Yesterday, I finished chapter 16 of book three of the Planet Moss Saga. This is technically the halfway point in the book, but also the point where the story really begins to accelerate. I originally mapped out the books its chapters in exquisite detail, so I was hoping to finish this book quite fast, despite the challenge of writing a satisfying conclusion to the series. However, my characters have a pesky habit of getting into arguments with each other, and their conclusions often surprise me into having to adapt the story to their whims. So while the book’s finale should remain unchanged, the route there bares little resemblance to my original plan, and writing it is taking more time than anticipated.

In addition to the story evolving in unexpected ways, daily life has been impinging on the free time I can devote to writing. Worsening glaucoma has also been getting in the way of writing, but that seems to getting better now, thanks cataract surgery, which replaced the natural lenses that were crushing my eyes’ drainage mesh, with thinner artificial ones that now give me crystal-clear distance vision.

The picture that accompanies this post is a photograph from Japan’s Yamanashi prefecture. I took this in August of last year, and I fully intended to post it as soon as I returned home. Instead, it ended up serving as the background of my tablet, constantly reminding me that Ishould get around to posting something here.

I have now finished editing the second novel in the Planet Moss Saga. I am currently waiting for feedback from beta readers before I publish it.

After I finished editing the book, I took this photograph during a vacation on the wonderful Japanese island of Yakushima. This was during a hike up a mountain that is shaded by an immense forest, often referred to as the Moss Forest, because its ground and many of its famous Cedar trees are carpeted in vast blankets of moss. This is also the forest that inspired Ghibli’s studio’s animated film, Princess Mononoke.

My novel, Confluence of Life, features an alien form of moss that I imagine would look very much like this, except that the alien moss is a rich blue rather than the green we are used to, and it isn’t surrounded by terrestrial trees.

Whereas the collapse of Earth’s ecosystem is a point of contention in Confluence of Life and its sequels, the forests of Yakushima are a great example of ecological renewal, supported by ecotourism. In the Japanese Edo period (mid-18th century), Yakushima’s oldest cedar trees, most of them well over a thousand years old, began to be cut down in large numbers and turned into roof tiles. By the time this ended, all that remained were thirty of the trees that were over a thousand years old, referred to as Yakusugi, along with younger cedar trees, which weren’t as desirable for roof tiles.

In 1993, the entire island of Yakushima was registered as a World Natural Heritage site. Since then, no trees have been felled, and although beautifully crafted wooden souvenirs are still made, they are fashioned from wood that was cut down long ago. This is possible because the hard wood of the ancient Yakusugi trees takes a very long time to decay. The second photograph shows one of these ancient trees, now covered in moss. This is one of many trees that were abandoned by the people who cut them down, possibly because they were too twisted to be useful.

Given the age of these trees, it will take a very long time for the forests of Yakushima to fully recover, but with care they will. Tourists are being kept to designated paths to protect the forest, and there is very little pollution there to harm the trees. Indeed, the local people like to tell tourists that the water in the mountain streams is pure enough to drink.

When I write a scene where a winged spacecraft glides down through the atmosphere to a controlled landing, views like this from an airplane can be great sources of inspiration for how this might feel.

I was treated to this particular view on a flight home from Tokyo a few weeks ago. The mountain in the foreground is Mt Fuji, but even without this majestic feature, the sunlit banks of clouds extending to the distant horizon felt magical; very different from the view we’re so used to seeing from the ground.

Regarding book 2 of the Planet Moss Saga, I am now 80% of the way through revising its 29 chapters.

Recently I had from a nice trip to Pasadena in California, where I used to work in astronomy. While there, I was treated to a tour of the Mount Wilson Observatory, and I had the great fortune to use the newly installed eyepiece on the 100-inch (2.5m) Hooker telescope to view a number of bright astronomical objects. This included Saturn and the visually stunning Blue Snowball planetary nebula. The 100-inch telescope, pictured here, was completed way back in 1917, but it remains an impressive mechanical marvel with excellent optics, so it is well worth the time to visit.

For anyone who is interested, Mount Wilson Observatory offers both free and paid tours of the telescopes. The 60-inch or 100-inch telescopes can also be rented for stargazing by groups of up to 20 people.

While in Pasadena, I continued to work on book two of the Planet Moss Saga. I have now revised three quarters of its chapters, so I am expecting to publish it early next year.

As I write this, midwinter is approaching here in Japan. Through our window I can see the nearby mountains, still adorned in the autumnal reds of Japanese maple trees, the lighter greens of bamboo groves and the darker greens of evergreen spruce trees. When the late afternoon hits them, their rich colors contrast in breathtaking ways, inspiring me to write about what alien life might be like on some of the many worlds that circle distant stars.

My first science fiction novel is almost ready to be published as an ebook on Amazon. I have revised its many chapters more times than I care to remember, and now my wife is giving it a final read-through and suggesting minor changes. I have also written a first draft of its sequel, which I hope to publish within a few more months. In the meantime, welcome to my blog. This is where I will share my thoughts and make announcements about my books.