The Martian moon Phobos is doomed. Nobody is sure when, but one day in the future its orbit will decay sufficiently that it with either be pulled apart or will simply crash into the surface of the planet.

As if that isn’t dramatic enough, there is no scientific consensus on how Phobos came into existence.

Examination of its surface and composition suggest it might be no more than an orbiting pile of rubble covered in a thick layer of regolith (dust).

But rubble from what? Captured asteroids? Perhaps — the asteroid belt is, after all, not so far away.

Yet this wouldn’t explain the moon’s circular orbit, which is highly unusual for captured asteroids.

And how about that massive Stickey crater (pictured)? How did Phobos survive an impact powerful enough to leave a crater that large?

Could Phobos be artificial? It sounds like a grand conspiracy theory… doesn’t it?

I love the Red Planet. Not enough to want to move there, admittedly, but there’s plenty to inspire from a distance.

The more we look, the more mysterious it becomes.

My sequel to Sleeping Gods is heading to Mars. It’ll be out next year. It’s going to blow your mind.

If you haven’t already read Sleeping Gods, join my subscriber list and you get it for free.

Any chance you’ve caught up with sci-fi author Neal Stephenson?

He wrote a fine space epic called Seveneves, set in space right above our heads – the zone between Earth orbit and the Moon.

Seveneves is an incredible piece of writing. Maybe too clever for its own good at times (certainly too clever for me at times) but an inventive and compelling story that spans generations in time. Well worth a read if you haven’t tracked it down already.

I’m impressed by Neal’s decision to create an epic close to Earth rather than in deep space on the basis that, in his words, “interstellar travel is probably overrated. We’re not leaving the solar system any time soon”.

I really wonder if it’s physically and mentally possible for us to do so. I like the idea that there are electromagnetic forces tying us to our corner of space.

It’s one of the ideas I’ll play around with when I begin work on a sequel novella to Sleeping Gods.

That and the mythical, mystical planet we call Mars.

Which, for an author, is a bit like tackling Everest.

I’m hoping I don’t fall down a crevasse.

The final edit and proof is done, so we’re locked and loaded for the August release of Live Cross.

This is occult crime suspense and I’m pretty sure you’re going to love it.

Early readers tell me it’s a dead set killer thriller.

You can place your order now by going to the Live Cross page at Pronoun and clicking on the ebook retailer of your choice.

Get in early and you get it for a low price.

With editing soon to get underway on my novel Live Cross, I figure it’s time to unveil the brilliant cover that designer Will Heavey has come up with for me.

Covers are a tricky thing to get right and it’s taken a fair amount of discussion and debate, but I hope you agree the result is most certainly worth the effort.

For those who came in late, Live Cross is a paranormal crime thriller — Australian TV reporter Cass Loukas is stalking the crime beat from the back of a cop car in LA when she and two police officers stumble into a horrendous murder scene.

It’s a story this reporter has waited for her entire career, but it comes at a terrible cost when death fails to slow this murderer down.

I’m aiming for a release around late July or early August, depending on the vicissitudes of the production process — watch this space.

And if you haven’t already done so, click on the HOME button to download a free novella and join my mailing list so I can keep you informed.