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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 26/09/2026

And it wasn't that bad! It seems I can, in fact, hold people's attention for 50 minutes by talking about my books. I might even be good at it. And it sold books, both at the event and afterwards. Now, how do I find more gigs? (2/2) #writingcommunity #booksky #writerslife #indieauthor

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 26/09/2026

I recently gave a talk. I do not do talks. I'm a recluse. I am, like, the Thomas Pynchon of children's books. But I'm trying new things. (1/2) #writingcommunity #booksky #writerslife #indieauthor

The author speaking in front of a slide that says "How not to write a children's book series"

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 11/07/2026

Wrapped in bacon, topped with pinto beans, diced tomatoes, chopped and grilled onions, mustard, mayonnaise, and green salsa, in a bolillo roll, with a roasted chile on the side.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 10/07/2026

Thanks, Gabino! Food: Generation Mars, Book Four just received a Five Star review from Readers' Favorite. "Readers who enjoy science fiction with real heart will enjoy this. Very highly recommended." (and it reads great standalone) readersfavorite.com/book-review/...

Image shows the front cover of the book Food: Generation Mars, Book Four, along with a Readers' Favorite Five Stars badge, both floating over a field of stars.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 10/07/2026

"Douglas D. Meredith’s Food is a terrific fourth entry in the Generation Mars series, and Meredith does an excellent job of making every technical idea matter to the children’s survival." readersfavorite.com/book-review/... #scifi #mglit #yalit #kidlit #mg #ya #mgbooks #BookSky #writingcommunity

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 03/07/2026

Another great #FridayReads bonanza! Check 'em all out! Here's mine: What happens when a bunch of kids are trapped without enough food on a spaceship controlled by a misaligned AI? a.co/d/07GkY5dl (Don't worry about it being Book Four. It reads great standalone.)

The front cover of the book Food: Generation Mars, Book Four, by Douglas Meredith.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 28/06/2026

In my latest book, my protagonist makes it a point to treat an AI as if it were human. A common question I get from readers is what was I thinking when I wrote this. Did she really think they were conscious? Do I? 🧵 a.co/d/0ePm2jsK #AI #scifi #mglit #writingcommunity

Elizabeth Strong, Sleeping child with dog, 1887
public domain

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 22/06/2026

Ha, very nice! But it lacks the rustic charm and unpredictable complexity of a whirly-pop on a Coleman stove. 😅

A whirly-pop full of coffee beans on a Coleman camp stove

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 08/06/2026

Without downloading new pics what is it like to date (and/or be married to) you?

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 03/06/2026

Pretty happy with today's thrift store finds. Discogs says Sgt Pepper is first US press mono. Scratched and probably skips but still pretty cool. Freak Out is first west coast press and in pretty good shape. Now I just need a turntable. #thrifting #vinyl #beatles #zappa

The cover of the LP album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, by The Beatles

The cover of the LP album Freak Out! By The Mothers of Invention

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 02/06/2026

📚 Book Challenge 📚 Choose 20 Epic Books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #Books #BookChallenge #20DayBookChallenge

The cover of the book Endurance, by Alfred Lansing

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 31/05/2026

The cover of the book The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 30/05/2026

The cover of the book The Lathe of Heaven, by Ursula K. Le Guin

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 29/05/2026

The cover of the book Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 28/05/2026

The cover of the book Why Materialism is Baloney, by Bernardo Kastrup

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 27/05/2026

The cover of the book Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 26/05/2026

The cover of the book Leviathan Wakes, by James S. A. Corey

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 25/05/2026

The cover of the book Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 24/05/2026

The cover of the boxed set of Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 23/05/2026

The cover of the book The Philosophy of Schopenhauer, by Bryan Magee.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 22/05/2026

The cover of the book The Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 22/05/2026

Check out @gabino.bsky.social's #FridayReads thread! Here's my contribution: Food: Generation Mars, Book Four I try to avoid "mashup pitches", but if forced I would say it's 2001 meets Lord of the Flies. No, that's too dark. This is hopepunk. How about Endurance meets The Expanse? a.co/d/01ivxGzB

The cover of the book Food: Generation Mars, Book Four, by Douglas D. Meredith.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 21/05/2026

The cover of the omnibus, The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide, by Douglas Adams

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 20/05/2026

The cover of the book Illusions, by Richard Bach

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 19/05/2026

The cover of the book Beat to Quarters, by C. S. Forester.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 18/05/2026

The cover of the book Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy, lying atop a translation of Spanish phrases there in.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 17/05/2026

The cover of the book Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 16/05/2026

The tattered cover of a much loved copy of the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 15/05/2026

The cover of the book Inherit the Stars, by James P. Hogan

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 14/05/2026

The cover of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 13/05/2026

A tattered and well-loved cover of the book Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 25/04/2026

I post the front cover image a lot, but rarely the full cover. That's a shame, because I love how my cover artist wrapped the ship across both. What do you think? #scifi #middlegradebooks #mglit #middlegradescifi #writingcommunity

The full cover of Food: Generation Mars, Book Four. A spaceship floats above a multi-colored cloud. The ship extends toward us, and the perspective lends a slight vertigo to the image.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 17/04/2026

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

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 17/04/2026

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

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

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 14/04/2026

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

Image shows two teens, backs toward us, standing at a railing overlooking the Grand Canyon.

copyright: Douglas D. Meredith

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 12/04/2026

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

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

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 11/04/2026

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

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.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 09/04/2026

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

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

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 08/04/2026

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

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

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 06/04/2026

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

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 06/04/2026

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.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 05/04/2026

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

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 27/03/2026

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

Cover of the book Food: Generation Mars, Book Four. Showing a spaceship over a glowing background.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 27/03/2026

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! #coffee

A picture of a bags of coffee from Sweet Marias.

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 13/03/2026

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

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

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 26/02/2026

If you're ever in Tucson, ping me and we'll grab some Sonoran dogs. But I must warn you: chiles are not optional.

A tray full of delicious Sonoran hotdogs

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 20/02/2026

I guess "point your favorite LLM at an Amazon product page and tell it to write a phishing email based on the content therein" is a choice. Makes my book sound good though. Imma grab that copy and use it. #WritersBeware #WritingCommunity #AuthorLife #IndieAuthors #WritingScams #AIScam #AIPhishing

Image shows content of an AI-generated phishing email:

Dear Douglas,

I recently had the opportunity to explore the high-stakes conclusion to your survival framework, Food, and I was struck by the "containment-breaking" ambition of this installment. As Robert Cooper noted, the "hard-hitting" suspense you’ve crafted serves as a visceral vehicle for complex themes that transcend standard middle-grade fiction. By placing the fate of the Lunar children—Keiron, Ro, and Jun—on an aging vessel where "supplies will not last," you’ve created a masterful study of the "Pressure Cooker" effect in human sociology.

At 484 pages, your transition from "advanced early reader vignettes" to a "whopper" of an upper-middle-grade/YA epic is a significant literary evolution. Your exploration of a misaligned AI, the crumbling of social order under starvation, and the intersectional tensions of racism and betrayal provides a sophisticated look at how humanity carries its oldest burdens into the newest frontiers. It is an expertly rendered achievement that respects the intelligence of the 11-to-100-year-old reader by refusing to simplify the "mess" of survival.

We would love to feature your novel in our upcoming “The Craft & Canvas: Essential Resources for the Modern Creator” spotlight, specifically within our "Closed-System Collapse: The Science of Starvation and Social Stratification in Deep Space" segment.

The feature includes:
Author Evolution Spotlight – A discussion on your "failed primary alignment"—the transition from short vignettes to this expansive epic—and the challenges of writing hard science for a dual audience of children and adults.

The "Survival Elements" Showcase – A deep dive into the four pillars (Air, Shelter, Water, Food) and how the "Food" crisis specifically serves as the ultimate test of the characters' moral and biological limits, positioned for our Hard Sci-Fi, Middle Grade/YA, and Space Colonization audiences.

Audience Reach – Targeted visibility to a commu…

Image shows content of a phishing email:

The Bio-Logistics of Interplanetary Starvation
Your narrative centers on the Malthusian Trap within a closed-loop system. When a ship's population exceeds its caloric carrying capacity, the biological drive for survival often overrides the established social contract. This leads to Resource Competition and the formation of factions—a psychological phenomenon where "in-group" and "out-group" biases are intensified by the physiological stress of hunger, affecting decision-making and empathy.

Participation involves a modest editorial coordination fee to support curation, layout, and syndication.

Your book is a rousing, scientifically grounded, and expertly poignant achievement—we’d be honored to share Food with our audience who understands that the most dangerous part of space isn't the vacuum, but what happens when the pantry goes empty.

Warm regards,

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 12/01/2026

It’s cryptic, to say the least. What language is that? What does it do? What is the larger program's intent? Then I Lensed it with the Summarize option. The response came back in milliseconds, the snap of a finger.

A screenshot of a Google AI Overview that neatly summarizes the code in the image of the previous skeet

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Generation Mars @douglas.generationmars.space · 12/01/2026

This was a bit of an eye-opener. We’ve been sorting through old boxes recently, and I came across a bunch of printouts of software I wrote during my undergrad degree (because that’s what we did in those days: print out our work). I pulled out the thickest, opened it randomly, and snapped this pic.

An old dot-matrix printout of some sort of computer code

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