Mid-February 2023 - the slightly sinister gentleman and spaceship navigation
Hi Everyone,
I really like how the above collage turned out, there seems to be a story there revolving around the man. He’s clearly up to no good, but what exactly is he doing?
Here’s my working theory—he’s planning to steal the Rosetta Stone. A bicycle caper where he’s using the machine below, a ‘space navigation indicator’ or Globus, to track his target. I’m uncertain yet if he is a good guy or bad one (maybe he has a really good reason to need that Rosetta Stone).
The Globus Machine
This is the machine of my dreams, the kind of retro aesthetic I love.
The globe rotates while the cross hairs show the spacecraft’s position — to confirm a cosmonaut would have to look out the window at Earth. Then the numbers to the right give their latitude and longitude. A second mode switches the view so the cross hairs show the projected landing site and what the terrain would be like.
The first Globus was built in ~1960, the one above was built for a mission in 1975. These units were replaced in 2002.
There’s a fantastic and detailed account of how this instrument works here (there’s also great shots of the guts—it’s mostly run with gears—and how everything fits together).
An awesome give away
A fellow Canadian indie author has organized a give away where he’ll send two sci-fi books to your house each month for a year. Head here to enter. Personally, I’m highly intrigued by Tales of the Flying Mountains based on title alone.
And if you are in the USA, there’s a similar contest here.
For those of you living in other lands, I’ll be keeping an eye out for other give aways like this.
The Slog
Despite being distracted by things like the above, I’ve been diligently working on my next novel. The story is set (mostly), now I’m going through and making sure all the scenes are working together. Next up, I’ll be wordsmithing and tinkering with sentence and paragraph structure. Once it’s off to the editor I’ll get to play with new ideas again.
Cheers,
Jeannette
Here are a free book by a fellow indie author worth checking out:
In the year 2432, humans think they are alone in the universe. They're wrong.
Commander Noa Sato plans a peaceful leave on her home planet Luddeccea ... but winds up interrogated and imprisoned for her involvement in the Archangel Project. A project she knows nothing about.
Professor James Sinclair wakes in the snow, not remembering the past twenty four hours, or knowing why he is being pursued. The only thing he knows is that he has to find Commander Sato, a woman he's never met.
A military officer from the colonies and a civilian from Old Earth, they couldn't have less in common. But they have to work together to save the lives of millions--and their own.
Every step of the way they are haunted by the final words of a secret transmission:
The archangel is down.
And if you are looking for more free books to read, take a look at this promotion:
My Books:
Encoded Orbits
Fractured Orbits - direct or from the shops
The Alien Algorithm - direct or from the shops
Settler Chronicles
Day 115 on an Alien World - direct or from the shops
Far Side of the Moon - direct or from the shops
Abandoned Ships, Hijacked Minds - direct or from the shops
The Alien Artifact - direct or from the shops
And if you aren’t already a subscriber, what’s stopping you (especially if you have read this far)?