Comet Tales

Being handicapped and chronic pain

2011-11-17T10:34:00.008-06:00

Most people, unless they are good friends, see me walking around SF cons, and they usually don't realize I'm handicapped. Yes, that's right, handicapped. Officially. Car placards and everything. I have a congenital malformation in both knees that caused them to wear out at twice the normal rate. The cartilage is shredded and gone, and I am bone-on-bone in both knees. My orthopedist says it's only a matter of time before I need knee replacements.

Now, I know that's a very successful surgery and I've collected stories from people who've had it done, singing its praises, by way of research. The problem is, I've been cut on enough lately and am not over-eager to have more cutting anytime soon; and frankly, the idea of hacking out my bones and replacing them with metal and plastic gives me the willies. Yes, I'm a scientist. Yes, I think it's wonderful technology. But there is a psychological factor involved that I haven't yet managed to overcome. May never overcome.

In fact I went through a period of depression after he told me. I've never really considered myself athletic, per se, but I've always been very active in sports - everything from golf and tennis to karate and polo. Most of those have had to be curtailed. I fought it, tooth and nail, but these days my athletics come mostly in the gym. I eventually came out of the depression when I found I wasn't relegated to a rocking chair on the porch - yet.

When I bend my knees it sounds like a whole mixing bowl of Rice Krispies. It feels much worse. There is hardly a day that goes by that I am not in pain as a result. But you get used to it. You learn to deal unless something happens to really make 'em flare, and you learn to use other body parts to compensate. My arms and shoulders are stronger because of using them to assist; there are down sides to that, however. Like impinged rotator cuffs, which has happened something like 4-5 times since my knees were diagnosed. I no longer even see a therapist for that - I simply start the appropriate exercises. I have a nice collection of canes for the really bad days, too. Most people don't see those much anymore; sometimes they're more in the way than they are help.

Now, there are things that I do periodically to help the knees. One of the most normal and most regular is to get into the gym and keep my leg muscles strong. My orthopedist is in agreement that this helps stabilize my knees. But the most invasive, and most effective, of these things I do is to have an artificial lubricant injected into the joint to take the place of the cartilage that isn't there anymore. It used to require a six-week protocol, 3 weeks for each knee. Now that I'm used to it, they do both knees at once.

The first step in the process is to swab the injection site on the outside of my knee with alcohol, then hit it thoroughly with "freeze spray" to numb it. Next comes a novocaine injection directly into the joint. Leaving the needle in, my orthopedist swaps out the empty novocaine syringe for a full Synvisc syringe, and pumps that in. Back out, apply a band-aid, and repeat on other knee. Do this for 3 weeks, to give each blob of Synvisc time to spread out around the joints, and I'm good to go for anywhere from 6 months to a couple years. Yeah, it's kinda cringe-worthy. I don't watch while he's doing it. (I did once.)

But the cool thing is, between the novocaine and the Synvisc, there's a period of anywhere from 12 to 24 hours when my knees DO NOT HURT. At all.

This is an incredible blessing and it always surprises me. When you're used to living in pain, no matter how small (and this is not especially small, but like I said, you deal and you ignore) and that pain suddenly goes away, it's amazing. I had the first injections of the 3-week protocol this morning, and I am so relaxed I could easily fall asleep sitting here. There is a tension missing from my body, something I'd grown used to that's not there right now, and as a result I'm all but a puddle of Jell-O.

It's nice. I intend to enjoy it while it lasts. I'm not allowed to work out today or tomorrow, due to the potential of swelling. But I'm certainly not going to let this wonderful, relaxed, pain-free feeling go to waste.

I'm going to take a nap. The pain can wait until tomorrow.

-Stephanie Osborn
http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

R.I.P Comet Elenin (and rumors, too!)

2011-10-28T16:56:00.003-05:00

It's dead, Jim.

Comet Elenin is no more.

According to both NASA and Sky and Telescope, Comet Elenin has disintegrated. A first-time comet, meaning it had never been into the inner Solary System before, Elenin was predicted by astronomers to be a bright, beautiful comet, if not quite in the same league as Hale-Bopp. It was simultaneously predicted by some (who didn't understand orbital mechanics) to be the end of the world. Instead, its falling inward toward the sun proved to be the end of the comet.

Coming in from outside the plane of the ecliptic, it would have made for a gorgeous sight for Northern Hemisphere observers, who haven't had a bright comet placed for good viewing in some time. The inclination of this comet relative to the ecliptic (plane of the solar system) would have changed that.

Instead, by April it was showing signs of coming apart at the seams. In August, it was hit broadside by a large coronal mass ejection from the sun, which blew away much of the volatile material that would have made it a lovely comet.

(Contrary to some claims, there was no "energy shield" which protected it from the CME. Any "sightings" of such a thing were likely inadvertent misinterpretations of a bow shock between the cometary material and the CME. Tetrahedral "shields" are unlikely in any event due to the difficulty in producing such a shape - spherical would be much more likely, IF such a shield had existed. I love the way the "true believers" shifted from "natural object" to "alien spacecraft" as soon as evidence for the former vanished in a puff of dust and gas.)

Three weeks before perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) which would have been on September 10, it completely disintegrated. According to comet expert John Bortle, "The decline/fade of Elenin was abrupt and dramatic."

All that's left of the once and never "planet-killer" is a loose, wispy cloud of gas and dust, rapidly dispersing, according to photographs.

Hopefully, so too will be the rumors of its threat.

-Stephanie Osborn
http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

First Book of a New Series!

2011-10-18T21:22:00.003-05:00

Book 1 of the Displaced Detective Series, The Case of the Displaced Detective: The Arrival (for more information see http://www.sff.net/people/steph-osborn/DDTheArrival.html) will be released in November! The official release date is 15 Nov, but that's the day it comes from the printer. Books won't be available from stores (website or otherwise) until around 28Nov-1Dec. Currently Barnes-Noble is accepting pre-orders, and it will be on Amazon as well, but hold that thought for a moment.

Because I am proclaiming Thursday, 1 Dec, to be The Arrival Day!

I am asking all my fans to WAIT and place their orders/purchases on that day, 1 Dec, in the hopes that we can push it as high as possible on the best-seller listings! So please hold off ordering until that day, and then EVERYONE buy on that day! Also please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think will be interested in a science fiction spy mystery that INCLUDES Sherlock Holmes! That means SF fans, mystery fans, spy mystery fans, Sherlock Holmes fans, and anybody that likes a good read!

This story idea hit me and came spewing out in two months! I've never written so hard, so fast! I'm very proud of it and I think you're going to really enjoy it! So let's work together to ensure it does great!

-Steph
http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

Ten Years. Not Forgotten. NEVER Forgotten.

2011-09-11T14:48:00.001-05:00

September 11, 2001. A day that will live in infamy, if I may make so bold as to paraphrase a famous speech - and one that launched us into a war just as surely.

For though time has dulled the memory for some, it has sharpened it for others. And perhaps, on this tenth anniversary, it is time to refresh the memory, so that all may have sharp, poignant memories of that day. So that all may never forget - whether the families of the victims, whose hearts were ripped out that day; the terrorist perpetrators, who assuredly will one day receive their just deserts, whether at the hands of those they attacked or those of a Just Providence; and the rest of us, witnesses to the events of that horrible, dreadful day.

Ten years.

Two weeks before the attack, I myself flew out of the airport where the doomed flights originated; there but for the grace of God went I. The morning of the attack, I rose to prepare for work, turned on the television, saw one of the Twin Towers already ablaze and gaped in horror. As I watched, the second plane crashed into the other tower and I understood sufficient to know that we were being attacked. Since I was then working on a space defense program, I promptly called in and left a message for my boss to ensure that he and my coworkers would know what was going on. There was, in my mind, the possibility that our program could be called into active operations at any moment, though I considered it unlikely. Still, it is best to be prepared. Desperate times. Desperate measures.

Then I did my utmost to perform my morning ablutions in front of the bedroom television. So I saw, watching on in horror, when the towers collapsed. I knew they were full of both innocents and heroes, emergency responders who flung themselves into the heart of the catastrophe with no thought for themselves. I was helpless to do anything but pray. But that, I could do; and that, I did.

I saw the Pentagon attacked; heard of the fourth plane somewhere in the air. Considerably later I heard about the bravery of the men and women aboard it who prevented the terrorists from carrying out their evil deed. I also heard that the son of a friend, attending Penn, saw that crash take place with his own eyes and was deeply upset.

Eventually I made it in to work. By then all flights across the country had been grounded, and remained so for several days. Since the main Boeing campus, where I was assigned, was between the ends of the runways of Huntsville International Airport, and we were used to hearing all sorts of aircraft taking off and landing through the day, the silence was eerie. And ominous. One part of my brain longed for the familiar sound, but the other part knew that if I did, it likely foretold my imminent death.

Descriptions began coming back from people I knew who had either been in NYC at the time, or had to travel there shortly after the resumption of flight. The smoke, the stench of death, of decaying flesh that could not be alleviated: the realization that there were no bodies, really, left to recover. The victims - thousands of victims - had become integral parts of the rubble.

And the anger. The injustice. Crazed zealots determined to kill innocent people, men women and children, and themselves as well - simply because they could. Just because they hated this country. I could see performing a suicide mission in an act of desperation, to protect my family and loved ones. But just because I could?! Just to lash out at someone I disliked, someone with whom I disagreed, someone who didn't believe as I did? Dear GOD! I ask You - what were they thinking??

What ARE they thinking?

Since then, my friend Travis S. Taylor and I have written a science fiction novel revolving around futuristic terrorism and homeland security, called Extraction Point! In some ways I think it was our way of trying to put things into perspective, at least for oursleves. For my part, I don't think it succeeded, although by all accounts it certainly makes for a roller coaster of a read.

What are they THINKING?

I will never understand the thoughts of the terrorists responsible for 9-11.

But I can assure you, I will never forget.

-Stephanie Osborn
http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

Extraction Point! Ch 1 part 3

2011-08-09T18:28:00.004-05:00

Extraction Point!
by Travis S. Taylor & Stephanie Osborn

http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

Ray turned the corner and nearly slammed face first into a brick wall, stopping just in time to scratch his right elbow up a little more on the rough brick as he caught himself against the wall. Ow. Really needed THAT. Quickly he scanned around for an exit. There was only one--a primer-coated metal staircase up the side of the building--and the man had a full story and a half head start on him. It was almost as if the man knew the route he was going and had known the staircase would be there.

Shoving his way through the pain and exhaustion, Ray threw himself up the staircase, keeping his pace steady and the man in sight. Twice he saw the man slip on the wet metal steps, and each time Ray made a slight gain on him, his treaded boots proving a better grip on the metal than the man's street shoes. Pushing harder than he thought he could, Ray closed the gap to only half a story behind the man as he went out of sight over the rooftop of the ten story building.

Ray crested the rooftop cautiously and there was the man, sitting on the edge of the rooftop barely a couple of meters away, looking over the edge at the street below and then at his watch–or one of them; for some reason, he was wearing two. Different ones, at that. His pale blond thatch, cut short enough to stand in upright spikes but not short enough to qualify as a buzz cut, wilted a bit in the rain.

"You… you are rather good," the man offered, wiped blood from his aquiline--though now slightly misshapen--nose, gasped for breath, and looked at his watch again with bright blue eyes.

"Listen, I've got backup right behind me. There is no way down and I can keep you busy long enough for 'em to catch you. What d' you say we just sit down, take a breather, and wait on 'em?" Ray panted and smiled at the same time, hoping to stall long enough that he wouldn't have to fight the guy any more before backup arrived.

"I've got a better idea." The man looked at his watch one last time and then leapt over the side of the rooftop, pushing off with his hands as he slipped gracefully from the lip of the ledge. There was a brief flash of white light--Ray assumed it was lightning--that caused him to flinch and cover his eyes for a moment. And the man was gone.

"NO!" Ray rushed to the edge of the building, peered over, and… saw… nothing. "What the hell!?" No blood on the street below, no screaming passersby, no squished and maimed body–nothing.

"Ray! You all right?" a voice from behind him gasped.

Ray stood there, confused--no, flabbergasted--peering over the edge of the building, visually searching every nook, cranny, alley, and pavement all the way down. Nothing. The man had simply vanished like a ghost. No body, no visible escape route, no sign.

The rain continued to wash the red blood from Ray's broken nose and swelling lip down the front of his already stained and ripped shirt and he could still hear the music off in the distance somewhere. He stood in a contemplative calmness, surveying the volume of space off the side of the building, and gasping for air as his heartbeat slowed. How in the. Bloody. Damn. HELL did he get away? This time, is it… nah, can't be.

"Your pistol, Ray." A young man in his late twenties with a blond military haircut and an athlete's build scanned the rooftop as he offered Ray his weapon.

"Huh? Oh, thanks, Jay." Ray took his favorite handgun, checked the magazine and safety, and slipped it in the clip holster on his waistband at his back. When he did, cold water squished from the holster, down his back and into his already soaked underwear, giving him a severe chill. He shivered violently for a second. He was still more than a bit dazed by what had happened moments ago--and the beating he'd taken--oh yeah, and the running.

"Uh, Dr. Brady?"

"What? I know, he got away." Ray panted, still having a hard time talking between breaths.

"Uh, no sir, uh, Ray, you've been shot." Major Sampson pointed to the bloody mess on his left shoulder. The young Army major said it nonchalantly as if he had seen the same situation before.

"Oh, that. It's just a flesh wound," Ray waved his hand in dismissal–right before he collapsed backwards onto the rooftop.

"Man down! Medic!" Sampson called over the radio.

---

Extraction Point! is available for purchase through Barnes-Noble and Amazon, as well as Twilight Times Books.

See other books by Stephanie Osborn at http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

Extraction Point! Ch 1 part 2

2011-08-01T22:18:00.006-05:00

Extraction Point!
By Travis S. Taylor & Stephanie Osborn

http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

Just as the thought occurred to him, the man regained his poise and his vision, and rushed at him wildly–at least it seemed wild, at first. So Ray sidestepped and attempted to Judo throw him. But the man countered the move with an Aikido circular motion that flung Ray around a full three hundred and sixty degrees and then downward and forward, sliding belly first and hydroplaning in the several inch deep rainwater. His belly slide splashed a double rooster tail of water out behind him. Ray tucked his right arm under his body--ignoring the pain caused from the street pavement peeling skin from his forearm--and used his momentum in a Judo roll to bring him back up to his feet just in time to be tackled from behind mid-back. I'm not doing too well with this guy, he thought, rueful. Jesus, this son of a bitch is fast.

Ray twisted and squirmed free, tossing the man backward, and barely missed him with a spinning back kick. In a flurry of elbows, backward head butts, punches, and blocks, the two men ended back in the exact same spot they had been a few moments before. Ray was face down in the same pothole struggling for his breath as his would-be assailant ground knees into his lower back and pummeled him from behind. But this time, to Ray's surprise, the man's grip let go sooner–much sooner.

As Ray forced his head up above the water again, he understood why. He could hear the semiautomatic weapon's fire splattering off the alleyway wall in front of them. The rain of bullets was obviously fired overhead as a warning, spraying yellow sparks and shards of brick ubiquitously, but it still startled the man and the break was all Ray needed to throw him forward. At first Ray covered, afraid of friendly fire, but the man he'd already chased for two solid freakin' miles into this alley entrance had bear-crawled his way to the turn in the alley and was getting away.

"Hold your fire," Ray heard someone call over the music and the rain and his pounding chest. With that, he lunged to his feet with all the strength he had left and headed forward in pursuit of the man, lungs burning, dredging endurance he didn't expect from some unknown, heretofore untapped place inside.

"You are NOT going to get away from me, dammit!" He sprinted around the corner in time to see the man climbing a chain link fence crossing the alley. "Shit!"

Over the fence, Ray said determinedly to himself. Ignoring various protesting bodily parts, he scrambled up to the top of the rusty fence and leaned over it, grabbing the other side of the fence with his hands, and then let his body weight flip him feet over head. He splashed down on the other side, already in a full sprint. Come on! Push it!

Ray was gaining on the larger man, but his heart was pounding at least two hundred beats per minute and felt as if it would explode at any instant. If only I hadn't dropped my damn pistol, I'd have him now!

Extraction Point! is available for purchase through Barnes-Noble and Amazon, as well as Twilight Times Books.

See other books by Stephanie Osborn at http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

Extraction Point! Ch 1 part 1

2011-07-28T19:05:00.007-05:00

Extraction Point!
by Travis S. Taylor & Stephanie Osborn

http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

Chapter 1

Ray wasn't quite sure where the music was coming from, but it was loud. The second time he managed to force his head above the murky brown and gray water in the hubcap-deep tire buster of a pothole, he could hear the music pounding even louder than his heart AND the pouring rain–which was saying something. It was a remake of the old Guns 'n' Roses tune Perfect Crime–and from what he could tell, IT ROCKED.

The rain and the music and a chance to catch his breath gave him a quick burst of adrenaline to fight against the force of the two knees in his back, the hand grasping tight at the nape of his neck, and the fist beating into his left ribs. Ray flinched from the repeated jabs of pain pummeling into his side and could feel the adrenaline--and his hold above the water--slipping. So he took a deep gulp of air just before his face was slammed forward into the puddle, his nose bashing hard against the gravelly, broken asphalt at the bottom. The automatic gasp of pain that came next was inevitable. So was the water that filled his mouth.

Instinct engaged, and his body thrashed in wild desperation as he fought to avoid inhaling the filthy water. Despite his best efforts, he began choking, which in turn brought on a cough/gag reflex. Drowning, he realized, triggered bodily responses that were not only hardwired, but damn difficult to overcome.

I'm getting my ass kicked, he thought, verging on panicky despite himself. I've got to do something! Something Goddamned quick!

Using every ounce of willpower he possessed, Ray let his strength go and relaxed so that the man on his back could force him down and therefore be baited into a false sense of dominance–even, maybe, the notion that Ray was dead. Then he gritted his teeth and threw his right elbow up with all the strength he had left.

"Get OFF me!!" he yelled, muddy water gurgling from his lips as his elbow hit something hard–just when he lost his balance with his left hand, causing him to slip full face forward into the murky pothole… again. But the grip around his neck was gone.

Maneuvering both of his hands under himself push-up style, Ray managed to roll his body to the right, forcing his attacker off his back while continuing his roll over and then flipping backwards onto his feet. Ray shook the rain, mud, and blood out of his eyes, hacked slimy water from his windpipe, and made ready for an attack, but soon realized that his elbow had caught the man that he had been fighting square on the nose. The man was standing, briefly stunned and temporarily blinded, with bright red blood mixed with rain pouring profusely down his face. This gave Ray only long enough to catch his breath and scan the area for his handgun. He didn't see it anywhere. Shit. I liked that gun. Ok, hand to hand it's gonna be then, he thought to himself, easing into a shallow horse stance while really wishing he hadn't let the guy get the drop on him and knock his pistol out of his grip earlier.

---

Extraction Point! is available for purchase through Barnes-Noble and Amazon, as well as Twilight Times Books.

See other books by Stephanie Osborn at http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

My husband is a keeper

2011-07-18T16:25:00.016-05:00

by Stephanie Osborn
http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

I just returned from Libertycon, one of several major SF conventions in Chattanooga TN. There, I was delighted to be this year's Science Guest of Honor. These are good people, down-home, loving and friendly. As usual, they not only ran my standard bio in their program book, they also asked some people to give them their stories about me. Due to some crossed wires, they got two: one from my good friend Sara Harvey, and one from my husband, Darrell Osborn.

Now, Darrell and I have been married quite awhile, and like most married couples of long standing, we know we love each other and that's that. The busyness of life and the knowledge of belonging - as well as some reticence on both sides to be able to say the things that we feel deepest - means that the knowing is felt, not said.

Until the convention. And then my dear husband laid it all on the line for everyone to see. And I am so proud I can't stop reading it. So I'm going to share it with the world:

Let's start at the beginning. Decades ago, before many of you were born, my friend Danny and I were walking through the theater building on the campus of Austin Peay [State University] in Clarksville, TN. We were passing through the "Green Room" on our way to the stage when we saw an attractive blonde sitting on the couch. We looked at each other and then did what any red-blooded theatre geek would do. We hit on her. That was the first time I met Stephanie Gannaway. She was finishing her last year at APSU and preparing to graduate with a triple major in Math, Physics, and Chemistry. She was also picking up minors in Geology and Computer Science. My first thought was, "At last, someone I can talk to."

Fast forwarding a couple of years finds us married and living in student housing on the campus of Vanderbilt in Nashville. Stephanie was working on a Masters in Astronomy and I was creating havoc in the Live Entertainment Department at Opryland [back when it was a theme park -Steph]. One day word came down that Carl Sagan was coming to give a talk. You've got to remember, at this time Carl Sagan was a science rock star. Everyone knew "Cosmos" and he was a regular on Carson's Tonight Show. We later find out that Max, one of her professors, and Sagan were college buddies. The talk was great and we went to reception afterward. We progressed through the greeting line until we reached Max and Sagan. Max introduced Stephanie as one of the two astronomy graduate students. As Stephanie shook his hand, Max leaned over and whispered to Sagan, "She's one of the good ones." Sagan gave a knowing little smile and nod. That was our Sagan moment. Although brief, I think that short phrase and nod meant more to her than any of the degrees she had gotten.

A few decades have passed and so has Sagan. Now Stephanie has moved from science and her involvement in the space program to its symbiote science fiction. I have no doubt that the time will come again when she will stand before some sci-fi writer rock star and once again hear the words, "She's a good one." (That reminds me of the time we ran into Ray Bradbury; a story for another time.)

Last year I re-connected with Danny. He's now an Associate Dean at the University of Memphis. That's a great accomplishment, but I got the girl.

-Darrell "Doc" Osborn

Yep. I always knew Darrell was a keeper. <3

-Stephanie Osborn
http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

Happy Independence Day, All!

2011-07-04T14:36:00.002-05:00

Today is a special day in our nation’s history. Today, in 1776, the Second Continental Congress formally adopted what we now know as the Declaration of Independence. Two days before, they had voted to approve a resolution of independence, but felt that it was necessary to put out a statement explaining this vote. The resulting document is the Declaration, which in modern parlance would be considered something of a press release! It has been celebrated ever since, beginning on its first anniversary in 1777.

The American Independence Day is a fine day to remember what it is to be a citizen of this wonderful country. It is also a day to remember those who serve, who now and ever shall, I hope, maintain the freedoms upon which this country was “impelled to the separation.” Those who serve, not only in our Armed Forces, but as police, firefighters, paramedics, and emergency responders of all kinds.

I myself was briefly an emergency responder, a technical officer in the Department of Public Safety for a small Native American reservation. I provided security for the reservation during public events, ensured that animals were not mistreated, performed investigations, and responded to traffic accidents, the latter mostly occurring off the reservation when I happened upon them. I was present at death, though I cannot say I was ever blessed to be present at a birth. So I have some small feeling of what it is like to be on the first line of defense.

I have also worked as a government contractor, a payload flight controller for our civilian and military space programs, and in developing defensive measures for our nation.

Perhaps that is why invariably my writing seems to have the component of patriotism and service to country, and even planet. To me, heroes are those who do whatever it takes to ensure that people are safe and that right is always victorious. And I don’t mean that in political terms. I mean it in terms of morals and conscience. The guys in the white hats, as it were. It’s essential to me that my protagonists, while being fundamentally human and capable of error, always strive to do the right thing to the best of their understanding and ability. Because that same thing is essential to me, fundamental to my being.

After all, like so many before me, I, too, swore “To Protect and Serve.”

-Stephanie Osborn, July 4, 2011

http://www.stephanie-osborn.com

Extraction Point! by Travis S. Taylor & Stephanie Osborn

2011-06-19T22:32:00.005-05:00

Brilliant scientist and government operative Dr. Reagan "Ray" Brady is a man with a shadowed, and painful, past. He should be dead. In fact, the man he was IS "dead," and the identity he now has is not the one with which he was born. Were it not for two faithful friends, now dubbed Jay and Ernie, all three men would truly be dead.

Instead, Ray has what he considers the perfect life: the three now work for an ultra-secret division of the Department of Homeland Security, on the lookout for invasion by rather unique sorts of illegal aliens - "Santa Clauses," or extraterrestrials, and "Easter Bunnies," or time travelers. This team includesnot only Ray, but his wife and team leader, Samantha Brady. The team's "mascot" is their one year old daughter, Abigail.

Things couldn't be any more perfect for Ray - until a mysterious man shows up, leaving several dead men in his wake. When Ray's team confronts the man in the Big Apple, Ray is nearly beaten to a pulp, then watches as the man leaps from the roof of a ten story building - and vanishes in mid-air. Meanwhile, Samantha is watching video from the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and seconds after his disappearance from NYC, sees the same man saunter calmly in for a full guided tour of the facility. A genetic scientist, whose work is on the cutting edge of research, disappears from his locked office. And large quantities of gold and other items are being stolen from within bank vaults and other secure facilities around the world. Most disturbing is the missing fissile material from Oak Ridge.

Who is this man? Why does his image show up through three centuries of Earth's history? How do he and his men manage to travel seemingly instantaneously? What does he intend to do with all of the stolen wealth and dangerous material he has amassed? And can Ray and his team stop him before Ray loses everything he now holds dear?

Travis S. "Doc" Taylor, New York Times best-selling science and science fiction author of the Warp Speed series, the Tau Ceti series, co-author of the first book in the Cresperian Saga, Human By Choice, and co-author of the Looking Glass series with John Ringo; and Stephanie Osborn, best-selling co-author of books two and three of the Cresperian Saga The Y Factor and The Cresperian Allliance, and the science fiction mystery Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281, have collaborated on the first novel in the Point series, Extraction Point!, for Twilight Times Books.

Charity ebook for AL tornado relief‏

2011-05-26T15:42:00.003-05:00

In the wake of the destructive tornadoes which ripped through Alabama on April 27th, 2011, I am proud to be included in Southern Fried Weirdness: Reconstruction, a charity anthology ebook. All profits will be donated to The American Red Cross to aid disaster relief efforts.

To purchase, please go to http://www.stephanie-osborn.com and click on the ebook cover art or any of the title links. This will take you through to the publisher and links to Amazon and Smashwords, where you may select your preferred e-format.

Keep in mind, none of us that have works published in this ebook will be getting a penny - it all goes to the Red Cross for disaster relief. And in this time of disastrous storms, both here and in other states, it is much needed. Help us make a significant contribution to the disaster relief efforts, and enjoy some good writing into the bargain.

And thank you. So very much.

-Stephanie Osborn

(This blog entry also published at MadScience, http://madsci.us/)

Airport Security - A True Story, Part 2

2011-05-09T16:13:00.004-05:00

Having contacted my congressmen the evening I posted the original blog regarding my treatment at the hands (literally) of the TSA, today I received a reply - from one of them.

Congressman Mo Brooks, 5th District, Alabama, sent me the following email:

Dear Mrs. Osborn:

Thank you for contacting me to share your views concerning the Aircraft Passenger Whole-Body Imaging Limitations Act of 2011, H.R. 1279. I welcome the opportunity to respond.

As you may know, Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah introduced H.R. 1279 on March 31, 2011. This legislation would limit on the use of advanced imaging technology for aircraft passenger screening. H.R. 1279 has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee for review and consideration. As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, please be assured I will keep your views in mind should this bill come before the Homeland Security Committee or to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote.

Please feel free to contact me again in the future. You may wish to visit my website at http://brooks.house.gov/ for additional information about issues and legislation before Congress.

Sincerely,
Mo Brooks
Member of Congress

MB/

Note also that Mr. Brooks wrote this himself and did not dictate it.

Unfortunately my attempt to reply to Mr. Brooks was bounced back. It would have read as follows:

Thank you, sir. So far you are the ONLY one of my congressmen who has replied to me on this issue. I am glad and appreciative you took the time to read my complaint and my blog, and even more appreciative that you will do something about it. For whatever it's worth, I put in my time as a government contractor, both for NASA on numerous Shuttle flights and ISS increments, and for DoD. I held a government clearance, and the safety of astronauts - and the populace - was entrusted to my hands. I was a volunteer/reserve police officer for a Native American community as well. Now I write full time as a novelist, but that does not negate the innate moral stance which allowed me to perform those jobs any more than retiring from the military negates a soldier's inherent morality or patriotism. I do NOT object to the safety and security of our nation, but feel it must be done with an eye to avoid eroding our freedoms and the inalienable rights guaranteed us as a free and independent people. The current procedures do not meet my standards of safety AND freedom.

Thank you for your time, and please stay in touch.

Mr. Brooks and other congressmen, I do hope you read this and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. It is shameful the way our citizens are being treated. May I respectfully suggest, as have many of my Facebook friends who have read my original blog on the event, that we emulate a country with highly successful, efficient, and non-invasive security measures such as Israel? They have no choice but to be the most efficient they can be, or they would not survive. They also do not abrogate the rights of their citizens in the process. This business of, "We must be politically correct and screen everyone, regardless of background, lest we offend someone," grows not only tiresome, but dangerous. May I remind you that the terrorists have no such compunctions.

Airport Security - A True Story

2011-05-06T19:44:00.004-05:00

I recently had occasion to "check out" the new airport security scanning techniques while the TSA checked me out. And in the process found myself embarrassed, humiliated, threatened, and my privacy invaded.

I was traveling home from Penguicon in Troy, MI when I encountered the new "nude" scanners in the Detroit Airport. Images posted at the scanners plainly depicted the full extent of the scanners' capabilities: Unlike the television images, which were blocked out, it turns out, to MAINTAIN TELEVISION CENSOR STANDARDS, the scanner depicts EVERYTHING - buttocks, breasts, and genitals. The only thing it does not depict is the face of the "scannee." My alternative was an invasive, full-body pat-down. When I protested that this was a gross invasion of privacy, I was told that I "would not be flying, then."

Now, for those of you who don't know me, I had major surgery (as in removing a 25lb, 4-6L cyst from my abdomen) last August, and only a couple of months ago got the go-ahead to exercise at all, let alone fly. I have a full-abdominal incision scar that runs from my pubic bone up to only a couple of inches from my sternum. It is not pretty, and involves staple and large suture scars in addition to the incision scar. Because I could not use my abs or obliques for fully 6 months, and because the scarring is prone to forming keloids, I often wear a body wrap akin to the commercial "Spanx" products. This not only keeps the scar tissue relatively flat, it supports my back in its efforts to stabilize my torso. Had I not had this wrap, my back would have gone out months ago and I would be invalided. As it is, my back is chronically in pain.

But the wearing of this wrap also makes it difficult to keep my jeans up. My body is still changing shape as swelling, etc. decreases, and the wrap is made of slick lycra material. Belts are a necessity, but I usually wear woven cotton belts - which I did this day. Minimal bulk, minimal hardware.

So I stripped off jewelry, pocket contents, wristwatch, shoes, and cell phone, dumping them all into a tub with my carry-on. I stepped into the "nude" scanner (having been given no other choice to get home) and "assumed the position." (Yes, the position for scanning is the same as the one assumed when being placed under arrest - spread-eagled, hands in the air.) The scan took place, I stepped out...

...And was promptly detained.

I had to take off my belt. Scanned down to skin, but they took objection to my belt. My COTTON belt. I explained that I had had surgery and needed it to keep from losing my jeans, but it didn't matter. I was taken into a small room off the screening area, where two women in latex gloves stood and watched while I raised my shirt and removed my belt. One patted down the belt while another patted down my midsection. Finding nothing, of course.

THEN came the coup de grace.

"What's this?" the woman patting me down asked, tugging at my wrap.

"My surgical wrap."

"Does it come off? Is it down in your pants?"

"It comes off, but it goes down in my pants and it's difficult to remove."

"Let me see, please."

I was forced to unfasten my jeans, dig the bottom of the wrap out, and raise it up, openly displaying my badly scarred abdomen TO PROVE I WAS TELLING THE TRUTH. There was no chance that such a form-fitting garment could be concealing anything, but my privacy was invaded just the same, to prove some sort of point which I couldn't see.

Before I could get myself fully dressed again, the TSA agent who'd patted me down opened the door into the main area and walked out, calling back, "I have to go have the gloves checked. Keep her."

Once I was covered, I was led back through the still-open door by the 2nd TSA agent into the main security screening area, where I was held - still without shoes, jewelry, cell, etc - until the first TSA agent could have her latex gloves screened for contraband chemicals.

Only when that was okayed was I allowed to complete dressing and leave for my concourse.

Never before have I been submitted to a body search DOWN TO THE SKIN by anyone who was not a doctor. And then, only with my consent. I find this to be a serious violation of my rights as an American and as a human being. As a scientist and former reserve police officer, I can say that this is not a reasonable, efficient method of security screening - and it is sliding down a steep, slippery slope toward the abrogation of our rights and freedoms.

Cresperian eBooks on sale!

2011-03-30T13:25:00.001-05:00

An important message from my publisher, which includes some of my books!

ebook sale for book lovers

We appreciate our readers for making Tremolo: cry of the loon a breakout novel for Aaron Paul Lazar. Mazurka by Aaron along with several popular titles are currently available for 99 cents via Amazon Kindle.

Doggie Biscuit!, humor by Darrell Bain
Learning to Write the Easy Way for Fun, Posterity and Money, writing advice by Dorothy Ann Skarles
Mazurka, mystery by Aaron Paul Lazar
Sonora Wind, historical fiction by Florence Byham Weinberg
The Solomon Scandals, suspense by David Rothman
The Y Factor, SF by Darrell Bain and Stephanie Osborn.

Additional ebooks available at discount prices from $2.75 to $4.40 via Amazon Kindle.
http://amzn.to/eYYy6s

Lida E. Quillen, Publisher
Twilight Times Books

Extraction Point! by Taylor, Osborn to be released April 15, 2011!

2010-10-03T20:34:00.005-05:00

Travis S. "Doc" Taylor, NYT best-selling science and science fiction author of the Warp Speed series, the Tau Ceti series, co-author of the first book in the Cresperian Saga, Human By Choice, and co-author of the Looking Glass series with John Ringo; and Stephanie Osborn, best-selling co-author of books two and three of the Cresperian Saga The Y Factor and The Cresperian Allliance, and the science fiction mystery Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281, have collaborated on the first novel in the Point series, Extraction Point!, for Twilight Times Books. Extraction Point! is complete and to the publisher! Release date is set for 15 April, 2011!

Brilliant scientist and government operative Dr. Reagan "Ray" Brady is a man with a shadowed, and painful, past. He should be dead. In fact, the man he was IS "dead," and the identity he now has is not the one with which he was born. Were it not for two faithful friends, now dubbed Jay and Ernie, all three men would truly be dead. Instead, Ray has what he considers the perfect life: the three now work for an ultra-secret division of the Department of Homeland Security, on the lookout for invasion by rather unique sorts of illegal aliens - "Santa Clauses," or extraterrestrials, and "Easter Bunnies," or time travelers. This team includes not only Ray, but his wife and team leader, Samantha Brady. The team's "mascot" is their one year old daughter, Abigail.

Things couldn't be any more perfect for Ray - until a mysterious man shows up, leaving several dead men in his wake. When Ray's team confronts the man in the Big Apple, Ray is nearly beaten to a pulp, then watches as the man leaps from the roof of a ten story building - and vanishes in mid-air. Meanwhile, Samantha is watching video from the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and seconds after his disappearance from NYC, sees the same man saunter calmly in for a full guided tour of the facility. A genetic scientist, whose work is on the cutting edge of research, disappears from his locked office. And large quantities of gold and other items are being stolen from within bank vaults and other secure facilities around the world. Most disturbing is the missing fissile material from Oak Ridge.

Who is this man? Why does his image show up through three centuries of Earth's history? How do he and his men manage to travel seemingly instantaneously? What does he intend to do with all of the stolen wealth and dangerous material he has amassed? And can Ray and his team stop him before Ray loses everything he now holds dear?

Watch for this exciting new book, first in the Point Series!

Burnout soon to become a major motion picture!

2010-06-22T23:26:00.000-05:00

Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 is soon to become a major motion picture! We are looking for a limited number of investors - be a part of motion picture history! Interested parties are invited to contact:
FFE Productions
P.O. Box 741091
Boynton Beach, FL 33474;
or call 305-333-1554
or email moviegreat@aol.com

Past, Present, and Future

2010-02-28T20:46:00.008-06:00

Time for an update!

Past:

Chattacon was, as usual, a delight. I had a great time there, but unfortunately managed to miss a face to face with John Ringo. Of late, I've become one of John's scientific advisors, and when I heard he'd showed I looked everywhere - except where he was. Oh well. Another shot at him come LibertyCon this summer.

Burnout and The Y Factor came out nicely in the Preditors & Editors Readers' Poll. Burnout made #7 in the category of Science Fiction Novel, and #11 for Best Cover Art. The Y Factor made #3 in Best Cover Art! MANY thanks to everyone who voted!

The Y Factor is a finalist for the EPIC Award, formerly known as the EPPIE, and Burnout is a finalist for the Int'l Thriller Writers' Best First Novel! (Excitement ensues as I wait for the results...)

Present:

I'm working hard on Escape Velocity, the sequel to Burnout. It's about a quarter of the way done. It'd be farther along if the characters would follow my outline, lol. Somehow they wind up doing things I hadn't expected and didn't plan for, and then I have to adjust the outline!

The Cresperian Alliance, Book 3 of the Cresperian Saga, has been released as an ebook! For more information on the book and how to purchase, go to my website and click on the "Books" link.

Travis "Doc" Taylor and I are working on a book called Extraction Point! We hope it will be the first of a series of novels. Travis and I are both VERY pleased at how it's progressing.

Sullivan-Maxx Literary Agency is representing my Displaced Detective series, with an eye to placing it with a publisher. I'm really excited and hopeful about that; I already have 4 books done in the series, with a 5th in work!

Future:

MidSouthCon in Memphis is flying toward us! It's always a delightful convention filled with friends and colleagues, and I'm very much looking forward to it! Burnout is nominated for the Darrell Award, so there's an element of anxious anticipation as well!

The EPIC Award winners will be announced from EPICon in New Orleans NEXT WEEKEND! Cross your fingers for The Y Factor!

Stay tuned for more upcoming adventures!

Please Vote!

2010-01-09T15:00:00.001-06:00

Please vote for my book, Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 & my husband Darrell's bookcover art for The Y Factor at the Preditors & Editors readers' poll! The first link is to Burnout (scan down the list a bit) and the second to The Y Factor (scan down close to the bottom)! Currently Burnout stands at #14 and my husband's artwork at #13!

http://www.critters.org/predpoll/novelsf.shtml

http://www.critters.org/predpoll/bookart.shtml

To Our Veterans

2009-11-11T22:58:00.001-06:00

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

I have been derelict

2009-10-27T00:37:00.005-05:00

Dear readers, please forgive me. I have been derelict in my attentions to this blog. I can only plead that I have been up to my eyeballs in manuscripts. For a writer, this is a good thing, yes? Since the summer started I have collaborated with Darrell Bain on the third book in the Cresperia Series, called The Cresperian Alliance; it is now under contract. It is the sequel to Human By Choice and The Y Factor, which latter will be coming out in print in December, just in time for the holidays.

The Cresperian Alliance should come out in e-book in January, and in print next summer.

I have also collaborated with Travis "Doc" Taylor, my mentor, on a book called Extraction Point! which we are hoping to be the first in a series. I completed Book 6 in an as-yet-unsold series of science fiction mysteries. I edited yet another book for submission to a publisher. And now I've started on the sequel to Burnout, tentatively called Escape Velocity.

In addition to this, I have been doing booksignings and guest appearances at conventions and interviews and goodness knows what else. I hadn't a day off from Labor Day through the first weekend of October. Just over a week ago I did a day trip (!) from Huntsville, AL to Jackson, MS for a booksigning. I will be appearing this Wednesday night at 9pm EDT on the blogtalkradio show Premium Views, and I will be in Corinth, MS the first Saturday in October for another talk and booksigning.

I've been a busy little rocket scientist. I hope that helps make up for the lack of updates here. I'll try to do better in future.

Updates on The Cresperian Series

2009-09-04T20:16:00.004-05:00

The Cresperian Series, consisting of Human By Choice (Darrell Bain and Travis S. Taylor), and The Y Factor (Darrell Bain and Stephanie Osborn) now has a third book.

The Cresperian Alliance (Stephanie Osborn and Darrell Bain) is the next in the saga of the gentle "Crispies" and their interactions with the human race. The Cresperian Alliance sees the return of Earth's first starships from Cresperia. An alliance has been formed between the advanced, but peace-loving, Cresperians, and the more volatile humans. But now there's another race involved, allied with neither. And the Snappers, while advanced, aren't so friendly or peace-loving. Will the Snappers decide to expand their interplanetary empire? If so, in what direction...? What should Cresperia do? What should Earth do? And will the Cresperian alliance hold, should the worst happen?

Contract for The Cresperian Alliance is IN HAND! Tentative ebook publication is scheduled for Jan 15, 2010. Tentative trade paperback print publication is slated for Jul 15, 2010.

Human By Choice was released in trade paper last month, and simultaneously garnered the Dream Realm Award!

And my husband, Darrell Osborn, who created the cover art for Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281, has been asked by Twilight Times Books to create art concepts for the cover of The Y Factor!

Burnout Products Now Available!

2009-08-16T15:48:00.001-05:00

I have some Burnout products available at CafePress at "The Doctor's Lab." This is the ORIGINAL version of the cover art, created by my husband, Darrell "Doc" Osborn, especially for my book, available nowhere else!

AAAAND, Burnout is now back in stock at stores!

My first PopSyndicate article is up!

2009-08-06T17:45:00.000-05:00

It's called It Ain't Rocket Science - Oh Wait, It Is! This month's article is on the World Science Fiction Convention which is this weekend!

Burnout Reviewed in the Dallas Examiner

2009-07-30T21:14:00.000-05:00

Ethan Nahte has given Burnout a WONDERFUL review in the Dallas Examiner! Check it out!

Burnout has a new book trailer!

2009-07-26T00:17:00.004-05:00

Thanks to the good (and talented!) folk at Book Candy Studios, I have a truly wonderful trailer to promote Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281! You can find it on my website, as well as my MySpace and Facebook pages. And now you can view it here!

To purchase your copy of Burnout, go here.

Burnout Availability

2009-07-22T01:32:00.000-05:00

I am aware that Burnout is currently showing up as "out of stock" at the major online print bookstores. Please be patient; it is not out of print. There has been a database error (I'm not sure where, but suspect with the distributors) that is causing it to show up this way. We are actively troubleshooting the problem. Meanwhile, copies may still be purchased directly from the publisher, at Twilight Times Books. To my knowledge, e-book availability has not been affected.

LibertyCon in Chattanooga

2009-07-13T19:10:00.004-05:00

Just got back yesterday from a weekend in Chattanooga, speaking at LibertyCon.

LC is a smaller con, but run every bit as well as one of the bigger cons, and at least as much fun. This is partly because "Uncle Timmy" Bolgeo and clan, he of the "Hump Day" newsletter, are in charge of the con. They are bright as new pennies and possessed of a sense of humor that my husband is one of the few I know can match. They're also incredibly flexible and have loyal attendees and loyal regular guest panelists. So when 3 of their important panelists had to cancel at the last minute (one quite literally), it didn't faze them. They jumped right in and rearranged topics and panelist combos (and several of us volunteered to fill in the gaps) and I don't think fans knew the difference.

Some of my more memorable panels included: a discussion on "So you want to be an astronaut?" which garnered a good many questions, as you might expect. "Small and Electronic Publishing," with Sara Harvey, whom I met several cons ago, lol. We were able to adequately explain to many would-be authors how the publishing business works, what distinguishes the print process from the electronic process, and what delineates a large and a small publisher.

Later on, Sara and I were re-teamed for "The Harvey and Osborn Hour." Sara and I get along well although we're two very different people, and we both have similar senses of humor, along with the adventures to go with it. (This often proves useful as a writer, as we have experiences we can draw from in our work!) Topics ranged from how my now-husband almost didn't survive to marry me, having nearly expired at my own hand ("Miss Stephanie, in the Green Room, with the lead pipe!" as Sara put it!) to Sara's intense dislike of geese, especially Andalusian geese. (Think four feet tall, with big bumped bills that bite hard, smart, easily irritated, and very determined.)

THEN they teamed Sara and me with NASA scientist (and former grad school pal) Les Johnson for "Sex In Space." Now that sounds like a recipe for ribald hilarity, and it had its moments, because we all have wacky senses of humor. (Les blushes really well too. And of course we made him sit between us.) But in all seriousness, we had a very good scientific discussion. After all, for long duration space flights (to other planets) or even generation starships, we really need to understand how the genders interact and how pregnancy might progress. It does a generation ship no good to arrive at its destination filled with humans who can no longer survive in a gravitational environment.

So we discussed not only some of the early animal experiments on embryonic development in microgravity (of which I was familiar from my days as a payload flight controller for Shuttle), but also the psychological studies from Mir, which Les had dug up. Sara contributed some cool notions (as well as humor) from her background as a romance and horror/romance writer. A very...interesting...time was had by all.

Saturday night Les moderated a group session (meaning some of us were experts, but the whole room participated) called "Mad Scientists." We got down and dirty with some controversial topics like whether or not Project Constellation (back to the moon, on to Mars) should be cut from NASA's budget, science and education, etc. It started at 11pm and ran until 2am! Then us "experts" wound up breaking into moderators of our own smaller groups. I finally got into bed about 3am.

Burnout book sales went well, about which I am pleased. I also wound up acquiring a literary agent who is helping me hawk a new ms I have. I got some interest on it from a publisher at the con as well. I was interviewed for a podcast which will air in a few weeks (see my website for information as it becomes available). I met Ben Bova (WAY COOL!) and got to talk to him some. And I finally found a hardcover compendium of the entire (long out of print) Lensman series by E.E. "Doc" Smith, that I could afford!

I came home absolutely exhausted but deliriously happy.

Listen to My Latest Podcast!

2009-07-08T19:22:00.000-05:00

We were considerably delayed in the live broadcast by severe thunderstorms in the host's location, but we went on with the interview when E.W. got his power back, and BTR recorded a fun interview, which can be heard in it's entirety here:

Interview With The Mortal Vampire, Part II - Stephanie Osborn RETURNS!

We had a great time, chatting not only about my latest news (The Y Factor going best-seller, syndicated reviews appearing in the New York Times, upcoming appearances), but also the slate of books I have under way. We also discussed book writing styles and techniques, how to overcome writer's block, and whether or not you want to be around me during a tornado warning!

Stop by and listen!

Steph's 411

2009-06-28T14:20:00.004-05:00

So, what's been happening with me lately? I've been staying REALLY busy.

1) I've been working with Travis "Doc" Taylor on a new book called Extraction Point! Hopefully it will become the first of a series, if all goes well. Got my half of the rough draft finished and sent to him about a week ago.

2) I've been working with Darrell Bain on the 3rd book in the Cresperian series. We have the outline and character names pretty much down. He's started on the first part of it and will send it to me soon. We'll go back and forth on it.

3) I'm editing on a manuscript of my own, trying to tighten it up and get it ready to submit to a publisher. :) I love science fiction mysteries.

4) I'm getting ready to start on the sequel to Burnout.

5) I did a podcast this past Wednesday, which can be heard at Red River Writers Live.

6) The Florence AL Public Library invited me to participate in their celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. So yesterday I gave a talk about my career in the space program and did a book signing, which went quite well.

7) My publisher and I also managed to convince Barnes-Noble to make a couple of edits to their store book database. This will, hopefully, result in my books being carried on bookshelves very very soon.

Upcoming events:

1) I'll be appearing on The Mortal Vampire podcast at 7pmCDT on Tuesday, July 7th, for Part II of my interview! You can listen in, and even participate, here.

2) I'll be at LibertyCon science fiction convention in Chattanooga TN the weekend of 10-12 July! That looks like being GREAT fun.

3) On Saturday, 18 July at 7pmCDT the North Alabama Science Fiction Association will host me at the Renasant Bank off Airport Road in Huntsville AL for a talk and booksigning.

4) At noonCDT on Wednesday, July 29, I'll be participating in another Red River Writers Live podcast (link TBD; keep an eye on my website for details) introducing the authors of Red River Writers Live.

5) At the kind invitation of H. David Blalock, I've joined a booksigning tour group called Imagicopter. I won't be at the inaugural booksigning due to a conflict, but plan to attend as many of the tour stops as possible!

6) The Huntsville Public Library - Main Branch has invited me for a talk and booksigning on Saturday, the 22nd of August at 2pmCDT.

And that's only through the summer, guys! I'm staying pretty busy and I'm happier than the proverbial clam about it (although why clams should be happier than other critters, I don't know...)! Keep an eye open; I may be coming through your area sometime soon!

Hypericon/DeepSouthCon Update

2009-06-09T01:18:00.003-05:00

I guess the first thing to say is that it was not quite as large a con as I'd expected, especially for a DSC. It was maybe a third to half the size of MidSouthCon or Chattacon, and that being a DSC. Nashville fandom has evidently shrunk since I was last involved in it. Having said that, they are enthusiastic in their fandom, and they put on a good con.

I stayed offsite this year, and I think next year if they want me back, I may get a room in the hotel. There was a TON of road construction occurring all around the area on the interstates and that was just a pain in the nether regions. Especially at 12:30am on a Saturday morning when the interstate suddenly turns into a one-lane parking lot and you've had one drink 3 hours before, followed by several bottles of water, and didn't make a restroom break before hitting the road. NOT fun. My half-hour commute to the folks' house turned into an hour and fifteen minutes. O_o

I made some good connections:

I met H. David Blalock, who is organizing a southeastern writers' booksigning tour, and wants me involved. He even bought me a drink, which was very nice of him. I spent some time explaining the world of e-books to him, and he was excited to discover that as a writer much of the process of creating an e-book is transparent to him.

I am not sure what city the bid was from because they went by their organization's acronym name (note, guys, let us KNOW where you're FROM!), but I got the attention of a WorldCon bid group, and they had me sign their banner right alongside people like David Weber, Timothy Zahn, and Mike Resnick. I think they were interested in having me if they win the bid.

Dallas got the DSC 2011 bid, and they seemed interested in a rocket scientist/writer as a guest, too.

I talked to people in charge of programming for DragonCon in Atlanta, and with the NASFiC 2010 Raleigh bid. Both of them talked to me straight about getting in there and getting attention. I was told I'm a "triple threat": 1) a writer, 2) a rocket scientist, 3) a woman. And intelligent, literate, and well-spoken, to boot. So I am a potential guest at both cons.

I talked with several media arts types about the possibility of creating what appears to be the next big thing in book promos: book trailers. Just like movie trailers, but for books. Gonna see what hubby Darrell can do first, then I have a friend who's dying to get into the business and is a pretty good short filmmaker.

My old friend (and husband Darrell's older friend) Bob Embler, who runs the famous (or infamous, as the case may be! ;-) OutsideCon invited me to come this year (September) and be their Author GoH. It involves camping of one sort or another though, and while I have camped (in the Oregon Cascade Range near Bend - no bugs) Darrell isn't into it at all. So I'm not sure yet what's gonna happen there.

I had fans tracking me down at the con. There was also a writeup in one of the Nashville papers, in which the writer indicated that my panels were among the ones he was most looking forward to. My panels (2, plus a booksigning, but no book reading though I'd requested one) were well attended, with the one I helmed alone filling the room. One guy actually swiped one of my book posters at the end of the con and requested I sign it, which I did. It was only going to get thrown away anyway.

In general it was a successful con, I'd say. I'm happy with it, anyway. :-)

Burnout Reviewed by Yvonne Mason, Author of Silent Scream

2009-06-04T16:42:00.001-05:00

Yvonne Mason, acclaimed author of Silent Scream, Brilliant Insanity, and many more, read Burnout and LOVED it!

"Stephanie Osborn’s Burnout is out of this world. She takes Sci-Fi and the real space program to an entirely new level.

"A shuttle has burnout during re-entry; all aboard are lost. But are they really? The autopsies don't match the burnt bodies, people are disappearing who have had anything to do with the shuttle, the body count keeps getting higher by the hour.

"Crash Murphy is running against the clock to find out why – every road he travels comes to a dead end or a dead body. Even those he loves seem to disappear. The question is, why is this happening and who is behind it and will he find the answers before he also becomes worm dirt?

"Stephanie Osborn uses her background and her skills to make this the most believable Sci-Fi I have ever read. She is right up there with Jules Verne with her Sci-Fi and Fiction.

"Definitely a five star read."

~Yvonne Mason, author of Silent Scream and Brilliant Insanity

My latest reader review

2009-06-03T15:13:00.001-05:00

Burnout has been getting a lot of good response from readers. Here is one of the latest.

Generally speaking I am a poet… I love to read but because of my lack of time with work, family and other obligations reading books is rare… However, Stephanie Osborn’s Burnout had me hanging on the edge of my seat. It became more of a task to put it down then to pick it up. I found myself immersed in the story line as if I myself were on the mission. Stephanie provided not only an entertaining story but a real thrill ride for the senses… I recommend you buy a copy and partake in this adventure… So worth the few bucks I spent…

~Shannon Morrow

2009-05-29T23:28:00.002-05:00

These are some plants that were brought to my attention by a fellow fan of the online comic, Vexxarr. They remind her of a particular character in the comic, one Sploorfix. She says:

These plants are seedlings I had about given up on when suddenly they popped up. Really fast growers when they do come up, developing so quickly that the seed casing is still clinging to the first leaf set--that's why they so remind me of Sploorfix, they look like waving eyestalks!

They're *possibly* datura, or angel trumpet (though around here they're usually referred to as locoweed). They make the most incredible enormous flowers, usually in the second year they're growing. I've got one full sized plant in its 3rd year; I expect great things from it this season! :) By the way, the seeds were harvested from my former residence, so they are now *nine years old* yet are still viable. That's kind of the way with desert plants.

Contented day

2009-05-28T14:18:00.002-05:00

School is out. No more frantic students prepping for finals, no more crazy hours and Algebra 2 then Chemistry then Trigonometry then AP Chem then Physics, then... shifting mental gears faster than any race car driver. I like doing it, but I need the break. I can kick back now. Nowhere I have to be today. Just where I want to be.

It's quiet for a change. Rainshowers move by occasionally, with the enchanting sound of rain pattering on the roof. I'm researching some science for Extraction Point!, the first in a series I'm co-authoring with my mentor, Travis "Doc" Taylor. My 3 year old cat, Elrond Half-Siamese, cuddles against my side, rests his chin on the corner of the laptop, and watches me type.

Book sales are doing reasonably well, and I have several appearances of various sorts lined up next week.

I am content. Life is good.

I'm reviewed in the New York Times!

2009-05-22T15:46:00.002-05:00

Oh my gosh, I am so thrilled. Darrell Bain and I ran across an article referring to Human By Choice a week or so ago, by a writer who checked out electronic gadgets, e-books and the like. He loved Human By Choice, so I emailed him to tell him the sequel, The Y Factor, was out, and would he like a free review copy? He was also a big fan of my mentor, Travis "Doc" Taylor, so I told him I had a book out that Trav had mentored me through, and was currently co-authoring a book with him.

Well, that got him really interested. In the end, he BOUGHT not only The Y Factor, but Burnout, as e-books, because as a writer himself, he felt writers should get paid for their work and not give it away. And the results came out today.

The Article

The Pertinent Excerpt (by kind permission of the author):

This Week at Mobile Tech Manor
E-books of the week

This week I read "The Y Factor" by Darrell Bain and Stephanie Osborn, the second in the "Cresperian" series I told you about last week. This book was very enjoyable and I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I was thrilled to hear from both Darrell and Stephanie that they are beginning work on the next book in the series so guys, please get to work, OK? It turns out that Darrell is only about 50 miles from me so maybe we can have some coffee sometime. That would be cool.

Stephanie told me about her own novel, "Burnout: the Mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281" and I am in the middle of it right now. It is a good story abouta shuttle landing tragedy that is not quite what it seems, and it is a real page-turner. Stephanie is a good writer and she is able to draw from her experience working on the shuttle program in her past life. It is a great read and recommended. I am always excited to discover a new author and I will be following her writing career for sure.

~jkOnTheRun/ New York Times

Jean Henry Mead Interviews Stephanie Osborn on "Mysterious People"

2009-05-21T15:11:00.000-05:00

Mystery author and interviewer Jean Henry Mead interviews Stephanie Osborn, best-selling author of The Y Factor and Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281, on her blog forum, "Mysterious People." Discussing Osborn's childhood, career, and the Challenger and Columbia disasters, as well as their relationships to her books Burnout and The Y Factor, a portrait of the author begins to emerge.

"A Conversation with Stephanie Osborn" can be found at:
Mysterious People

Be sure to leave a comment for discussion!

Where is she now??

2009-05-14T18:45:00.000-05:00

Steph is busy busy right now!

1) It's the week before finals at the schools, and kids are going crazy doing last minute cramming. If they'd studied throughout the year, they wouldn't need me trying to stuff knowledge into their heads at the last minute, but oh well...

2) I'm deep into writing Extraction Point! with Travis S. Taylor. It's a fascinating science fiction story with more than a touch of mystery thrown in, and the first in a series. I'm about to finish chapter 5 and move on to chapter 6.

3) I've been editing a book of my own, again the first in a series, involving alternate universes and the ability to pop from one to another. Imagine the chagrin when a person from an alternate universe is inadvertently brought to ours and can't be sent back...

4) Darrell Bain and I are about to start talking plot on the third book in the Cresperia Series! #1 was Human By Choice, written by Bain and Taylor. #2 is The Y Factor, written by Bain and myself and currently near the top of Fictionwise's best-seller list. (It stayed at #1 on the SF list for some time, and I think it's still at #2! Last I saw it was #16 on the overall fiction list at Fictionwise!)

5) Once school is out I'm also going to start on the much-demanded sequel to Burnout! It's already outlined; hopefully I'll get a good start on the rough draft, at least, through the summer.

Writing, writing, and more writing! I'm lovin' it!

Book update

2009-05-06T12:14:00.000-05:00

I have been so busy keeping up with things I haven't had a chance to blog here. The latest book news is as follows:

Burnout has moved up to #24 on the Fictionwise SF Best-seller list. (That's still out of nearly 5000 books!)

The Y Factor has been a Fictionwise Featured Selection.

The Y Factor is now at NUMBER ONE on the Fictionwise SF Best-seller list!

AAAANNND...

The Y Factor is at #17 on Fictionwise's OVERALL Fiction Best-seller list!

I've been about to blow a gasket. :-) I'm really happy.

In other matters, several schools have been shut down due to probable cases of H1N1, so tutoring has been a little dicey. But I've managed. Lip balm with tea tree oil, lysol, and hand sanitizers are the rule.

Update on Blown Mind

2009-04-29T19:48:00.000-05:00

I hadn't checked book status in a couple of days, so I decided to do that this afternoon before I had to leave to meet my first tutoring student.

Imagine my shock when I discovered that Burnout was at number 30 (out of about 5000!) on Fictionwise's best-seller list!

And then I discovered that The Y Factor had climbed again -- TO NUMBER THREE!!!

I think they heard the scream in the next county. Maybe the next state.

I honestly don't know what to DO - I never EVER expected this to happen!

I'm so excited I have been shaking, and it was all I could do to keep it under the speed limit on the way to tutor, my adrenaline levels were so high. The thing to understand about me is that, inside, I'm sort of a six-year-old with about 4 decades of experience. And that 6-year-old has just been presented with the ultimate Christmas present. I'm not a braggart. I'm just dancing around the Christmas tree, screaming and singing and laughing and spinning, wanting to share my happiness with everybody around me.

I'm so happy I can't keep it inside.

My mind is blown...

2009-04-25T17:31:00.000-05:00

...I am a best-selling author.

On Tuesday the 21st of April, The Y Factor, coauthored by Eppie Award winner Darrell Bain and myself, was released as an e-book. By Wednesday evening, it was #13 on Fictionwise's best-seller list. And it's had legs.

It was a fun book to write, the second in a series about first contact with an alien race, and the politics involved, etc. And Darrell is fun to work with, too. I had high hopes for it.

But my gosh, I never expected this.

I'm still so stunned I can't believe it's real. I don't know how to act, or what to say, or anything. I've tweaked my website a bit, but past that I'm not sure what to DO.

I'd turn cartwheels (if I could), or scream at the top of my lungs (except the neighbors would probably object), or run around in circles (but my bad knees would give out). I GOTTA find a way to vent this and make it real to me! Suggestions, anybody?

If you're interested, you can purchase The Y Factor e-book here and here. (It'll be out in trade paperback this fall.) But you might want to pick up the first book in the series by Bain and my mentor, Travis Taylor, Human By Choice. You can find the ebook here. The paperback will be released soon.

Burnout Launch Party

2009-04-18T20:11:00.000-05:00

I had a small launch party for Burnout today, with close family and friends in attendance.

It went wonderfully, with "space" decorations, dry ice in the punch bowl, and a good friend (who happens to be a gourmet cook) "catering." Delicious spinach dip, hot artichoke-parmesan dip, chicken puffs, teriyaki meatballs, quiche, shrimp cocktail, marinated bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, fruit bowls, meat, cheese and vegetable trays... And champagne toasts!

Some of my friends showed up with books in hand (already! It only hit the market Wednesday!) to be signed and I did so gladly.

I don't think it had quite hit me that my book was out...until today.
:-)

I am an author.

The DAY Has Arrived

2009-04-15T00:27:00.000-05:00

Well, the day that I've awaited for years has finally arrived. Burnout is officially released.

What is Burnout? Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 is a science fiction mystery thriller. It is the story of a fictional Space Shuttle disaster which turns out not to be an accident. As the principal investigators dig deeper, they discover the signs of something unusual - and as they do, friends, lovers, and colleagues involved in the investigation begin to die in mysterious “accidents.” They find themselves on the run, searching for answers, wondering who they can - and can’t - trust, in a game of cat and mouse that spans more than one continent, and may span more than one planet.

Who am I? I am a rocket scientist. I hold graduate and undergraduate degrees in four sciences: Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. I am a former payload flight controller, a veteran of over twenty years of working in the civilian space program, as well as various military space defense programs. I have worked on numerous Space Shuttle flights and the International Space Station, and I count the training of astronauts on my resumé. Of those astronauts I trained, one was Kalpana Chawla, a member of the crew lost in the Columbia disaster. Burnout is dedicated to her and her crewmates.

So far, Burnout is generating very good response from advance readers. Comments like:

“Burnout is a compelling, impossible to put down, first novel in the class of Skylark of Space or “Lifeline.” ... It may perhaps be the most realistic view ever published in fiction about what happens behind the scenes at NASA.”
~ Dr. Jim Woosley, Ph.D. physicist and Heinlein essayist.

“Hard-edged SF that wraps a compelling mystery around ‘this is the real thing’ space science. Burnout is tight, tense, and gripping — Osborn tells a damn good story, and tells it well.”
~ Holly Lisle, author of The Ruby Key: Moon & Sun I.

“I just finished reading it [Burnout]. Really well done! Probably my favorite space themed thriller since Shadows of Medusa and Ben Bova's 'Mars' trilogy. I look forward to reading your subsequent novels. You deserve all the credit for a remarkably detailed piece of conspiracy (my favorite subject!).”
~ David Nora, SF short story anthologist.

If the general public likes it as well, I will be happy. I hope they do.

If it sounds interesting to you, Burnout is available at Amazon and Barnes-Noble, as well as directly from my publisher, Twilight Times Books.

I love Spring...

2009-04-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

I love everything about Spring. My blue iris are showing off, fairly exploding in blossoms. The hackberry tree has panicles of blooms hanging down, and the Bradford pears are showering white petals like snow. The dogwoods are popping. Even the little tiny purple chickweed blossoms in the grass along the roadside are pretty.

There's just one thing I don't like.

The weather.

You know what I mean: the roller coaster ride of hot/cold/hot/cold, sunny/tornados/sunny/tornados.

Today was a hot tornado day. We had two circulations go by WAY closer to my house than I would have liked, not to mention a couple more come through other parts of the county. And my parents only got power back a couple hours ago. At least we only got quarter-sized hail and below here, instead of the baseball stuff that fell a few miles to the east.

The odd thing is, the hackberry (around which base the iris are clustered) and the iris appear to have survived the bombardment.

Spring is...interesting.

Feedback on Burnout

2009-04-05T00:24:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to get feedback from people who've read advance copies of Burnout. Here is one I'm very proud of from a Mensa member:

"I just finished reading it [Burnout]. Really well done! Probably my
favorite space themed thriller since "Shadows of Medusa" and Ben Bova's "Mars"
trilogy. I am glad I got to meet you at the MidSouth Con... Anyway,
I look forward to reading your subsequent novels. You deserve all the
credit for a remarkably detailed piece of conspiracy (my favorite subject!)."

~ David Nora

It doesn't get much better than that!

Weather

2009-04-02T19:01:00.000-05:00

Well, tonight was interesting. One tornadic circulation went to our north, and a second to our south. I'm trying to keep an eye to the skies as a stormspotter, while simultaneously tutoring a student in physics. The nearby creek is well out of its banks, and even the major roads are close to flooding.

AAAAAAnnnnd...

Round two comes about 1-2am tonight.

I love tornado season. *sigh*

Report on ImagiCon

2009-03-30T17:19:00.000-05:00

Pardon if there are very many typos in this. I'm still very tired and my fingers don't seem to be listening to my brain too well.

We were in the Birmingham/Jefferson (Co.) Convention Center for the con itself, with the huge and VERY nice Sheraton Convention Center attached. The facilities were very good, but rather spread out - BJCC on one block, Sheraton on adjacent block, parking garage in still a 3rd city block. I covered a lot of territory walking. Thank heavens for elevators and escalators.

By and large the con was excellent. Good topics, good people, very amenable to their guests. There were a few glitches: the schedule was a little confused; I didn't know that, as an author, I had a signing table until Saturday afternoon; and the equivalent of the con suite ran out of food by suppertime Saturday and didn't get any more until Sunday morning. They also had a tendency to schedule panels too early on all 3 days. But they were also very welcoming to friendly advice.

I'm not sure how many people were there; Darrell and I were agreed that the venue was more spread out which made it hard to estimate the crowds. But I'm thinking around 1000.

What was REALLY cool was that I had FANS there - fans that recognized me BY FACE, who knew my website, knew what I did and about Burnout and were delighted to see and hear me. It was strange being a bona fide celebrity. Several people came up to me and told me that I made the weekend for them.

My schedule was booked solid - but then, I told them to use me. I had 1 panel scheduled Friday night and was invited to a second, so I went from 8pm until past 11:00. Saturday I had panels straight from 10am until 3pm. I discovered my autograph table and did that from 3-6pm, then had panels from 6-11pm. I was supposed to have a break from 8-9, but the 7pm panel went 2 hours. Then I had a (I thought it was) 9am writing workshop Sunday morning, that I thought I was early for at 8:50 only to find they'd rescheduled it for 8am, so I was late. But nobody minded. We left a little before 11am because we had to be back in HSV for a gig at 2pm.

I'm dead tired, but feeling good.

MidSouthCon Report

2009-03-25T23:08:00.000-05:00

MidSouthCon is one of the best SF cons at which it's ever been my privilege to guest. They know what they're doing, they run things smoothly and they treat their guests - even the non GOHs - like royalty. Attendance, hubby and I estimate, was 1500-2000. We had 3-4 hotels completely booked up.

I told 'em to use me, and they did. I had 3-5 panels every day, including a couple of different opportunities for book readings, and an hour on "Professional's Row" to hawk my books.

I also ran into an old friend from school, which was wonderful. He came looking especially for me, as he'd heard from my mom to a friend to his mom to him that I was an SF author now.

In addition I met Stanton Friedman, the UFO researcher. He and I turned out to be like-minded. He's not the "true believer" crackpot some would have you think. He's a nuclear physicist by training and experience, and a skeptic as well. Altogether a delightful, intelligent gentleman. We clicked, and he wound up getting a copy of Burnout while I got a copy of one of his books - autographed to each other, of course. :-) By Sunday morning breakfast, he'd already gotten well into it and was singing its praises to the other people at the table. We're going to stay in touch and I might even be able to get a promo blurb out of him.

I networked with a few other cons' peeps, and other writers and small publishers, got some advice and such like. My friend that put Burnout on his display invited me to submit a themed short story for an anthology though, and I think I might do that. Just for fun. It's a comedy SF thing, looks to be.

My panels ranged from science stuff to literary stuff to SF applications in science. Very interesting stuff, all of it. And the con ended with an author's game which was incredibly well attended for a 2-4pm Sunday event, called "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night." The gist of this is that throughout the con, people write down odd quotations they overhear and stick 'em in a box, then each author gets a handful of these pieces of paper with quotes and, beginning with the game title, a character and location called out by the audience, we have to take the quotes one at a time and string together a story, round robin. Allen Gilbreath told me, after that, I was officially a writer that nobody could fluster! (And after wordcrafting a quote like, "She rolled out of bed, jumped on her menstrual cycle, and ran my ass over" into the story, I agree with him...)

MSC has gone; ImagiCon approaches!

2009-03-23T13:13:00.001-05:00

MidSouthCon has been and gone. It was delightful. They kept me busy talking about wonderful, fascinating topics, reading from Burnout, talking about how I came to write it, and feeding me well. :-) I also ran into an old friend, David Jones. He and I went from 1st grade through the first year of college together! We'd lost touch over the years, but he'd heard about my book through the grapevine, and was there looking for me. It was a fantastic reunion!

My name and that of my book is now well out there in SF fandom, especially in the Memphis area. :-)

This weekend is ImagiCon, at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center. Again, I'm looking forward to that! They're kindly putting us into the convention hotel - "us" being myself and my husband, Darrell "Doc" Osborn, Mad Scientist Extraordinaire! It should be loads of fun! If you're in the area, come on by!

MidSouthCon is Coming!

2009-03-18T14:57:00.000-05:00

And I am coming to MidSouthCon! This weekend in Memphis, and most (but not all) of The Write Pack will be there! It's looking like I'll have some limited edition pre-release copies of Burnout available for purchase and signing, too! (That's if UPS delivers the shipment on time!) I'll also have some handouts and posters for The Y Factor, which is still in the editing mode.

I'm busily getting together all the things I need to bring: posters, handouts, sharpies, clothes, etc. I'm looking forward to it!

For further info on my upcoming appearances, go here.

The Key to Midnight interview went great!

2009-03-17T21:26:00.000-05:00

I must say I had a blast being interviewed by M.J. on The Key to Midnight BlogTalkRadio! We talked about all sorts of things and laughed and joked, and I did a couple of excerpt readings from Burnout, and it was generally cool! We had a chat room full of people and it was just FUN!

If you missed it, you can find it on my website under Interviews, or on The Key to Midnight BlogTalkRadio page, or on M.J.'s MySpace page!

BlogTalkRadio Interview tonight!

2009-03-15T17:28:00.000-05:00

Tonight I'm being interviewed on The Key to Midnight BlogTalkRadio by host M.J.! I'm really excited about it - I even have a bit of stage fright! But that's normal for me. I've done all kinds of theatre and public speaking, and as soon as the event starts, all that stage fright gets converted into energy and excitement. It should be fun! Be there!

SFF.net sponsors worldwide online SF con, Friday 13 Mar!

2009-03-12T22:59:00.001-05:00

It's all day Friday the 13th of March - tomorrow! Starts at 8am EDT!

Schedule here:

Sked

There are links to the various events from there.

Burnout Available for Pre-Order at B&N!

2009-03-10T19:07:00.000-05:00

Barnes-Noble Booksellers has made Burnout available for pre-order:

Burnout by Stephanie Osborn Now Available for Pre-Order At Barnes-Noble Booksellers!

Twilight Times Books Offers Free E-Books During Read An E-Book Week!

2009-03-08T17:38:00.000-05:00

Twilight Times Books is offering Darrell Bain's autobiography, Darrell Bain's World of Books, as a free download during Read an E-Book Week March 8 - 14, 2009. We will be offering an additional free ebook each day. Among the selections will be Behold the Eyes of Light by Geoff Geauterre, Jerome and the Seraph by Robina Williams, No Place for Gods by Gerry Mills, Striking Back from Down Under by Dr. Bob Rich, The Last to Fall by Anne K. Edwards and Who is Margaret? by Celia A. Leaman.

Also offered is a sampler of Darrell Bain's books, consisting of sample chapters of his science fiction and fantasy works. These include excerpts of Human By Choice, written with Travis "Doc" Taylor, and The Y Factor, co-authored with Taylor's protege, Stephanie Osborn. Human By Choice and The Y Factor are the first two novels in The Cresperia Series.

For more information, or to download free books, go to: http://www.twilighttimesbooks.com/ttb_free_ebooks.html

More updates

2009-03-02T18:57:00.000-06:00

Darrell Bain is under the weather right now, so he asked me if I could go ahead and finish reviewing and acting on the editor's comments for The Y Factor. Finished that tonight and shipped it off to him.

The latest galley of Burnout arrived today. I checked it against my comments, and everything looks fixed, and the updated cover looks wonderful! I emailed my publisher and told her it looked good and to run with that puppy!

Honestly, it's like being on a roller coaster headed down a HUUUGE hill, and nearing the bottom! I'm only picking up speed!

The Y Factor & Burnout updates

2009-03-01T20:15:00.000-06:00

The first edits came in today for The Y Factor, the sequel to Human By Choice that Darrell Bain asked me to co-author. As he's a bit under the weather, he asked me to go ahead and take a look at it.

I was really pleased; for the most part, all it consisted of was spelling and grammatical boo-boos, quick and easy to fix. There are a couple of things that I want Darrell to look at and give his yea/nay on, but the bulk of it was done in a couple of hours.

The cover flat for The Y Factor came in, too, and looks great!

A tweak to the Burnout cover flat came in, lightening the text, and if it looked great before, it looks fantastic now! I'm starting to get really REALLY excited!

Cats

2009-03-01T13:33:00.000-06:00

My husband and I have had cats for years. In fact, we've both had cats since we were children. Our last 2 cats have been adoptions from stray litters. The cat that currently owns us is Elrond Half-Siamese, and he's a real thing on wheels. He's 3 years old. Makes me wonder if Elrond Half-Elven was such a mischievous young elfling sometimes.

This morning he's been frantically pinging around the house for reasons totally unknown to us humans, yowling mournfully at the top of his lungs about something. When he wasn't doing that, he was commandeering my tote bags and crawling into them.

Now that latter bit isn't unusual for a cat, but what he wants you to DO, once he's INSIDE, is. He wants you to pick him up - or rather, pick up the bag - and swing him back and forth. While you're doing that, he is either staring up at you from the bottom of the bag, or else, and more likely, he has his head and front paws sticking out the top, looking around. For all the world like a kid on an amusement park ride. And purring fit to be heard across the room.

This morning it snowed in Alabama, a couple of inches' worth, for the first time in almost a decade. Needless to say, Elrond had never seen snow before. So I picked him up, opened the blinds, and held him to the window in the position in which we two often gaze out upon the world.

He did a double-take. Those crossed little blue eyes got bigger than milk saucers, and he stared at the white world outside. Then he started scrambling to get down. I guess he didn't like it and thought something strange had happened to his world. At any rate, he went into the bedroom and crawled under the covers with my husband.

Speaking of hubby, when he finally couldn't take the cat's racing around at Warp Factor 47 and yowling Red Alert any longer, he picked the critter up. Now, my husband is the only person who can turn Elrond on his back without getting turned into hamburger. So he turned him over and began rubbing his tummy, which elicits the sound of warp engines purring in perfect tune.

But as he did so, my husband commented, "Flop!" To which, of course, the cat responded by turning into jello.

My mind being what it is, however, I queried, "Does that make it a petaflop?"

My husband just stared at me.

The cat purred.

The Write Pack!

2009-02-27T23:43:00.000-06:00

Look out for us! No, not The Rat Pack, Vegas heyday group of megastars who frequented the clubs there. We're The Write Pack, a group of science fiction and fantasy authors from various publishing houses who promote our books at many of the same SF conventions around the Southeast. We've come to be friends, advisors, mentors, helpers, and co-networkers, and we enjoy each others' company so we hang out together.

It's nothing formal, just a loose-knit group of good friends who share a common passion/profession and run into each other fairly often. I fully expect the roster to change over time, but for now, The Write Pack includes:

Allan Gilbreath
Les Johnson
J.F. Lewis
myself, Stephanie Osborn
Bill Snodgrass
Travis "Doc" Taylor

Coming soon to a science fiction convention near you!

Time to get excited!

2009-02-27T21:57:00.001-06:00

It's getting closer and closer to time for Burnout: The Mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 to be released (April 15), and I'm excited! More and more PR appearances, galley proofs, seeing the final book cover for the first time! It's all good! I can't wait!

I have several BlogTalkRadio interviews scheduled over the next few weeks, and several more science fiction convention appearances scheduled! (For more details, check out the Upcoming Appearances page at my website!)

They say write what you know, so I did. I was a Shuttle and Station payload flight controller, as well as a military space expert, for a 20+ year career, before I lost a friend in the Columbia disaster. That was the beginning of the end for me, and after a few more years, I got out of the program - but the program didn't get out of me. The result is Burnout, which actually was completed in rough draft BEFORE the Columbia disaster.

Burnout is a science fiction mystery about a Space Shuttle disaster that turns out NOT to have been an accident. Investigators Emmett "Crash" Murphy and Dr. Michael C. Anders end up on the run, as friends, lovers, and colleagues die around them. What happened to STS-281? Why? Who did it? Why do parts of the government want it covered up? And who is willing to kill to keep it quiet?

Burnout: The Mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 is a techno-thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat, not wanting to put it down!