Demosthenes: Blog

It feels appropriate for the New Year that Chapter 7 of Longshot, posted today, includes a conception. While its voting score continues to fluctuate towards and away from my goal/hope of 7.5 for the story, I was very pleased to see it enter the top five of SOL's weekly downloads for ongoing serials.

I'm hoping that might continue as I continue to add the dozen chapters remaining in Part I ("Flight") before I turn to the middle section of the novel ("Coast"), where most of my writing work remains.

It's also significant that with the next posted chapter of Longshot I should pass over the magical number 500, moving into SOL's premier service. While it's not the reason I've been writing, I have been curious as to what that might look like for over a decade.

Catching up with what I've posted so far, my authors notes for Chapters 6 & 7:

their fractal surfaces designed to absorb Gaia's air

Longshot's air is at half atmospheric pressure compared to Earth's surface and is composed of 20% oxygen and 30% nitrogen. In addition to saving on gas during construction, the atmosphere happens to replicate that of Gaia.

"We're amortal, not eternal."

A term coined by the author or journalist Catherine Mayer, amortality is the inability to die from illness or age.

Shortly after entering puberty I'd found an engram in Ship's archives to alter my MSTN gene.

Myostatin is the protein encoded by the MSTN gene to limit muscle growth; without it, humans and other animals grow up extremely muscular, even without exercise.

I'd like to thank those sharp-eyed readers who have pointed out errors and omissions in the chapters of Longshot posted so far: feedback is not always easy to read, but I always invite comments and mail contact in part because of valuable contributions like those I have received. My thanks to everyone who has made the effort to reach out.

Extra notes for Chapter 5 of Longshot include more details of endangered or extinct animals supported in Longshot biomes:

river dolphins

A rare freshwater dolphin family, the Chinese branch of which was recently declared functionally extinct.

quokka

The "happiest animal on earth" and the only member of the genus Setonix, quokka currently survive in small populations on a few islands off Australia's south-west coast.

It's important to note that Longshot's opening chapters narrate significant events in the early years of our protagonist in order to establish characters, background and setting. Subsequent chapters will sometimes skip five or more years ahead, as most of vessel's inhabitants live very long lives.

Extra notes for Chapter 4:

scimitar oryx

Currently extinct in the wild, but preserved in several zoos and breeding programs

Longshot moved at a tiny percentage of the speed of light

The vessel's velocity is 5% light speed, approximately 15,000 kilometers per second.

superhydrophobic nanoscale patterns on their carapaces

Such patterns trap air, making objects unsinkable. Currently the object of intensive research

My sincere thanks to everyone who has provided feedback on Longshot to date. While downloads have rapidly brought the story into the top 20 ongoing serials on SOL, tabulated vote scores have frustratingly seesawed either side of 7.5, my personal criterion for work that is at least passingly good. Oddly, the score seems to climb during the (local) day and fall at night, rather like the temperature.

After some quick editing I'll be posting Chapter 5 today, and will upload my usual Author's Notes for Chapter 4.

I wish everyone a warm, happy and healthy New Year, and look forward to contributing much more to LongShot - with some 60 chapters still to post - in 2020.

D.

I've included this supplementary material for Longshot to provide spoiler-free extras for interested readers. What follows are optional author liner notes with insights, explanations, and references for Chapter 3.

Even when our lips were held silent the vocal cords in our throats vibrated in minute sympathy with every word we thought.

Subvocalisation is a real thing, and is under intense research by both military and medical science. Replaying "imagined speech" is a touch-and-go effort right now, with most results barely reaching intelligibility, but progress is being made.

"I'm so glad we're not them. They dripped blood every 28 days."

Hopefully the story has made it clear at this point: while Askr and Zuri appear human, they are not of our species. Genetically, they have about the same relationship to us as Denisovans: physically roughly the same template, but otherwise very different.

"Askr might be appropriate"

Askr, in the Old Norse eddas, was the first male created by the gods.

Thanks for reading! As always, questions and feedback are welcomed in comments or eMail.