[Insert witty title about writing here]

I had my writer's group meeting last night. Now, our writer's group is very informal - more of a kaffeeklatch of writers then a formal critique group. Having said that, I we had an interesting time brainstorming my next novel, The Night Watch. Based on the brainstorming and thoughts on the drive back, the basic plot will be "Space Rescue finds itself in the middle of a war-by-proxy on Titan." A subplot will be Janet gets her man and gets her life put together.

Although I know Titan is a cool place, with a big methane lake, much research needs to be done. For example, what do plastics plants use as feedstocks? Is this liquid, solid, and is it chemically stable enough to ship from Saturn to Earth? Also, how hot is the air in a hot-air balloon? I'm thinking of using a "hot nitrogen" dirigible. Given Titan's frigid temperature, I suspect that "hot" would be still below the freezing point of water.

In other news, jeff_duntemann has sent me a copy of his new short story collection, Souls in Silicon. He's bundled all of his AI science fiction shorts into one convenient paperback package. I'm looking forward to it.