What's For Lunch?

I got a question the other day:  "What do the Dosh normally eat?"

Because I am clever and quick on my feet, I of course answered right away:  "Buh?"

When we go on vacation, people often tell us to be careful what we eat or drink, because our stomachs might get upset.  So what would it be like going to another planet? 

Everything we eat is current or former living matter, with the possible exception of that cheese stuff that comes in a spray can.  Anyway, it all (is/was/came from) a living thing, and all of it is native to Earth.  If we went to an alien homeworld and scarfed down a Blargburger-with-splenge(TM), the bacteria in our guts might not have the faintest clue what to do with it. 

(top row) Blargberger with splenge

(bottom row) Splengeburger with blarg

Not my image.  I got it from Pinterest.  No idea where they got it.

Any space-faring civilisation depicted in science fiction must have agriculture of some sort.  As a species, they lived long enough to achieve space travel without starving to death.  Do they have animals they eat for food, or plants, or weird non-plant-like things?  Maybe they get their nutrition by slurping up the highly-nutritious slime that grows on rocks on their planet.  Yum.

Perhaps they've developed something new.  People around here talk about so-called 'superfoods', like kale, or quinoa, or (in my case) pizza.  Maybe the aliens have developed a One Perfect Food that satisfies all their nutritional requirements, tastes awesome, and is made in an environmentally-sustainable food extruding apparatus.

Maybe it comes in a spray can.  I'd try it.

Red Space: Now Available!

Happy Canada Day!

I'm delighted to announce that Red Space, the fifth and last book in the HMCS Borealis series, is now available.

Here's the short version:

They may already be too late. 

Earth is losing the war against the Horlan. The crew of HMCS Borealis is on a last, desperate mission to turn the tide. Travelling to another galaxy, they have rescued scientists in search of a miracle, and gained an unexpected ally... but all at a terrible cost. 

With no contact from home, the crews of the Borealis, Sagan and Nirupak may be all that remains of humanity. Struggling with their losses and despair, the crews prepare for what lies ahead. But hidden in the darkness of a hostile galaxy, something else has taken notice.  

Against impossible odds, the Borealis sails one last time to fight in a war that may already be lost, and to come face-to-face with an ancient mystery.

Find a copy of Red Space here (universal link), or at an individual Amazon store:

.com .ca .uk .de .fr .es .it .nl .jp .br .mx .au .in

It's been a long, fun adventure, and thanks to everyone who has come along for the ride.

But the ride isn't over with Red Space.  There will be more stories from that galaxy, from a different time in its history.