Historic Launch

Yesterday was a busy day for me. My third proofreader, Roberta, sent back the last chapters of my new John Lee Quarrels book, Ka-Bar Karma, and after I made all of her changes and tweaked a couple of things that seemed a little flat, I printed out the entire manuscript for Terry to start proofreading one more time from start to finish. When she’s done with that and I make any corrections still needed, it will go back to Roberta for the final proofreading.

I try never to give an exact date when a book will be released because every time I do something comes up to get in the way, but I will say that it should be no more than a week or so now.

Terry made calzones for dinner, one of her specialties and one that I enjoy very much, and they were delicious, as always.

Then we went outside to watch the launch of Space X’s Inspiration4 rocket from nearby Cape Canaveral. We’ve been here so long and seen so many launches that sometimes we take them for granted, but this one was historic because it was the first time an all civilian crew went into space.

We’re about 25 miles from the Cape, and the rockets’ flight path usually takes them north over us when they launch. It starts with a glow on the horizon and then it seems like the sky is on fire as the rockets lift off.

Terry was using her Canon SX40 digital camera to take pictures and got some excellent ones, including this one of the rocket as it soared into the sky.

Then she got some pictures of the booster rocket (top right) as it separated, and about eight minutes after liftoff it landed on a drone ship out in the Atlantic Ocean. How cool is that?

Civilian astronauts are not the only people having a good time right now. I received an e-mail from the Veterans Administration yesterday saying that all active-duty military, honorably discharged veterans, and Gold Star families can now get free entrance to national parks, historic sites, and recreation sites administered by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sites. Click this link for more information.

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of The Islet of the Virgin, book 4 in my friend Ken Rossignol’s – Famous Murderous Pirates book series. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

Thought For The Day – There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can’t get away.