I'm super excited to have blogger buddy, Krista D. Ball on today to talk about one of my favorite aspects of SF and the possibilities of the future... space stations.
When I was a little girl, I wanted to go into space. I didn’t want to be an astronaut, though. I wanted to move to a space port, or an asteroid drilling complex, or a planetary research facility. (Thank the spirits my parents were too poor to send me into therapy and instead just let me watch Twilight Zone reruns.)
A significant portion of science fiction cannon is set on space ships, soaring through the black. Reading about aliens, scary space nebulas, and weird and wondrous space fungi is rather cool, I admit. But for me, I like to also read about how people working together get on; how they live their lives, interact with each other – and how they get their supplies!
In Road to Hell, I imagined my military space port to be somewhere between an airport and a hospital. Lots of businesses, offices, people coming and going. I did let people live there; I want the future to solve the daily commute issue, not make it worse by shuttling people to and from a planet!
Perhaps it’s my distaste for big box stores, but I want my future space ports to be filled with specialized shops – homemade candies, non-chain restaurants, hat stores. I don’t want a giant DIY store taking up half of my space port’s strip mall. I want specialty items and goodies.
Also, in space I think we’ll be falling back to the mail order catalogue. Sure, we’ll always have the general items available, but sometimes you’ll just want to order jeans from Earth and no local brand will do. And what about food? A girl can only eat reconstituted protein powder before she snaps. Imported Jiffy-brand peanut butter might become the cure for deep space dementia.
When you think about the future, what do you want to see on your space stations? Do you want austere décor, a place fit for battle. Or, do you want a local mall? Or, do you want it turned into a nudist colony?
Perhaps it’s my distaste for big box stores, but I want my future space ports to be filled with specialized shops – homemade candies, non-chain restaurants, hat stores. I don’t want a giant DIY store taking up half of my space port’s strip mall. I want specialty items and goodies.
Also, in space I think we’ll be falling back to the mail order catalogue. Sure, we’ll always have the general items available, but sometimes you’ll just want to order jeans from Earth and no local brand will do. And what about food? A girl can only eat reconstituted protein powder before she snaps. Imported Jiffy-brand peanut butter might become the cure for deep space dementia.
When you think about the future, what do you want to see on your space stations? Do you want austere décor, a place fit for battle. Or, do you want a local mall? Or, do you want it turned into a nudist colony?
About Road to Hell:
Captain Katherine Francis is about to disobey every Ethics Law the Union of Planets throws at her. After the Union's enemy destroys her home planet and murders her family, she makes the decision to bring an end to the war--whatever it takes.
When an opportunity arises to ally with the neutral Alliance and turn the tide of war, Katherine throws aside her moral code, partners with a known spy, and risks sacrificing the very core of who she is.
And when faced with choosing between her conscience and stopping the bloodshed, she realizes that, either way, she'll lose.
When an opportunity arises to ally with the neutral Alliance and turn the tide of war, Katherine throws aside her moral code, partners with a known spy, and risks sacrificing the very core of who she is.
And when faced with choosing between her conscience and stopping the bloodshed, she realizes that, either way, she'll lose.
Chapters 1-3
About the Author:
Krista D. Ball is a Canadian speculative fiction author who is currently hiding from necromancers. Better safe than undead.
