Things I wish I would have learned about before starting a novel about aliens saving the world from an asteroid (it’s better than it sounds, I think):
- Volcanic ash composition
- The irregularity of the moon’s orbit, and what would happen if the orbit became more elliptical
- Metal composition of the core and mantle of our planet
- Likely weather patterns after a nuclear winter or something approximating that
- Tennessee geography
- San Diego roadmap
- Gravitational “lens” effect on light streaming past a heavy object, and the limits of our ability to measure that
- Red shift
- Angular momentum, theory and computation
- Comparative rank and power in various NATO-allied armed forces
- How radio telescopy works
- State of the art in nonverbal communication
- Standards for national security clearance
- Standards for Guantanamo Bay security and prisoner comfort
- Ways to jam radio frequency transmission
- How to write dialogue that doesn’t sound like I was all parties in the matter
- How to describe anything without becoming a candidate for Bulwer-Lytton
- How women think
- How men who aren’t me think
I’m sure there will be more.
4 Comments
Wow! This sounds like a pretty awesome novel!
Sounds like a train wreck to me.
I want to read it! It sounds like it’s very creative and action packed.
Hi! It’s been a long time, but I have recently returned from my Internet hiatus. While I was planning on emailing you first, I just read this postand, and I can help with numbers 10, 13, and 14, if need be.