How strange and thoroughly surprising: In the just-released Book 3 of Conquerors of K’Tara, Darkness Gains, I wrote a scene where the Umbra shares a Zebulonian technology with his Yeltcheki contacts in exchange for their ships. This technology is seen as magical by the Yeltcheki, and I thought I had invented a new power for my story. Normally, before I create a new power, I research the topic first, to see if there are scientific discoveries here on Earth that provide at least a basic possibility for the power in question. This time, I did not research the topic so you can imagine my surprise when today–3 weeks after the publication of Darkness Gains–I came across an article on the Science Daily site, that presents the results of a new work on the ability of certain rocks to absorb, store, and release heat in a controlled fashion! One rock, in particular, seems to be able to do this very effectively: soapstone.

Of course, the reality of what things can do here on Earth is never as grandiose as what they can do in my story. For instance, the Lux Baiulae’s powers are derived–in large part–from the unusual microbial flora that inhabits their skin and internal organs. However, though bacteria on Earth can transmit electrical charges, they can only power very modest processes–with our current technologies (see my post on electricity-producing bacteria). Still, it’s exciting to find scientific evidence for the basic ideas behind the powers in Conquerors of K’Tara.

If you have not yet read Darkness Gains and you are curious about this technology that the Umbra offers to the Yeltcheki, you can find the book here on Amazon.

L.A.