I am a novelist with work published in science fiction, fantasy, mystery and historical "novelized biography". I've won the Prometheus award and the Dragon award. I also write under the names Elise Hyatt and Sarah D'Almeida. http://sarahahoyt.com/
Note — This update is late, because my computer decided it had a completely different display and it took me a while to get it to understand reality.
Thank you very much to everyone who donated so far. Major milestone reached today.
THE GOAL IS $50,000
the counter stands at: $$21,053.89(Updated at least every 8 hours, more often if i happen to be here.)
IT ENDS JULY 16TH.
What does Heinlein’s Birthday have to do with this?
Well, for years now, I’ve felt guilty I’m writing for free, which in grumbles he referred to as “immoral.”
The Driving Force Behind This:
We are not in trouble. At least no more than normal. In fact, we’re a little more secure than we’ve been.
But for years now — years — my family and friends (including the late, great, much missed Dr. Pournelle) have told me I should run a fundraiser for my blog, since it’s a time-sink extraordinaire, and often gets in the way of fiction. (Some of my friends, you know who you are, told me to give it up so I can concentrate on the fiction because that makes me happier — no, not you. Someone else, years ago — but since I seem unable to, I should at least fund it.)
This sounds strange but my family’s condition to let me do the “save our butts” appeal was that henceforth I should either rattle the cup all the time or have a July fundraiser. Because it was their contention I wouldn’t have been in the situation I was without refusing to fundraise.
What I hope to accomplish?
I’ve been startlingly unproductive for the last few years. And every time I get actually going I seem to get too sick or exhausted to finish.
It took me a while — I’m kind of dumb, I won’t lie — to realize it’s because I’m trying to do at least three jobs at once: this blog, writing fiction and then publishing for me and my family (it’s like juggling live hedgehogs.) This without counting the every day business of living, like litter boxes, making dinner…. that sort of thing.
My hopes for 50k is that I would get enough to hire someone to collate and clean up my articles so I can publish six or seven books of them (under According 2 Hoyt, to prevent confusion with my fiction.)
I also want to hire someone to design and create an author website for me (in case you haven’t noticed it sucks small hairy animals) and to design and create Azounding, which will be reborn as a website to link, promote, and publicize writers to the right of Lenin. (Someone to do data entry would help, but eh.) If that person also could do things like update my blog links and widgets it would be a major bonus, since those are like three years out of date. (It’s a time sink because my mind doesn’t bend that way.)
The stretch goal was to get some of my books translated and see if they sell in other languages. (I’ll be honest, the Three Musketeers in Portuguese probably won’t pay much, but I’d like my dad to be able to read the book I dedicated to him.)
And maybe hire some people to do audio for my indie books, like Witchfinder and Rhodes. I don’t know if they would pay, but I’m willing to risk a couple of them.
UPDATE: ALSO I wish to hire someone to help with publicity and merch. I forgot to mention that yesterday.
So, what I want to do with money donated to the business is put it to work for the business. And then with the additional money, maybe hire a part-time assistant, so all I do IS write: blog or fiction.
BUT any money is a start, and I might be able to get some of it done, anyway. It will just take careful management and a little more time. That’s fine, and I’m immensely grateful to all those who donate/ed.
THE INCENTIVES AND TIERS:
Tier 1– $10 or more – A shout out on my blog, all with all other the supporters, by name, in one massive “Thank you” post. [Jokey or offensive names will not be included at author’s discretion.]
Tier 2– $25 or more – Email jpg of certificate with funny fish saying “I Was Carped at according to hoyt.com” and a Certificate of being a member of Hoyt’s Huns, cultural wars sapper battalion, in good standing.
Tier 3– $60 or more – Exclusive ebook collection of USAian stories. (Including a new, original, never published story.) Estimated delivery August 2023
Tier 4– $100 or more – Your name will appear in a mass death/other mass event/list in one of Sarah’s books. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.]
Tier 5– $150 or more – A sound file of Sarah saying “Moose and Squirrel.”
Tier 6 – $250 or more – Will send a signed copy of trade paperback Gentleman takes a chance and one large postcard with book covers, also signed. (USPS- continental US only. All others, let’s talk.) [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Tier 7 – $350 or more – Three signed books (of our choice), plus two extra items from “Sarah’s Garage”, (also of our choice) which might very well be a small rubber fish. (You’ve been warned.) USPS only. Continental U.S. only [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Tier 8 – $500 or more – Personalized tuckerization. You will become your very own zany character, with at least a line or two of dialogue, and physical description. Physical safety and life of character not guaranteed. If you perish, it will NOT (repeat not) be in a mass death event or a list of other kinds. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.] [Jokey or offensive names, descriptions and personalities will not be included at author’s discretion.]
Tier 9 – $1000 or more – A CHOICE OF:
Option 1 -Will read the first 10 pages and outline of your novel and provide timely critique, with the understanding that I am not infallible. (A skype, zoom or other video call to discuss the work for an hour or so.) [estimated delivery Winter 2022 – Spring 2023]
Option 2 – Large box of ten signed books, plus items ranging from a con badge, to a mini dinosaur skeleton or a print of Sarah’s original art, or other items from Sarah’s garage. USPS only. Continental U.S. only [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Option 3 – Signed copy of Sarah’s old copyedited or page-proof manuscripts. [estimated delivery Fall 2022] (5 limit.)
Tier 10– $5000 or more – You will become a major character on one of my books, and I’ll try to reflect your appearance, and chosen personality. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.] [Jokey or offensive names, descriptions and personalities will not be included at author’s discretion. You don’t get to have someone else be an offensive character. (Sorry!) Your actions will be altered to serve the plot if needed.] – Limit 5. (You’ll be informed if this has been claimed, and given a chance for a refund or of a comparable reward.)
Tier Insane – $25000 or more – My husband and I will travel to a city in the continental US and have dinner with you and your plus one. (Continental US only.) – Limit ONE. [Delivery up to July 2023.] (You’ll be informed if this has been claimed, and given a chance for a refund or of a comparable reward.)
ALL TIERS INCLUDE ALL PREVIOUS TIERS EXCEPT FOR THOSE THAT ARE NUMBER LIMITED.
If you want to be thanked/mentioned by a name different from your regular one, please email to: bookpimping at outlook dot com.
THIS IS PINNED TO THE TOP OF THE BLOG. THE DAILY POST WILL APPEAR BELOW THIS.
The picture below is not my best work. I was hoping to do another one today, but I woke up late. At any rate, it is released under creative commons, so if you want to you can improve on it.
At any rate, this is my thank you to everyone who has donated so far, and my incentive to the others for putting up with the dog and pony show!
Today’s picture is called Roadside Wreck. Would you help this lovely lady, if you came upon her? ;)
This Picture was created by Sarah A. Hoyt and is released under CC BY
Hello, everyone. I told Sarah about something a few of us at the Interstellar Research Group (IRG) have been throwing around for a few weeks, and she asked me to do a guest post about it. I have to warn you all, this will have a call to action (or at least dissemination) at the end, so be ready!
Just a note on usage. I’m writing this in the first person, as if I did all this myself. Some of it I did personally, some of it was done by others or supervised by them while I did the scut-work. Just FYI.
A few weeks ago a number of us from the IRG were attending LibertyCon in Chattanooga, which was where our organization was initially started a good number of years ago. Some of us were on a panel discussing what was needed to establish an enduring human presence on Mars. During the discussion it became clear to us that pretty much all the researchers and research being done were focused on technological aspects of the question, and next to none on the biological ones. By this we meant the creation of functional “soil,” not merely regolith, which would have the biological microbial components common on Earth to allow the healthy and healthful production of vegetable crops for human consumption. It turns out that a few of us at IRG have the contacts and backgrounds necessary to conduct exactly that primary research. I decided to spend the next week or so trying to marshal commitments from the people and facilities we would need to get this research started, and then to see if we can break some new ground (yes, I realize the pun I just committed) in extraterrestrial farming!
I think the project I’m going to propose would fit very nicely into the overall Space Analog for the Moon and Mars (SAM) project (https://samb2.space/). Here in broad outline is the proposal.
We’d like to set up a “shoebox” environment, in a small sealed system, where a totally accurate Martian regolith simulant under as accurate conditions of temperature, atmospheric composition and pressure, incident radiation of all sorts and any other relevant conditions can be inoculated with various mixes of biological agents to see the possibilities of creating a microbiome of sorts within the regolith, creating an analog to terrestrial soil rather than the (presumably) sterile substrate endemic on Mars.
I did some very rough preliminary research on this idea. I thought the first thing we would need to do is a literature search to see if anyone else has indeed done some work around this idea. I hadn’t done anything yet as I wanted to gauge the possibility of getting an actual experiment started before investing the time. But my initial thinking was that if it had been done, we all probably would have heard about it, as it would have excited lots of people.
The next thing would be to assemble a competent research team of interested people. I’m thinking soil microbiologists, researchers into the composition of the Martian regolith, the Martian atmosphere and the surface radiation environment, etc. To that end I’ve come across this article:
https://www.space.com/21554-mars-toxic-perchlorate-chemicals.html from 2013, in which some of the questions we would investigate are mentioned. The questions are addressed by Peter Smith, who is a professor emeritus at the University of Arizona. I hoped we might be able to approach Professor Smith for some advice and perhaps assistance in assembling a research team.
As for materials needed, the current standard source of Martian regolith simulant is MGS-1 from Exolith Lab in Florida:
This simulant is well thought of, but doesn’t include the calcium perchlorate that would be needed to truly simulate the Martian regolith. This is because perchlorate in the needed amounts is basically poisonous. Nevertheless, to conduct the experiment properly we would need to mix the proper ratio of perchlorate into our test environments. This would likely require clean-room conditions, BIGs (biological isolation garments), and such. Ca(ClO4)2 or CaCl2O8 is available from various sources:
In my head, here is how I’m envisioning this experiment. We would need a hermetically-sealed container of moderate size to contain a depth of regolith simulant. This container would need to be capable of holding a temperature at the regolith surface of 20 C to -75 C, and a gas pressure of 6.35 mbar with a gas composition of:
gas percentage by weight
carbon dioxide (CO2) 95.32
molecular nitrogen (N2) 2.7
argon (Ar) 1.6
molecular oxygen (O2) 0.13
carbon monoxide (CO) 0.07
water vapour (H2O) 0.03
neon (Ne) 0.00025
krypton (Kr) 0.00003
xenon (Xe) 0.000008
At a guess, the noble gas components could be ignored, but I suspect the rest would need to be kept in the mix.
As for the surface radiation environment, this is the information I have:
I have no idea what would be required to duplicate this in the experiment or if it is even possible. As for visible light, the maximum solar insolation on Mars is about 590 W/m2, and would have to be variable from 0 to this maximum on the Martian solar day length of 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds.
What biological inoculants would be used for purposes of this (actually these, as I would expect different “bouquets” of inoculants would be tested) experiment is something I have absolutely no knowledge of, which is why I’m just a fan-boy rather than a principal investigator.
We knew it wouldn’t be as easy as Matt Damon made it look, just crapping on some regolith and shoving potatoes into it, but hey, we’re big-brained scientists, we ought to be able to figure it out!
I found 5 scientific papers dealing with plant propagation in Martian regolith simulant and downloaded 4 them (the 5th would cost $51 to get, which is a bit pricey for me right now) and read through them to see if there are any referenced papers in any of them that I could also get. But from a quick glance it didn’t appear to me that any of them approached the things that we were talking about.
Unfortunately, from the abstract the one paper that would cost me looked to be the one closest to what we’re proposing:
“This article aims to inform the development of biological perchlorate remediation schemes for the preparation of safer human Mars habitats and contaminant-free in situ resource utilization (ISRU) for crop production in these settings. No prior studies have attempted to remediate perchlorate from Martian regolith simulants. Thus, we draw from previous work on soil, sediment, and water biological remediation that we determined to be most relevant to Martian applications. Approaches include phytoremediation and microbial remediation. Phytoremediation utilizes terrestrial and aquatic plants for perchlorate removal, occurring by 3 different mechanisms: phytoaccumulation, phytodegradation, and rhizodegradation. We suggest potential plant candidates for phytoremediation. We discuss known microbial remediation processes utilizing both rhizosphere-derived microorganisms and extremophiles, and the most likely microorganism candidates for a successful microbial remediation of Martian regolith considering the harsh Martian environment. We also briefly discuss the economic implications of perchlorate remediation for ISRU farming
viability. We recommend this article as a reference for future attempts to successfully and cost-effectively develop biological remediation technologies to remove perchlorate from Martian regolith, improving the viability of ISRU crop production.”
Its focus was on perchlorate removal rather than microbiome construction, but it was definitely closely adjacent to what we’d been talking about. I contacted the lead author and added him to our emailing list with his consent.
It was at this point I started to get some helpful ideas and suggestions from the correspondents.
Nick Nielsen said, “Thanks for this! It is an important problem, and there are a great many directions that research could take. For example, you note that the starting point would be ‘a small sealed system, where a totally accurate Martian regolith simulant…’ If one wants to get from regolith to a functional soil, should one assume that all this is being done on a planetary surface (presumably on Mars) or is the regolith simply to be the soil ‘seed’ as it were, not necessarily tied to the planet from which it is drawn? That is to say, one could experiment with regolith on a space station apart from any planetary surface, and this raises the question where the best soil-precursor is to be found. It might be on a moon of Mars, or an asteroid, or some other place.”
Joe Meany said, “I followed up on the question of perchlorates in the martian regolith that you and I discussed after the panel. The space.com article you suggested led to a really nice review article by Chris McCay. It turns out that the perchlorate salts can be present in as much as 1%(!) with a mixture of calcium, magnesium, and ammonium cations.
“This is actually quite interesting, as those three cations are biologically important. I especially didn’t expect the ammonium perchlorate, but ammonium salts are especially valuable for habitation. There are well-identified bacterial strains capable of reducing perchlorate back to (biologically important) chloride, producing two molecules of breathable oxygen per molecule of perchlorate. Perchlorate salts are also water-soluble, so once martian regolith is introduced to a bacterial tank, it will be quickly accessible for metabolism. Importantly, the breakdown of the perchlorate salts would be exothermic, allowing some non-zero energy transfer from the exterior environment into the habitat via this metabolic process.
“Furthermore, it seems that the mechanism of perchlorate formation comes from UV exposure in the martian atmosphere, so simply disposing any unwanted regolith back outside would ‘recharge’ it for future consumption.”
The head of the SAM said, “Yes, there is a need for this, and it is a good fit for SAM (in fact, it was an original cornerstone to our science objectives). I suggest only that there is quite a bit of research into this already (mechanical, chemical, biological) so be certain that you are not duplicating research already in motion.
“From the SAM point of view, the best thing to do is to build a team that would work within SAM for a defined period of time, perhaps with Mars regolith simulant (look to https://www.offplanetresearch.com/). The team project proposal would need to take advantage of the hermetically sealed environment (meaning, what can you do in SAM that you can’t do in a normal lab). Cost is approximately $12k per week for a team of four.”
This brought up a significant cost factor, which we ignored for the moment. I then received a reply from Dr. Christopher Oze, the lead author of the one paper (above) that I hadn’t read:
“I’ve been working on Martian regolith and using it for a variety of purposes from construction to agriculture on Mars for a little over a decade now. I would probably say most of my research has been centered around dealing with the non-tech issues related to humans being able to cope/progress on Mars (www.chrisoze.com has a few examples) If you’re looking for martian regolith at bulk scales for agriculture or civil engineering purposes, we can recreate it at kilograms scale for just about any reported value (mineralogy, geochemistry, particle size, etc.) from Mars’ surface. We just spent the last year figuring out how to remove (or cope) with perchlorate in regolith. Besides that, so many other issues need to be figured out such as how to stop the naturally cementing nature of regolith related to particle sizes/texture, how seed size plays a critical role for plant success, or how perchlorate (even when removed) may have increased metal availability so much that the plants will have to deal with this as well (serpentine soils and its vegetation on Earth provide some lessons on how to get around this issue).”
I replied to him, “Thank you for your assistance in our nascent quest to find other work in this area. We haven’t gone through the literature in any detail yet, but from what I can see no one has looked at regolith inoculation in situ or attempting to create a terrestrial analog microbiome in any Martian regolith. Do you know of any work in that specific area?”
He came back with, “I’ve run a few experiments where I have added perchlorate (at martian levels) to terrestrial soils and found that it adversely affected the microorganisms as well as the plants. Part of prepping/inoculating the regolith is related to how to deal with perchlorate. There are a few microorganisms that can use perchlorate and that might be a good starting point.”
I let him know that I’d just found these papers:
I’ve found these papers during my literature search for experiments in similar areas:
Potential Biological Remediation Strategies for Removing Perchlorate from Martian Regolith
One of the manufacturers of Martian regolith simulants chimed in: “Mars regolith, and thus simulants for it, is a very interesting material. One of the biggest challenges- that might actually be a benefit in this area of research- is the wide range of compositions and material properties on Mars. One general Martian simulant is unlikely to be representative of much of Martian regolith. This is also an issue with lunar simulants, and the Moon has much less variability compared to Mars! Historically, the majority of our simulants are made for the lunar applications and we have four general simulants (and counting!) depending on where our clients plan to land in addition to customizing compositions for specific use cases. Looking into the specifications of a landing site would be a good first step to determining the ideal simulant properties and composition.
“The benefit to the variety of Martian regolith is that there will likely be some compositions better suited for agricultural purposes. Very recently, early studies using Apollo lunar regolith noted a difference in plant growth based on the maturity (age) of the sample. Like on Earth, targeting areas that are more ‘agreeable’ to agriculture would save a lot of effort and resources as does choosing the right crops for that region.
“Regarding perchlorates in Martian regolith, there are hazards as you noted which I assume is why UCF isn’t selling them in their Martian simulant. It is not something you want to provide to someone unused to handling them, but I also say that about regular simulants due to the dust hazards. We have been developing Martian simulants as well and are exploring the use of perchlorates for specialized use.
“One thing to keep in mind with all simulants is that understanding its use cases, strengths, and limitations is important as is accounting for these variables. This comes down knowing which properties of the simulant are vital (ie. mechanical, physical, chemical, etc.) and which ones may not be as accurately represented in the test material. Additionally, understanding how the test setup affects the test material is important. It sounds like you are looking into environmental conditions, but that will cause the simulant to act differently than it does in an ambient environment so characterizing those differences may (or may not) be important to understanding how it will affect the test results.”
It was at about this time that I wrote up a where-we-are-now summation of the initial excitement with this idea:
“I’ve spent the past few days, when I’ve had time, reading through the papers I mentioned to you all and noting papers in their references that will be interesting to read. While I haven’t finished reading all of these papers, I did notice one thing that seems to be a constant with the research being done heretofore. First though, there has been a fair amount more research into the biological and agricultural suitability of Martian regolith that I or most of my more technical-minded friends had realized. Great!
“But what I noticed is that (so far in my reading) none of this research was done in anything remotely approximating a Martian surface environment. Instead, everything seems to have been along the lines of, ‘if this Martian regolith existed on Earth, with our temperature, atmospheric composition and pressure, insolation, etc., trying to grow plants on it would give this result.’ This, while interesting, doesn’t seem particularly useful to me. It’s along the lines of the underpants gnomes from South Park, missing an important step in what is intended:
1. Regolith on the surface of Mars
2. ???
3. Agriculture!
“If we do move forward with the type of experiment or experiments I and others here have envisioned, I think we need to focus on that step 2, and most importantly the early part of it, what it might take to make Martian regolith under Martian surface environmental conditions more amenable (or amenable at all) to the growth of terrestrial plants. I hope these thoughts might help us define the experimental designs more rigorously.”
I followed that with: “As you can tell from my email address, I’m sending all this out through my connection with the Interstellar Research Group (IRG). That’s because when the idea came up at the recently-concluded LibertyCon science fiction convention in Chattanooga, a number of us on the panel generating the idea were in some way connected with the IRG and got support from the organization to explore the idea.
“Here is where things get a bit murky. The IRG isn’t a research institute and isn’t set up or equipped to pursue primary research such as the Mars Regolith Microbiome Inoculation Experiment (MaRMIE–I’ve just invented a shorthand acronym for this concept) experiments. Further, the remit of the IRG is interstellar topics, not intra-system ones.
“So if MaRMIE is to go further than these discussions, we will have to identify one or more institutions able and interested in such experiments and persuade one or more researchers at said institutions to propose and take charge of the experiments.”
(More on that in the final call for action below.)
A few more comments about the experiment itself, from a seasoned technologist and space entrepreneur in the group: “‘cheap’ Martian agriculture would be inflated plastic bubbles as greenhouses, pumped up with Martian atmosphere to enough pressure to let the plants grow (at least about 0.2 bar, though more may well be required), with the soil used as growth medium, irrigated with external water supply (from ice or permafrost mining most likely, though atmospheric condensation is also a possibility).
“You’d want a very low-labor way of prepping the soil; if you have to get the perchlorates out (about which I have no opinion), you’d want to do something simple — mound the soil up and let the water pull them out, or plant an initial crop of something tolerant to the perchlorates and then mulch it back in, or something.
“But yes, the combination of conditions hasn’t often been done. If you wanted to get really aggressive, you’d combine that with a clinostat to simulate the Martian gravity effects. Oh, and you hardly need an experiment to show that standard Martian surface pressure won’t work; the plants would be freeze-dried! The question is how low of a mostly CO2 atmosphere pressure will work.”
I answered, “I was thinking about the clinostat idea, but I think that would probably be a bit cost-prohibitive for the size we’d need for macro-plants in even a greenhouse environment. I’d like to start first with regolith inoculants to see if we can remediate the perchlorates biologically and retain some of the chemical components for plant use. As to increasing the pressure and probably temperature, I’m thinking of those as variables that could be part of the experiment. What I’m hoping for is an experiment that might show that the current environmental conditions aren’t at all compatible with agriculture, and might then allow the gradual modification of one condition or another till we find the minimum needed for useful agricultural production. I was thinking maybe some arctic microbes, fungi, etc., would have a shot at these temperatures and atmosphere conditions.”
It was at about this time that we started to think about who might be able to perform this experiment, or these experiments if (as it probably should) this idea expanded into multiple tests. I contacted some of the authors of papers our literature search had come across to see if they would be interested, without any success. I did have a thought that perhaps we could contact SpaceX and inquire about their assistance or even take-over in conducting such an experiment, as their stated long-term goal is colonizing Mars. This research would clearly (to my mind at least) need to be done before any such colonization could be successful.
Again, Joe Meany came up with an interesting idea: “My recommendation for strategy is to write a review article based on the currently available literature that you’ve begun to post within the earlier threads. To give ourselves a deadline, I think we would want this together for the next IRG newsletter (giving us a little over 3 months to complete). I think the coauthors on the review article need to express affirmative response by some close deadline (July 1?) so that we know exactly who is interested in this project and being actively involved. If we do this right, a summary of our findings can be published in the newsletter, but I think that a properly thorough research review article would be publishable within a journal like Acta Astronautica.
“Within the time that we are writing this article, we should have already identified how to answer the “Heilmeier Catechism” which will guide both that review research and specifically pre-answer questions as to how we’ll fund actual experiments. Narrowing down funding sources will dictate who we ultimately select as partners going forward.”
The simulant manufacturer had these thoughts: “I’m not sure I have much to contribute to the research side at this point, but I will throw in a few cents to the ‘how to start this’ discussion. It is essentially going to come down to experiment fidelity, budget, and time. I would argue that the second and third points will influence the first. If you are going for the type of fidelity I believe you are for this experiment with all the environmental parameters tightly controlled, it is going to be very costly especially given that agricultural experiments can run weeks and have multiple samples to create some level of statistical significance.
“While the organizations involved currently in the discussion may have internal funding to support the project, I would not hang my cap on that just yet. Even if they have internal funding, they may have to petition for it (while not included here, I know SwRI does this internally). If you are looking for outside funding, the project and its partners will need to be defined and a grant proposal put together. From experience, this starts to extend the timeline as there is a lot of ‘hurry up and wait.’ This is fine if there is not a rush for the information, but likewise, if there is not a defined ‘need,’ will it be funded?
“Conversely, if you pass this project on to a company, such as SpaceX, the control over the fidelity of the experiment will turn to them. In our work, we find a lot of things besides the test environment and test materials influence the budget, and thus testing is often relegated to the side until it is time to do so. By that point, budgets are mostly allocated and timing is very limited (ie. happening in the next few weeks). This greatly limits what can be done. This mentality is starting to change slowly so I am hoping more people begin testing plans sooner and with more resources, but that is not always the case.
“All that to say that if the project ends up being pursued, going in with a good, realistic game plan of what needs to be accomplished, what it will take to do that, and finding people with the same passion for good results is important!”
One more comment from an experienced space enthusiast about the experimental procedure itself: “It doesn’t seem to be a hard thing to do. I think the setup of the Martian conditions could be done quite simply with a regolith analog, placed in a low-pressure vessel with dimmable LED lights to mimic the Martian insolation (if needed).
“I would have thought this would make a good PhD program experiment. I vaguely recall having read about something like this as having been done. (It was certainly done on lunar soil and analogs in the 1970s, although the purpose was to see if crops could be grown, rather than creating terrestrial soil.) The kit seems to be fairly minimal in cost. The hard part is getting the inoculants and deciding how to measure progress – e.g. bacterial density over time, perchlorate concentration, etc.
“My question is how much does it have to mimic Mars’ external environment. Could the experiment be done with the regolith analog, but under 1 atm of air and whatever light conditions are desired because on Mars this could be inside a structure that is being prepared for agriculture?
“I would start under terrestrial conditions, and then, if successful, create a set of experiments to mimic stages towards a native Mars environment to see which, if any, conditions impact growth and perchlorate removal.”
I’ve included a list of all the papers dealing with agricultural and biological experiments in simulated Martian environments here, if you’d like to see what we found. There are many more, these are just the ones that caught our attention as particularly cogent to our idea.
So now, the call to action. We have a general description of the experiment or experiments we’d like to conduct, and are amenable to some modification of the details and procedures. What we don’t have is a research organization or researchers interested in and willing to conduct this (these) experiment(s). We are approaching various organizations as we identify them, but we’re hoping you might have some ideas of who to take this to and how to approach them. If you do, please contact me at douglas.loss@irg.space. And if you don’t have any ideas but have any friends in fields related to this, pass the message along to them and see if they can help!
What light through yonder window breaks? It’s the sun! The SUN. Evil Daystar.
Good morning!
THE GOAL IS $50,000
the counter stands at: $$18,515.68 (Updated at least every 8 hours, more often if i happen to be here.)
IT ENDS JULY 16TH.
NOTE: It’s moving slow, slow, slow s-l-o-w. I’ll be honest, I’ve kind of suspected the goal was unattainable, not because you’re not the kindest, best, most generous of fans (you are, you are.) BUT because times are ridiculous, and also you saved my butt to a much higher tune just seven months ago.
At least it’s not $20 :)
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED.
It should be enough, if we reach, say, half to get some help around here. I’ve already organized someone to collate and proof my essays so I can release them, which was part of my goal in this. Um… Maybe I should explain all that.
The Driving Force Behind This:
We are not in trouble. At least no more than normal. In fact, we’re a little more secure than we’ve been.
But for years now — years — my family and friends (including the late, great, much missed Dr. Pournelle) have told me I should run a fundraiser for my blog, since it’s a time-sink extraordinaire, and often gets in the way of fiction. (Some of my friends, you know who you are, told me to give it up so I can concentrate on the fiction because that makes me happier — no, not you. Someone else, years ago — but since I seem unable to, I should at least fund it.)
This sounds strange but my family’s condition to let me do the “save our butts” appeal was that henceforth I should either rattle the cup all the time or have a July fundraiser. Because it was their contention I wouldn’t have been in the situation I was without refusing to fundraise.
What I hope to accomplish?
I’ve been startlingly unproductive for the last few years. And every time I get actually going I seem to get too sick or exhausted to finish.
It took me a while — I’m kind of dumb, I won’t lie — to realize it’s because I’m trying to do at least three jobs at once: this blog, writing fiction and then publishing for me and my family (it’s like juggling live hedgehogs.) This without counting the every day business of living, like litter boxes, making dinner…. that sort of thing.
My hopes for 50k is that I would get enough to hire someone to collate and clean up my articles so I can publish six or seven books of them (under According 2 Hoyt, to prevent confusion with my fiction.)
I also want to hire someone to design and create an author website for me (in case you haven’t noticed it sucks small hairy animals) and to design and create Azounding, which will be reborn as a website to link, promote, and publicize writers to the right of Lenin. (Someone to do data entry would help, but eh.) If that person also could do things like update my blog links and widgets it would be a major bonus, since those are like three years out of date. (It’s a time sink because my mind doesn’t bend that way.)
The stretch goal was to get some of my books translated and see if they sell in other languages. (I’ll be honest, the Three Musketeers in Portuguese probably won’t pay much, but I’d like my dad to be able to read the book I dedicated to him.)
And maybe hire some people to do audio for my indie books, like Witchfinder and Rhodes. I don’t know if they would pay, but I’m willing to risk a couple of them.
So, what I want to do with money donated to the business is put it to work for the business. And then with the additional money, maybe hire a part-time assistant, so all I do IS write: blog or fiction.
BUT any money is a start, and I might be able to get some of it done, anyway. It will just take careful management and a little more time. That’s fine, and I’m immensely grateful to all those who donate/ed.
THE INCENTIVES AND TIERS:
Tier 1– $10 or more – A shout out on my blog, all with all other the supporters, by name, in one massive “Thank you” post. [Jokey or offensive names will not be included at author’s discretion.]
Tier 2– $25 or more – Email jpg of certificate with funny fish saying “I Was Carped at according to hoyt.com” and a Certificate of being a member of Hoyt’s Huns, cultural wars sapper battalion, in good standing.
Tier 3– $60 or more – Exclusive ebook collection of USAian stories. (Including a new, original, never published story.) Estimated delivery August 2023
Tier 4– $100 or more – Your name will appear in a mass death/other mass event/list in one of Sarah’s books. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.]
Tier 5– $150 or more – A sound file of Sarah saying “Moose and Squirrel.”
Tier 6 – $250 or more – Will send a signed copy of trade paperback Gentleman takes a chance and one large postcard with book covers, also signed. (USPS- continental US only. All others, let’s talk.) [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Tier 7 – $350 or more – Three signed books (of our choice), plus two extra items from “Sarah’s Garage”, (also of our choice) which might very well be a small rubber fish. (You’ve been warned.) USPS only. Continental U.S. only [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Tier 8 – $500 or more – Personalized tuckerization. You will become your very own zany character, with at least a line or two of dialogue, and physical description. Physical safety and life of character not guaranteed. If you perish, it will NOT (repeat not) be in a mass death event or a list of other kinds. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.] [Jokey or offensive names, descriptions and personalities will not be included at author’s discretion.]
Tier 9 – $1000 or more – A CHOICE OF:
Option 1 -Will read the first 10 pages and outline of your novel and provide timely critique, with the understanding that I am not infallible. (A skype, zoom or other video call to discuss the work for an hour or so.) [estimated delivery Winter 2022 – Spring 2023]
Option 2 – Large box of ten signed books, plus items ranging from a con badge, to a mini dinosaur skeleton or a print of Sarah’s original art, or other items from Sarah’s garage. USPS only. Continental U.S. only [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Option 3 – Signed copy of Sarah’s old copyedited or page-proof manuscripts. [estimated delivery Fall 2022] (5 limit.)
Tier 10– $5000 or more – You will become a major character on one of my books, and I’ll try to reflect your appearance, and chosen personality. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.] [Jokey or offensive names, descriptions and personalities will not be included at author’s discretion. You don’t get to have someone else be an offensive character. (Sorry!) Your actions will be altered to serve the plot if needed.] – Limit 5. (You’ll be informed if this has been claimed, and given a chance for a refund or of a comparable reward.)
Tier Insane – $25000 or more – My husband and I will travel to a city in the continental US and have dinner with you and your plus one. (Continental US only.) – Limit ONE. [Delivery up to July 2023.] (You’ll be informed if this has been claimed, and given a chance for a refund or of a comparable reward.)
ALL TIERS INCLUDE ALL PREVIOUS TIERS EXCEPT FOR THOSE THAT ARE NUMBER LIMITED.
If you want to be thanked/mentioned by a name different from your regular one, please email to: bookpimping at outlook dot com.
THIS IS PINNED TO THE TOP OF THE BLOG. THE DAILY POST WILL APPEAR BELOW THIS.
The picture below is not my best work. I was hoping to do another one today, but I woke up late. At any rate, it is released under creative commons, so if you want to you can improve on it.
At any rate, this is my thank you to everyone who has donated so far, and my incentive to the others for putting up with the dog and pony show!
This Picture was created by Sarah A. Hoyt and is released under CC BY
Today I was browsing through stock image sites, looking for something vaguely surreal that would fit the cover of a collection of Older Son’s short stories we hope to release next week.
I’m having a little difficulty, as I always have with any short story collection — even my own — that doesn’t have a well-defined theme. And there’s the fact that this collection, starting when older son was about 12 and containing twelve years or so of stories, is… odd, because older son writes from abolished and possibly extinguished angles.
So I was trying to figure out something that suggests a surreal reality and is pretty for a cover.
But all the pictures under surreal or strange are what I class as “My eyes, my eyes.”
The best are just subtly unsettling horror, with someone holding eyeballs or something. The worst are seriously bizarre and fall under the principle of “meaty skulls with snakes.” even if that’s not what they actually have on them.
And suddenly I had a moment when there was a scream at the back of my head: “I’m tired of ugly.”
I have no idea why, but in art, be it writing or painting, or whatever you can create, ugly, disturbing and emotionally icky has been considered “cool” and “artistic” and “deep” for as long as I’ve been alive.
Are there disturbing or slightly scary pictures (or books) that are artistic and interesting, but must the majority of art be ugly, off-putting, and suck a little bit of joy out of the world.
And I know the temptation in myself. I had to overcome it, time and again over the years. It was the worst thing that literature classes did to me. Honorable characters straightforward plots, nice settings were all “trite” or “shallow” and you had to deep dive into horrible stuff to make it “Weighty and good and important”.
Look, I’m not talking about not making your characters suffer, as the fear beginning writers have. Of course, they have to go to trials to have the reward, otherwise the story is soup.
I’m talking about having your characters suffer and hurt and strive to something, but then at the last minute have their goal turn to ashes in their mouths, and nothing meant anything anyway. It’s writing the story of a space colony for 80k words, only to kill everyone off in the end. (No, I don’t remember who wrote that, but it was among the very few works of science fiction my professors lauded.)
It’s the character achieving her happily ever after halfway through the book, and then cheat on her husband, ignore her kids, and consider herself empowered.
It is taking something that could maybe be beautiful and make it dark and ugly for no particular reason.
Dark and ugly has a place. There is no full panoply without light AND dark, but why is the dark and twisted valued above the uplifting and interesting and beautiful? What is the point of it? Why should it be considered “better” or “more daring?”
I mean, I know the drive to deconstruct everything that society values, which is partly rooted in the romantics, and partly well, Marxist bullshit, because if they destroy normal society the Marxist paradise will happen, or something.
But how far are we going to let it go? And when will we wake up and say “No. That’s objectively ugly and I’m tired of ugliness?”
Before I start this, because I have a lot of friends who are experts in their fields, and might perhaps be somewhat startled, let me explain.
I respect experts in their given fields. At my age, I’d like to say I’m an expert in mine. Well, in the spinning of tales, at least. The fiction publishing field has changed so dramatically since I first started pounding on its doors back in the eighties, that it seems like every five years there’s a new way to get in and to make it big. And it even works, one time in ten.
It reminds me of what someone said on the comic panel back at Liberty Con “There really isn’t a way to get in” [understood as breaking in and getting substantial following] with the agreed and implied supplement “But people do anyway.” Because people are people.
As for blogging, it seems to be something I do upside down and sideways, as I do most things.
But in more knowledge-based and stable fields, a lot of people my age have valuable and important experience. Perhaps not on how to get grants from government (that apparently changes too) but on how to do the thing. I’m not disparaging them. There are a lot of professionals who know “the right way to do x”.
A lot of this was already lost between my parents’ generation and mine, so mine was thrown into the world knowing a lot of high fallutin’ blather, and none of the basics of whatever field. This is because in the sixties and seventies blather trumped the nitpicky stuff of any field.
Most of us have made up that deficiency and worked like mad to “do the best we can”. Now things like increased longevity and the fact my generationette (Kate Paulk calls us generation pooper scooper, that awkward bit between oh 58 and 75 or so.) worked far too much trying to make up what we didn’t know and build anew, we also failed to pass that on, and the millenials are struggling as we were.
So, real expertise is… real, and valuable and important.
That’s not what I’m talking about. What I’m talking about is the fatal intersection of expertise and bureaucracy, where the “experts” are mostly experts not in the field but in getting grants for nothing much, and making high sounding pronouncements that amount to balderdash. A side order of irreproducible studies is pretty much de-rigueur these days.
The fields notorious for this are also the most powerful: From “social science” (the first word is the most operative, and it’s in the order of a social disease) to trying to cobble together a field from other sciences, in a subject matter we don’t know enough about: “Earth Science” being the prime culprit.
Part of the problem is that, contrary to the dreams of… well, most science fiction writers, but most people since the renaissance, to be honest, there is no such thing as an all purpose genius.
This was more or less possible in the renaissance, because the fields of knowledge were so much smaller, and even then we tend to know each of them for the field they most influenced, not the other ten they played around with. These days, that kind of pan-knowledge is almost impossible. You can get enough knowledge your eyes don’t cross when the experts explain, is about it.
And so we get to “Climate experts” who have the reins of bureaucracy but who really know nothing of … well, how people live.
From how food grows to how human beings actually live and function, these people are functionally mentally damaged.
So, things like trying to reduce nitrogen (well, carbon was not playing as they hoped) seems like a great idea to them, and if people have to starve to achieve it so be it.
And we get pronouncements like that Joe Biden is just like the founding fathers a visionaire, because he’s trying to force us to use sources of energy that don’t exist under any possible science. Because that’s how much of a visionaire he is. (Sighs.)
Or how high gas prices is super important to the new “liberal” world order, by which they mean the demented nightmares of DAVOS, which intend to crowd us all into big cities, feed us bugs and make us own nothing.
They have no idea how economies work, where food comes from (Bugs pound per pound consume more material than cows) or the fact that most of us would rather ride wood-powered cars than submit to their nonsense.
The “experts” are in fact no such thing. They are, rather, obsessives, who hit one single note on the mental piano, and think that is the entire range of sound. This when they’re not Stalin wanna bes, surveying the panorama of eggs to break without achieving a single omelet. Or hysterics, who chicken-little-like think that the sky is falling and only the falling sky matters, as they run around telling us to think of the children they never had and never will have, and trying to destroy the children alive today.
Fortunately, in most of the world — not even just here — people are starting to realize that “expert” is a shorter way to say “Delusional dumbass” and the regulations these delusional nematodes issue are being fought back or laughed at.
It’s going to get rough because they’re holding buckle and tongue to their power to prevent us from getting say nuclear energy, or drilling the oil we do have in abundance.
But the crash we all can see coming (Probably starting this fall) is the bucket of cold water our civilization needs before the unholy marriage of “expertise” and bureaucracy is dissolved.
Prepare, prepare, prepare. You have to stay alive to fight this.
And be not afraid. In the end we win, they lose. And the world will maybe make a little more sense.
the counter stands at: 16,323.94(Updated at least every 8 hours, more often if i happen to be here.)
IT ENDS JULY 16TH.
The Short Version Of Why I’m Doing This: I started the blog to promote my writing. It did that a little, but mostly it’s its own thing. I have fans for the blog and fans for the fiction, and never the twain shall meet.
After years of friends (including Jerry Pournelle, and no I never did it in his lifetime) telling me I should do a fundraiser or rattle the tin cup after every post, I realized that while I love the blog and don’t intend to give it up, it’s eating my life and to an extent my fiction writing because there’s only so many hours in the day.
So…. I decided to do a fundraiser, so I can hire people to do some of the other stuff that must be done, so I can blog, write, and not be so sleep deprived that sometimes, inexplicably, I go down for fifteen hours of sleep without planning it.
Tier 1– $10 or more – A shout out on my blog, all with all other the supporters, by name, in one massive “Thank you” post. [Jokey or offensive names will not be included at author’s discretion.]
Tier 2– $25 or more – Email jpg of certificate with funny fish saying “I Was Carped at according to hoyt.com” and a Certificate of being a member of Hoyt’s Huns, cultural wars sapper battalion, in good standing.
Tier 3– $60 or more – Exclusive ebook collection of USAian stories. (Including a new, original, never published story.) Estimated delivery August 2023 (SHORT STORIES NOT THE BOOKS!)
Tier 4– $100 or more – Your name will appear in a mass death/other mass event/list in one of Sarah’s books. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.]
Tier 5– $150 or more – A sound file of Sarah saying “Moose and Squirrel.”
Tier 6 – $250 or more – Will send a signed copy of trade paperback Gentleman takes a chance and one large postcard with book covers, also signed. (USPS- continental US only. All others, let’s talk.) [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Tier 7 – $350 or more – Three signed books (of our choice), plus two extra items from “Sarah’s Garage”, (also of our choice) which might very well be a small rubber fish. (You’ve been warned.) USPS only. Continental U.S. only [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Tier 8 – $500 or more – Personalized tuckerization. You will become your very own zany character, with at least a line or two of dialogue, and physical description. Physical safety and life of character not guaranteed. If you perish, it will NOT (repeat not) be in a mass death event or a list of other kinds. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.] [Jokey or offensive names, descriptions and personalities will not be included at author’s discretion.]
Tier 9 – $1000 or more – A CHOICE OF:
Option 1 -Will read the first 10 pages and outline of your novel and provide timely critique, with the understanding that I am not infallible. (A skype, zoom or other video call to discuss the work for an hour or so.) [estimated delivery Winter 2022 – Spring 2023]
Option 2 – Large box of ten signed books, plus items ranging from a con badge, to a mini dinosaur skeleton or a print of Sarah’s original art, or other items from Sarah’s garage. USPS only. Continental U.S. only [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Option 3 – Signed copy of Sarah’s old copyedited or page-proof manuscripts. [estimated delivery Fall 2022] (5 limit.)
Tier 10– $5000 or more – You will become a major character on one of my books, and I’ll try to reflect your appearance, and chosen personality. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.] [Jokey or offensive names, descriptions and personalities will not be included at author’s discretion. You don’t get to have someone else be an offensive character. (Sorry!) Your actions will be altered to serve the plot if needed.] – Limit 5. (You’ll be informed if this has been claimed, and given a chance for a refund or of a comparable reward.)
Tier Insane – $25000 or more – My husband and I will travel to a city in the continental US and have dinner with you and your plus one. (Continental US only.) – Limit ONE. [Delivery up to July 2023.] (You’ll be informed if this has been claimed, and given a chance for a refund or of a comparable reward.)
ALL TIERS INCLUDE ALL PREVIOUS TIERS EXCEPT FOR THOSE THAT ARE NUMBER LIMITED.
If you want to be thanked/mentioned by a name different from your regular one, please email to: bookpimping at outlook dot com.
THIS IS PINNED TO THE TOP OF THE BLOG. THE DAILY POST WILL APPEAR BELOW THIS.
The picture below is not my best work. I was hoping to do another one today, but I woke up late. At any rate, it is released under creative commons, so if you want to you can improve on it.
At any rate, this is my thank you to everyone who has donated so far, and my incentive to the others for putting up with the dog and pony show!
This Picture was created by Sarah A. Hoyt and is released under CC BY
the counter stands at: $13,417.16(Updated at least every 8 hours, more often if i happen to be here.)
IT ENDS JULY 16TH.
The Short Version Of Why I’m Doing This: I started the blog to promote my writing. It did that a little, but mostly it’s its own thing. I have fans for the blog and fans for the fiction, and never the twain shall meet.
After years of friends (including Jerry Pournelle, and no I never did it in his lifetime) telling me I should do a fundraiser or rattle the tin cup after every post, I realized that while I love the blog and don’t intend to give it up, it’s eating my life and to an extent my fiction writing because there’s only so many hours in the day.
So…. I decided to do a fundraiser, so I can hire people to do some of the other stuff that must be done, so I can blog, write, and not be so sleep deprived that sometimes, inexplicably, I go down for fifteen hours of sleep without planning it.
Tier 1– $10 or more – A shout out on my blog, all with all other the supporters, by name, in one massive “Thank you” post. [Jokey or offensive names will not be included at author’s discretion.]
Tier 2– $25 or more – Email jpg of certificate with funny fish saying “I Was Carped at according to hoyt.com” and a Certificate of being a member of Hoyt’s Huns, cultural wars sapper battalion, in good standing.
Tier 3– $60 or more – Exclusive ebook collection of USAian stories. (Including a new, original, never published story.) Estimated delivery August 2023
Tier 4– $100 or more – Your name will appear in a mass death/other mass event/list in one of Sarah’s books. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.]
Tier 5– $150 or more – A sound file of Sarah saying “Moose and Squirrel.”
Tier 6 – $250 or more – Will send a signed copy of trade paperback Gentleman takes a chance and one large postcard with book covers, also signed. (USPS- continental US only. All others, let’s talk.) [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Tier 7 – $350 or more – Three signed books (of our choice), plus two extra items from “Sarah’s Garage”, (also of our choice) which might very well be a small rubber fish. (You’ve been warned.) USPS only. Continental U.S. only [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Tier 8 – $500 or more – Personalized tuckerization. You will become your very own zany character, with at least a line or two of dialogue, and physical description. Physical safety and life of character not guaranteed. If you perish, it will NOT (repeat not) be in a mass death event or a list of other kinds. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.] [Jokey or offensive names, descriptions and personalities will not be included at author’s discretion.]
Tier 9 – $1000 or more – A CHOICE OF:
Option 1 -Will read the first 10 pages and outline of your novel and provide timely critique, with the understanding that I am not infallible. (A skype, zoom or other video call to discuss the work for an hour or so.) [estimated delivery Winter 2022 – Spring 2023]
Option 2 – Large box of ten signed books, plus items ranging from a con badge, to a mini dinosaur skeleton or a print of Sarah’s original art, or other items from Sarah’s garage. USPS only. Continental U.S. only [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Option 3 – Signed copy of Sarah’s old copyedited or page-proof manuscripts. [estimated delivery Fall 2022] (5 limit.)
Tier 10– $5000 or more – You will become a major character on one of my books, and I’ll try to reflect your appearance, and chosen personality. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.] [Jokey or offensive names, descriptions and personalities will not be included at author’s discretion. You don’t get to have someone else be an offensive character. (Sorry!) Your actions will be altered to serve the plot if needed.] – Limit 5. (You’ll be informed if this has been claimed, and given a chance for a refund or of a comparable reward.)
Tier Insane – $25000 or more – My husband and I will travel to a city in the continental US and have dinner with you and your plus one. (Continental US only.) – Limit ONE. [Delivery up to July 2023.] (You’ll be informed if this has been claimed, and given a chance for a refund or of a comparable reward.)
ALL TIERS INCLUDE ALL PREVIOUS TIERS EXCEPT FOR THOSE THAT ARE NUMBER LIMITED.
If you want to be thanked/mentioned by a name different from your regular one, please email to: bookpimping at outlook dot com.
This year is my first year in what a local friend calls “Free America.” As in “Welcome to Free America.”
My heart will always be in Colorado, but over the years, the fireworks have gotten smaller and smaller, and any excuse will do to cancel them.
Just about the best shows were in Manitou Springs, where the fire department would go door to door for donations, and buy fireworks depending on how much they got. When one of our friends gave them a lot of money, the show went on FOREVER.
Our house had a balcony facing the mountain, and all our friends gathered there for the fourth. When the show was over, we’d start singing the Star Spangled Banner. Sometimes the firemen yelled back “You can’t sing.” Which to be fair was true, but we couldn’t sing with LOTS of gusto.
But the last several years have been only “city put on” displays, and kind of blah. A little blah. when they weren’t entirely cancelled.
Until– Well…
I did say my friend said “Welcome to Free America?” Right?
It started three days ago. Zip bang bang bang.
Our yard is excessively wooded, so we only see the faintest glimmer through the green, but there’s a lot of glimmers, all over. Like…. inextinguishable freedom. Here and there, a glimmer in the trees.
We sat out on the back porch for about an hour. Bang bang ban. Shimmer shimmer shimmer. For about a glorious half hour our neighbor across the street put on the best display I’ve seen in a long time. (This is not to put down our neighbors last year, who had kids running around, singing and setting off sparklers, while carrying the flag and waving it. I mean, they were marines. But there wasn’t a firework display.)
And I told my husband “I’ve never seen anyone in any other country do this for their country’s day. Not… regular people, on the street, putting off firepworks displays and waving the flag, and being enthusiastic.”
To be fair, although the rest of the west is catching up, there are also few other country governments who have such undisguised disdain and hatred for their own land.
So, here we are. Our government might want to destroy the country. (And be making great inroads.)
But America, the real America, the America of the American people is not destroyed or under siege. America, the real America remembers what we are and for what we are.
And we light up the nights with fireworks, and make freedom ring loudly.
We’re not done. They can’t take us out, and they can’t succeed. We can, but we’re going to have to endure the crazy stuff they throw at us, first.
In the end, though, we win, they lose.
And in the meanwhile, we can make the bombs burst in air, and show them that, yes, our flag is still there.
This year, as every year, thank you guys for allowing me to join this singular nation, this self-chosen people, the oddities, the freedom lovers, the unexpected ones.
Thank you for allowing me to join the Freedom-lovers gang.
If you wish to send us books for next week’s promo,please email to bookpimping at outlook dot com. If you feel a need to re-promo the same book do so no more than once every six months(unless you’re me or my relative. Deal.) One book per author per week. Amazon links only. Oh, yeah, by clicking through and buying (anything, actually) through one of the links below, you will at no cost to you be giving a portion of your purchase to support ATH through our associates number. A COMMISSION IS EARNED FROM EACH PURCHASE. That helps defray my time cost of about 2 hours a day on the blog, time probably better spent on fiction.
*Note that I haven’t read most of these books (my reading is eclectic and “craving” led, and apply the usual cautions to buying.– SAH*
NOTE TODAY I’M ONLY PROMOTING THE BOOKS AMAZON LETS ME GET THE LINK FOR. NO I DON’T KNOW WHY I CAN’T HAVE LINKS FOR SOME OF THEM. GRRRR. IF YOU SENT A BOOK AND I DON’T PROMOTE THIS WEEK, PLEASE SEND AGAIN NEXT WEEK.
It’s a fine interstellar line between recapture and freedom. Her one act of kindness will trigger an epic fight to restore cosmic justice.
Box set: Over 600 pages of massive intergalactic battles exposing the dark heart of a vicious, futuristic humanity. In the deep reaches of space, escaped slave Melie longs to captain her own ship. And with a promotion on her current vessel, she’s in reach of the goal that will set her free from the rich and powerful’s brutality. But when her protégé commits treason, a failed attempt to help gets her demoted and delays her flight from the galaxy’s merciless gladiatorial system. Dreading having her identity discovered, the jaded woman scrapes by seeking some way to improve her fate. So when a sensational public massacre stirs rebellion, Melie seizes the opportunity to enlist a misfit band of victims to spearhead the ultimate trap for the elite. Can Melie rally her eternally persecuted peers to overthrow a ruthless regime? The Longview Chronicles contains six books in the fast-paced The Longview Chronicles dystopian science fiction series, and doubles as the third book in the Cadence Drake series. If you like underdog heroes, sweeping galactic action, and darkly envisioned futures, then you’ll love Holly Lisle’s gripping suite of adventures.
Lilly Gilden has a half-crazed cyborg in her airlock who thinks he’s Nick Rhodes, a fictional 20th Century detective. If she doesn’t report him for destruction, she’s guilty of a capital crime.
But with her husband missing, she’ll use every clue the cyborg holds, and his detective abilities, to solve the crime her husband was investigating when he disappeared.
With the help of a journalist who is more than he seems, Lilly will risk everything to plunge into the interstellar underworld and bring the love of her life home!
Enter into the heart of an alien race in the first historical novel set in the Peltedverse…
Thousands of years ago, the God of the Faulfenza promised His people He would send a messiah to lead them into a Golden Age, alongside the Others: aliens who would be to them as brothers and sisters. Not a generation has passed without longing for the fulfillment of that Promise.
Zafiil Paidiiza Qodii has dreamed of finding the Others since she was a child, a dream that spurred her to train as leader of one of the Faulfenza’s galactic scout teams. Against all odds, hers is the ship that makes the prophesied discovery–and reveals the cost of the God’s promises, and the part she is destined to play in His designs…
Zafiil: FireBorn Unpainted begins the epic saga of the Faulfenza’s first contact with the Pelted Alliance, and unveils at last the mysteries of one of the Peltedverse’s most beloved alien races.
The time – 1842 The place – the Republic of Texas, a place threatened and besieged on all frontiers! Jim Reade lay on his back in the desert dust, incuriously seeing that ominous shadow circle, lower and lower until every finger-like dark feather became distinct against the burning sky . . . He hurt in every bone, from his head to his fingertips, and all the way to his booted toes. . .the sun had blazed on his exposed face and hands for many hours, and there was a mass of congealed blood which had oozed from his forehead, running back into his sweat-matted hair. Jim Reade, a volunteer Texas Ranger, is the sole survivor of an ambush in the contested Nueces Strip. Rescued by Indian scout, Toby Shaw, the two young men join forces in pursuit of a mysterious wagon carrying a treasure in silver and gold – a treasure with a curse upon it! Sworn blood-brothers, Jim and Toby meet with other challenges and mysteries, including a trove of documents sought after by spies of three nations, a girl vanished in the midst of a vicious feud between two families, a den of murderous robbers on the Opelousas Trace … and a tiny baby left an orphan in the desert! Lone Star Sons – the classic Wild West rides again, in this collection of adventures intended for younger readers by the author of the Adelsverein Trilogy.
Welcome to Intrepid. Where Halloween brings tourists, turning leaves – and demons.
Over two decades of bloody murder, Steven Savonarola carved a sorcerous Demongate into the heart of his own hometown. With less than two weeks to disarm it before Halloween, Detective Church and the IPD are running out of time.
Lucky for them, they have an edge: Myrrh, a hell-raider with over a thousand years’ experience shattering dark magic, and Aidan, a half-demon fire mage with a very personal grudge against evil.
The plan is simple: Find the tainted sites. Purify them. Try not to die.
They’ll need all the help they can get. Steven may be gone, but shadows in the mountains are determined to see the Demongate open – even if they have to slaughter half the city to do it. And when it comes to killing shadows, even hell-raiders don’t know everything.
If they’re going to make it to All Saint’s Day, they’re going to need hot lead, cold mead, and a weapon that’s out of this world.
“He’s man’s size, goin’ an’ comin’. No show, no fuss; likes to play a lone hand. Cool an’ easy an’ dangerous. Two-gun. Throws ’em so fast that you can’t see ’em. Lightnin’s slow when Lannon moves his gun-hand. Dead shot; cold as an iceberg under fire.”
Such was the opinion in Bozzam City of Flash Lannon. Five years of getting an education back East might have tamed him, some, but when rustlers target his cattle, and the local law doesn’t care, Lannon nails a new law to the wall of the local post office: his brass commandments naming the five men who must leave the country — or die.
Five named men… and “one other”.
This iktaPOP Media edition contains a new afterword by indie author and editor D. Jason Fleming giving historical and genre context behind the novel.
Even with San Diego occupied by the Mexican Army, Katarina Sosabowski pursues her MBA at UCSD, and is happy to welcome and put up her visiting step-cousin from Japan, Christopher Dennou, for a night so he can complete his enrollment the following day. But a minor earthquake brings a major surprise: Chris’s younger sister, Maya, murders their mother and escapes Neuroi Institute, the research facility that created them. While Chris and ‘Cat’ grow closer to one another, Maya inexorably crosses an ocean and half a continent to take back her brother, killing anyone who gets in her way.
The best laid plans of gods and men go awry on… the Blue World.
Loosely based on Zecharia Sitchin’s Earth Chronicles, The Blue World follows the efforts of the Sumerian gods, the Anunnaki, as they land on earth to mine the gold there in order to repair the damaged atmosphere of their home planet, Nibiru. The Anunnaki miners find gold mining laborious and dangerous, so they genetically engineer a hybrid race to do it for them. Mixing Anunnaki DNA with simian, they create The Human, “those who work.”
In this alternate history scenario, Hitler makes a different choice in spring 1942. Instead of heading south toward the Caucasus, he renews the German drive on Moscow.
That’s a tough choice. Moscow was the vital transportation and communications hub of the Soviet Union, as well as an important symbol of Soviet power, and while the Soviets pushed the Germans back from Moscow in their winter offensive, the Germans were still far closer to Moscow than they were to the Caucasus oil fields. On the other hand, the Soviets expected a drive on Moscow and had built up formidable defenses in front of it. Going after the Caucasus oil, if it worked, would conquer over 80 percent of Soviet oil, but getting to those oil fields meant covering huge, maybe impractical distances, wearing down German men and machines and opening up long, vulnerable flanks, as the Germans discovered at Stalingrad.
The different decision leads to alternate World War II, with ripples spreading to the Pacific even before the Germans move a single soldier, with the course of the war diverging, converging and diverging again as the fates of dozens of countries and factions throughout the world change.
The Moscow Option-1942 appeared as a serialization in The Best of Space Bats volumes 1 & 2. This volume simply brings those pieces together. It is written for history lovers and is a description of a fictional world rather than a traditional work of fiction with fictional characters and story arcs.
Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.
So what’s a vignette? You might know them as flash fiction, or even just sketches. We will provide a prompt each Sunday that you can use directly (including it in your work) or just as an inspiration. You, in turn, will write about 50 words (yes, we are going for short shorts! Not even a Drabble 100 words, just half that!). Then post it! For an additional challenge, you can aim to make it exactly 50 words, if you like.
We recommend that if you have an original vignette, you post that as a new reply. If you are commenting on someone’s vignette, then post that as a reply to the vignette. Comments — this is writing practice, so comments should be aimed at helping someone be a better writer, not at crushing them. And since these are likely to be drafts, don’t jump up and down too hard on typos and grammar.
the counter stands at: 11,703.97 (Updated at least every 8 hours, more if i happen to be here. Longer, maybe, overnight.)
IT ENDS JULY 16TH.
The Short Version Of Why I’m Doing This: I started the blog to promote my writing. It did that a little, but mostly it’s its own thing. I have fans for the blog and fans for the fiction, and never the twain shall meet.
After years of friends (including Jerry Pournelle, and no I never did it in his lifetime) telling me I should do a fundraiser or rattle the tin cup after every post, I realized that while I love the blog and don’t intend to give it up, it’s eating my life and to an extent my fiction writing because there’s only so many hours in the day.
So…. I decided to do a fundraiser, so I can hire people to do some of the other stuff that must be done, so I can blog, write, and not be so sleep deprived that sometimes, inexplicably, I go down for fifteen hours of sleep without planning it.
Tier 1– $10 or more – A shout out on my blog, all with all other the supporters, by name, in one massive “Thank you” post. [Jokey or offensive names will not be included at author’s discretion.]
Tier 2– $25 or more – Email jpg of certificate with funny fish saying “I Was Carped at according to hoyt.com” and a Certificate of being a member of Hoyt’s Huns, cultural wars sapper battalion, in good standing.
Tier 3– $60 or more – Exclusive ebook collection of USAian stories. (Including a new, original, never published story.) Estimated delivery August 2023
Tier 4– $100 or more – Your name will appear in a mass death/other mass event/list in one of Sarah’s books. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.]
Tier 5– $150 or more – A sound file of Sarah saying “Moose and Squirrel.”
Tier 6 – $250 or more – Will send a signed copy of trade paperback Gentleman takes a chance and one large postcard with book covers, also signed. (USPS- continental US only. All others, let’s talk.) [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Tier 7 – $350 or more – Three signed books (of our choice), plus two extra items from “Sarah’s Garage”, (also of our choice) which might very well be a small rubber fish. (You’ve been warned.) USPS only. Continental U.S. only [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Tier 8 – $500 or more – Personalized tuckerization. You will become your very own zany character, with at least a line or two of dialogue, and physical description. Physical safety and life of character not guaranteed. If you perish, it will NOT (repeat not) be in a mass death event or a list of other kinds. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.] [Jokey or offensive names, descriptions and personalities will not be included at author’s discretion.]
Tier 9 – $1000 or more – A CHOICE OF:
Option 1 -Will read the first 10 pages and outline of your novel and provide timely critique, with the understanding that I am not infallible. (A skype, zoom or other video call to discuss the work for an hour or so.) [estimated delivery Winter 2022 – Spring 2023]
Option 2 – Large box of ten signed books, plus items ranging from a con badge, to a mini dinosaur skeleton or a print of Sarah’s original art, or other items from Sarah’s garage. USPS only. Continental U.S. only [estimated delivery Sept 2022]
Option 3 – Signed copy of Sarah’s old copyedited or page-proof manuscripts. [estimated delivery Fall 2022] (5 limit.)
Tier 10– $5000 or more – You will become a major character on one of my books, and I’ll try to reflect your appearance, and chosen personality. [estimated delivery up through July 2023. All indie books, as no others are guaranteed.] [Jokey or offensive names, descriptions and personalities will not be included at author’s discretion. You don’t get to have someone else be an offensive character. (Sorry!) Your actions will be altered to serve the plot if needed.] – Limit 5. (You’ll be informed if this has been claimed, and given a chance for a refund or of a comparable reward.)
Tier Insane – $25000 or more – My husband and I will travel to a city in the continental US and have dinner with you and your plus one. (Continental US only.) – Limit ONE. [Delivery up to July 2023.] (You’ll be informed if this has been claimed, and given a chance for a refund or of a comparable reward.)
ALL TIERS INCLUDE ALL PREVIOUS TIERS EXCEPT FOR THOSE THAT ARE NUMBER LIMITED.
If you want to be thanked/mentioned by a name different from your regular one, please email to: bookpimping at outlook dot com.
THIS IS PINNED TO THE TOP OF THE BLOG. THE DAILY POST WILL APPEAR BELOW THIS.
(I’m going to get some coffee before the regular blog. If life intervenes (the guys are both home) it might be three hours or so before the real post is up.)
Okay, the gentlemen might not like this picture as much, but…. It just happened. I call it Romeo and Juliet ;). Yes there will be more straight up pin ups, tomorrow, etc.. It is released under Creative Commons (CC BY)
According To Hoyt 