Nature Narratives in Fiction & Photography
"...The story of an astronaut as she struggles to adjust to life on Earth!" the radio ad promised. My car's dashboard briefly transformed into the glowing cockpit of a space shuttle. Space, psychology, and a female protagonist? That sounded like a movie I'd see (or a book I'd write). But when I looked up which... Continue Reading →
Fifty years ago today, emissaries from Earth--riding in a command cabin the size of a car, and guided by a computer less powerful than a modern smartphone--landed on our Moon and left Homo sapiens' first footprints on another world. In honor of the Apollo 11 anniversary, I chose this date to launch the print edition of my lunar-based... Continue Reading →
Rise of the Rocket Girls promised an intersection of two of my favorite non-fiction genres: science, and the too-often-overlooked impact of women in history. I expected a book comparable to Radium Girls, which portrays its subjects as memorable personalities in a suspenseful narrative; or Code Girls, the captivating account of female cryptologic analysts during WWII.... Continue Reading →
Pressing his forehead to the cool window, Ash blocked out his companions and watched the pale, pocked surface blossom into detail. Solar panels winked like fallen stars around the rim of Shackleton crater. The colony itself, a cluster of domes joined by tubelike corridors, made raised scars on the moon’s skin. Compared to the glittering seas... Continue Reading →
Wednesday. I hit the alarm, staggered to the bathroom to get ready for work…and gasped as a cosmic pearl dazzled my bleary eyes. At 5:45 AM, the moon still hung over the field behind my house, shrouded in lavender dawn clouds. The sight was breathtaking, and appropriate: it’s not just Wednesday, it’s Moon Day! July... Continue Reading →
My new book has launched! Transient Phenomena, part one in the Syzygy novella series, is now available on Amazon. Appropriately, it's not the only thing blasting off today. At 10:05 EST, NASA will test a powerful new rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) intended to propel astronauts to Mars. It's an eerie confluence: like the... Continue Reading →
Wild Type 