Check the book out here https://amzn.to/2CHOJ4j Mary-Robinette Kowal has worked [as a] in puppetry for 25 years and has written science fiction for over 10 years. She recently published the third book in her lady astronaut series, [The restless Sun] The Relentless Moon, and we spoke about the book, writing, science, and puppetry. 0:30 – Mary-Robinette talks about why she wrote the series. She talks about how she tends to write historical based novels. 2:20 – Mary-Robinette talks about the background of the series. 3:27 – Mary-Robinette talks about the setting of the first two books and then the third. 4:43 – Mary-Robinette talks about the political setting of the third book. 8:30 – Mary-Robinette talks about how the series is hard science fiction and how she spoke with scientists and professionals about the science in the novels. 9:36 – Mary-Robinette talks about how much the books are in space versus on the Earth. 10:57 – Mary-Robinette talks about how she dealt with gender inequality in the books. 13:12 – Mary-Robinette talks about the science research she did for the book including trying on parts of spacesuits. 14:49 – Mary-Robinette talks about her access to science resources. 16:11 – Mary-Robinette talks about the entertainment that inspires her. 19:29 – Mary-Robinette talks about lateral impacts to spacecraft. 21:57 – Mary-Robinette talks about the aesthetic of the book being sort of a spy thriller. 23:15 – Mary-Robinette talks about whether the novel wraps up the series. 23:47 – Mary-Robinette talks about her writing process and how it’s changed over time. 28:30 – Mary-Robinette talks more about acting as a puppeteer. 30:59 – Mary-Robinette talks about having been an art major. 33:17 – Mary-Robinette talks about how she got into writing and her approach. 34:59 – Mary-Robinette talks about the change in lifestyle from puppetry to writing. 36:36 – Mary-Robinette talks about editing the book down from 180,000 words. 39:28 – Mary-Robinette talks about having loved Battlestar Galactica and the Deryni books. 41:42 – Mary-Robinette talks about difficulties in getting the book finished. 46:30 – Mary-Robinette talks about writing a sci-fi locked room mystery. 48:26 – Mary-Robinette can be found at maryrobinettekowal.com and ladyastronautclub.com.   Links of interest https://amzn.to/2CHOJ4j https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250236968 http://maryrobinettekowal.com/   For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify for the podcast   Guests: Mary-Robinette Kowal Host: Cris Alvarez Tags: science fiction, fantasy, art, artist, writer, novel, novelist, fiction, astronauts, moon,