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posted 02-03-2017 05:04 AM               

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A small notice of celebration. In the spring of 2007 the first book in the Outward Odyssey series, "Ïnto That Silent Sea" was published, so remarkably a whole decade has gone by since that momentous occasion.

In that decade, 14 titles have been published, and another five are in various stages of development. The original series concept given to me was for just eight books, but as long as there is interest in the series out there, and the University of Nebraska Press wants to keep it going, I'll keep looking for new authors with fresh ideas.

So Happy 10th Birthday, Outward Odyssey!

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posted 02-03-2017 06:34 AM            

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Congratulations Colin and University of Nebraska on a marvellous series.

Many are masterpieces on their different subjects, in such detail and so well written, a comprehensive study of all aspects of humans and machines in space. Much more than just looking good on the bookshelf, although they do.

I have them all except 'Fallen Astronauts' which I already had in its previous form but am now considering getting as you say it has been updated.

Pleased there are more on the way, thank you.

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posted 01-31-2018 07:47 PM            

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Dom, Mel and I introduced the Payload Specialist book, now titled Come Fly With Us: NASA's Payload Specialist Program on this thread.

It is currently in the copyeditor's hands, and we both are very excited with how it is all coming together at this stage. Looking forward to our final reviews and a projected November timeframe release. We are also working on a variety of promotional ideas that we will certainly share here as we get closer to publication.

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posted 11-22-2018 01:39 PM            

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I am currently reading "Outposts on the Frontier" by Jay Chladek in this series and am enjoying it immensely, very thorough and well written.

At the moment I am about half way through but feel compelled to post as to how the books in this series can be linked to each other so well. Having finished chapter six "On-Orbit Diplomacy" on the ASTP it was interesting to go and reread chapter twelve "The Last Apollo" which was written by Geoffrey Bowman, cS's own Blackarrow, from "Footprints in the Dust" edited by Colin Burgess and compare. The former is very informative and the latter gives you the sensation that you are actually there at the launch. Both are brilliant and give different aspects of the same event.

I am proud that Geoffrey graciously signed his two chapters in "Footprints" for me and Dick Gordon the foreword. All the writers in this series are excellent, who Colin has encouraged to excel. A super series which I love collecting.

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posted 11-22-2018 04:17 PM               

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Kind words indeed — thank you. As you made mention of Geoffrey I can now reveal that he has stepped up to the mark once again and is well into the research and writing of a long-needed biography of Apollo 17 CMP Ron Evans. I have already read and reviewed the first completed chapter and it is a cracking good read. This will be one terrific book.

Just as a further update, Rich Jurek's biography of George Low is now with UNP and undergoing the editing process, along with Mel Croft and John Youskauskas's book on the history of the payload specialist program, and a contract has just been awarded to yet another collectSPACE member for a new book in the series. Details will be revealed at an appropriate time. As well, an interesting proposal for yet another series book has been received, debated, and now goes to the editorial board for approval. I also expect another interesting proposal to come in soon from two series authors.

Not bad for a book series that was once planned as a total of eight volumes. Should this new book be approved, as well as the one for which a proposal is now being prepared, that will make 24 books either published, under way, approved, or awaiting approval. I am continually amazed and delighted, not only at that number, but with the incredible talent, confidence and enthusiasm of these wonderful writers, almost all of whom are first-time authors and have (unsurprisingly) emerged from the ranks of collectSPACE members.

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posted 11-24-2018 05:28 PM            

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quote:

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Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
...well into the research and writing of a long-needed biography of Apollo 17 CMP Ron Evans.

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Well, now that Colin has let the Kite (sorry, cat) out of the bag, I am happy to confirm that I have the honour and privilege of writing a full biography of Apollo 17 astronaut Ron Evans for the "outward Odyssey" series. I am currently finishing off Chapter 7, and I cannot overemphasize what a fascinating and enjoyable undertaking this is. Dr Farouk El-Baz refers to Ron Evans as "one of the unsung heroes of Project Apollo." When Colin Burgess and I first discussed this book, I was concerned that I knew almost nothing about Ron's life before Apollo 17. I then realised that that was actually the best reason to write the book. I expect to submit the manuscript to Nebraska in the middle of next year.

(Thank you, Kite, for your kind comments. Not that I'm trying to drum up sales in advance, but I hope you might find this one to your liking as well.)

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posted 11-26-2018 11:23 AM               

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For those interested in my forthcoming Outward Odyssey biography on George Low, I was honored to write the Dec/Jan 2019 cover story for Air & Space profiling Low on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8. See: The Man Who Won The Moon Race

It's but a short taste of the biography to come...

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posted 11-30-2018 10:24 AM               

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Update on Low biography: now that we are knee deep into the editing phase, and things are progressing well, we are pivoting away from the original working title to something more worthy of the overall subject.

I have to say, working with Colin, Rob Taylor, and everyone at UNP is fantastic. They are amazing professionals — and really work the final product. Stay tuned for a new title in the near future...

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posted 01-29-2019 11:13 AM               

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I'm pleased to report the George Low biography is moving along in editorial, and now has its formal title, ISBN, and is available for pre-order from UNP.

See: The Ultimate Engineer (Richard Jurek).

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posted 11-02-2019 06:36 PM               

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Not bad for a series that began in 2003 and was going to comprise just 8 books. With all the past and projected books that total has now risen to a probable 26 over the past 16 years. I am still amazed at the success of the series, especially considering I left school at 15 and have no formal background in journalism or editing, and yet Outward Odyssey is a still a vibrant and ongoing concept. I really had to hunt up untried authors for the first few books, but now ideas for new volumes just keep flooding in from all around the world.

Thank you all for your kind words about the series - they are much appreciated.

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posted 11-22-2019 03:29 PM               

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Dom, Chris comes from Newcastle upon Tyne and is a prolific writer on space subjects, with a special fascination for the era of the rocket planes. He runs his own blog, "The High Frontier," which he began in 2015, and as a member of the British Interplanetary Society has also written numerous articles, principally for Adam Savage's "Tested" site and "The Space Review."

The finished manuscript, which is now with UNP for publication, is essentially a history of the pioneering rocket plane programs at Edwards AFB, and also encompasses the X-15 story (without impinging on Michelle Evans' wonderful book), and the Lifting Bodies. It will be Chris' first published book.

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posted 11-22-2019 04:06 PM               

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Thanks for the info Colin. Knowing his BIS background and a quick look at his excellent website I'm sure this is going to be another great UNP book!

When can we expect it - early or late 2020?

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posted 03-06-2020 08:11 PM               

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Apologies, Mel, I forgot to answer this when I first saw your query. At this time Chris's book is undergoing final edits and soon to move to the production phase. This will still take a while, so I'd imagine it will be released in the latter part of this year.

Geoffrey Bowman is doing his final edits on "A Long Voyage to the Moon" (the Ron Evans bio) prior to manuscript submission in a few weeks, and I believe Charlie Walker's autobiography, under the new working title of "Permission to Come Aboard: An Outsider Orbiting Earth on Three Space Shuttle Missions" is close to manuscript completion. Jay Gallentine is still conducting interviews and writing his third volume, "Born to Explore", so that's a way off just yet.

Another four books are in the early stages of research and writing (sorry, can't reveal details just yet), while another is in the proposal stage, yet to be accepted by the UNP editorial board (but almost certain to be given the go-ahead).

Certainly enough there to keep several authors (and me) busy for the next three or four years.

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posted 04-13-2020 01:52 AM               

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Dom, things are kicking along at UNP. In general, they are still up and running (albeit with all staff working remotely now), and they're proceeding with business more or less as usual (or at least as usual as the situation allows).

For instance, they are just finishing up the final touches on the copy-edit clean-up of Chris Petty's book, "Beyond Blue Skies," and that should be moving into the design and typesetting phase in the near future.

So all's good at this time and they are keeping pretty much to schedule.

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