In late July I was lucky enough to be chosen to attend the NASA-funded Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming. In a single week, I had a crash course in college-level astronomy. Why the sudden interest in astronomy, you ask? Am I writing science fiction? No, not exactly. But I am returning some attention to a novel I wrote about the daughter of an astronaut and re-envisioning it as YA, with perhaps one of my favorite ways of twisting reality into the surreal, and I have a feeling all this science knowledge and space fixation will come in handy. That’s all I’ll say.
Here are the other writers and instructors in a group photo:
Front row (left to right): Geoffrey Landis, Christian Ready, Mike Brotherton, Jim Verley. Second row: Doug Farren, Mary Turzillo, me!, Farah Mendleson, Ellen Datlow. Third row: Linda Nagata, Christie Yant, Tiffany Trent, Robin Wasserman, Linda Nagata, Sandra McDonald. Fourth row: Robin Christian Peters, Matthew Rotundo, Merrie Heskell, Matthew Kressel, Jake Kerr, Michael Kurland. Photo by Glen Lehmitz.
Thank you to astronomy professor and workshop organizer Mike Brotherton and co-organizer and professor Jim Verley for inviting me to be a part of the workshop this year. And thank you to guest instructors Geoffrey Landis and Christian Ready, and everyone else who helped make the week such an absolutely mind-bending and unforgettable experience.