Lunar Eclipse and New Writing

I wasn't able to see the August 28 lunar eclipse, but Jerry Oltion—SF writer, amateur astronomer, and member of our Launchpad astronomy team—sent us a photo he took. I thought it was so beautiful, I asked his permission to put it here on my blog:

Photo by Jerry Oltion

Seeing the photo reminded me of one of the NASA pages I read prior to the eclipse, suggesting that we imagine what it would be like to stand on the moon during an eclipse, surrounded by that incredible copper-glowing landscape. I think it would be a pretty mind-blowing experience. And as Jerry said, "Imagine what the Earth would look like from there. A dark hole in the sky with city lights glowing in it, surrounded by a ring of blood-red atmosphere."

Here's a montage Jerry put together, of the phases of the eclipse:


Jerry has larger images on his website, and they're worth a look; these smaller reproductions don't do them justice.

Meanwhile, I've been putting finishing touches on a short story (my first in many years!) that I hope will find its way into print eventually. More on that when I have something to report. (The name of it is "Dog Star.")

Starting a new book is often just about the hardest thing in the world for me, and I've been having a devil of a time getting anywhere with the beginning of the next Chaos book, to follow Sunborn. Tonight, I decided to take Buckbeak out for a spin after dinner, in hopes that the night air would clear my head and bring some inspiration. It worked, at least a little bit. I came home with a couple of new thoughts on how to make this beginning work, and I've started putting it down in pixels and electrons. Feeling more hopeful, and now let me get back to it!

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art." —Leonardo da Vinci