Happy Anniversary Hubble!

The prolific Hubble Space Telescope will hit an important milestone this weekend – the 20th anniversary of its launch. Hubble scientists are celebrating the iconic space telescope's milestone with a stunning new photo of pillar-like mountains of dust in a well-known nebula.

The stunning Hubble photo below shows just a small part of the Carina Nebula, one of the largest seen star-birth regions in our galaxy. It captures the top of a 3 light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars.

The pillar is also being pushed apart from within, as infant stars buried inside emit jets of gas that can be seen streaming from the towering peaks.

The Hubble launched on April 24, 1990, aboard the space shuttle Discovery during the STS-31 mission. Hubble's discoveries and evocative images were revolutionary in a number of areas of astronomical research, ranging from planetary science to cosmology.

To date, Hubble has observed over 30,000 celestial targets and amassed more than a half-million pictures in its archive. The most recent astronaut servicing mission to Hubble in May 2009 made the telescope 100 times more powerful than two decades ago when it was first launched.

Check out this fantastic interview with

Science Fiction Romance author the iconic 

Linnea Sinclair 
on the  

SFR Brigade 

You can pick up her latest book

Rebels and Lovers

 Available now from Bantam at bookstores everywhere!

Keep Looking Up ~ Shuttle Watch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters)

Early risers across the United States may have an unusual opportunity to see the space shuttle on Monday as it glides through the atmosphere, heading toward a landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The shuttle Discovery is returning from a re-supply and servicing mission at the International Space Station, one of NASA's final shuttle flights before the fleet is retired later this year.

Its route back to Florida will take it over much of America's heartland with touchdown targeted for 8:48 a.m. EDT weather permitting.

The supersonic glide through the atmosphere will fly over dozens of cities and towns. The shuttle, scheduled to enter Earth's atmosphere over the central Pacific Ocean at 8:17 a.m. EDT, should be visible over the Northwest USA about a half hour before landing.

As the shuttle descends, observers in the West, where it will still be dark, should see a glowing plasma trail, like a meteorite. In the East, where it will be light, viewers may be able to see a glowing cloud.

Those who can't see the shuttle may at least be able to hear it. The ship's double sonic booms -- shock waves from the nose and the tail of the shuttle -- reach the ground about 90 seconds after the shuttle passes overhead.

FORBIDDEN LOVE BOOK COVER

THE FORBIDDEN LOVE BOOK COVER IS HERE!

I couldn't wait to share it with you!

You can also take a look at my new sub domain website here:

 Science Fiction Romance

There are some great insights into the FL story background, an excerpt, and my special page of Sci-Fi terms that I used in Forbidden Love. So what do you think?

Here's the Forbidden Love blurb to refresh your memory...

Illicit Sultry Passion...

Galaxies apart so different yet so much alike…

While Dr. Maya Belle is researching wildlife habitats in the far desert region of her world, a sudden burst of sand engulfs her. She goes to investigate and cannot believe what stumbles out of a massive dune. She soon finds out she is in the company of a sexy alien from another galaxy…

T’Kon from the planet Asconage is on a peaceful survey mission studying a distant world known as Terrain. When his spacecraft malfunctions, he crashes into its desert. A female named Maya gives him aid, and a steamy lust grows between them. A sultry interspecies passion neither can resist.

To avoid detection by the warring factions governing her world, he must repair his damaged craft and leave. Can she convince him to take her with him, or will he set forth without her and forsake their Forbidden Love?
~~~~
I am so exicted!

I just have to say a big *Thank You* to two special authors friends,  Christina Phillips and Kat Holmes for putting the Forbidden Love book cover up on their blogs!

Kaye

Borders Closing?

Here's something I found. Even though they are in trouble economically, note the part about digitizing books, and the Kobo e-reader Borders is developing. I don't like it and feel it is a bad thing for the publishing industry when a bookstore chain closes its doors. But could this be the wave of the future? And a possible good thing for epublishers and ebook authors? 

Borders Group

Associated Press

The printed book market just doesn't seem large enough for Borders anymore. Borders is the second-largest bookstore chain in the U.S. behind Barnes & Noble. Unfortunately for these companies, bookstore chains are going the way of the dinosaur with Amazon digitizing books and becoming the largest online seller of books in the United States. Borders is developing a Kobo e-reader to try and compete, but with e-book readers from Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble, Borders may be living on borrowed time.

How troubled is Borders? The company's stock currently sells for under $2 dollars a share. Borders has to repay a $42.5 million dollar loan due on April 1. If Borders can raise this money, the bookstore chain still faces a $360 million dollar note payment due July 2011.

Perhaps the most damning sign was that the company's CEO left to take a job at a supermarket chain. The company's short-term hopes lie in getting creditors to refinance debts. The best hope for long-term survival is an acquisition by a larger bookstore chain like Barnes & Noble.

What do you think about this?

Kaye