You may remember an author's note when I said the crystal cave in The Maretian was my bullshit moment for the story.

Well... maybe not so much.

Yes, we've spotted collapsed lava tubes on Mars's surface before, but this is the first time we've seen one open up.

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In order to prevent pipes freezing and bursting, I had several faucets, including all three of my outdoor faucets, running from Saturday night through now.

I awoke yesterday morning to find an inch of snow outside, as I might have mentioned. (It's melting now- the temp got as high as 38 today.) The pipes did not freeze (and still haven't, partly thanks to my luck in not being among the rolling blackouts).

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Planning out production of the WLP editions for CSP and Maretian.

At the very least, I'm going to have four new interior illustrations per book for CSP and the three volumes of Maretian. (The single-volume abridged Maretian will have some, but not necessarily all, of the illos from the unabridged editions.) More illustrations will depend on either stretch-goals or specific pledge levels in the Kickstarter when that happens.

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So, in The Martian (and The Maretian) the Mars Ascent Vehicle manufactures its own fuel for taking off from the Martian surface very slowly, using a radioisotope thermal generator and stored hydrogen plus compressed Martian atmosphere to cook up methane and oxygen.

How much sense does this actually make?

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... no, not announcing a new print edition (though I have been idly thinking about it... I'd have to get permission to re-use the artwork from the hardbacks or else commission new work, though).

But I read through comment threads again sometimes, and new comments tend to gravitate to the same places, it seems... which had me thinking of "favorite scenes".

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Apparently some people at NASA are taking the possibility of sheltering in lava tubes seriously.

Nothing in the article about the tubes being lined with giant quartz crystals, though.

... because GOG didn't list system requirements when I bought it.

And no, none of my machines can run it.

So tonight it's KSP, and tomorrow I take apart my main computer to make sure I know what size card slot my current ATI Radeon 4800 graphics card uses. (My processor and RAM meet requirements.)

https://twitch.tv/redneckgaijin

In tangentally related news, does anyone have a particular graphics card they'd recommend?

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One of my quarantine activites has been expanding the TV Tropes page for CSP and the Maretian:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/ChangelingSpaceProgramAndTheMaretian

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... I had a mental image of a royal guard pony giving a Badass Boast, and it required a scene to go into.

So here 'tis.

Expeditionary Force.

(NOT a sequel or anything to CSP/Maretian. Just a bit of fluff.)

Over the past week, I lost three events which represented all my non-Patreon income for the next seven weeks.

So, yeah. I'm gonna need to kick into high gear, creatively speaking, all the better to get those Patreon numbers up- more writing, and video game streaming at least three times a day.

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Here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/38tpyyu3xsmrb4z/AAAaQh9Iz_olrWGT9b4mVa0xa?dl=0

Includes both the ship as designed in the spaceplane hangar and the Shuttle-type launch stack.

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Beginning 7 PM Central.

http://twitch.tv/redneckgaijin

I'm beginning to consider moving it to 8 PM, or doing a Saturday afternoon stream on weekends I'm not on the road, but until the end of this month it'll be 7 PM Mondays and Wednesdays. (Doing a Saturday 7 PM XCOM stream this weekend, too.)

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First, quick plug: tonight streaming KSP on Hard difficulty, Friday streaming X-COM: Long War:

http://twitch.tv/redneckgaijin (begins 7 PM Central)

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Those on my Patreon will already see the links for a LOT of streaming stuff! But here's the non-Patron-exclusive links:

Tonight, 7 PM Central: Kerbal Space Program- The Maretian

I'm going to build Concordia! (Probably not launch it, though. It would take multiple launches and orbital assembly.)

http://twitch.tv/redneckgaijin

Wednesday, 9 PM Central: KWLP is On the Air!

One last run through my "Call of Cthulhu" playlist!

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INSIGHT: Okay, I'm going to stick a probe in you.

MARS: No. Don't want probe. Go 'way.

... well, my copies are on the way to me.

I assume everyone else will get theirs before too much longer, too.

I updated the wrong story!

Whoops!

Happy April Fool's Day!

Tomorrow, midnight-1 AM Eastern (11PM-midnight Central).

https://www.fimfiction.net/group/214150/the-b-team/thread/393632/24-by-24-twenty-four-guests-in-twenty-four-hours-23-feb-19-12-pm-est-question-thread

Well, it's a good thing Kami-Con (where I am this weekend, in downtown Birmingham) doesn't open until 11 AM Sunday morning...

So, over the weekend (while I was at UshiCon getting bills paid) a group of readers released a piece of artwork described in Sol 105 that they'd jointly commissioned. You can find it here:

https://derpibooru.org/1963153

And as a reminder, all the other Maretian art, commissioned and/or fanart, can be found at this Derpibooru tag:

https://derpibooru.org/tags/fanfic-colon-the+maretian

Thanks, everyone- it's always flattering that people care enough to do stuff like this.

NASA has officially given up on all attempts to contact Opportunity on Mars.