Posts: 1034
From: Washington, IL
Registered: Jan 2006

posted 03-23-2019 03:09 PM               

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Just purchased my copy of "Come Fly With Us" from Barnes & Noble bookstore and when I got home I noticed that pages 79 to 113 were bent and damaged. I returned it to the bookstore to exchange it and every copy they had had the same damage to each book?

Is this something from shipping to the bookstore or from the Publisher company? Strange that every copy they had had the same damage to it?

I cannot wait to read this book and it looks informative.

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posted 03-23-2019 03:19 PM            

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I would hope B&N is able to get you another copy that is not damaged. This is not something we have come across in the many copies we have seen. Given what you’ve said, perhaps a series of books had some damage done as they were printed.

Please do enjoy the story once you get a good copy. Mel and I did one interview this month and have two more lined up this week. We will post details here once they are online.

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posted 03-26-2019 09:36 PM            

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Tune in this Friday, March 29th at 9:30 AM PDT/12:30 PM EDT as Dr. David Livingston discusses the NASA payload specialist program live with authors Mel and John!

You can call in with questions at 1-866-687-7223, and the show will be archived on the website.

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posted 03-30-2019 04:28 PM            

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Mel and I had a great discussion about the book with Dr. Livingston on The Space Show yesterday. It's about a 90 minute program, and included some interesting questions for us from his listeners.

He has the program archived on his website.

For two relatively new authors, the marketing phase of publishing a book is a real change of pace, from being the interviewers to becoming the interviewees!

Thanks to David for his support and for the opportunity to appear on his show.

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posted 04-26-2019 05:19 PM            

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Mel and I recently spent some time discussing our book with Cris Alvarez. You can check out his podcast here.

Both authors are planning to attend Spacefest, and we've been confirmed for two book signing times during that event. We will post the details once they are finalized. Hope to meet many cS'er's there!

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posted 07-13-2019 02:20 PM            

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Mel and John will both be at Spacefest next month, where we have two book signings scheduled through the weekend. We have a table at 10 AM on Friday and at 1:15 on Saturday.

We’ll have books on hand for sale, or you can bring your own copy and we’ll be happy to sign it for you! In addition, if you happen to have a copy of Footprints in the Dust from the Outward Odyssey series, we also plan to have a few remaining author-signed bookplates available as well.

Looking forward to the event and discussing the great experience of writing this book with everyone.

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posted 07-14-2019 05:54 PM            

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quote:

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Originally posted by Grounded!:
Will you be signing copies for Sally to sell through their website?

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We haven't discussed this, but it's an idea. For those not attending, I'm certain we will be able to offer signed copies after the show in some manner.

This will actually be the first time both authors have gotten together since publication, so we'll try to make the most of it! Thanks!

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posted 07-29-2019 12:24 PM            

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Mel and I received some great news from the publisher this week... an audio version of our book is in the works! We're told it's likely 4-6 months off and UNP is currently working to recruit a narrator. We'll be sure to keep everybody updated.

Also, we're all set and getting excited for Spacefest! A limited number of books will be available during our two scheduled signings, so please be sure to stop by if you are attending.

We'll probably be posting a lot on our Twitter page from the show, so be sure to follow us, if you haven't already!

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posted 04-09-2020 04:31 PM            

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Just finished reading this yet another gem from the Outward Odyssey series. I never knew much about the Payload Specialists and even less of the Manned Flight Engineers but thanks to this very well written and researched book I now feel I do. Not just of the flown astronauts but also those who were back ups or were not successful in flying, many with events overtaking them such as the Challenger tragedy. In the aftermath of that it was good to read about Barbara Morgan, who was backup to Christa McAuliffe, as I hadn't read very much of her before who eventually flew in space over twenty years later and had been delayed by the Columbia tragedy.

The somewhat grudging acceptance of this new genra of space traveller inside NASA, including the politicians who flew, were particularly interesting. It turned out that in the end they got the respect they had earned, especially with the crews they flew with.

Thank you Melvin and John for this essential story to be told of perhaps the more obscure characters of the Space Shuttle flights. A welcome addition to my Outward Odyssey collection, and would you believe it, 'The Ultimate Engineer' from the series has been delivered today so will be able to fill my self isolation time well!

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posted 04-09-2020 08:20 PM            

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Thank you! One of our main goals was to shed light on these largely unknown personalities of the early space shuttle years. Hopefully we were able to convey the intense pride they took, and still have today, in being part of a program so important to the country and the world at the time.

I highly recommend that if you ever have the chance to interact with a payload specialist, make the effort to do so. They are all exceptional people who shared a very unique experience during a very brief period of their lives.

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posted 06-06-2020 06:42 PM               

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Congratulations to John and Mel for winning the 2020 Space Hipsters Book Prize for "Come Fly With Us"!

You can watch the announcement and Space Hipsters' interview with John and Mel here on Facebook.

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posted 06-06-2020 11:33 PM            

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Thanks Robert and Starfighter1! We were absolutely stunned when we learned of this. I’m sure Mel will chime in here as well, but I can’t begin to tell you what an honor it was just to be considered among such a large field of fantastic books from a talented group of space authors.

Among the nominees were two other books from the Outward Odyssey series - Colin’s Shattered Dreams and Richard Jurek’s The Ultimate Engineer. Dave Chudwin’s I Was a Teenage Space Reporter received a record seven nominations for the prize and is a wonderful read.

As was noted at the end of the event posted above, Mel and I elected to donate the prize money to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which we have both long supported.

Posts: 1825
From: Smithfield, Me, USA
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 06-07-2020 07:54 AM               

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Thanks Robert! Yes I was quite flattered to receive this award and echo John's comments. What makes it even better is that both John and I had a blast researching and writing this book.

Now onto our next book; spacewalking. I can tell you that we have had some great interviews with EVA astronauts and those that prepare them for EVA. And looking forward to more interviews!

I also have to add that working with John is a real pleasure!

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posted 07-11-2020 04:58 PM               

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quote:

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Originally posted by FFrench:
My review of this book.

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Thanks for linking your review, Francis... until now, I didn't know you had a blog! Lots of good stuff there.

Your introductory paragraph was especially poignant... like you, the early Shuttle era was *my* space program.

Ordered my copy yesterday; looking forward to reading.

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