets and will be on DriveThruFiction and my own site shortly.

Paperbacks are also available, although you might have to wait a while to get them signed.

I will be reading from Firewing at 11am on Monday during Virtual Balticon, please stop by and listen to me and the wonderful Don Sakers.

Buy from Smashwords or Amazon.

As a note, there was a layout malfunction on the Smashwords upload that, unfortunately, didn't come to light until yesterday. Because of this I'm not recommending that you buy from iBooks, Kobo, or Barnes & Noble without checking look inside first - the version that's up is readable, but not correct. If you already did, let me know and I'll send you the correct file.

Virtual Balticon is on now! Programming starts at 5pm, but people are already gathering in the Balticon Discord server, which you will find here.

Virtual Balticon!

This is your reminder that virtual Balticon starts tomorrow. Attendance is free, but the con is asking people to preregister for the panels or presentations they want to attend so they can assign Zoom licenses appropriately.

There is also a Discord server. If you're interested in coming to the con, you should join the server now. Discord will include watch parties of past presentations, watch parties of TV shows, movies, and anime, an online dealer room and artist alley and our virtual con suite and bar.

It's not as good as the real thing and I'm quite upset I'm not on my way to Baltimore right now, but it's what we can do in these trying times. You'll have to get your own booze and snacks.

Programming starts at 5pm.

Should We Terraform Mars?

...or should we breed Martians.

Science fiction loves the idea of terraforming Mars. (I only touch on it in Transpecial, where Martians continue to live in shielded domes).

But there's also the idea of breeding Martians.

Or more precisely, gene-tweaking colonists using traits from other animals or specific human groups (for example, there are distinct blood differences between the people living in the Himalayas than those of us adapted to sea level). Is this ethical?

One scientist, Christopher Mason, argues that it's unethical not to...because any attempt to terraform will destroy any surviving life on Mars. If there is an ecosystem there, no matter how small or marginal, aren't we bound to protect it?

So, yeah. So many ethical arguments on both sides, but maybe one day we'll breed Martians, genetically tweaked to have higher resistance to radiation, lower need for oxygen, and some protection from dust...maybe even something like a Gallifreyan's respiratory bypass system (I headcanon that THAT is an evolution for dust protection given how dry Gallifrey is shown to be).

Thoughts?