The return of Launch Pad Astronomy-inspired comics! One of the simple ideas that really caught me during Launch Pad was that when it appears that a small object is orbiting a larger object in space (for example: the moon orbiting the Earth), it appears that only one of them is moving. But actually, between them they share a gravitational center, around which both of them spin: in the case of the Earth and the moon, Earth only appears stationary because their shared center is located within the Earth.

Neat, huh?

This seems like an appropriate day/week/time to share astronomy facts, because of the amazing photos that NASA/New Horizons are sending back from Pluto. I can’t WAIT to see the next ones later today. It’s quite humbling to think how little we still know about our solar system, and how much vast and unknown space lies beyond it.

(Another Launch Pad-related shout-out: several people at the Workshop recommended a book to me, My Real Children by Jo Walton. I loved it, and am not quite sure why it hasn’t gotten more attention in mainstream literary circles; if you liked the concept behind Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, you’ll like this. Or hell, if you liked the movie Sliding Doors! Anyway.)

In other news, I refilled my Copic grayscale markers and now I feel like a superhero.

In other-other news, my house is quite full of unassembled furniture.

Finally, I HAVE A PHYSICAL, HARDCOVER COPY OF MY BOOK AND IT IS UTTERLY BEAUTIFUL. The Daughters is coming at you on August 3rd! Hard to believe it’s so soon. Pre-order, ask for it at your local bookstore, request it from your library, mark it as To-Read on Goodreads, hand-sell it to people on Facebook, review it on your blog, etc.! I can’t wait until you all have it in your hands.