Archive
Newsletter Archive
July 23, 2022
Heatwave (Briefly)
Hello again, Reader.
As you may know, I live in the UK. And as I'm also sure you know, it was blisteringly hot this week. Record-breaking temperatures, wildfires and travel disruptions all hit us hard since we're not a country that is used to such heat. Lola the cat basically went feral, only returning at sunset if she hadn't managed to catch something to eat. I worked in Madrid for the summer a few years ago, where it was over 30C by 7am every day, and frequently peaked over 40C. That's 86F and 104F respectively, for those of you who prefer old money. And it was tough! But the buildings are designed to cope with it, air conditioning is a lot more common, and the pace of life slows down to suit. A leisurely stroll to lunch, a languorous meal and waiting until after sunset to even consider dinner makes it a lot more bearable. In a country where our main concerns are keeping the houses warm in the winter and dodging endless drizzly rain, we don't handle it as well. Our house was still radiating heat from the walls a couple of days later, it had absorbed so much. And we didn't see anything above 34C where we are! But I kept writing. While being an author can be a lot of mental effort, it's not physical labour. Given that I broke into a sweat just picking up the mail, that's something I'm very grateful for. How's the weather been where you are? (Has a more British sentence ever been uttered?) We're seeing more and more extremes these days, so I do hope you're staying well.
Space News
Mars Landing Relativity Space Spacex
Elon Musk would like to be the first person on Mars, or at least be the one who put them there. But even assuming he doesn't get distracted by buying Twitter, or not buying Twitter, or just wasting his time on Twitter, he might still not win the race.
A couple of upstart companies, Relativity and Rocket Lab are challenging Musk's SpaceX. While Relativity hasn't actually flown a rocket yet, Rocket Lab has one on course to the moon as I write this. So they're a long way behind SpaceX, but even Musk has fallen behind his very optimistic predictions of a few years ago...
(Thanks to William Kite for the tip-off, check out his website!)
Source: nytimes.com
Other Books To Check Out
I've gathered a few great books from independent authors like me, I hope you'll check them out.
And let me know if you have any books to recommend! I'm particularly interested in indie authors, but anything you've read and loved would be awesome.
UBL
Cover of 'The Resurrection Job' - a spacesuited figure strides away from a spacecraft.
Jason should know better than take an assassin job offer that's too good to be true...
Freelance assassin Jason "Key" Rokku earns a comfortable living as a reliable "Handyman" for the Vocational Guild VokGuild. The guild disguises their true nature by claiming to employ tradesmen-but this is just a front for a galaxy-wide group of Assassins and Mercenaries.
Key's new assignment won't be easy or clean-he's been tasked with killing the infamous Ricky Barbazzura.
Rox
Free
Cover of 'Rox' - a figure stands on the edge of a vast crater.
A space exploration novelette
Forced into a risky mission to the outer reaches of the solar system, Roxanne "Rox" Weaver is about to confront a horror from her past, and a threat to humanity's future.
Smoke, Fire and Butterflies
Free
Cover of 'Smoke, Fire and Butterflies' - a wartime scene
He joined the war for all the wrong reasons.
Can a cold-hearted Confederate be a war hero? What does it take to change a man's heart?
Beyond Imagination!
A wonderful collection of free SciFi books, absolutely spanning the spectrum from thriller to romance, and everything in between.
Check it out!
Strange News
Leprechauns in Liverpool
In 1964, at the height of Beatlemania, Liverpool was also experiencing another outbreak of possible mass hysteria. Leprechauns were apparently invading the city, sparking hunts and countless reports of sightings. The story is muddled by reports of UFOs, perhaps causing confusion with descriptions of 'little green men', but it certainly seems to have caused quite a stir at the time. And even more curiously, this strange series of events might even have an explanation... in 1982 a man came forward claiming that he might have been the cause of it all...
Source: magoniamagazine.blogspot.com
Miscellany
For All Mankind
What if the space race never ended? I'm late to this show, which explores what might have happened if the Soviets made it to the moon first, but I'm really enjoying it. It's on Apple TV+ and you can get a seven day free trial if you follow this link.
Source: tv.apple.com
If atoms were the size of tennis balls
A visual effects artist illustrates just how tiny things can be, and how massive. Well worth a look!
Source: youtube.com
The shoes you never want to wear in a fight
Jill Bearup does a lot of stage fighting, and has some very strong (and entirely reasonable) opinions on the most commonly seen item of footwear in TV and movie fight scenes.
Source: youtube.com
And Finally
We've mentioned UFOs a few times here, and while I doubt that 'flying saucers' are actually visitors from another world, sometimes fact can be even stranger than fiction.
British Rail held a patent on one.
Yes, in 1973 the national railway company of Britain applied for, and was granted, a patent for a flying saucer. It started out as a lifting platform, but (as we often see with government projects) quickly grew in scope to encompass plans for an interplanetary craft.
Alright, technically the patent is for a thermonuclear fusion engine powered by lasers, and the electromagnetic containment system it would require, but that image clearly doesn't show a nuclear powered train. And the good news is, BR stopped paying renewal fees in 1976, so you can freely use their idea without needing to license it!
Source: worldwide.espacenet.com