Fly me to the Moon (I wish)

I don’t know about you, but I was totally transfixed by the Artemis II mission to orbit the Moon earlier this month. I thought it was just the most incredible feat of human engineering, courage, and showcased what amazing things our species can achieve when we work together. And the photos that came back just blew my mind. I was too young for any earlier crewed lunar missions, but I felt a real childlike wonder and excitement about it all. I’m sure it inspired a generation of children to become scientists, engineers and astronauts, because it certainly inspired this sci-fi writer to keep writing about space, even though I am (sadly) never going to set foot on the Moon.

I was following the adventures of the 2026 winners of the Writers of the Future contest this month and I realised it’s been a year since I had my own once in a lifetime trip to Hollywood. It was an experience that reminded me to go out and make memories, say yes to opportunities, and never self-reject. I also (very belatedly) summarised each day of the writing workshop and provided links, if anyone wanted to see more photos and find out what I got up to each day.

And that also means it is a year ago since I came back from Hollywood to find an eviction note on the door of my study. I was a bit confused at first but that’s how I found out we were expecting our third child (who arrived safely before Christmas). After missing my wife and kids so much while I was away, to find out we were going to have another little one was just the best homecoming ❤️

Unfortunately, I did not win the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award, or make the top 3. However, I am proud that I was a finalist. And it was also pretty cool to see my name mentioned in Locus Magazine, which is the industry publication for science fiction and fantasy.

This was the first ‘hard’ sci-fi story I have written. Mostly, my sci-fi stories are on the softer side, more like space opera (think Star Wars), where you don’t really need to worry too much about the laws of physics. You can just say, ‘ah the thingy-ma-jig drive is working again. Yay! We can travel faster than light again’.

This story was really outside my comfort zone and, for someone who deliberately followed a career path that does not require certainty or ‘correct’ answers, writing hard SF is HARD! (For my sins, I’m a lawyer, and if there is a fence, a lawyer will sit on it (and don’t ask to see our calculations, there are none).) A lot of research went into this story, and my first draft showed my lack of scientific background when it came down to the minute of how things worked. Thankfully, a few beta readers make excellent comments on areas where I needed to check my scientific understanding and this really shaped the plot and what it was plausible for the characters to be able to actually do.

I guess the above begs the question: why do you write SF? I don’t know, maybe I’m a glutton for punishment? Really, it’s because I have a super active imagination, I think stuff in space is just cool and gives my this epic sense of wonder, and that fits best with science fiction as a genre, and I’ve always loved space operas. Writing this story was surprisingly fun and I enjoyed improving my understanding of space and science (to a less basic level, at least), so I think I’ll probably enter again next year. In the meantime, I’ll send out my story and see if I can find it a home.

Overall, while I am disappointed not to have won, I’m proud of this achievement and it shows that pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, and trying to learn something new and expand on your existing skill set, can totally be worth it. It’s one of the ways we can grow as a person.

I’ve linked to the winning story, “Orbital Decay” by Mallory, which I really enjoyed. The main character has a strong voice—a competent, experienced but no-frills kind of guy—there’s humour, it’s definitely hard SF (but very accessible) and the plot about a mining space station in the Kuiper Belt getting damaged, and how the crew respond, was very well done. Lot’s of cool science to ratchet up tension and also to deal with the problem in unconventional ways. It’s a very worthy winner.

I visited the Llandeilo Literature Festival this month and attended a great talk sponsored by Wizard’s Tower Press, a Wales based publisher of science fiction and fantasy. The talk focussed on the anthologies “Fight Like A Girl” (Volume I & Volume II), which is an anthology of stories by women about the different ways women fight. The talk was hosted by Cheryl Morgan, who owns the publisher (and is herself a writer, critic, convention organiser and more (including multiple Hugo Award winner no less)), the editors of the anthologies (and contributing writers) Joanne Hall and Roz Clarke, and another author featured in the anthologies, the novelist and Dr. Who scriptwriter, Lou Morgan.

It was a really interesting talk. Roz and Joanne explained how Volume I came to be, which was in the wake of the “Sad Puppies” movement / controversy in the science fiction and fantasy community over a decade ago. Certain authors considered that the big awards favoured progressive stories over ones that were perhaps more commercially successful and tried to organise voters to vote for specific books across the award categories. Roz and Joanne said the idea for the anthology was a response to online discussions where supporters of the movement thought it was “unrealistic” for women and non-white characters to feature in fantasy. So it was pretty funny to hear about the launch party for Volume I, which included a demonstration by two of the contributing authors, one of whom is a martial arts black belt and another who is a professional sword fighting instructor (she carried a bag of swords into a pub in Bristol, much to the landlord’s concern). You don’t often hear about the genesis and inspiration for anthologies, so I really enjoyed hearing directly from the editors and authors involved.

I had a lovely afternoon and it was great to meet fellow writers in the science fiction and fantasy community in the UK.

My focus this month has been on completing my entry for the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award, which closes for submissions today, 30 April.

Well, I submitted my entry today! Just moments before sending this newsletter. I managed to sneak in before the deadline. It was a bit of a trial, this one. I started and stopped two stories, neither of which were going as I wanted so I went back and heavily edited a story that I really like but has not quite landed before. I don’t know how it’ll fare but you’ve got to be in it to win it, right?

That means I have achieved 3 of my five writing goals this year. The last goals are to finish the first draft of a novel and have a story accepted / published. Confidence is not high on achieving the former, but we shall see. There’s still plenty of time left in 2026. I’ll keep you all updated.

This is a firsthand account of a climbing disaster where eight people died while attempting to summit Mt. Everest / Sagarmatha during a storm in May 1996. Even if you’re not interested in mountain climbing, it’s a compelling read and Jon Krakeur is an excellent non-fiction writer. And, to me at least, I think at its heart it’s a story about bravery, dogged determination, dare I say it hubris, and a fascinating look into the mindset of people prepared to risk their lives to stand on top of the world. And also, a look at the commercialisation of climbing the highest peak on Earth.

This month’s recommendation is also inspired by my reflections of my trek to Mt. Everest / Sagarmatha Base Camp 15 years ago this month (goodness, it really does not feel that long ago). It was an incredible adventure, truly once-in-a-lifetime (I do NOT fancy flying into / out of Lukla airport again, google it and you’ll see why) and I seriously admire those willing to risk such a dangerous climb to the summit.

Disclosure: To cover some of my running costs, I have incorporated affiliate links from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops. If you buy books linked to my site or newsletter, I may earn a commission.

What I’ve been reading: It’s been busy on the reading front this month. First up, I’ve been reading Writers of the Future Volume 42, which was released this month in the US and Canada. I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Reader Copy (also known as an ‘ARC’ in publishing), and it’s packed with terrific stories. In Volume 41 there were quite a few time travel stories, and this year’s anthology has a good few dragon stories. And the cover is illustrated by Ciruelo, a fantasy artist especially known for his dragons. Who doesn't love dragons? I know I do (I’m biased perhaps because a dragon is on the Welsh flag 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿). Check out the cover below, it is awesome.

It won’t be out in the UK until June, I believe, but you can pre-order it.

I also read Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. It has one of the best opening paragraphs that I can remember reading in a long time (another nod goes to the opening line of Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris). Basically, a man celebrates his 75th birthday, lays flowers on his wife’s grave, then joins the Colonial Defence Force, which serves to defend humanity and the solar system from alien threats. It’s a really fun space opera, it is packed full of action, humour, strange alliance races, and I thought the concept was great (no spoilers for how it actually works in the book). John Scalzi is a big name in science fiction and this is the first book of his I have read, which also happens to be his first book, I believe, published back in 2004. It won him the John W. Campbell Award (now the Astounding Award) for best new writer in science fiction and fantasy (Scalzi actually beat Brandon Sanderson to the award that year, Elantris being Sanderson’s debut book). There are seven books in the Old Man’s War series so I’ll definitely pick up the next ones.

It’s been busy on the book front, as I managed to fit in Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which was the book of the month for my book club. This is a classic of modern(ish) literature and, while I am glad I finally read it, I can’t say I enjoyed it that much. That’s nothing against the quality of writing (I mean, William Golding won the Nobel Prize for Literature, after all), it’s just, I don’t know, perhaps since becoming a parent the story was a little too dark and uncomfortable for me. If you don’t know what it’s about, basically a load of school boys from the age of around 6 (the ‘littluns’) to around 13 (the ‘biguns’) are stranded on a deserted island and left to fend for themselves, forming an increasingly violent and lawless community split between two alpha characters. Fittingly, there’s a new BBC adaptation but I’m not sure I’ll watch it.

FYI, I’ve added a “What I’m Reading” carousel to the newsletter page on my website, if anyone ever wished to scroll back at the titles.

Disclosure: To cover some of my running costs, I have incorporated affiliate links from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops. If you buy books linked to my site or newsletter, I may earn a commission.

We survived the Easter holidays! We had a lot of fun with the kids, a few lovely days out, but there were times when this meme just about sums up how I felt (and looked)…

Until next time, keep dreaming.

Joel