Ask the Author: Dominic Green
Answered Questions (12)
Dominic Green
First of all, apologies for not having answered this earlier - I don't get on Goodreads that much (I'm far more active on Facebook).
Yes, it's a problem. A tidally locked world with earthlike gravity would have to be orbiting a ridiculously tiny star to have a sidereal year exactly the same length as its planetostationary orbit. That said, there are red dwarfs with luminosities 10,000 times less than the sun, which would permit an orbit considerably closer in (100 times closer, maybe even more - one side of Pax Britannica is like Venus, remember, whilst the other is frozen). That still gives us an orbit round the star measured in days, but a geostationary orbit measured in days is feasible - a few tens of thousands of kilometres (Earth's 1-day orbit is at about 35,000 km). Of course, that does still mean you're tens of thousands of kilometres from your target if you want to do any shooting.
Yes, it's a problem. A tidally locked world with earthlike gravity would have to be orbiting a ridiculously tiny star to have a sidereal year exactly the same length as its planetostationary orbit. That said, there are red dwarfs with luminosities 10,000 times less than the sun, which would permit an orbit considerably closer in (100 times closer, maybe even more - one side of Pax Britannica is like Venus, remember, whilst the other is frozen). That still gives us an orbit round the star measured in days, but a geostationary orbit measured in days is feasible - a few tens of thousands of kilometres (Earth's 1-day orbit is at about 35,000 km). Of course, that does still mean you're tens of thousands of kilometres from your target if you want to do any shooting.
Dominic Green
No. However, the scenario Neville Shute wrote about in *On The Beach* (i.e., that small developing-world nations are more likely than superpowers to start a world-ending war) is growing more plausible every year. I chose the Congo for two reasons - (a) it's a political car crash and (b) I find it amusing that there is both a Republic of the Congo and a Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Dominic Green
No, my mother thought Dominic was quite enough on its own.
Dominic Green
Sorry Sanja, I think inclusion of this in your master's thesis is a little unlikely now, but I'm 51 years old, I'm British, and I work in IT. I am married and have three cats and a Newfoundland dog.
Dominic Green
I can put Abaddon on Kindle if you like - I'd just need to dig out the manuscript. Sorry for the delay in replying.
Dominic Green
I'd like to, but I no longer really have a relationship with the publisher of *Smallworld* and *Littlestar*, so a sequel would be difficult.
Dominic Green
I write....
Dominic Green
The endless succession of writer groupies. Chicks dig the bags under the eyes, empty bank balance, coffee addiction, and ability to type like a demon on speed.
Dominic Green
Don't try and support yourself by writing - get another job that pays good money, and prepare yourself for a hard night's work after you've finished your hard day's. Also, please remember that marketing a book takes at least as much hard work as writing it - writing is the easy part.
Dominic Green
*The Moon A Ghostly Galleon*, the eighth installment in the *Ant and Cleo* series.
Dominic Green
I don't. I make sure I write for a minimum of an hour a day. Inspiration is where you find it.
Dominic Green
I've had the idea for over twenty years. It originated (like most ideas I have) as snippets of scenes from other books I'd read and liked, sewn together into an unearthly shambling whole and wired up to the lightning conductor. It's matured a little since then.
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