…You’re putting the finishing touches on a science fiction novel that you’ve been working on for years, and then you find that new details were discovered about a star system featured in your story? Bummer! So, yeah, this is kind of a continuation of my last update.
I was hoping to knock it out in a couple of weeks, but it looks like I got some rewrites to do here. Fortunately it’s nothing too major, but I’m glad I caught it in time. Since the story is in the retro-futurism style, they’ll get to “discover” this stuff long before we actually did, and have fun with it.
At least I’m in excellent company here; Isaac Asimov had the same thing happen when it was discovered that Mercury wasn’t tidally-locked, as it was initially assumed. That post-publication finding changed a detail in several of his stories, in one case (“The Dying Night”) a central plot point. As I recall, Asimov remarked something to the effect that he wished the scientists would’ve made up their minds before he wrote it.
Other than that…
I got some major progress on the home improvement projects. The living room floor is much improved, and I’m pretty jazzed about that. However, I might could Jackson Pollock the thing; one doesn’t need much talent for that. Three of the walls got repainted. It’s kinda sorta respectable now. I had thoughts of putting on paneling while chanting lines from Beowulf (getting my Anglo-Saxon on here). However, the walls look so good now that I might just slap on some new baseboards. My passion pit is the same for the moment, but I can scavenge some of the carpet for repairs elsewhere one of these days. I’m going to have to change out some power plugs too; hopefully I won’t fry myself or something bummerific like that.
So between getting over being sick (for the most part) and being engrossed in these projects, I haven’t had new Return of Kings columns for a few weeks. However, you can catch up on old ones for now, and I’ll get off my butt soon and start writing some new ones.
rainbowalbrecht 