I want a space colony on the moon!

I've been following the news reports on the radio about the space shuttle program coming to an end. Tomorrow the Atlantis returns to earth never again to leave it. And it's the last flight. I think it is sad that space exploration hasn't progressed further than it has. And to leave it like this and not have something in place already, I shake my head. I'm sure there are some who will say it's too expensive and that there are better things to spend money on. I agree there are many worthy projects to spend money on and so many that would benefit people right now.

That doesn't stop me from thinking how neat it would be to have a colony on the moon and to send people to Mars and possibly set up a colony there too. A large space station, like a little city, orbiting the earth would be nice too. And I would love to be able to visit such a space station or one of those colonies.

At the very least it would be nice of the countries of the world would cooperate, or corporations for that matter, and send people to the moon again. If for no other reason than to show everyone that the US did get there in the 1960's and put to rest all the nonsense about it being a hoax.

The US should at least replace the space shuttle with something to take astronauts to the international space station even if there is no ambition to return to the moon or go on to Mars.

Friendships

As I go about the Internet trying to become known in my way and finding people to help me with my novel I am creating friendships that I hope will last a long time. Since high school I have not forged any long lasting friendships in person except perhaps at my work. There are people I know that I trust and I am friends with but at this point I doubt I will be in contact with them once I or they move.

I am still in contact with two friends from when I was in school. One I have known since middle school, the other since elementary school. We e-mail each other every few months.

I am sure some of this is the way I am and the way life changed after high school. Other than right now there is no other place I have lived longer except where I grew up. I've lived in the same house in Virginia for just over six year. Where I grew up I lived in that house in Utah for eleven years continuously.

I have some friends I only know from conversations via the Internet. Some of these I have known for about five years now.

Too me, communicating on a regular basis opens up the possibility of creating friendships. As I communicate with people and ask them to beta read my book, edit my book, and/or design the cover for my book, I hope that some of them become my friends. Most of those who volunteered to beta read my book are my friends. I realize that me hiring editors and cover designers means I have a business relationship with them, but in my mind I consider them as friends. They have chosen to help me the best they can. The depth of the friendship is something different and since I have just met them on the Internet in the past few weeks there is not much depth there yet.

It seems to me it is easier for me to make friend via the Internet than in person. I am divorced with custody of my four children and so most evenings are spent at home out of necessity. Saturdays is when I do my grocery shopping and other errands. Sometimes I don't get a chance to take a break and relax on Saturdays until the evening. Sundays I spend at church and then home relaxing. So all that leaves little time for me to strengthen friendships with people who live near me. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention I spend three hours a day commuting to and from work.

I want to find time to go visit peoples blogs and write comments. I want to participate on kindleboards more. When I do visit blogs I often can't seem to think of anything to say and the same thing seems to happen on kindleboards. There are so many wonderful people there that know so much more than me about self publishing and I learn a lot from them and for that I am thankful.

I believe I will have many more friends as time progresses, but for me it happens very slowly.

More Idea's Already?

So, now that my first draft is done I have all kinds of ideas flowing into my head for book two in the series as well as for other books, including sci-fi. Good grief. I want to finish this book first and get it published then work on book two. I am generally good at staying focused.

So far I am almost one fourth of the way through the first round of revisions. At this rate I should be finished by the end of July. I think I'll have my story ready for beta readers about mid August. As I complete each fourth of my book I am sending it off to Arkali (Yep the one at kindleboards.com) for editing. This way I will be able to include her suggestions and corrections before giving my story to my beta readers. I am surprised at how many people I have found that are willing to beta read my story. I even have a teenager and pre teen that will be reading it (not counting my children who may decide to beta read for me). I believe I will have changes made based on beta readers by the end of September and expect to turn my story over to its final editor in early October. Cherie Reich at Hazard Editing will be doing the final edit.

Now if I can just keep those story ideas at bay until I get all that done, I will be doing good.