When Power Outages Strike

A lengthy power outage yesterday threw a wrench in the reactors for my plans to research and write a topical blog post, but I have several authorly and not-so updates to report that should be fun. 

On the Writing Front


I'm moving ahead with novel two--The Outer Planets--though after coming back from my editor, it's in for some pretty heavy revisions that will alter some of the story line and character arcs, shorten the mission timeline and drop one of the four POVs completely.

The good news is this will (hopefully) trim it down by some 10,000 words (it's currently over 120,000) so it will be closer in length to Inherit the Stars.


On the Personal Front

We had a very exciting Wednesday night when one of the two-year-old Thoroughbred colts we bred and raised--Blazing Away ("Zinger")--had his first start at Albuquerque Downs.


Blazing Away - First Race, Albuquerque Downs

We're very proud of "our boy" (we no longer own him, but he's still our kid) who was a perfect gentleman in the saddling paddock as many of the other youngsters were rearing, bucking, kicking and generally creating chaos.

Two year olds tend to throw temper tantrums just like kids, and this was the first time many of these young horses were being saddled for an official race in front of a large audience, so yes...

Crowd + commotion + announcer = freak out!

For his first race, we had two big wishes--that Zinger get through the race safely and that we get lots of great pictures. Big score on both counts. Zinger was off to a slow start, but made an impressive move on the back stretch and ended up running third, which earned him a nifty little pay check for his first race, and the "show" spot on the tote board.

Yesterday, he ran a bullet workout (fastest time of the day for that distance) so we know he recovered from the race without injury and hope to have many more happy updates in the future.

Funny story. Before we had filled out Zinger's application along with our three preferred name choices, we had jokingly dubbed him New Mexico Chrome, after Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome. Though he doesn't have quite as much "chrome" (slang for a lot of white markings) as the champ from California, he does have his fair share of flashy white. 

PETS IN SPACE ANTHOLOGY UPDATE

There's so much happening with this fun new SFR/pets anthology that I'm going to do weekly updates going forward.

These updates may include fun swag, giveaways and other perks, so check back often!

Pets in Space is now on Goodreads!
Yes, the Pets in Space Anthology is now on Goodreads! Click the link above to take a peek.

Please add it to your Favorites, To Read List, and your other custom lists.

Thanks so much for your support!

Guest Post on Whiskey With My Book Reviews

Last Monday, I was featured in a guest post on Riley Moreland's Whiskey With My Book Reviews site, and brought along my two little writing buddy/inspirations. To check out the cool spotlight photo of Katrina and Luna--my mini longhaired dachshunds--just click the name of the site above.

Cover Model Meet and Greet!

Two of our anthology authors--Lea Kirk and Susan Grant--had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with the cover model of the Pets in Space Anthology on Saturday, August 13th--the day the news broke about the project--at the San Francisco Area RWA chapter meeting.

Lea posted about the event on Facebook and Susan put the pedal to the medal on her 747 to arrive in time. She's not only a best-selling author, she's an airline pilot to boot!

Here's a great photo of Lea Kirk (left), and Susan Grant (right) with the wonderful and personable Vikkas Bhardwaj and the Pets in Space Anthology cover I'm sure you've seen his face on many, many book covers--including the Sing a Song of the Stars SFR book bundle (unfortunately, no longer available) that included Farewell Andromeda. We're so proud that Vikkas is the face of Pets in Space. (Click on his name above to see some of his terrific images on VikkasZone.)

And I'm especially proud that Vikkas kinda sorta resembles my Tectolian star navigator hero, Taro Shall. The residents of Tectol, who have a penchant for navigating the cosmos, are primarily descended from the peoples from the South Pacific islands of "original Earth." Taro's even wearing a white shirt in one scene!

By the way, I have it on good authority that Vikkas received a special request to do more science fiction romance style photo shoots. Can't wait to feast my eyes on those! It's sooo hard to find good cover images in appropriate star voyager attire and with props that translate well to SFR covers. I really hope to see something along those lines in the near future!

If you want updates on the important upcoming news on the Pets in Space Anthology and my other work, please subscribe to my Escape to the Stars Newsletter (see link below). It comes with a sincere promise not to spam your email inbox with constant emails, just quarterly updates and special announcements. (And rest assured I will never sell your email address! Hate it when that happens to me.)

>>> Escape to the Stars: Laurie A. Green's Newsletter Sign-Up <<<

 

 

Instant Replays

 

In case you missed Greta's thoughtful post and terrific follow-on discussion, take a look here:

We Need Our Own Genre

 

And Donna had a fun and light-hearted post on Friday about booze in spaaaaaaaaace:

I'll Take Potent Potables in Space for $100, Alex

 

Have a great week!

 

Laurie

 

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