Nightwatch: Ghost Rockets By John R. Murray

Tell us what you thought about the November 2004 issue!

Moderator: Editors

Post Reply
User avatar
kailhofer
Editor Emeritus
Posts: 3245
Joined: December 31, 1969, 08:00:00 PM
Location: Kaukauna, Wisconsin (USA)
Contact:

Nightwatch: Ghost Rockets By John R. Murray

Post by kailhofer »

I had the chance to read drafts of this excellent story, and I was just going to glance through it to see what had been changed... but even though I've read it already, this story still stucked me in.<br><br>I just read the whole darn thing over yet again!<br><br>Newcomer John R. Murray really hit a home run on this one. Clever, well-crafted, and thought-provoking. Good effort spent on characterization and world building.<br><br>Well done. <br><br>Nate
Hardcover, paperback, pdf, eBook, iBook, Nook, and now Kindle & Kobo!
Image
A cooperative effort between 17 Aphelion authors. No part of any sales go to Aphelion.
User avatar
kailhofer
Editor Emeritus
Posts: 3245
Joined: December 31, 1969, 08:00:00 PM
Location: Kaukauna, Wisconsin (USA)
Contact:

Re: Nightwatch: Ghost Rockets By John R. Murray

Post by kailhofer »

This story has been polished to a high gleam. Any rough edges that it may once have had have been sanded down and chromed long before publication. (Ooooo! Pretty!)
<br>Yeah, but who knew it would take hours with a belt sander? :) (Just kidding)<br><br>
I do think that John's vivid description of the innards of the submarine was a gentle dig at Nate's preference towards having all sensory inputs engaged.
<br>I just figured that after months of repeating myself, somebody was finally getting it. :)<br><br>If nothing else, it makes the exhaust gasses bit funny...<br><br>Nate
Hardcover, paperback, pdf, eBook, iBook, Nook, and now Kindle & Kobo!
Image
A cooperative effort between 17 Aphelion authors. No part of any sales go to Aphelion.
User avatar
kailhofer
Editor Emeritus
Posts: 3245
Joined: December 31, 1969, 08:00:00 PM
Location: Kaukauna, Wisconsin (USA)
Contact:

Re: Nightwatch: Ghost Rockets By John R. Murray

Post by kailhofer »

The praise from other writers working on Nightwatch (okay, Nate's wasn't as gushy as it could have been, but it wasn't as picky as it could have been, either) was very gratifying.
<br>Well, it wasn't so good that I wanted to give up writing and become a potato farmer (because my writing would never compare), but it was really good.<br><br>While I don't know what happened to the other usual suspects and their comments, I do think you earned public praise, so let the ego infusion begin as I repeat some things that I told you privately in our many messages:<br><br>“I am sooo jealous of your title, especially after looking the reference up online...”<br><br>“Pat yourself on the back. You deserve it, for turning this out this quickly. Nicely done.”<br><br>“…I’m really just jealous of the confidence you seem to have…”<br><br>“...You've got some really good character interaction going on. The snappy dialog between them is something you're very good at, and you should be proud. (I find myself jealous again, dammit.)”<br><br>Gushy enough?<br><br>Nate
Last edited by kailhofer on November 12, 2004, 03:00:41 PM, edited 1 time in total.
Hardcover, paperback, pdf, eBook, iBook, Nook, and now Kindle & Kobo!
Image
A cooperative effort between 17 Aphelion authors. No part of any sales go to Aphelion.
User avatar
kailhofer
Editor Emeritus
Posts: 3245
Joined: December 31, 1969, 08:00:00 PM
Location: Kaukauna, Wisconsin (USA)
Contact:

Re: Nightwatch: Ghost Rockets By John R. Murray

Post by kailhofer »

Actually I was thinking of writing a spoof of Nate's obsession with the five senses myself.  I had a flash fiction story in mind--but yours did the trick. :-)
<br>To quote a great public speaker of the twentieth century,<br>"I yam what I yam."<br>-Popeye, the Sailor Man<br><br>I say go ahead and write the spoof. You might just prove my point. 8)<br><br>Nate
Hardcover, paperback, pdf, eBook, iBook, Nook, and now Kindle & Kobo!
Image
A cooperative effort between 17 Aphelion authors. No part of any sales go to Aphelion.
User avatar
kailhofer
Editor Emeritus
Posts: 3245
Joined: December 31, 1969, 08:00:00 PM
Location: Kaukauna, Wisconsin (USA)
Contact:

Re: Nightwatch: Ghost Rockets By John R. Murray

Post by kailhofer »

I worked with all kinds, including 97Es like yourself and 3-letter ladies (as we called the CIA & FBI prima donnas) The feebs wanted the bust & glory and the Cia's wanted to keep you in the dark, no matter who's mission it was.
<br>Hmm... Ladies who wanted glorious busts... <br><br>What was wrong with that, again? :)<br><br>Nate
Last edited by kailhofer on November 16, 2004, 12:50:49 PM, edited 1 time in total.
Hardcover, paperback, pdf, eBook, iBook, Nook, and now Kindle & Kobo!
Image
A cooperative effort between 17 Aphelion authors. No part of any sales go to Aphelion.
User avatar
kailhofer
Editor Emeritus
Posts: 3245
Joined: December 31, 1969, 08:00:00 PM
Location: Kaukauna, Wisconsin (USA)
Contact:

Re: Nightwatch: Ghost Rockets By John R. Murray

Post by kailhofer »

I've got to ask. <br><br>Did anyone know that people were going to launch real rockets over Sweden this month when this story was planned??<br><br><br><br>Sweden Readies for Space Rocket Launch<br>By Tommy Grandell<br>Associated Press<br>posted: 18 November 2004<br>04:33 pm ET<br><br>STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Swedish Space Corp. workers on Thursday carried out final preparations on a rocket carrying weightlessness experiments that is due to be launched next week.<br><br>The 50-foot-long solid-fuel Maxus 6 is expected to be launched, weather permitting, from a launch pad in Sweden's far north.<br><br>If it is successful, the rocket will climb to an altitude of 441 miles, reaching the edge of space, and float weightless for about 12 minutes before falling back to earth.<br><br>The 12.4-ton, single-stage "sounding rocket" will carry eight European Space Agency-funded microgravity experiments aboard it.<br><br>For such experiments, rockets are launched just beyond the atmosphere into the edge of space and flights last a few minutes before the payload parachutes back to earth where it is typically recovered within an hour after impact.<br><br>The Esrange launching pad is located near Kiruna, some 765 miles north of the capital because of its remote location and lack of people living nearby.<br><br>The cost of Monday's launch is estimated to be $11.6 million, SSC spokeswoman Johanna Bergstroem-Roos told The Associated Press.<br><br>The experiments aboard the rocket involve material and fluid sciences, along with biology.
Last edited by kailhofer on November 18, 2004, 07:56:13 PM, edited 1 time in total.
Hardcover, paperback, pdf, eBook, iBook, Nook, and now Kindle & Kobo!
Image
A cooperative effort between 17 Aphelion authors. No part of any sales go to Aphelion.
Post Reply

Return to “November 2004”