Ashley R. Pollard's Blog

It only goes to show how out of it I've been recently that I forgot to post this. Dirtbaggery Book Reviews invited me for a live chat, which I've shared elsewhere, but I thought it might be good to also link to the explanation of Quantum Mechanics that I mentioned during our talk.

The part I referred to starts around the 7.30 mark.

As I said, this illuminates how our understanding of reality is at odds with Quantum mechanics.

That's all for now, catch you all on the bounce.

I found this YouTube channel, and it made me laugh. So, I'm spreading it here, and suggest if you like this sort of humour, go subscribe to her channel.

As for me, I'm still dealing with health issues, which are probably related to living long enough to be classed as old, but I am writing again. Spending a couple of hours each day butt in chair, hands on keyboard. Reading through a story I left unfinished, and making sure to finish the work.

What does this mean for my readers?

The next book will be The Bureau. My homage to Lovecraft and the TV series The Professionals. I'm currently near the end of editing Act 3, and I'll finish the rest in due course.

Note, weasely words avoiding a hard deadline, because I don't make promises I can't keep.

Once finished, I'll have my Alpha reader check for typos, and then look to what formats I'll release it in. I'm not sure I can justify the cost of setting up paper versions, so I might only release it as an ebook. It is what it is.

Once done, it's back to Two Moons, which I need to redraft. Basically, throw away the old versions and start from scratch. The good news is, I have a much better idea of where I want the story to go.

It still won't be the action fest of Bad Dog, because Anderson is not that kind of character, but it's going to reveal more of what's going on behind the appearance of the pillars. Insert evil chuckle.

That's all. Catch you on the bounce.

Today I discovered, quite by accident that Waterstones have a page for my books. How cool is that?

I must be a real writer now.

Another YouTube book reviewer has put up a post on my first novel. If only the trilogy had gained more traction, but that's down to luck. You can write a good book, but it doesn't guarantee it will go big.

Still, it makes me want to finish writing Two Moons, if only because I get the chance to revisit the Gate Walker universe for one more adventure.

Sharing another super positive review of my MilSF novel Bad Dog, which stands in illustrious company with the like of Kameron Hurley.

Been going through a bit of a life roll after coming down with shingles, which meant I ran out of 'spoons' to do anything other than the bare essentials to make it through each day. It is what it is.

So, the pic above is my new computer, an earlyish birthday present from my beloved.

My old MacMini is still going strong, but oh so slow, but it's good enough to become my writing computer. Susan is going to set it up for me so I can run it on here monitor at her desk. This is all part of a plan to separate my work from the general demand of being connected in today's modern world.

Obviously, I'm behind on everything. Posting the summary of what I read last year. Talking about my progress with the next story (progress has been made), which makes me happy.

Catch you all later.

This demo of the Unitree B2-W came up on YouTubewith the shot of the guy sitting astride the robot, and I thought wow! Why wow? Well, because there's a set of discussions that center around the usefulness of mecha.

These evolve around things like ground pressure, height and volume of vehicle that walks, and why oh why would you have walking mechs with wheels? It's that last discussion I'm addressing, with a shout out to my friend Roger who isn't convinced why you'd have legs if you've got wheels.

Mecha are specialized platforms. They'll be used where terrain makes the deployment of conventional wheeled or track vehicles difficult or impossible. There role will be to act as armoured support for infantry.

Think how gun Portée's were used by the SAS during WW2.

I'd had that thought too when when I was thinking out a plausible way for the introduction of purpose built mecha. They would start as field expedient platforms developed from exoskeletons that become big enough that you change from wearing the armour to a suit that's driven instead.

I'm thinking useful in urban environments wrecked by war, or traversing steep terrain where deploying anything other than  infantry is a real slog.

So, that's all for now. I've been remiss in posting stuff due to health issues, made worse by starting the new year with shingles.

Catch you all on the bounce.

I'm sharing, "Fine, I'll Talk About the Drones..." because it nails down the issue of the drone sighting in New Jersey, without me having to do any of the work that writing about it would have required. Life is short, and it's hard work debunking things that people want to believe in.

Remember, it's perfectly acceptable to say, I don't know to any question you're asked.

It's like the 1906 adage from Maurice Switzer, "It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it."

Another post as proof of life, which has been a bit difficult for the last month or so. Catch you all on the bounce.

Two authors have reviewed Bad Dog, which is a great compliment. Neither of them were sent complimentary copies, which means they bought it on their own dime, and neither did I ask them to write me a blurb to promote my novel.

The review above is from Blaine Pardoe, who has written some of the core canon novels for the BattleTech universe, and is currently writing the Land & Sea SF series that runs to eight novels covering the invasion of Earth's ocean by underwater aliens.

The review below is from Tim Taylor who has written a whole bunch of great Mil-SF books.

Tim Taylor

Excellently handled, this novel of near(ish) future mech combat starts off as a gritty military sf tale with plenty of realism and dark humor. It carries that through to the end too, but also slices it through with something completely different: the holographic multiverse and a day that won't let the main character complete. I didn't know how this was going to finish until the last pages. Recommended for fans of Cole & Anspach's Galaxy's Edge and the Four Horsemen Universe. 

Consider this post proof of life, as Real Life (TM) has diverted me from blogging. I'm working on my next post reviewing the books I've read this year which I'll publish over the Christmas period. 

That's all for now. Catch you all on the bounce.

Enrico Fermi  asked, why haven't we seen signs of alien civilizations at a conference in the summer of 1950. This led to the so called, The Fermi paradox, which really isn't a’ a paradox in the traditional sense of the word.

In Contact, Jodie Foster plays Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway who Carl Sagan based on the real life astronomer Dr. Jill Tarter, gives one answer: we're not ready yet.