Hi there,
Greetings from Sweden! Over the weekend, we've successfully relocated to
Sweden from the Netherlands. We're still waiting for our stuff to
arrive, but who needs stuff anyway. In between, I've just released the
Isolated Futures Omnibus
<https://koenmartens.nl/pages/isolated-futures-omnibus.html?mtm_campaign=nl2…>
(more on that down below) and with that my first writing project has
come to an end. I've been planning the next project, and have lined up
an editorial team and set the deadlines. So all that is left is to
actually write the book 😉
As part of the setting, I needed a solar system with two planets passing
close by each other once a year. While I don't mind applying a bit of
artistic license here and there, I do try to keep things realistic in my
writing, so naturally I wanted to figure out if such a planetary
configuration could actually exist. So what does one do when one has a
question that can be answered by running the numbers and doing the math?
Of course, one searches the internet for a clear-cut and easy to digest
answer.
When none such result was forth-coming (even though the searches did
turn up a bunch of interesting articles and posts that had me go off in
all kinds of tangents), I figured I just needed to see for myself.
That's when I changed tack and tried to find simulation software that
would let me explore orbital parameters and see whether the resulting
system would be stable.
I found just that in a software library named REBOUND. I added some code
around it to visualise the otherwise purely mathematical representations
in my computer's memory. If you're interested in the nitty gritty
details, check out the article I wrote on my site or maybe even download
the code and try it yourself
<https://koenmartens.nl/20220322-simulating-star-systems-with-rebound.html?m…>.
If you're more of the TL;DR type, long story short: I found out that
such a system can very probably exist and here are some pretty pictures
to prove it (the full article has video as well
<https://koenmartens.nl/20220322-simulating-star-systems-with-rebound.html?m…>):
All planets
<https://koenmartens.nl/20220322-simulating-star-systems-with-rebound.html?m…>
Inner 6 planets
<https://koenmartens.nl/20220322-simulating-star-systems-with-rebound.html?m…>
Inner 4 planets
<https://koenmartens.nl/20220322-simulating-star-systems-with-rebound.html?m…>
All seven planets in the system
The six closest planets, leaving out the far-out seventh planet
Just the inner four planets. The brown and red orbits are the two
planets I was interested in.
Out Now
Cover for Isolated Futures Omnibus, two office towers pointing to a
starry sky
<https://koenmartens.nl/pages/isolated-futures-omnibus.html?mtm_campaign=nl2…>
The Isolated Futures Omnibus
Convicted for a murder he doesn’t remember, digital forensics specialist
Lagan Quill spends his days at the secluded Clay Institute, picking
apart his memories and separating fact from fantasy.
But when a rehabilitation hearing takes him back into the thrumming
city, he uncovers technology so disgusting that his own past pales in
comparison.
Forced to trust the one person he despises more than himself, he
struggles to stay true to his principles. Can he reclaim his sanity
while escaping those who will stop at nothing to prevent him from outing
the truth?
*Find out in this thrilling tale that puts the disruption in disruptive
technology.*
Get it here!
<https://koenmartens.nl/pages/isolated-futures-omnibus.html?mtm_campaign=nl2…>
Book Tips
Book cover, slanted railroad with starry night superimposed
<https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/5f114f96-a570-11ec-8d0f-4f79b231731c>
Humanoid holding molecule-like structure, all in yellow/green hues
<https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/6beb5712-a173-11ec-a7cd-4387631dfa0d>
Two days after Christmas, two in the afternoon, two passengers must face
the storm to prevail against the darkness.
Maggie Espinoza needs to get away from Portland, Oregon, from a blown
out past and a bleak future. She figures taking the Express train to
balmy Southern California to start over is just what she needs. Two days
after Christmas while everyone is preparing for the New Year, she makes
her escape during the worst blizzard the state has ever seen.
Jesse Cabot senses a darkness in fellow passenger Maggie when he sits
next to her on the train.
Why is she so haunted and broken?
When the train suddenly stops in the middle of the blizzard weird things
start to happen.
Random disappearances, an assault, a body in the snow.
It becomes clear it's up to Jesse and Maggie to find the culprit or face
the music on the stranded California Express.
Get it here!
<https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/5f114f96-a570-11ec-8d0f-4f79b231731c>
*A Dark Look at Computer Hacking in the Not so Distant Future.*
Mr. Swan stared hard at his glass of water as if deep in thought. He
picked up his butter knife and flipped it with the blade pointed
upwards. Pausing for a moment, he lowered the knife into the ice water
until it clinked against the bottom of the glass. Mr. Swan looked up to
see if Garrett paid attention to this display and smiled.
A lump rose in Garrett's throat. He knew those motions. Garrett didn't
know what Mr. Swan was going to ask of him tonight, but he could not
refuse. The knife in the water was a symbol of invitation to the Yellow
Dog Syndicate. This was the break Garrett had been seeking for a long
time. A mission or test would follow the invitation, and Garrett could
use this chance to break free of the Guru Group and become more than a
simple Network Genius.
Get it for free here!
<https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/6beb5712-a173-11ec-a7cd-4387631dfa0d>
Music Tips
Album cover of Voulez-Vous featuring the members of ABBA
<https://open.spotify.com/album/7iLuHJkrb9KHPkMgddYigh?si=38hgGANJSzGbZ84oXM…>
(spotify
<https://open.spotify.com/album/7iLuHJkrb9KHPkMgddYigh?si=38hgGANJSzGbZ84oXM…>)
Now that our home is Sweden, I can't not feature an album by ABBA.
Voulez-Vous is the group's sixth album, released in 1973. There are a
number of great songs on the original. My personal favourites are
/Voulez-Vous/ itself and /Does Your Mother Know/. Not on the original
but added on later reissues is what is probably my favourite ABBA song
ever: /Summer Night City/. While the band themselves was a bit
disappointed with the song written as a tribute to their hometown of
Stockholm, calling it 'not ABBA', I always get a surge of energy when it
kicks in.
--
https://www.koenmartens.nl/
Hey,
Surreal. I'm out here, watching the birds in our garden tip-toe around
the lawn, chirping happily and scouting out the mating grounds. The sun
is caressing budding flora to hail in the approaching spring. Such a
peaceful scene. Meanwhile, less than 2000 kilometers from here (just a
day of driving away) an army of monsters is destroying a country and
murdering the people living in it with unprovoked and inhuman aggression.
I'm obviously referring to the vicious invasion by the Russian
Federation into their neighbouring country Ukraine. I can't say I'm
surprised. It's been coming for years. I am also not surprised by the
atrocities the Russians are committing. They destroy hospitals, shoot at
civilians. They spare no expense to confirm the stereotype of the
Russian brute. It's appalling.
I have a vivid imagination. So for the past two weeks, images of people
forced to leave behind their lives, their friends and their families to
run from bombs falling from the sky passed by my mind's eye. All they
have left are the clothes on their body and, if they're lucky, their
mobile phone to stay in touch with their loved ones. It reminds me of
the stories my mother told me. In the second world war, German bombs
reduced my grandmother's home to rubble. For a while she did not know
where her children were or whether they were safe. That's what millions
in Ukraine are going through right now while I'm writing this newsletter.
All this is a tough reminder of how fragile peace is. Take a look around
you. Do you see your belongings, the pictures of your loved ones? That
lovely vase you inherited from your aunt, your kid's toys, your family?
In the blink of an eye, it could all be gone. An army of Russian animals
invading your country, an intercontinental nuclear warhead dropped on
your city, whatever.
If you've been with me for a while, you'll know we're packing up to move
to Sweden. But as the things we collected in 40+ years of life go
through my hands and into boxes, I wonder: will I still have my
comfortable life a year from now, or will this war escalate even
further? Will I have joined the massive hordes of refugees by then?
My heart is with the people in Ukraine, and I feel we should all do
whatever we can to help the victims of this senseless war. We can't
change the mind of a senile dictator who has lost all sense of reality
or humanity. But we can help those suffering from his evil actions.
Millions are on the run, fleeing to surrounding countries. If you have a
few dollar, euro, yen or pound to spare, please donate to the
international red cross <https://www.icrc.org/en/donate/ukraine> or a
charity of your choice that helps these innocent people.
I'm sorry to burden you with such a heavy newsletter, but my mind is a
tad bit preoccupied with this war and its implications and I can't think
of much else these days.
In any case, keep reading for two fresh books you may like to keep your
own mind off of impending doom. There's also a music tip, just in case
this is the end of the world. Stay safe and stay sane!
Flag of Ukraine, blue band on top, yellow band below
Book Tips
Scary drawing of a skeletal warrier
<https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/fd002cb2-9af9-11ec-96dd-0308eb161928>
Box set of three books, woman blazing with guns on front
<https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/f2d8bbd6-98f7-11ec-afe9-9708561c894d>
Blythe Valley has a secret that it wishes no one discovers. This
collection of stories reveals what it wants to hide.
The night Atticus decided to take his life, a Fallen Angel came to him
to help him with the grief he felt from losing his wife. Traveling
across the country with his flock to find the promised land, his
followers have no idea where some have gone. Katrina doesn’t speak of
their leader’s strange actions until years later after all but her and
her husband, Griff, tragically perish.
Decades pass, and Heather and her friends find the fabled town of
Blythe, where she discovers a strange box that soon brings all of her
dreams to life. Her husband, Shane, becomes unsure of her late-night
escapades and begins to remember their past. When he discovers the diary
that led them to Blythe years before, he learns an unexpected history.
Aletha and Pete live in her grandfather’s house, which seems to have
more than them living in it. When Amilcar shows himself to Aletha, and
she discovers Pete’s corpse on the floor at the bottom of the stairs,
she leaves the house to escape. A priest takes it upon himself to help
her rid the home of the Fallen Angel to perish at its feet.
Ezra Thompson has had dealings with the Carrington Collective in the
past. When he and his son, Eli, visit Waldgrave to investigate, they
quickly learn that Amilcar has taken another to do its bidding. With
little time to prepare, they face off with the Fallen Angel to save the
town and its residents from its reign of terror.
Get it here!
<https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/fd002cb2-9af9-11ec-96dd-0308eb161928>
The League lies in shambles, a shell of its former self.
Controlled by the alleged daughter of the last Tetrarch, in fact a rogue
droid controls all. Determined to rebuild her "father's" legacy, the
droid puts into motion the last cold war options against the Planetary
Republic: Assassins.
This third series set in veteran science fiction author Jaxon Reed's
Milky Way Universe is a fast-paced, action-packed space opera, with
space marines and intergalactic intrigue, fist fights and rolling gun
battles, high tech skullduggery and crafty solutions to interstellar
conflicts. Now is your chance to grab the first three books in this
exceptional series!
Get it for free here!
<https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/f2d8bbd6-98f7-11ec-afe9-9708561c894d>
Music Tips
Album cover of depicting abstract insect-like creatures roaming soft
green landscape with abstract shapes
<https://open.spotify.com/album/6bdy2PnssuzDkldvAOjVmj>
(youtube
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HevjXKONsZY&list=PL8a8cutYP7foUeA-HE-jPbItp…>,
spotify
<https://open.spotify.com/album/1hCxbfoen4fGGbbrE3pfZX?si=F7pWTKDZTOClN-tj4W…>)
When the demented Putin told the world he'd put his country's nuclear
arsenal on alert, I immediately thought of this record. Medeski, Martin
& Wood's /End Of The World Party (Just In Case)/ has the perfect title
to capture my state of mind in these weird times. Well, that and a
classic Dutch track /De Bom/
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw9i0bu7PyQ> by Doe Maar.
Anyway, back to Medeski, Martin & Wood. This is the first album of the
trio I ever heard, but certainly not the last. Rooted in the traditional
jazz-trio setting, the ensemble has created a genre of their own by
fusing funk, jazz and electronic sounds together. Next to the Hammond B3
and Fender Rhodes, a plethora of synths and keyboards are layered over
the rolling drums and grooving bass to create rich and layered soundscapes.
If the end of the world is near, this is the perfect sound track to go
out on.
--
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Software architecture & engineering:https://www.sonologic.se/
Sci-fi:https://www.koenmartens.nl/