A Kemptville author’s latest novel is set to be included in NASA’s next mission to the moon.
Michael Blouin’s latest work entitled ‘Skin House’, was one of 125 books to be selected for a digital lunar library that will be part of the cargo for the Peregrine Lunar Lander Mission.
The mission will carry a lunar rover to the moon, which will hold numerous items, including some hair from Arthur C. Clarke’s head, who co-wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey.
As someone who witnessed Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon when he was just nine years old, Blouin says having his work included in a NASA mission is something he never would have thought possible.
“I was just killing myself that I missed the initial deadline, and a writer friend of mine from Newfoundland contacted me out of the blue, and said they had some space to be involved in this moon thing, and I said ‘yeah, yeah I would like to do that’,” Blouin said.
Skin House is Blouin’s sixth published novel, and tells the story of a pair of friends in a bar who are down on their luck and the book is loosely based on real-life experiences.
Blouin describes it as a dark-comedy caper.
“It does take place in a heavily-fictionalized Kemptville, but anyone who is from the Grenville area I’m sure will recognize various landmarks, locations, maybe even people,” Blouin said. “Names have been changed though to protect the innocent and the guilty.”
Some of Blouin’s notable accolades include winning the ReLit Award in 2009 for Best Novel In Canada, the Diana Brebner Award, and the 2012 Lampman Award.
He’s also been shortlisted for the Amazon First Novel Award, the bp Nichol Award, and the CBC Literary Award.
Of all those accomplishments, Blouin says having his work included in a lunar library is probably the biggest.
“Having your book in libraries and bookstores around the world is very exciting, especially for someone who started writing in their teen years and had big hopes and aspirations,” Blouin said. “But to have your book on the moon is different from having it at a bookstore. It’s just a whole different scale and I’m still trying to get my head around it.”
The mission is intended to launch in April of 2021.
To pick up a copy of Skin House, you can head here.