Hi there,
Greetings from Sweden! Over the weekend, we’ve successfully relocated to Sweden from the Netherlands. We’re still waiting for our stuff to arrive, but who needs stuff anyway. In between, I’ve just released the Isolated Futures Omnibus (more on that down below) and with that my first writing project has come to an end. I’ve been planning the next project, and have lined up an editorial team and set the deadlines. So all that is left is to actually write the book 😉
As part of the setting, I needed a solar system with two planets passing close by each other once a year. While I don’t mind applying a bit of artistic license here and there, I do try to keep things realistic in my writing, so naturally I wanted to figure out if such a planetary configuration could actually exist. So what does one do when one has a question that can be answered by running the numbers and doing the math? Of course, one searches the internet for a clear-cut and easy to digest answer.
When none such result was forth-coming (even though the searches did turn up a bunch of interesting articles and posts that had me go off in all kinds of tangents), I figured I just needed to see for myself. That’s when I changed tack and tried to find simulation software that would let me explore orbital parameters and see whether the resulting system would be stable.
I found just that in a software library named REBOUND. I added some code around it to visualise the otherwise purely mathematical representations in my computer’s memory. If you’re interested in the nitty gritty details, check out the article I wrote on my site or maybe even download the code and try it yourself. If you’re more of the TL;DR type, long story short: I found out that such a system can very probably exist and here are some pretty pictures to prove it (the full article has video as well):
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| All seven planets in the system |
The six closest planets, leaving out the far-out seventh planet |
Just the inner four planets. The brown and red orbits are the two
planets I was interested in. |
Out Now
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The Isolated Futures Omnibus Convicted for a murder he doesn’t remember, digital forensics specialist Lagan Quill spends his days at the secluded Clay Institute, picking apart his memories and separating fact from fantasy. But when a rehabilitation hearing takes him back into the thrumming city, he uncovers technology so disgusting that his own past pales in comparison. Forced to trust the one person he despises more than himself, he struggles to stay true to his principles. Can he reclaim his sanity while escaping those who will stop at nothing to prevent him from outing the truth? Find out in this thrilling tale that puts the disruption in disruptive technology. |
Book Tips
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| Two days after Christmas, two in the afternoon, two passengers
must face the storm to prevail against the darkness. Maggie Espinoza needs to get away from Portland, Oregon, from a blown out past and a bleak future. She figures taking the Express train to balmy Southern California to start over is just what she needs. Two days after Christmas while everyone is preparing for the New Year, she makes her escape during the worst blizzard the state has ever seen. Jesse Cabot senses a darkness in fellow passenger Maggie when he sits next to her on the train. Why is she so haunted and broken? When the train suddenly stops in the middle of the blizzard weird things start to happen. Random disappearances, an assault, a body in the snow. It becomes clear it’s up to Jesse and Maggie to find the culprit or face the music on the stranded California Express. |
A Dark Look at Computer Hacking in the Not so Distant Future. Mr. Swan stared hard at his glass of water as if deep in thought. He picked up his butter knife and flipped it with the blade pointed upwards. Pausing for a moment, he lowered the knife into the ice water until it clinked against the bottom of the glass. Mr. Swan looked up to see if Garrett paid attention to this display and smiled. A lump rose in Garrett’s throat. He knew those motions. Garrett didn’t know what Mr. Swan was going to ask of him tonight, but he could not refuse. The knife in the water was a symbol of invitation to the Yellow Dog Syndicate. This was the break Garrett had been seeking for a long time. A mission or test would follow the invitation, and Garrett could use this chance to break free of the Guru Group and become more than a simple Network Genius. |
Music Tips
(spotify)
Now that our home is Sweden, I can’t not feature an album by ABBA. Voulez-Vous is the group’s sixth album,
released in 1973. There are a number of great songs on the original. My personal favourites are Voulez-Vous
itself and Does Your Mother Know. Not on the original but added on later reissues is what is probably my
favourite ABBA song ever: Summer Night City. While the band themselves was a bit disappointed with the
song written as a tribute to their hometown of Stockholm, calling it ‘not ABBA’, I always get a surge of energy
when it kicks in.