First Look at CaSandra--and Other Pets of Pets in Space® 5

So I've got art!

Our artist has once again completed the sketches of this year's Pets in Space® 5 collection, and they are as adorable as they are diverse!

Take a look for yourself:

As you can probably tell, some are alien, some bio-engineered, robotic or cyborg, and/or possible descendants of creatures that once roamed the good ol' Earth. 

Which one of these "pets" is CaSandra? (Better known by her nick--Cassie.)

It's this inquisitive little girl!

The very talented artist (who, granted, had an easier time envisioning mine, since she's StarDog creation #4) took the following guidance and created my image. 

Paraphrasing a bit here: "I need a StarDog like the others, but this one should be really alert and inquisitive because she finds something very important. Her coloring is like the previous StarDog, Maura--a solid tan with no spots or shading." 

As inspiration, I sent an image of a German Shepherd K-9 looking down at a training device while eagerly awaiting his cue, and then reminded the artist that Cassie, being dog-cat-weasel-mongoose has much shorter legs, a fluffier coat and tail, and a face that suggests all four critters she's derived from, and is female. 

I think they did a great job of interpretation, don't you?

For reference, here are StarDogs #1 through #3, in order: Katrina, Luna, and Maura. 

The first three were K-series, L-series and M-series StarDogs and/or SpyDogs (a StarDog upgrade created specifically for espionage work) whose stories all took place just prior and after Operation Reset--the major action the Network undertakes at the end of Inherit the Stars (and SpyDog, since the two books happen concurrently).

CaSandra though, is a much earlier C-series StarDog--one of the earliest prototypes. Her story takes place a full five calendars (years) before Operation Reset. In fact, at the beginning of the story, they don't even have a name for what she is yet!

And let me just add this reminder that Pets in Space® 5 in available now for pre-order, and as with all the previous Pets in Space® volumes, 10% of the royalties from ALL pre-orders and the first month's sales will go to benefit the wonderful Hero-Dogs organization, that raises and trains service dogs to provide them to disabled military vets and first responders to improve their quality of life. 

So far, Pets in Space® editions have resulted in the donation of over $15,000 to the cause, and we hope to make 2020 a truly banner year for our donation! 

You can help right now by placing a pre-order at the vendor of your choice here. 

And let me tell you, this is no ordinary anthology! Some of these stories can be up to 50,000 words--so actual novels--as well as novellas and novelettes! Pets in Space® 5 will keep you reading for days and days, if not entire weeks or more! All of the stories are standalones that will introduce you to some amazing science fiction romance series, too! 

But it will only be available for a limited time, and then the collection is gone forever, so don't miss out!

I hope you've enjoyed this visual of all the Pets in Space® pets! Which of the images most catches your eye or makes you curious to learn more?

Writing in the Dark

My blog title today isn't a reference to a power outage or the pandemic--though that could certainly be another sort of "writing in the dark." My current WIP involves a setting that's underground--a lava tube to be exact. So for the past two months, I've literally been living in the dark...inside my head, at least.

So what's a lava tube?

Here's the definition according to Wikipedia:

A lava tube is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava which moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. Tubes can drain lava from a volcano during an eruption, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased, and the rock has cooled and left a long cave.

Lava tubes have different properties than some of the better known caves in our country--like Carlsbad Caverns, the nearby fairyland-like Lechuguilla Cave (both in New Mexico), or Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

A piece of trivia I learned while searching for synonyms is that a lava tube can be a cave but not a cavern. All caverns are caves, but all caves aren't necessarily caverns.

Caverns are specifically natural caves that are big enough for access by humans and formed by soluble rock (usually limestone) that form speleothems--or stalagtites and stalagmites. (And, yes, I used "speleothem" in my story, even though it takes place in a lava tube and not a cavern. You'll have to read it to find out why.) These formations are caused by water dripping from the roof of a cave that, over eons of time, form structures that hang down from the ceiling. Stalagmites, which form upward from the floor below, are usually caused by water dripping from the cave ceiling or a stalagtite and building up over the ages into a cone or pedestal shape. Sometimes stalagtites and stalagmites fuse together and form a pillar structure inside the cavern. Sometimes they form great curtains of stone or weird alien-like forms.

Here's a quick 2-minute tour of some of the amazing speleothem formations in Carlsbad Caverns.

But lava tubes are different. Some have smooth floors, or floors that have been filled in by sand to make them easy to navigate. Others have floors of broken basalt and rock outcroppings that are very difficult and sometimes dangerous to travel through.

Here's a few things that make lava tubes unique:

• Lave tubes tend to be elongated and range in size from very small and cramped to enormous.
• The flowing lava can leave huge ridges or groves along the walls
• The ceilings of lava tubes can often collapse, leaving an open "skylight" with debris beneath it
• Although most lava tubes don't have typical cave formations, they can grow lavacicles
• Some lava tubes are active
• Lava tubes can be present anywhere with a history of volcanic events

Check out this 55 second virtual fly-through of the Cueva de los Verdes lava tube in Lanzarote, Spain. Spooky!

Lava tubes are present in many of our western states including New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and California, as well as areas of the world that have volcanic regions such as Mexico, the Canary Islands, Galapagos Islands, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Kenya. Some are open to the public.

Hawaii is known for its lava caves. Hilo is home to Kaumana Caves State Park, where hikers can descend a metal ladder into a skylight in a lava tube that was created by a 1881 lava flow from Mauna Loa crater. (Not to be confused with MONA Loa, which is a space station in my Inherited Stars series.)

In November 2019, a man died in Hawaii after sinking through soft ground and falling 22 feet to the bottom of a lava cave. After being reported missing for several days, searchers located his body and first responders repelled into the opening to recover him. Although the man died due to falling on the hard rock surfaces at the bottom of the cave, some of the news reports about the incident mistakenly added photos of a live lava tube with flowing lava as images to accompany the story.

An old lava tube in Hawaii (made a bit more dynamic by the orange lighting).

But lava tubes aren't just on Earth. Sometime in the future when we begin to colonize other worlds--such as Mars or the Moon--the first explorers may take shelter in alien lava tubes where they are protected from radiation and harsh conditions, and where water may exist.

So why does my work in progress take place in a lava tube, as opposed to a starship, a space station or a colonized city, as they more typically do? Because something has been discovered in this particular lava tube. Something amazing. And something incredibly important.

But the people who live and work in this massive cave may have another galaxy-shaking surprise in store for them.

This story is tentatively titled Juggernaut and it will release as a part of the new Pets in Space 5 in October of this year, and is another book in my Inherited Stars series.

So get your spelunking gear ready for a different kind of space adventure, coming this fall.

Have a great week...and stay safe and healthy.