Work, Work, Work

Got about 3,000 words written today.  We are moving into the middle of the second phase of the novel (there are approximately seven "phases" planned for this one--Book One had five).  Things are progressing a little more slowly than in Book One, but my wife has been sick these past three weeks and that has been a substantial distraction.  She is on the mend now and I think I will be able to focus better. 

And, of course, there are the delays involved in checking to make sure that we have the science right.  It takes more time than you might suspect to be sure that what we are writing about Alfven Waves and the Synchrotron Maser effect is right, or at least right enough that the guy who took a few Physics classes in college doesn't snort his coffee out his nose when he reads the relevant paragraphs. 

I wish the International Astronomical Union would read the appendix to my first book on how to name planets in other solar systems and get with the program.  Their absurd method is counter-intuitive and totally contrary to what people who grew up watching Star Trek have come to expect, not to mention tons of other Science Fiction.  Do you want to go against Star Trek if you can avoid it?  No.  I thought not. So, the third planet orbiting Tau Ceti should be Tau Ceti III, not Tau Ceti c.  Let's get this right, people, or we're going to be stuck with a goofy system for the next thousand years.