But it also leaves the situation on Mars and Earth in a mess. That was on purpose. You should always leave a mess for the next series to clean up…
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083

The Generation Mars series logo and mission patch. A figure in a spacesuit holds their arms to the sky. The words "Generation Mars" are above them, the words "To Do Better" below. Copyright: Douglas D. Meredith

Well, sort of. The thing about eras is that there is always another. Food completes the planned survival element framework and ends in a satisfying place for the characters.
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083

Illustration from Scratching the Surface: Generation Mars, Prelude. A father and two daughters sit with their backs to us in an underground living space. Superimposed above are scenes of the Martian surface with rockets taking off. Illustrator: Luis Peres Copyright: Douglas D. Meredith

But letting go is what parents and authors must do. To paraphrase Gibran: Parents/authors are the bows from which our children/books as living arrows are sent forth.

So--*sniffle*, *deep breath*--here it is, the last book of the Generation Mars series.
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083

Image shows two teens, backs toward us, standing at a railing overlooking the Grand Canyon. copyright: Douglas D. Meredith

What’s it like to release the last book in a series? I feel… wistful. A little. My own kids are growing up, just like my characters, and it’s hard to let eras go.

www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083

That time Rick, Holly, and Will looked through binoculars and saw their own backs. I was never right after that. In a good way.

Illustration from Food: Generation Mars, Book Four. An ungainly spaceship lifts off from a base on the Moon. Small human figures are blasted by the drive plume. Earth hangs in the background. Illustrator: Luis Peres copyright: Douglas D. Meredith

Actually, no, let’s abandon such synthetic labeling and say it’s for anyone 11 to 100 who enjoys a rousing adventure with pathos and science and suspense and humor and failure and triumph. (For kids younger than that, parents may want to pre-read.)
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083

Image shows the cover of each book of the Generation Mars series (Scratching the Surface, Air, Shelter, Water, and Food) over a field of stars.

Now, here we are at Food, the last planned book, and it’s a whopper. Believe me when I tell you: there is a lot in this book. I’m not even sure it’s a kids book. Categorizing it has been a challenge. Let’s say it’s upper middle grade/early young adult.
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083

Explaining the Most Important Artemis II Photos YouTube video by Hank Green

Dang, @hankgreen.bsky.social, I'm tearing up over here.

Thanks for this.

Illustration from Water, Generation Mars, Book Three, of a geyser erupting from an ice mine in a crater on Mars. Illustrator: Luis Peres copyright: Douglas Meredith

Things did not go to plan. I had too much to say for such constraints to hold. You might say my primary alignment failed and I broke containment.
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083

Right there with you

Yep

... with a little vignette in which my protagonists deal with a crisis and, through their actions, teach the reader a little about science.

Image shows the covers of Generation Mars Books One-Four (Air, Shelter, Water, Food) over a star field.

Each book would be a chapter book for advanced early readers and would address one of these fundamental elements of survival...
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731024
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731040
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731067
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083

What about killing just one of them out of, like, five?

"Feeling like it's inappropriate to pitch my book on a day when my country might destroy another" is not a thought I ever imagined having to think.

I love this. Part One of my latest book takes place in a near-future ice mining base in Henson crater near the lunar South Pole. From Henson, Earth, when visible, appears upside-down, just like this image!

Absolute cinema watching that jar of Nutella escape contain behind the backs of the astronauts after packing other things away

The front cover of Scratching the Surface: Generation Mars, Prelude. A group of children and teacher emerge from an airlock onto the Martian surface.

Air, shelter, water, food: that was the plan. Following the success of the first book, Scratching the Surface, I would write four more.

www.amazon.com/dp/1733731008

The front cover of Food: Generation Mars, Book Four. A spaceship over a glowing background.

Thanks! A little late to the party, but...

When a misaligned AI makes Earth unreachable, families on the Moon try to save their children by sending them to Mars on an aging spaceship. As food runs out, the social order crumbles, factions form, and things get weird.

www.amazon.com/Food-Generat...

The front cover of Food: Generation Mars, Book Four. A spaceship over a glowing background.

Food: Generation Mars, Book Four

When a misaligned AI makes Earth unreachable, families on the Moon try to save their children by sending them to Mars on an aging spaceship. As food runs out, the social order crumbles, factions form, and things get weird.

www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083

I made a little Instagram reel about this image because it’s just so frickin’ cool

Oh hey this is my article

A full disc image of Earth, as seen from the Orion Crew Module. The planet is a pale blue, swirling with white clouds and glowing slightly lighter blue in place from reflected light. At lower left, a large brown landmass is Africa, with Spain and Portugal with twinkling lights where the planet curves. At top right, auroras glow in a thin green glow, just barely separated from the planet's surface. Earth is set against the black of space (pic: NASA/R.Wiseman)

More context on this #Artemis II image:

* This is the night side, lit by moonlight. You can see city lights in Spain & Portugal, & a sliver of day at lower right

* The Sun is entirely behind Earth, which makes it a kind of solar eclipse, but w/ Earth doing the eclipsing instead of the Moon:
☀️🌍🚀🌕

There are now 10 toilets in Space

International Space Station: 4
Crew Dragon Docked at ISS: 1
Soyuz Docked at ISS: 1
Tiangong Space Station: 2
Shenzhou Docked at TSS: 1
Artemis II on way around Moon: 1

This will be the first time a toilet has left low earth orbit!

Writer's tip: If your books all inexplicably drop in Amazon ranking, check that the credit card you're using for amazon ads hasn't expired. Ugh.

#WritingCommunity

Check out Gabino's weekly #FridayReads thread!

When a misaligned AI makes Earth unreachable, families on the Moon try to save their children by sending them to Mars on an aging spaceship. As food runs out, the social order crumbles, factions form, and things get weird.
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083

A picture of a bags of coffee from Sweet Marias.

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!

#coffee

the human body was not designed to know what the worst person in the world is doing every fifteen minutes

Um... I write about space for kids. :-)

Gabino's weekly #FridayReads thread of goodies!
When a misaligned AI makes Earth unreachable, families on the Moon try to save their children by sending them to Mars on an aging spaceship. As food runs out, the social order crumbles, factions form, and things get weird.
www.amazon.com/dp/1733731083