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November 26, 2022
'Writing into the dark'
Hello again, Reader.
I'm struggling with this draft. I told myself it'd be done by the end of November (and it will be) but oof, it's a slog. I've chucked out my outline, since it wasn't working, and I'm trying what they call 'discovery writing' (or pantsing, since you're writing by the seat of your pants). It's fun, writing ideas as they come to you without knowing for sure what comes next, but it's scary. And I don't think it's really working. Don't worry, though. I've been through this before, when powering through NaNoWriMo. And it will come good in the end. But I'll have a lot of editing to do. Most likely I'll come back to it after a suitable pause, read what I have and then create a new outline to hang the various pieces from. I know from experience that I'll end up cutting a fair bit (and you might get to see some of the off-cuts in a future newsletter), and having some gaps to fill. I'm confident I can wrestle this book into shape; there are some great ideas going in, and I'm very happy with the individual scenes - it's just making sure there's a story underneath it all that's relying on faith right now. Hey, if it was easy, it wouldn't be as much fun, right? Wish me luck.
Oh, and I set up a store with some gift ideas for writers... store.markhoodauthor.com
Save 10% with code 'NEWSLETTER'!
Space News
Artemis
I think the biggest space news of the last couple of weeks has to be Artemis, the new NASA (and ESA, among others) mission to take humanity back to the moon. I'm fifty next year, and there hasn't been someone on the moon in my entire lifetime! That's not the universe that the SciFi I read as a child led me to believe...
Orion, SLS and the other hardware required has been delayed a number of times, so it's nice to finally see the rocket thundering into space, albeit with only Shaun the Sheep on board, and not people. It's a testing mission, and while there have been some problems (see the link above) it's going very well so far.
You can keep track of it here https://www.nasa.gov/specials/trackartemis/ until it gets back to Earth on December 11th. Sadly it'll be 2024 at the earliest when people get to go, but it does feel like we're closer than ever to the future I expected to be living in already.
And you can even send it a message! There's an iPad inside, and you can have a message displayed, and beamed back to Earth. https://spaceexplored.com/2022/11/23/display-your-message-on-the-ipad-flying-around-the-moon/
Image: A portion of the far side of the Moon looms large just beyond the Orion spacecraft in this image taken on the sixth day of the Artemis I mission by a camera on the tip of one of Orion's solar arrays.
Source: blogs.nasa.gov
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.
Right Place, Right Time
Free
This man is not where he's supposed to be.
He's on a space station. He's light years away from where he should be. And he's dead.
Cliff Hock is one of the galaxy's best bounty hunters. But even he can't explain what's going on. Cliff finds himself prisoner to a police officer that's gone mad with power. But, by partnering with an attractive alien, Cliff unravels the conspiracy and holds the guilty accountable.
Spacewalkers
Free
When you work on the surface of an asteroid, everyone's life is in your hands.
Jayden Curry returns to work on the Liwei Space Station after recovering from a devastating injury, but has he returned too soon? His nerves hold him back, his leg still hurts, and he has to choose to tell his team the truth and lose his spot, or keep it all to himself and hope he can push past it.
The Neighbor You Don't Know
Free
After countless years of preparation Mission Terra Firme One is finally ready to commence and give Earth the answers it has long waited for, about the planet Neighbor.
The TSS Cartographer is about to arrive and its First Officer Baldwin "call me Win" Tavares believes that he might just be able to touch his hand to that rocky ground and that'd be enough for him to learn everything there is to know about their old Neighbors, the things they'd done and what they'd left behind.
But not everyone is as kind-hearted or has such noble intentions, and Neighbor holds more mysteries than anyone could have imagined. Exploring it might open the gates for a flood that threatens to drown everything, and Win must make decisions that hold his life, and that of all around him, at stake.
Last chance!
A Science Fiction giveaway, literally dozens of free books which means there's something here for everyone.
Pick up a couple today, and then drop the author a line, telling them what you think! Believe me, it really makes a writer's day when they get an email like that.
Strange News
How Gruesome Penny Dreadfuls Got Victorian Children Reading
For as long as there have been books to read, there have been people worried that children aren't reading enough. And when kids start reading more, there are those worried that they're reading the 'wrong' thing.
Back in Victorian times, kids flocked to the 'penny dreadfuls' - cheaply printed, and often poorly written, horror and true-crime stories with an emphasis on the gory and macabre. Naturally the puritanical Victorians weren't keen on this trend!
If you ask me, anything that can get kids excited about reading is valuable. I was lucky enough to be allowed to pick out whatever I liked from the library, and while my tastes never ran quite as gruesome as these, I still love exploring new worlds through books.
Woodcuts of Spring-Heeled Jack
Source: Atlas Obscura
Miscellany
Scoresby's Polar Bear
I'm a big fan of 'His Dark Materials', and the character of Lee Scoresby is based on a real polar explorer, Captain William Scoresby. He raised a polar bear cub (though he didn't call it Iorek, sadly), and there's now a monument to it in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The bear lived there for a while, before moving to London Zoo.
Source: Atlas Obscura
Artist turns insects into fairies
Cedric collects dead insect specimens given to him by breeders. He carefully takes apart the ethically sourced insects' delicate exoskeletons and wings. Cedric can then rearrange and combine them into a new creation, sometimes using up to 10 insects in a single sculpture.
Source: northeastnow.com
Giant, unblinking eye in Dallas
Everything's bigger in Texas, and this proves no less true in downtown Dallas, where you'll find a 30-foot-tall lifelike sculpture of a human eyeball, red veins and all!
Source: Ripley's Believe It or Not!
And Finally
Build mini retrocomputers out of paper.
Ever wanted that computer you remember from your childhood, but don't have somewhere to keep it? Build a tiny one! I had a ZX Spectrum growing up, and the little tape recorder next to it brings back some memories... as does the unexpected can of baked beans!
Source: arstechnica.com