Japan Proposing to Build Solar-Power Sats

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A recent Japanese plan proposes to make the solar-power satellite, a long-time staple of science fiction, a reality.

C3-class Solar Flare Erupts on Sept. 8, 2010 [Full Disk]
(“C3-class Solar Flare Erupts on Sept. 8, 2010,” by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

Spurred on in part by the Fukushima disaster, Japan Has A Plan To Start Using Space-based Solar Power By The 2030s.

They’ve devised a road map that describes a series of ground and orbital stations leading to the development in the 2030s of a 1-gigawatt commercial system — which is the same output as a typical nuclear power plant. Prior to this, they’d like to set up a 100-kW SPS version around 2020.

It’s a very nice idea, and one that many of us have talked about (and written about) for years. Unfortunately, until they solve the problems of

  1. getting equipment and material from Earth’s surface to orbit quicker, cheaper, and more reliably;
  2. mining asteroids or the Moon for raw materials and processing them into the required end state; and
  3. building large structures in orbit

the idea of having a demonstration in just over 5 years — and a working model in 15! — seems extremely optimistic.

But, here’s hoping! It would be grand.

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For STAR WARS Day, Here’s a Song

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And a live rendition, no less, performed as part of a podcast!

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(Tauntaun Rider Silhouette by Aaron Hynninen, a.k.a. azza1070, at azza1070.spreadshirt.com. Used by permission.)

This past Monday I was one of Samuel Montgomery-Blinn’s guests on a special “North Carolina Speculative Fiction” edition of Carolina Book Beat. Lex Wilson and I held down the first hour of the show, in which I performed a live version of “Tauntauns to Glory.”

You can read more about the podcast on this page, or listen at this link: Carolina Book Beat: Gray Rinehart, Lex Wilson, and Jen McConnel. “Tauntauns to Glory” gets introduced around the 17:30 mark.

And, of course, “May the Fourth be with you.”

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P.S. To close out, here’s a shameless plug for the album that includes “Tauntauns to Glory.” Get it at Truths and Lies and Make-Believe. Tell your friends!

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I’m Going to be on the Radio

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Today — Monday April 28th — I will be one of the guests on a special “North Carolina Speculative Fiction” edition of Carolina Book Beat.

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(Image from http://carolinabookbeat.com/.)

I suspect we will talk about submissions and stories and such, and chances are good that there will be music of some sort involved ….

The show will air at 10 a.m., and is a special 2-hour installment. Tune in to WCOM at 103.5 FM!

If you don’t live in the Research Triangle area, you can listen to the webcast at www.wcomfm.org. And I believe you can pick up the podcast here if you want to listen to it at your leisure.

Should be fun!

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Look What Came in the Mail

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While I was in Richmond for RavenCon, a package came to the house …

Another Romulan Ale Bumper Stickers

Of course, the intent had been to have the bumper stickers in time to take to the convention. Timing is everything!

Nevertheless, RavenCon went well — but I’ve always enjoyed that convention, whether I’ve attended as a fan or as a guest.

So, who wants a bumper sticker?

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Congratulations to My Friends

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Good news for some of my literary friends!

First, hearty congratulations to Chuck Gannon, whose novel Fire With Fire just won the Compton Crook Award! As some of you know, I take an inordinate amount of pleasure at seeing that particular novel get the recognition I think it deserves.

Second, the Hugo Award nominations were announced, and several of my friends are on the ballot!

Hugo Award Logo

Congratulations are in order for all the nominees, but I especially congratulate these fine folks:

  • Larry Correia, for Warbound, Book III of the Grimnoir Chronicles (Best Novel)
  • Aliette de Bodard, for “The Waiting Stars” (Best Novelette)
  • Mary Robinette Kowal, for “The Lady Astronaut of Mars” (Best Novelette) and Writing Excuses Season 8 (Best Related Work)
  • John Picacio (Best Professional Artist)
  • Rachel Swirsky, for “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love” (Best Short Story)
  • Howard Tayler, for Writing Excuses Season 8 (Best Related Work)
  • Brad Torgersen, for “The Chaplain’s Legacy” (Best Novella) and “The Exchange Officers” (Best Novelette)
  • Toni Weisskopf (Best Editor, Long Form)
  • Sheila Williams (Best Editor, Short Form)

So again, congratulations one and all to these and all the other nominees!

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Full Disclosure: This post is full of Baen Books goodness, and I am a contract editor for Baen.

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Happy Independent Record Store Day

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Today — April 19th, 2014 — is an international celebration of independent music stores.


(Independent Record Store Day logo.)

At the Independent Record Store Day website, you can search for the indy record store nearest to you.

Oh, and this isn’t as much of a self-serving post as you might think, since it’s highly unlikely that you will find my CD in any record store. Not that they couldn’t order it, mind you — and if you asked them to, that would be ultra cool — but as a matter of course, they won’t be carrying my music.

But don’t let that stop you! Find an independent record store near you, and go check them out!

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Writers, Damaging My Calm

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This falls under the category of “how not to respond to rejection.”

KEEP CALM - CARRY ON
(“Keep Calm – Carry On,” by John Cooper, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

Sometimes writers put my tact and diplomacy to the test. Witness this response I received from one author:

Dear Gray:

Your statement “it does not seem right for us” tells me no one read my book. Someone should read it because I am a phenomenal writer. How about you? I would like for you to read my book, then write to me and tell me why it is not good enough to publish. Everyone has a little free time, Gray, what do you have to lose? If it really is not right for Baen, just stop reading, but give it a few chapters before you write it off.

Thank you in advance for your help.

This is the kind of thing that makes me want to jump through the computer screen and throttle the person on the other side. Rather than responding directly with a virtual flamethrower, I’ve decided to use this as a teaching example for other writers who are submitting their work for evaluation.

There is so much wrong with this writer’s response that I have to take it point-by-point:

  • “Your statement ‘it does not seem right for us’ tells me no one read my book.” Funny, it should tell you that it did not seem right for us.
  • “Someone should read it because I am a phenomenal writer. ” Thank you for pointing that out. It wasn’t obvious from what I read of your manuscript.
  • “How about you?” I did.
  • “I would like for you to read my book, then write to me and tell me why it is not good enough to publish.” And I would like for someone to unload a dump truck full of money in my driveway, but it’s unlikely to happen.
  • “Everyone has a little free time, Gray, what do you have to lose?” More of the remaining seconds of my life, which are fewer and fewer every second. Funny how that works.
  • “If it really is not right for Baen, just stop reading, but give it a few chapters before you write it off.” I did stop reading. I gave it as much as I deemed fit. I won’t say how much. (I believe the most classic response to complaints along these lines was Isaac Asimov’s, who reportedly told an author that he did not have to eat an entire egg to know it was rotten.)
  • “Thank you in advance for your help.” You’re welcome, I guess?

Writers, please don’t do this. No, strike that expression of polite consideration: Writers, don’t do this.

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In Richmond Next Weekend? Come Out to RavenCon

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The RavenCon science fiction and fantasy convention is next weekend — 25-7 April — in Richmond, Virginia.

If you’re in Richmond, stop on by the DoubleTree by Hilton, Richmond-Midlothian, and check out what’s happening. The Guest of Honor will be Elizabeth Bear, recipient of two Hugo Awards, the John W. Cambell Award for Best New Writer (2005), a Sturgeon Award, a Locus Award, an Asimov’s Reader’s Choice award, a Spectrum Award, and an honorable mention for the Philip K. Dick Award.

I’ll be on several panels throughout the weekend, plus one intensive workshop. Here’s the rundown of what I’ll be doing, starting on Friday the 26th:

  • 5 pm: Signing
  • 8 pm: Panel on 3D-printing (I’m moderating)

On Saturday:

  • 9 am: Panel on Real-life Star Trek inventions
  • 10 am: Panel on “Exomusicology,” about music in alien cultures (I’m moderating this one, too)
  • 4-6 pm: Baen Books Traveling Road Show
  • 10 p.m. until midnight: Workshop, After the First Draft: The Next Step for the Aspiring Writer

And then on Sunday:

  • 9 am: Praise & Worship Hour
  • 10 am: Reading

For more information, take a look at the RavenCon web site. Come on out and we’ll have some fun!

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On My Last Day at NCSU-IES, Here’s a Song

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Today is my last day on the Industrial Extension Service staff, and it seemed appropriate to mark the day with the first “workplace ‘filk'” I wrote there, simply entitled “The I-E-S Song.”

I started in January 2008 as primarily the speechwriter for the Executive Director, and I filled my time between speeches with other — primarily marketing-related — writing and editing assignments. But along the way I had the opportunity to do a few unique and interesting things:

  • Planned the logistics for the statewide “Manufacturing Makes It Real” Tour in 2010 (which became the still-extant MMIR Network)
  • Got some of the “Made in North Carolina” products we collected into the NC Museum of History
  • Helped start the short-lived NC Aerospace Initiative in 2009-10
  • Produced the “Manufacturing Minute” series of videos in 2012-13

And along the way I wrote a few songs: “The I-E-S Song” in 2008; “The Economic Recovery Blues” and “Oh, How I Hate Groupwise” in 2009; “The 1B4NC Song,” “We Know Manufacturing Makes It Real” in 2010; “If You Want to Get Better” and “The Old, Old Days of Industry” in 2011; and “Dirty, Sexy Manufacturing” in 2012.

Note that none of my work-related songs made it onto my album, Truths and Lies and Make-Believe. The audience for my music is already pretty small, but the audience for workplace songs in particular is tiny.

Anyway, I wrote a little rhyme to mark my departure, too.

It’s been fun
I had a good run
And now I’m done.

Fare thee (or, fare me) well.

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