Author: movementsinshadow

If Earth had Saturn’s Rings

justbehappydamnit:

just–space:

From an excellent post by Jason Davis

From Washington, D.C., the rings would only fill a portion of the sky, but appear striking nonetheless. Here, we see them at sunrise.

From Guatemala, only 14 degrees above the equator, the rings would begin to stretch across the horizon. Their reflected light would make the moon much brighter.

From Earth’s equator, Saturn’s rings would be viewed edge-on, appearing as a thin, bright line bisecting the sky.

At the March and September equinoxes, the Sun would be positioned directly over the rings, casting a dramatic shadow at the equator.

At midnight at the Tropic of Capricorn, which sits at 23 degrees south latitude, the Earth casts a shadow over the middle of the rings, while the outer portions remain lit.

via x

I didn’t know I wanted earth to have rings but now I know and am sad

Tips from a YA Editor by Anne Regan: Crafting a Query Letter

harmonyinkpress:

What’s a query letter?

  • A short
    (single page) introduction of you and your book to a publisher or agent
  • Use professional business letter format, font,
    and language
  • Do your research about the publisher or agent so
    you can:
  • Personalize the letter to a specific person (for
    example, the acquisitions editor)
  • Show how your book meets their submission
    criteria

Start with the most important information first

  • A “hook” – one sentence that captures the
    essence of your story and makes them want more
  • To save
    his world, a hobbit must destroy a powerful magic ring.
  • A farm boy
    joins the rebellion against an evil galactic empire.

State how your story fits what they publish or
represent.

  • I enjoy
    your fantasy novels and would appreciate your considering my novel     Hobbit
    Wars.
  • Always include the title, genre, and word count.
  • Be sure these meet the submission guidelines for
    your target publisher or agent.

Include a brief synopsis of the story

  • No more than one or two short paragraphs –
    ideally no more than 150 words
  • Focus on your main characters, their goals, and
    the obstacles they face to achieve them
  • Don’t overdisclose – leave the editor or agent
    wanting to read more

Wrap it up

  • Include a sentence or two about yourself
  • Include any writing credits, awards, or special
    background that influences your story
  • Thank the editor or agent for their time and
    consideration
  • Based on the submission guidelines, include the
    manuscript or excerpt or let them know it is available on request

writing-prompt-s:

“Cursed with the greatest Evil to ever walk the realms of the Living,” the protagonist isn’t really interested in destroying the world at all, and runs an animal shelter. 

So you know how, when you start trying to decide what you want to do when you’re finished high school, your mom will inevitably be like, “You could be a lawyer”? And you’re like, sure, yeah, I could be, but I don’t really want to be?

That’s how I feel about curses.

Yeah, sure, I have the potential to literally end life as we know it, but I don’t really want to, you know? I’ve got a good thing going here. I’ve got a dog and a cat and three fish and a parakeet and some mice and all the critters in the shelter, plus my girlfriend and my work friends and my step-mom. I don’t really want to wreck that, you know?

But, hey, you asked how I could say no. Which is the question everybody asks me. “But it’s your destiny!” No, technically it’s a curse. And technically I’m cursed with the potential for evil. My uncle Herbert had the potential to be a nuclear physicist, but instead he works at Home Depot. Just because you could do a thing doesn’t mean you’re going to. It just means you could.

Should we talk about what I did do, instead? I know, I know, this is your interview, but could you humour me for just a second? I’ve already answered all your questions in other interviews; your viewers can just find them online. 

So what actually happened, is my birth parents were like “Holy crap, she’s a monster” and promptly gave me up for adoption. But, I mean, it was all over the news, everyone was concerned about this terrible baby. So who the hell’s going to adopt said baby but people who are actually terrible? 

I mean, my childhood didn’t totally suck. They kind of worshipped me, in a weird and creepy way. I guess I was just the kind of kid who didn’t want to go that far. Like, maybe you’re smart enough to be a lawyer, but that’s a lot of work, you know? So rather than study great tyrants and battle plans and general awfulness, I kind of just coasted. Then my parents – and I use that term loosely – got divorced, which was kind of inevitably given the kind of people they were, but that’s not really important to the story. What is important is that my dad – again, loosely – remarried this actually nice person. Like, I don’t know how it happened. He conned her or something. Seriously, the marriage lasted about a year, but Harriet sued for custody (I’m twelve at this point) and won, obviously, because she was not a horrible person. So basically Harriet raised me, which turned out really well for me. 

And she said to me, she said “Kendra, you have a choice. You have a lot of paths open to you, but you’re the one who chooses which one to go down.” Which is good life advice in a general sense, really. But for me, it was kind of life-changing. I always assumed it would just happen, you know? Like I would wake up one day and I’d have taken over the world. I didn’t want to do it, I just assumed I would anyways. But Harriet made me realize I’d have to work for that. So I didn’t. I volunteered at an animal shelter through high school, and when the owners wanted to retire, they gave it to me. And I’m cool with that, you know? I mean, every so often I wonder if doing this is leading me down the world-domination-path, but, hey, whatever, right? I’m just going to keep doing what I want. Nothing wrong with that, right?