This is a really fun one!

I got on the phone with the merry band at The More You Nerd for a freewheeling conversation about The Jupiter Pirates: Hunt for the Hydra. We talk about … heck, it’s simpler to say what we didn’t talk about. Our discussion includes the difference between pirates and privateers, the struggle between the Jovian Union and Earth, the relationship between the Hashoones and their retainers, where I get the names for characters, storytelling decisions, some teasers about what’s coming in the third through fifth books, and much more.

We even talk about another space-fantasy franchise, a little something called Star Wars.

Check it out here!

Upcoming: There will be a free Jupiter Pirates short story this summer. Members of The Crew will get the first shot at downloading it, so sign up today!

Here’s a story that makes me happy: A London schoolgirl protested to Scholastic about having pirate books labeled for boys, and the publisher not only agreed with her but was already taking steps to do away with this kind of gender labeling.

I can tell you firsthand from Jupiter Pirates school visits that girls most certainly do like pirate books.

And I’m imagining how Diocletia or Yana Hashoone would react if you told them a pirate book was only for boys. … Yikes. No, that wouldn’t end well.

So this post is LONG overdue, because I have been on deadline with Star Wars projects. But in March I went to Port Townsend, Wash., which chose The Jupiter Pirates: Hunt for the Hydra as its Family Community Read for 2015. (More about that here and here.)

Port Towsend’s a pretty cool place, with some awesome bookstores, a steampunk pirate store and a great library. And the connection was meant to be — the main settlement on Callisto is Port Town, after all! Port Townsend doesn’t have scads of underground levels, but it does have a one-block underground arcade of stores — which I’m glad to say was neither cold nor dangerous, unlike Port Town’s depths.

I talked about Jupiter Pirates at the public library (a very cool Carnegie building, by the way) and then went to Blue Heron Middle School, where I answered a bunch of very good questions about Jupiter Pirates, its character and plot and then got to talk with the whole school. Many thanks to library director Melody Eisner, to Diane Lashinsky and Cheryl Brady at Blue Heron, and to Jim and Gail at the Commander’s Beach House. And my particular thanks to the library’s Kit Ward-Crixell, who did so much to make this happen and was a kind, cheerful tour guide and historian. Everybody in Port Townsend was kind and welcoming. I had a blast and hope I get to come back!

Some photos from the trip:

Here’s a nice Jupiter Pirates display in the library (with a guest-star role for Zare Leonis from Star Wars Rebels):

That underground block I was talking about. I don’t know, I think this could be Port Town:

This, though, is definitely not Callisto — it’s a panorama from the waterfront:

Here’s a really great display the kids at Blue Heron made for Jupiter Pirates, complete with pirates. THANK YOU GUYS!!!:

And here’s a panorama from Blue Heron just before I started speaking. I love my job!:

Oh, if you go you need to go to San Juan Taqueria‘s taco truck. It was delicious:

And just for fun, some beautiful flowers along the way:

Thanks again everybody!

On St. Patrick’s Day I’m heading to Port Townsend, Wash., to talk Jupiter Pirates — as discussed in this post, this year Port Townsend’s public library chose The Jupiter Pirates: Hunt for the Hydra as its Community Read. I’ll be at the public library from 2 pm to 4 pm on March 18 and then at Blue Heron Middle School on March 19. I’ll talk about how the series came to be, how the story continues in Curse of the Iris, and maybe read some bits of Rise of Earth if folks are interested.

But I’m the least interesting part of a very cool program. Here’s a photo sent my way by Kit Ward-Crixell from the kickoff late last month — that’s Oliver and Gita from the University of Washington’s astronomy department and Nathan from Embassy Arms Historical Fighting. Kit tells me that Oliver brought an inflatable planetarium, while Nathan taught the kids practical sword-fighting with wooden swords. And the Friends of the Library gave away a huge pile of Jupiter Pirates books.

(Thanks to Kit for the pic and to photographer Cris Wilson.)

And here’s the poster and brochure about the events that make up the program — click to make ’em bigger.

Many thanks to Cindy Wacker for her great work on these! Can’t wait to get out to Washington and join the fun!

Here’s some exciting news — the Jupiter Pirates are coming to Port Townsend, Washington!

Each year Port Townsend’s public library chooses a Community Read — a book for folks to read together — and this year their choice is The Jupiter Pirates: Hunt for the Hydra.

Extra copies of Hydra are available at the public library now, as well as at the libraries at Port Townsend High School and Blue Heron Middle School. Starting Feb. 21, free copies will be available at the public library. There’s a kickoff of the Community Read on Feb. 21 at the Cotton Building downtown from 1 pm to 4 pm, with swordfighting, LEGO starships, a mobile planetarium from the University of Washington and more. (See more about the events here and here.)

And that’s just the beginning — PT Shorts Readers Theater will be adapting Hunt for the Hydra as a play on March 7 at 7:30 pm at the Northwind Arts Center. I hope whoever plays Huff Hashoone has fun chewing scenery!

On March 11 the public library is having a Jupiter Pirates scavenger hunt.

And last and definitely least, I’m headed to Port Townsend to chat about my books and sign copies. I’ll be at the public library from 2 pm to 4 pm on March 18 and then at Blue Heron Middle School on March 19. I’ll talk about how the series came to be, how the story continues in Curse of the Iris, and maybe read some bits of Rise of Earth if folks are interested.

I also recently sat down for an interview with KPTZ that will be available as a podcast soon.

Port Townsend is a beautiful town on the Olympic peninsula, with a rich history as a seaport. Which makes it perfect for Jupiter Pirates! I’m honored and humbled that Hunt for the Hydra is their 2015 Community Read and can’t wait to visit in person and talk about the Hashoones and their adventures. See you soon!