I know I keep talking about this western series I’m writing. It feels like I’ve been talking about it forever (as well as writing it!) but I wanted to share something with you all. During the writing of the prequel for the series, And The Sky Burned Violent, I have now written my millionth word!
It might not seem like a big deal to many. The adage is that you’re not a good writer until you’ve written a million words, and now that I’ve done that, I’m waiting for some kind of plaque or something to show up in the mail to officially tell me I’m not terrible.
It’s only through your kind words and reviews that I’ve had the confidence to press on with this author thing. Self-doubt is a real thing, and when it takes hold, it’s beneficial to remind myself that people all across the globe have read some of these words and hopefully experienced some enjoyment from them. I hope these million words have given you as much entertainment and satisfaction as it has for me.
A million thank yous!
Carey
Allow Me to Geek Out A Moment
I don’t know if it’s a trait of being a writer, but I find myself endlessly curious. I’m very thankful that I can fulfill this curiosity with a few keystrokes and get answers, or as is more often the case, plunge deeper into the rabbit hole of information offered. I can’t be the only one that lost hours to Wikipedia.
I think one of the benefits of being a writer is because I can write about the interesting things I learn when no one else seems to care. More times than I can count, I’ll start prattling on about something I find fascinating and I watch eyes glaze over like rain coating a windshield.
For instance, last week my chiropractor asked me how the writing was going. I had previously told him that I’m writing a prequel for the western series I’m working on. I said there’s a lot of research involved and he said, Yeah, there must be. In my head I thought, Someone else finds this interesting! It’s Carey’s time to shine!
So I delved into Sherman’s March to the Sea in Georgia and the sacking of Atlanta, assuming he cared, for one, and two, knew what the hell I was talking about.
In reply, he said, “Okay, roll onto your other side.” It was definitely not my time to shine. We were quiet after that.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because I just watched the outstanding documentary, Apollo 11, which is the mission that put man on the moon.
I’m sure to most people, it’s just given knowledge that man has walked on the moon. Although there’s a large contingent of people who believe it was staged, for the sake of argument, let’s say man has walked on the moon.
And they did it in 1969. Before the Internet, before home video game consoles and computers. I’m not sure if they even had cassettes back then. I mean, I think there were only three TV stations at the time.
That’s amazing to me.
I was expecting to learn more about their training and preparation for the flight, but the documentary is new and restored 65 and 70mm (Imax size) footage (although I read that they cheated by using a shot or two from Apollo 8) and it’s told as if it were actually happening at present. It starts with a countdown of 30 hours from launch and (spoiler alert) ends with them being put into quarantine after their safe landing.
It boggles my mind to think of what an achievement that was.
Just the sheer math involved in something like that. They didn’t just launch and take a straight line to the moon. They launched, did a trip or two around the Earth to gain speed, got flung out into space, then did a trip around the moon before landing.
The moon wasn’t a stationary target either. The moon revolves and orbits the Earth which is also revolving and rotating around the sun, which is revolving and orbiting within the milky way, which is orbiting around… etc.
There’s also the weight of the spacecraft and how much fuel was needed to break the atmosphere. I mean, the thing weighed 6.1 million pounds. It also got separated into pieces as parts were no longer useful, so out of that 6.1 million pound rocket, only a small cone with the three men returned.
The foresight and teamwork for such an endeavor is amazing. And then, to walk where absolutely no one else ever had before. A completely alien place, 252 000 miles away in the vast expanse of the nothing of space.
I could go on for awhile, but anyway, that’s my geek out. If you’re interested in history or space, I highly recommend Apollo 11. It looks phenomenal and although you know how it ends, you’ll still find it riveting.
