Falling stars

I've reached a time of life when people have started to die. I remember seeing Facebook posts last December to the tune of, "Will this year please end before we lose someone else?" We lost so many iconic figures. (It was also the year I lost my mom, though this post isn't about that.)

Personally, I was gutted by the loss of actor Alan Rickman and, of course, our beloved Leia, always and forever my princess before princesses became cupcake girls (my label, because their dresses look like confections and they tend to make regular appearances at little girls' birthday parties). How could she leave me? I bought a t-shirt. Read her memoire. Flogged myself for failing to appreciate her more when she was still around, just as we do when friends or family members pass.

Sharon Fisher with Carrie Fisher

And dear Alan! A brilliant actor, and by all accounts a lovely man. A supremely gifted villain (spot-on casting of Professor Snape), and yet one of my favorite roles of his was Colonel Brandon in the 1995 film adaptation of Sense & Sensibility. And let us not forget ... 

"By Grabthar's hammer, we live to tell the tale." Dr. Lazarus, Galaxy Quest

This past Thursday my husband woke me with the news, "Chris Cornell died." If you weren't a teenager or young adult in the US in the '90s, this name may not be familiar to you. He was frontman for the Seattle grunge band Soundgarden. Though I live in the Seattle area now, I lived in Memphis, TN, at the time. It was a very creative time of my life, during which I wrote my first complete novel. I also wrote a "partial"—the first few chapters—of another novel that made it to a "second reader" at Ace Fantasy & Science Fiction. I consider that my first professional writing success, though a few years later I was to give up writing for nearly two decades. 

The news of Cornell's death shook me. I loved the music, and it was a huge inspiration for me during that time. I also had a major crush on the man himself. When he wasn't screaming into a mic, he had a sexy, smokey voice that reached right down into you and...is it hot in here? 

There was a lot of drug use and depression among the grunge-rock set. NIRVANA's Kurt Cobain famously killed himself, and ALICE IN CHAINS frontman Layne Staley overdosed in 2002, followed by the band's bassist Mike Starr who did the same in 2011. In 2015, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS' Scott Weiland overdosed. And long before all that came the heroin overdose of Andrew Wood, frontman of MOTHER LOVE BONE, a grunge pioneer and forerunner of the band PEARL JAM. On Thursday, Tweeters were expressing concern about Eddie Vedder, as grunge's last surviving icon. 

Cornell's death shook me not just because I was such a huge fan, but because like Vedder, the guy seemed somehow to have avoided all that. 

Apparently not. According to the New York Times, he had used drugs for periods both before and after his years in the band. According to Wikipedia he also struggled with depression, a common affliction among both artists and Pacific Northwesterners. Wednesday he was on a tour stop in Detroit with Soundgarden, which reunited in 2010. (Unlike many rock band reboots, this one was proving successful.) Fans at the concert report they saw no hint in his behavior about what was to come, and they said he even talked about future shows. But after the concert his wife apparently called and asked for someone to check on him at his hotel. His death has been ruled a suicide by hanging. He was 52 and left behind three children. 

By christopher simon (originally posted to Flickr as IMG_0126) [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

From BLACK HOLE SUN, lyrics by Chris Cornell 

Stuttering, cold and damp

Steal the warm wind tired friend

Times are gone for honest men

And sometimes far too long for snakes

In my shoes, a walking sleep

And my youth I pray to keep

Heaven sent hell away

No one sings like you anymore

Black hole sun

Won't you come

And wash away the rain

Black hole sun*

Won't you come

Won't you come

* Soundgarden trivia: Lyrics inspired by Black Sun, a sculpture (black, with a hole in it) in Seattle's Volunteer Park. The name "Soundgarden" itself comes from a Seattle sculpture park, where fans assembled Thursday. 

Below is a video of "Fell on Black Days" (lyrics also by Cornell) that really showcases his soulful voice. 

Wherever you are, Chris, I hope there's light. Or dark. Whatever brings you peace.  

The Passing of a Princess #CarrieFisher #StarWars

I'm a bit late to this, but between being offline and the shock, it's taking me a while to compose myself. For the last few days Princess Leia's theme has been running through my head - a piece that has always brought a lump to my throat - but now and forever a deeper sense of sorrow.

"I can't believe she's gone..."

When news broke of her heart attack, I feared the worst as I took to Twitter for updates. Despite a report of her condition being stable, the details did not make reassuring reading. 15 minutes to get a pulse? Surely brain damage even if she pulled through. I hoped and wished (because I do not pray) along with thousands of others, but our hopes were crushed. Our beloved Princess Leia passed on.

I count myself fortunate to have been at Star Wars Celebration Europe, to hear her speak while in the same building even though I wasn't lucky enough to get into her panel. My eldest and I watched her interview with Warwick Davis live stream at the event.

 I regret not getting my photo taken with her. I'm proud that although my eldest is no SW fan, General Organa impressed her in The Force Awakens and Carrie Fisher became elevated to her list of strong, iconic women with Jennifer Lawrence and Daisy Ridley as inspirations.

My two boys are also saddened at losing the General. At least one more generation has been touched by Carrie Fisher and will live on in their memories. We will miss her.

Just recently a Brigade member asked for our moment in the films that we thought first defined Leia. For me, it was the moment she took charge of her own rescue in A New Hope after Luke and Han's attempt went bottoms up. This was not a damsel in distress who would wait for the hero to save her. Instead, she assessed the situation, made a decision and took the lead, taking no sass from the scruffy looking nerf herder and hapless but heroic farm boy. The same qualities that made her a leader. I will always remember her for that.

To those who jumped in saying things along the lines of 'oh, you all make a fuss about a celebrity dying but what about all the homeless/orphans/refugees?!'. Caring about one does not preclude another, and for many Carrie Fisher was an advocate and a voice for mental health and addiction issues. Empathy for one's fellow human beings does not have a limit, and making such crass statements shows the true nature of those making them.
To those who would say 'but she did other things too!': Of course she did, and I know many will remember her for those. But it was as Princess Leia that she made the most impact on me personally (and on my children).
To those who want to point out she was a general: See above, but also to quote Max von Sydow's character in The Force Awakens:
"To me, she'll always be royalty."

Carrie Fisher

"...drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra..."



Death of a Princess

2016 has witnessed the deaths of a long list of famous people, especially entertainers. David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Prince, John Glenn, Kenny Baker (R2D2), George Michael... everyone's seen the list. And I have to be honest, while some of them make me sad, the thing about celebrities is that they've had at least the time it takes to become a celebrity. Which is more than many people get.

But I understand that for some of us, some names are special. For me, that was certainly true of Terry Pratchett, and now, it's true of Carrie Fisher - Princess Leia. She was a shining light in the Star Wars saga. Back in 1977 in the first movie, A New Hope, Princess Leia was so different to the princess in distress we'd seen in Disney. A prince comes and rescues her, they get married and live Happily Ever After. How refreshing to have a girl in white who is more than happy to rescue herself. I loved the scenes where she put Luke and Han into their respective places, and took over control. It was Leia who recognised the Millenium Falcon had been allowed to escape. She always had her eye on the bigger picture.

The messy love affair between Han and Leia in The Empire Strikes Back was a joy to watch, from the bickering in the ice tunnels of Hoth, to the bridge of the Falcon ("would it help if I got out and pushed?") to the declaration of love when Han is encased in carbonite.

Then we move on to the metal bikini in Return of the Jedi, and the wonderful scene where Leia sends Jabba on his way with the chain he'd used to harness her to him. And so it went. In the end the princess wins the heart of a scoundrel, and the Emperor is defeated.

In a way, the notion that Han and Leia would have a son that turned to the dark side was an obvious plot device. Not so obvious, but absolutely fitting, was that this turbulent relationship didn't last. But it was great to see Leia in her role as General Organa in The Force Awakens. It's been said by other people, but it rings so true. She'd lost her parents, her adoptive parents, her husband, her brother (who had effectively left her to it), and her son. Yet she kept on going, kept believing in the cause. And it seems that was true in her real life, too, fighting addiction and mental illness with honesty and openness.

Yes, a little part of me passed away with her. At least she will live on in the movies and the Star Wars galaxy. We'll get to see her one more time in SW8, and maybe again in CGI in SW9.

Vale, Carrie. Thank you for the magic. And I'll leave you with this - Best Han and Leia moments.

Biggest Discovery of the Century: What Does it Mean?

Some HUGE news that broke last week. Scientists have discovered what may be an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone orbiting the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, a small red dwarf sun about 4.25 light years away.

Promptly named Proxima b, the planet is only about 1.3 times the size of Earth and appears to have conditions that may allow it to have liquid water. That's exciting! So now it seems not only are there potential New Earths out there, but one may be practically on our doorstep.

We've gone from "are there even other planets beyond our solar system?" to "we've found a planet or two!" to "we've found thousands" to "we've found an Earth-like planet orbiting the nearest star!" in a very short time on the scientific time scale. That totally gives me goosebumps!

But what does it really mean that we've found a potentially habitable planet that's very close to Earth?

First of all, define "very close." Proxima Centauri is only a little over four light years away, but that, as the name implies, means we'd have to travel over four years at the speed of light to reach it. We can't even begin to approximate light speed, so how long would it take to get there with our current propulsion systems?

First, a reality check. Remember it took the Voyager craft about 40 years just to reach to edge of our own solar system.  That's like taking 40 years just to reach the door of our house, and still having to travel a mile down the road to the nearest neighbor.

So, if by "current propulsion systems" we're talking about the speed of the New Horizons probe that reached Pluto, we're talking around 54,400 years to reach Proxima b. (And New Horizons was relatively quick. The space shuttle would take about 165,000 years!)

We might be able to "soup up the engines" and cut that timeline down in the next few decades with dynamic new types of drives, but even reducing the transit time by 75% is still 13,600 years. That goes so far beyond the concept of "generation ship" that it's laughable. We're talking about sending people on a journey for 540 generations!

Even reducing the trip to 13,600 is still a span of time greater than all of recorded human history on Earth. And living in the weightless environment of space, by the time the five-hundred-fortieth generation reached Proxima b the chances are the passengers may have lost the ability to even tolerate the gravity of the planet.

So what does this discovery really mean? I think it suggests two major things.

1) If we're ever going to get there, we need to start developing some form of propulsion that can get us there at least 10 times slower than the speed of light, or in about 54 years. Propulsion that can approximate half light speed, or about eleven years travel time, would be much more ideal. And, of course, if we can develop a viable way to "fold" space (ala Dune) or a hyperdrive system (ala Star Wars) or warp speed (ala Star Trek) or flashpoint (ala my upcoming Pets in Space story...teehee) that would defy "normal space" and allow us to arrive in a few hours or days, that's the ideal scenario.

2) We need to develop a reliable form of artificial gravity. The toll of weightlessness on a human who has spent less than a year in space is so dramatic, I can't envision astronauts traveling or orbitting in space for any significant amount of time and not developing major health issues. Muscle atrophy, loss of bone mass, circulation problems, eye problems, the list is long and debilitating. The gravity conditions that our species evolved in must be recreated in order for such a mission to succeed.

Though it's true initiatives like Starshot involving laser beams pushing nanoships that, if successfully developed, could reach Proxima b in about 20 years, that's not getting us into the colony business. As Larry Niven, author of Ringworld, once said, "The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we go extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right!"

Now that we know space may be teaming with other Earth-like planets, we need to focus on the means that will realistically allow us to go there. Unless, of course, we prefer to sit back and continue our armchair space exploration until our time on this world runs out.

Read more here:
Gizmodo: New Earth-like Exoplanet Could be Discovery of the Century
Gizmodo: There May be an Earth-Like Exoplanet Less Than Five Light Years Away
Space: How we could Visit the Possibly Earth-like Planet Proxima b

 

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MY NEWS

This past week, I was informed that my SFR novel, Inherit the Stars, is a finalist for the 2016 Aspen Gold Award.

I won't find out the results until later this year, but I have all my fingers and toes crossed for a second award for my novel.

Meanwhile, they sent me this way cool graphic to share.

So purdy!

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PETS IN SPACE ANTHOLOGY UPDATE




It's only a little over six weeks until the debut of the Pets in Space Anthology on October 11 with pre-orders becoming available in only about four-and-a-half weeks!

Our exciting new SFR anthology is getting ready to roll out toward the launch pad!

Meanwhile, I'm starting to think about swag and I could use your input. What type of swag or prizes do you love to get? Custom mugs? Tshirts? Notepads? Bookmarks? Mousepads?

How about some of the more unusual offerings? Postage stamps? Stress reliever/hand exercisers? Hand fans?

Have any unique swag ideas to suggest?

I'm all ears. Please post in comments below. I'll share your ideas or requests with the other Pets in Space Anthology authors.

If you missed the news about the meet-and-greet with our cover model, Vikkas Bhardwaj, you can read about it in my last blog (with photo!) here. Just scroll down to the Pets in Space Anthology Update.

Take it from a sci-fi icon at the Star Wars Celebration:

Carrie Fisher: "There aren't enough pets in space, right?"  

We're with you, Carrie! And we're working hard behind the scenes to provide a fix. :)

Have a great week!

Laurie