Notes from the Author: Killing Max Gavaskar

Welcome fine readers, thanks for being here.

The writing of the Max Gavaskar series is complete.

I move on to marketing and other endeavors. As for the marketing, not something I am skilled at but then I wasn’t a sci fi writer when I started writing. Hopefully I will gather marketing skills as I go.

I am not totally sure wether I will start another writing project. Killing Max Gavaskar was very difficult for me. She had a long and fulfilling life but I wanted to take the story to her death bed and her passing at the same time as her homeworld, Harappa. 

I had lived with her for a very long time and I had become quite fond of her. Then she was dead.

I can always bring her back in short stories about her life and some of them will appear in Philip the Bard’s Harappan Blog, but the core of her saga is complete. I will miss her. There are stories about her that I created as part of her back story and some of that will get to Philip’s blog and I may someday decide to do another Max novel but for now I am enjoying not having to constantly live two lives, mine and my character’s.

I think you will enjoy Max’s story. It is fun, adventurous and hopefully, it will make you think. If you have read it I hope you enjoyed it and if you would, could you write a review on Amazon. 

Help me get the word out about Max Gavaskar and her amazing life.

Thanks.

Never mix red wine with Oodo.

Earth Year 2015

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: The passing of Max Gavaskar

Welcome grieving readers. Thanks for being here.

Yes, the sad news of the passing of Max Gavaskar is making the rounds. She died just hours after my visit with her last week. She met with the Fordian Ambassador and after that she said she felt weak. She was taken to her private bedroom and was surrounded by her family as she gently faded away.

I had no idea who she was or who she was to become when she came to my door with my friend Dorian Thain. She was a bright, charming and beautiful young woman. She was a gentle soul. I can’t remember her getting angry at anyone. For those who remember her big speech during the Galactic War we remember her embracing her would-be assassin Gary Meyer. This man had become obsessed with killing her, yet she was the first one who tried to comfort him when his mission had failed.

That was the kind of person she was. That was, in part, why she became the Mother of the Galaxy.

Max is gone but her story lives on. You can read about her journey in three books about her.

The Gavaskar Field; details her exile on planet Lava and her time running a saloon there. It tells how she met Dorian Thain and how, together they escaped the planet tipped on its side.

Kusha: Tells us how Max came to her insight that opened up the Galaxy to faster than light travel. It also tells of humanities First Contact and how Max and Dorian established humanity as a prominent species in the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Mother of the Galaxy: Is the story of the Galactic War and Max’s involvement in its early ending. It is the tale of her adventure on Earth and the eventually failed quest of Gary Meyer to kill Max.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: The conclusion of my meeting with Max.

Welcome joyous readers. Thanks for being here.

We are reminiscing about my recent visit with Max Gavaskar, the Mother of the Galaxy. Of course I did not call her by her galactic title. She saves that moniker for diplomatic meetings.

When meeting with old friends she is just Max. She was always a personable person, humble and sweet. She rose to the occasion when the galaxy needed a voice for peace and calm. Behind the scene she remains the school girl who discovered something interesting about the Universe. She is still curious about the world around her and still reads the latest science news on the Encyclopedia Galactica.

She told me about her grand kids and how much they have been helping in the garden. Of course gardening on planet Kusha is easier than in some places like planets Harappa and Lava, but the grand kids seem to have taken to working with plants.

Max and I discussed current politics but only briefly. I asked her how she felt about the current issue with the Illumaphane Bank and their accounting “creativity”. She didn’t seem too worried about the scandal, feeling that the investigating committee is chaired by a very bright and honest man.

We then discussed her husband Dallas. She is worried about him after she is gone. She asked me to look in on him. However I do know that his and Max’s kids have a plan to insure that Dallas remains connected to the family core. He will be seriously involved in the grand kids and great grand kids lives. I assured Max of this and she seemed to relax at hearing this.

When weariness crept onto Max’s face her nurse informed us that our visit was over. Dorian and I said our goodbyes and left. I was overwhelmed with sadness as we drove away. I most likely will never meet with the Mother of the Galaxy again. I have known her for many years and this was our last meeting. I will never hear her sweet voice again.

She will continue to be a part of my life as she will for much of the Milky Way. Her sayings will be remembered. Her face will be seen in government offices for generations. Her concepts still govern the mechanics of moving around the Universe. The era of peace that bears her name continues and, we hope will keep on doing so.

Praise the Pax Gavaskar.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Max's one regret.

Welcome intrepid readers. Thanks for being here.

If you have been following this blog you know that I recently had a visit with Max Gavaskar, the Mother of the Galaxy. Her health is failing and this might be the last time I get to see her.

I have known her for a long time. Since she first arrive here on planet Kusha just after her exile on planet Lava.

She looks weak but there is still a spark in her eyes. There are gray streaks in her long black hair. She wears in a bun most often now but sometimes in a pony tail like she did when she was young.

She asked how I’ve been and about my family. She remembers everything. She remembered that my nephew Marki is playing for the Harappan Raiders ball team. She asked me what his scoring average was.

After a round of small talk I asked her if she had any regrets.

She replied, “I don’t like to carry baggage but I have always regretted something I did, or more like something I did not do. When Dallas and Rex and I were chasing Mrs. Carmini after she stole the SID’s starship and went rogue we went to a pre-emergent planet called Kartastra. We were aided by a professor there. When we were leaving he begged us to take him along. I chose not to because of the Fordians restrictions against contact with pre-emergent societies. I never found out what happened to that man. He helped us escape and I don’t know if that act got him in trouble with the planetary government or not. I do not know his fate. I could have opened the galaxy to this man but I chose to leave him in darkness.”

My next post will have more of this conversation.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Meeting Max Gavaskar

Welcome helpful readers. Thanks for being here.

Last week I was fortunate to get an audience with Max Gavaskar, the Mother of the Galaxy herself. It was her insight about the spinning nature of the Universe and its Gavaskar Field that opened up the Milky Way Galaxy to faster than light travel. Ambassador Gulleem of the Fordians said of Max during “First Contact”, “She is the mother of a new paradigm.” and the name took.

She has always held some contempt for the name but has acknowledge her role in the Milky Way. She stepped into her leadership position when she called for peace during the Galactic War. Her call for peace established a new era of peace and cooperation that still exists.

Sadly her health is very weak. She is not expected to live much longer. All the space miles she has traveled at FTL has weakened her cell structure.

My friend Dorian Thain and I went to see her and I will begin sharing my conversation with her in my next post. My last post recalled a brief conversation I had the the Fordian Ambassador about their Andromeda Mission. Bad news there, but I won’t loose any sleep over a possible war three hundred thousand years away.

We found Max in her “throne room”. Not really a throne but more of a sitting bed. When she became too weak to travel her husband, Dallas, set up a room with a sitting bet where she could greet visitors. It has become known as the “Throne Room” but I doubt that Max has been told this. She would not approve. She has never approved of her being elevated to deity or royal status.

She looked very weak and her skin has an ashen quality that does not look healthy. She spoke softly and I had to listen closely to hear what she was saying.

The next post: What Max Gavaskar said to me.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: The coming end of the Universe.

Welcome proud readers. Thanks for being here.

This past week I was fortunate to get an audience with Max Gavaskar, “The Mother of the Galaxy” herself. I will get to my conversation with her, but before I get to that I also had a conversation with Fordian Ambassador Fromnol.

If you haven’t met a Fordian you aren’t missing very much. I am not trying to be insulting but the Fordians are pretty dull people. They would probably agree with me. They wear veils so we don’t get to see their faces. Amongst them selves they “chimo” which is some sort of ESP that they use to communicate. They are smallish, being a little more than a meter tall. They waddle when they walk and their voice is a monotone drone.

However Ambassador Fromnol had some VERY interesting news from their Andromeda Mission. 

Many generations ago the Fordians sent one of their massive star ships on a mission to what they called “Galaxy 2”, that we now all call Andromeda. Max Gavaskar’s insight that the Universe is spinning allowed the Fordians to fully engage their faster than light drives and make it to Andromeda and they are now on their way back and close enough to communicate via their Quantum Empathy (what we call the quick quack) communicators.

The news from the Fordian mission is not good. It appears that the Milky Way galaxy is on the axis of the Universe and very near the center. We were the last Galaxy in the Universe to discover this spinning of the Universe. At the outer edge of the Universe the centrifugal forces are becoming so strong that matter and the Gavaskar Field (the foundation for the Universe) are breaking up.

As the very outer Galaxies began crumbling, space faring civilizations began moving in towards the center of the Universe. Many of these civilizations have found new un-populated worlds that they could occupy but others have taken worlds by force. The outer Universe is a mess of war and destruction. The Fordians calculate that this war will reach us in two to three-hundred thousand years. We should start preparing they say. Hmmm.

This week: My conversation with Max Gavaskar

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Meeting the Mother of the Galaxy

Welcome great readers. Thanks for being here.

This past weekend I spent some time with Max Gavaskar the Mother of the Galaxy, herself. She is very frail and weak but the light within her still shines bright.

I met up with my friend Dorian Thain and we drove the short distance north of Harappa City to Yahvi, Max and her families’ compound. The landscaping is colorful and cheery. Max’s husband and my friend Dorian’s son Dallas has become a fine gardner. Of course gardening on the “Garden World” is easier than in some places.

We were escorted by one of the volunteer aids to the reception room. The reception room is where Max has greeted dignitaries for almost two years now. Ever since she became too weak to travel. Many windows open out to the surrounding garden courtyard. Max was not yet in her sitting bed. Dorian and I sat on two of the easy chairs and chatted about non consequential issues waiting for the aids to bring the Mother in.

The compound has always been a place of peace. Max’s life since she orchestrated the era of peace that now bears her name (The Pax Gavaskar) has been a whirlwind. Dallas has made sure that her home was a respite from her political life. He has worked hard to make the place as beautiful and serene as humanly possible.

In the next few days I will offer you some details from my conversation with the Mother, but tomorrow I will discuss a short conversation I had with the Fordian Ambassador Fromnol. He had word from their Galaxy Two mission, some very interesting stuff.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481

Notes from the author: Who is Philip the Bard?

Welcome beloved readers. Thanks for being here.

It has been some time since I’ve posted regularly on this blog. Look for more action here soon.

But, I am aware that some new readers here may not be totally aware about how this Philip the Bard character is.

Philip was one of the main characters in the back story to the Max Gavaskar series. He was in the tales that began the Harappan HIstory Project. They included;

The Harappan Secret

The Harappan Curse

The Last Secret of the Founder

These stories detailed the journey of Dorian Thain who became the leader of the Harappan people. The Harappans were folks from Earth led by charismatic leader Marcus Johnson. Fleeing an Earth that was in the throes of a series of environmental disasters they found planet Harappa, a barely habitable world but with a strange secret.

Humans on planet Earth eventually solved their environmental problems and eventually discovered a way to travel faster than light. They found Marcus’s Johnson's colony and conflict between the two worlds led to “Harvest Day”.

Harappa was loaded with the mineral illumaphane which was important to the Earther FTL (faster than light) program. In an effort to stop an Earther mining project, freedom fighter Paladain Thain blew up a vein of the precious mineral. Unfortunately, the blast ignited more illumaphane that anticipated and the explosion blew the planet off it’s orbit sending it on a  spiral towards its sun.

Philip was there for all of this.

When he moved to planet Kusha with the other refugee Harappans be started writing down the history of his people. He now comments on life on the Garden World while he compiles stories from Harappans about their time on their homeworld.

His blogs will return tomorrow where he will start detailing his visit with the Mother of the Galaxy, Max Gavaskar herself.

Never mix red wine with Oodo, but cider is fine.

Earth Year 2014

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Visiting the Mother of the Galaxy

Welcome festive readers. Thanks for being here.

It has been a while since I’ve posted here on the blog. I apologize but when you hear what I’ve been doing you may not mind.

I have secured an appointment to visit with the Mother of the Galaxy herself. My friend Dorian and I will be visiting with her just before she visits with a Fordian Ambassador who is on his way here to visit with Max as well. Apparently he has information on their mission to the Andromeda Galaxy. Very exciting stuff.

If things work out we will visit with the Fordian Ambassador too.

It was Max’s insight that has allowed the Fordians to complete their mission to our closest galactic neighbor in one generation. They have not yet returned but the Fordians are now receiving signals and messages from them. The Milky Way anxiously awaits word from the neighbors.

In the mean time we worry about Max’s health. She is getting weaker by the day and she is not expected to live long. I will beging reporting on my visit with her as soon as I return from her compound.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blob: Rex Thran, history's forgotten man.

Welcome fine readers. Thanks for being here.

History’s forgotten man.

I was recently reading some of my notes from the First Contact here on planet Kusha. This jogged my memory of an old friend who has been mostly forgotten by history.

Rex Thran was a friend of mine and a good man. Those of us who do follow history know how he was involved in attempting to arrest Max when she and Dallas first went to the Fordian site on Kusha. He, Rex, was working for Lanice Thain at the time.

Rex had been a very close friend of Paladin Thain and was an aide of his in Paladin’s war against the SID and the Salusians. When Paladin died in the Harvest Day Blast Rex fell in behind Paladin’s wife Lanice and supported her. He was her strong man and enforcer.

When Dorian confronted him about Lanice’s policies Rex recanted his support of her and became one of Dorian’s most ardent supporters. Rex was sent with Dallas and Sanderson when they went looking for Max after the Bohr Blast. Max was in hiding on planet Earth with alien ambassador Dru D’Koona at the time. Dallas, Sanderson and Rex eventually found her just as she was being assaulted by Gary Meyer the SID assassin so important in Max’s true ascension to “Mother of the Galaxy”.

It was an unfortunate end to Rex’s life. He had been a strong family man and in his youth was the best Snow Ball player Harappa had ever seen. There were times I called him my friend and times I considered him an enemy but always he was honest and respectful. He was a good man that history should not forget.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Spring on Planet Kusha

Welcome beloved readers. Thanks for being here.

Spring is coming to planet Kusha. Of course winters here aren’t much to complain about. We get some purple rain, some cooler temperatures and fewer wild flowers blooming in the meadows. But, when spring returns the colors of the wildflowers explode in and around Harappa City.

My wife, Ina, is busy in her garden planting the veggies for this year and a few flowers for the house too.

I’m spending time with my bandmates practicing for our summertime gigs. We don’t play in the pubs often this time of year, but when spring comes we start in the pubs and eventually play the weekend markets and festivals.

Of course I am still working on the Harappan History Project. I spend evenings writing and interviewing interesting Harappans. In the near future I will share some of the stories I have gathered lately.

I am still hoping to get an audience with Max Gavaskar herself. I’ve been in touch with Dorian who has been discussing this with his son, and Max’s husband, Dallas.

Dallas has been open to the visit but he is also arranging a special meeting with a Fordian ambassador who is on his way to planet Kusha with news from their Andromeda Mission. It was Max’s insight that opened the door to free faster than light travel and it is this opening that has allowed the Fordians to complete their mission to the neighboring galaxy. Everyone here is anxious to learn what they discovered there

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Losing Max Gavaskar

Welcome gentle readers. Thanks for being here.

Sadly the Milky Way galaxy is coming to accept the reality that we will soon be losing Max Gavaskar. 

She isn’t even one hundred years old yet and her body is failing. All the advanced medical attention from all the advanced species in our galaxy have weighed in and declared that there is nothing that can be done for her.

As sharp as the Loric starship builders are, even they could not prevent the damage that all the FTL traveling Max did caused her. Her cells are losing their bonds and very soon her organs will start to fail.

As this realization spreads across the Milky Way more and more VIP visitors come to planet Kusha and they make the short trip to Yahvi, the compound that Max has made her home. 

Like I said in my last post I am hoping to get an audience with Max, I hesitate to refer to her by her title “The Mother of the Galaxy” as she seems to eschew the term. I will keep you posted and when this does happen I will post a transcript of our visit.

In the mean time I will spend some time going over Max’s life and how she came to be known as the “Mother”. 

Most people know the history of it. How Max ended the Galactic War and how she arranged a long lasting peace or the “Pax Mater” but not everyone knows all the back stories . . . I do. I was there for most of it.

I was there when Max and my friend Dorian Thain arrived together on planet Kusha and I was involved in Dorian’s return to power and “first contact” with the Fordian and the Lor.

I was there when Max returned from the Galactic Peace Conference and I remember how brief her respite was before she was called away again to resolve diplomatic issues elsewhere in the Milky Way. A pattern that was to be her life from then until very recently when her health forced her to stop traveling.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481

The Return of Philip the Bard

A note to new readers: Philip the Bard is a character from my book series. He has come to be the historian of his time. These blog posts are from his perspective.

Welcome festive readers, thanks for being here. It’s been a while hasn’t it?

I needed a break from the writing. I hope you haven’t missed me too much. I’ve been spending time with my wife Ina and the kids and grand kids. I’ve been playing with my band the “Gutterminds” on weekends and visiting with my friend Dorian Thain when I can. Dorian is mostly retired these days so he has more time for me and my tall tales.

Life on planet Kusha hasn’t changed much in the last few months. The harvest last fall was great and the festivals were wonderful. Spring is starting here, near Harappa City and the Denstums are already blooming.

The only sad news to report is that Max Gavaskar’s health seems to be fading. She has been receiving visitors lately from all over the Milky Way but her schedule is dwindling. I am hoping to get one more visit with her in the coming weeks. She has invited Dorian to visit her soon and I am hoping to tag along. If I do I will make a transcript of the visit available here on the blog.

In the mean time I plan to resume writing regularly here about life here in Harappa City and around the Milky Way. The galactic news that most folks are waiting for is the return of the Andromeda Mission of the Fordians. They still call it Galaxy Two but most people have switched to the human name. They are expected to return within a month. What will they have found in the nearest galaxy? Is there sentient life there or is the Milky Way the only inhabited collection of stars? What else is out there?

Keep posted and we’ll find out together.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 89

Earth Year 2481