Dear Petunia,
I am in the unenviable position of Jane Bennet trying to write to Elizabeth of dreadful news. No, our sister has not eloped with a scoundrel, but I feel as though my writing has taken up drinking and is lurking in a seedy tavern with no intention of coming back to my desk any time soon.

This year has been quite tiresome. Despite being able to finally launch a solid first book to the new Phophesy's Target series, and indeed wallowing about in the first pages of yet another Bladewood sibling adventure, I am bereft of joy. Today, in an effort to at least pretend to have done something creative I have put on some tribal horse music and am typing this post. 

Today is quite hot and a lurking explosive storm is refusing to turn up and clear off this soggy doona of humidity. We are blessed with a small garden and despite the absolute deluge of nitrogen rich raindrops in our last minute and a half thunderstorm, we are watering plants. This seems both unfair and unnecessary. The weather seems out of sorts and is having hot flushes any woman over a certain age would understand.

So looking beyond this small blue ball of troubled space, I notice that we have collected what the media excitedly call another moon. Given that our present moon is doing a perfectly brilliant job of shifting water about, triggering hormonal surges and werewolves alike, I find this  both mildly concerning and somehow appropriate to this year in general. Planets, and such, collect orbiting bodies all the time. It is normal astronomical behaviour. In addition to the tons of space wibbits and whatsits humanity pocks into orbit, the Earth collects rocks and bits all the time. Considering the speed at which we are hurtling through space it is just as well it is largely empty and everything else is moving as well. Rather like running through a huge stadium of colliding and zooming tennis balls. 

Despite all this gallimaufry,  NASA will be launching Artemis II early next year with four actual living humans brave enough to zip around our proper real moon. The object is to test all sorts of important engineered parts to see if they will work long enough for us to go back for some proper moon exploration. You see, despite having developed AI that can make our cat photos into amusing and/or horrifying dancing effigies of our friends and enemies, humans haven't really done anything useful about the moon recently. We have carpeted the atmosphere in space telephones and air pollution, but science has been on a strict budgeting diet for some decades.

Despite knowing that the only reason they are being allowed back into space is to set up a fast food franchise on our dear little satellite, I do wish them well. Anyone brave enough to go up into space in a budget tin can and a St Christophers medal is worthy of our respect.

​Safe travels and fair winds.