Note: If you’d prefer to receive this monthly update in your email inbox (along with additional content, like my cat’s latest conversations), you can sign up for my newsletter here.

I’m slowly resurfacing after the intense Silent Spaces Kickstarter. 

To be completely honest, I’m in awe of its success. Going into my first crowdfunding campaign, I was a bit nervous. There’s an inherent risk in putting your project out to the world and hoping your audience will love the idea as much as you do.

I’m so grateful you do, and that the short stories of the Lady Astronaut Universe will have a singular home.

And now, onward. With the campaign wrapped, it’s time to delve into something I’ve been eager to talk about more: The Martian Contingency.

The fourth book in the Lady Astronaut series is officially available for pre-order. You can secure yours here.

Your pre-orders go a long way toward the success of the book on release day (more info below), and I appreciate every single one.

I’m absolutely delighted to take you back to the world of Dr. Elma York as she settles in on Mars to prepare for the first wave of inhabitants.

MUNDANE MOMENTS WITH MRK

A quick snapshot of what I’m…

• Crafting: Crocheting the Juvie Chevron Cowl
• Reading: Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change by Cady Coleman
• Watching: Queen Charlotte on Netflix
• Enjoying: My new lunar whiskey glass
• Writing:
  Thursday morning, Jo and I walked to first period together. She nudged me with her elbow and nodded down the crowded hall. “There’s your joyfriend.”
  
  “I don’t have a–” I forgot how to speak because Remington Aldrin was standing at the foot of the stairs talking to some of the orchestra kids. I swallowed. “They’re not my joyfriend.”
  
  “They’re coming to your house on Saturday, right?” Her grin was full on Loki. “Shall we go say ‘hiiiiiii?'”

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Short Story Cohort: Accepting Applications

I’m once again opening the doors to a short story cohort. This application-only, three-month writing experience will help you learn the craft of short stories while also generating new work.

You will join a cohort of six writers through an audition process and journey with them, gaining accountability, support, and camaraderie. Each month, you and your peers will have a critique session with me as you work to write three short stories and polish them for submission to markets.

Pre-Order THE MARTIAN CONTINGENCY

I mentioned the importance of pre-orders above, but I wanted to take a moment to delve into the topic more deeply.

The first day a new book is released to the world, the number of sales it has made determines its success, according to the fancy people who decide such things. This number includes everyone who buys the book on release day and all of the pre-orders.

So when authors find themselves on lists like The New York Times it’s often the result of those combined metrics (as well as sustained sales afterward). 

Which is why your pre-order truly does make a difference. With enough pre-orders, The Martian Contingency will receive far more visibility and get into the hands of far more readers.

Read “In the Moon’s House”

Have you had a chance to read my newest short story, In the Moon’s House? 

Not only does the story take place in the Lady Astronaut Universe, but it is also one of the short stories that will be featured in the Silent Spaces collection.

I particularly want to highlight this gorgeous cover art, done by Avalon Nuovo. It’s truly wonderful. 

Get to know Dawn, Graeham, Wilburt, and Heidi a little better before you re-meet them in The Martian Contingency next year.

Read the Story

FEATURED READ

Each month, I’ll post a new link to a book, short story, or other work I think deserves a read. Sometimes it will be my own writing, other times it will be someone else’s.

Since we’re less than a year away from The Martian Contingency release, now is the perfect time to explore the Lady Astronaut novels—whether you’re new to them or revisiting them in preparation for the fourth installment.

The journey starts with The Calculating Stars.

The Calculating Stars

On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space, and requires a much larger share of humanity to take part in the process.

Elma York’s experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon, as a calculator. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too.

Elma’s drive to become the first Lady Astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.

From there, you can read The Fated Sky and The Relentless Moon. And, if your appetite for the Lady Universe isn’t sated, you can read the short stories that take place in the Lady Astronaut Universe—all of which will be featured in Silent Spaces.

FEATURED PATREON EVENT

AUGUST PATREON CLASS: GROUNDING THE READER
August 26, 2024 at 8 PM ET

Throughout any story, the reader wants to feel grounded in the world you’ve sent them to and the characters you’ve created. 

For example, in the Lady Astronaut Universe stories, I need to make certain readers feel grounded in: 

• The changes to the world that spin out of a meteor striking Earth
• Social implications and struggles that come along with an Apollo-era society
• Elma’s social anxiety as she faces new challenges in public settings

In this class for Patreon members, we’ll look at how to use description, setting, and sensory details to create a vivid sense of place and person.

WHERE TO FIND MARY ROBINETTE

Here’s where you can find me in the coming months:

• WXR Cruise: The Business of Writing (September 19 – 27, Los Angeles, CA)
  
• In Conversation with Hildur Knútsdóttir, author of THE NIGHT GUEST, which I translated from Icelandic into English and narrated the English language audiobook (September 29 at 2 PM MT, Lakewood, CO Barnes & Noble)
  
• Surrey International Writers Conference (October 25 – 27, Surrey, BC)
  
• Nantes Utopiales (October 31 – November 3, Nantes, France)
  
• The Museum of Flight, discussing The Lady Astronaut series (December 14 at 2 PM PT, Seattle, WA)
  
• Sandia Starforgers Writers Retreat and Workshop (May 2 – 5, Albuquerque, NM)

I hope to see you! Please tell your friends.

ELSIE‘S CORNER

Recently, I decided to try paring down Elsie’s button board. With well over 100 buttons, there are some she simply doesn’t use very often, if at all. So I removed the words CREEK and OR in an attempt to simplify.

It didn’t take her long to start yelling at me.

It took me a while to figure out why she was mad, but eventually I caught on.

So CREEK and OR will remain on the board for now. Next time I try I will see if I can figure out how to get her consent on button removal.

Want to start your own communication journey with your animal? 

Click this link and use the code “elsiewant” for 12% off FluentPet buttons.

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