NASA – FULL CONTACT NERD

Mary-Robinette Kowal interview – Science Fiction novel – “The Relentless Moon” (Tor Books, 2020)

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/2CHOJ4j

Mary-Robinette Kowal has worked [as a] in puppetry for 25 years and has written science fiction for over 10 years. She recently published the third book in her lady astronaut series, [The restless Sun] The Relentless Moon, and we spoke about the book, writing, science, and puppetry.

0:30 – Mary-Robinette talks about why she wrote the series. She talks about how she tends to write historical based novels.

2:20 – Mary-Robinette talks about the background of the series.

3:27 – Mary-Robinette talks about the setting of the first two books and then the third.

4:43 – Mary-Robinette talks about the political setting of the third book.

8:30 – Mary-Robinette talks about how the series is hard science fiction and how she spoke with scientists and professionals about the science in the novels.

9:36 – Mary-Robinette talks about how much the books are in space versus on the Earth.

10:57 – Mary-Robinette talks about how she dealt with gender inequality in the books.

13:12 – Mary-Robinette talks about the science research she did for the book including trying on parts of spacesuits.

14:49 – Mary-Robinette talks about her access to science resources.

16:11 – Mary-Robinette talks about the entertainment that inspires her.

19:29 – Mary-Robinette talks about lateral impacts to spacecraft.

21:57 – Mary-Robinette talks about the aesthetic of the book being sort of a spy thriller.

23:15 – Mary-Robinette talks about whether the novel wraps up the series.

23:47 – Mary-Robinette talks about her writing process and how it’s changed over time.

28:30 – Mary-Robinette talks more about acting as a puppeteer.

30:59 – Mary-Robinette talks about having been an art major.

33:17 – Mary-Robinette talks about how she got into writing and her approach.

34:59 – Mary-Robinette talks about the change in lifestyle from puppetry to writing.

36:36 – Mary-Robinette talks about editing the book down from 180,000 words.

39:28 – Mary-Robinette talks about having loved Battlestar Galactica and the Deryni books.

41:42 – Mary-Robinette talks about difficulties in getting the book finished.

46:30 – Mary-Robinette talks about writing a sci-fi locked room mystery.

48:26 – Mary-Robinette can be found at maryrobinettekowal.com and ladyastronautclub.com.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2CHOJ4j

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250236968

http://maryrobinettekowal.com/

For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify for the podcast

Guests: Mary-Robinette Kowal

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, fantasy, art, artist, writer, novel, novelist, fiction, astronauts, moon, science fiction, fantasy, computers, Apollo, steampunk, punchcardpunk, punch card, the relentless moon, mars, fated sky, calculating stars, meteroite, SFWA, politics, crisis, gender inequality, sexism, NASA, Andy Weir, Artemis, spy thriller, captain marvel, live theater, puppet, writing, writing tips, Battlestar Galactica, magic, Starbuck, depression, Thin Man, mystery

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/2CHOJ4j

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

NASA space program history book – “Come Fly With Us” (University of Nebraska Press, 2019) – Mel Croft and John Youskauskas interview

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Mel Croft and John Youskauskas are both space program enthusiasts who have previously written a book on the NASA space program. They recetly wrote another book on space shuttle payload specialists and we discussed this new book.

0:49 – They talk about how they got into writing on this subject.

2:02 – They talk about how they organized the book.

2:52 – They explain what the pauload specialist program is.

6:26 – They discuss some of the interesting aspects of the program.

9:33 – They talk about writing on STS-51L.

12:01 – They talk about the reactions people had to being chose as payload specialists.

29:22 – They talk about what they might do with all the information they obtained that didn’t end up in the book.

35:19 – They talk about what the specialists thought when they saw they Earth from orbit.

45:03 – They talk about how the DoD affected the shuttle design and missions.

48:13 -They talk about how payload specialists handle being called astronauts.

53:41 – They talk about the X-37B.

57:08 – They’re both on collectspace.com. They’re also on cmflywithusbook.com.

Links of interest

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/university-of-nebraska-press/9780803278929/

For more of “Science Fiction and the Fantastic Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Mel Croft and John Youskauskas

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: NASA, space program, shuttle, STS, challenger, accident, payload specialist, hunstville, space center, astronaut, X-37B

NASA history book – “The Space-Age Presidency of John F. Kennedy” (University of New Mexico Press, 2019) – John Bisney interview

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John Bisney has worked as a reporter, on news radio, in public relations and is a NASA enthusiast. We talked about the latest book he has co-authored “The Space’Age presidency of John F. Kennedy” which is a photographic history of NASA’s work during JFK’s presidency.

0:41 – John talks about how he got into studying and writing on this subject.

7:13 – John talks briefly about NASA illustration art.

7:46 – John talks about how they lay out the book.

11:01 – John talks about doing research at the Kennedy library.

13:12 – John talks about his favorite photos in the collection. He touches on Alan Shepherd in the White House Rose Garden.

15:02 – John talks about how he chose the pictures they used.

17:41 – John talks about the companies that worked on the space program.

21:59 – John talks about other important people found in the photos.

23:21 – John talks about interesting people who also show up in the pictures.

36:32 – John talks about video of JFK’s travels.

43:13 – The other co-author of the book has a website Retrospaceimages.com

Links of interest

https://unmpress.com/books/space-age-presidency-john-f-kennedy/9780826358097

https://retrospaceimages.com/

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: John Bisney

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science, NASA, gemini, apollo, cape canaveral, jfk, space program,

LBJ, congress, john glenn, white house, spaceship