My first piece for Discover

[Rommie]

It's out!

Unfortunately I agreed to various legal things so I cannot share the PDF with you guys, but the good news is it's one of the biggest general science magazine in the country and all so it shouldn't be hard to get a copy. Article is a column, all about Fast Radio Bursts and a bit about the framework of scientific discoveries cause that's what the editors wanted. I think it turned out pretty nicely in the end!

Fun thing about this btw was just a few weeks ago (after many pitches that didn't work out) I posted a comment on Reddit about a scary way the universe could end that got a fair bit of attention, so I mentioned it to my editor. Next thing you know, they want a feature article, which is going to be one of those cool beautiful graphical ones, on various ways the universe will end (out probably in 2016 tho, ie a ways off). And holy crap, let's just say the travel fund is well secured!

[Thumper]

Woot on both accounts. I'll find a copy to read this article somewhere, I'm sure.
Congrats!

[Swift]

[pumpkinpi]

Awesome. My mom subscribes, so I'll have her save it. Or I'll just buy it if I happen to see it!

[SciFiFisher]

Wow! That is truly awesome!

[Loresinger]

HF so happy for you

[SciFi Chick]

Congratulations! Don't know how I missed this yesterday, but good job! Looking forward to reading it.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Congrats Rommie

[code monkey]

wonderful! i hope the first of many.

can you imagine how proud our guiding lights would be?

[geonuc]

Nice. Congratulations again, Rommie.

[Rommie]

Thanks very much for the kind words, all.

code monkey, I rarely publish a piece where I don't think about that- how my first one was in print about 4 years ago, just when Russ died, and then of course mike and now CiD. It's just somehow baffling that they aren't around to read them.

[squ1d]

grats!

[geonuc]

Read the article today. Nice. I like how you discussed paradigm shifts and anomalies.

[pumpkinpi]

About to read it.....to Buster if he will sit still.

[Rommie]

Hah! How'd he like it?

[pumpkinpi]

Didn't get past the first line with him. But I enjoyed it!

I'm interested in the story behind the story....from conception to publication. Is it something you've always wanted to write about, so you did and then blindly pitched it? Or did you write it with the Discover style in mind, and pitch it only to them? Or was there some negotiation about the story topic between you and the magazine? Or something different altogether?

[Rommie]

Well the first version was just a general story of FRBs kind of piece (literal working title in my contract- "WTF are FRBs?"), but with some emphasis explaining how we make discoveries and the like. Then I didn't hear from them for a few months, and the head editor decided it wasn't so interesting to publish yet another "we discovered something that might be new" piece in astronomy, so I interviewed my old history of science professor to figure out the more general framework that's now in the article.

[pumpkinpi]

History of science rocks. There is a course on Teaching History and Nature of Science that I could take for my Master's program. My colleague (I'm her supervisor but she has the Master's degree already!) highly recommends it, and works it into a lot of her teaching. I don't think I can fit it in, though.

[Rommie]

Ah that's a shame- I definitely agree with your friend, I think my writing (as I do that more than teaching) has definitely benefitted from taking my history of science class.