Meet The Astronauts

I'm writing a novel (in case you've been living under a rock).  And it's the fun-nest (most fun?) thing ever.  Can't you tell from that last sentence that I just wrote that I am obviously a literary genius?

My favorite part is making up my characters.  I decided to have a lot of characters.  I'm not clever enough to write 50,000 words about a boy and a girl who fall in love or something, so I chose to have 10 characters.  That way I really only have to write 5,000 words per character. And making up characters is the fun-nest (most fun? I really need to figure that one out)  part of the novel anyway.  So why not have a LOT of them?

But I hate books with too many characters, because I lose track of them.  So I've named all my characters something that helps you to remember them.  For example, Dale is a Dork, and Mitch is in the Military.  Charlie Bravo is a pilot (because they say things like Charlie Bravo), and Jim and Judy are married since their names start with the same letter.  I also love that I get to make up back-stories and crazy personalities for all of them. I like putting little parts of myself and people who I know into the characters too.  So here's a brief introduction to my astronauts.  You can meet their wives later.

Jim Adler: Astronaut/Doctor.  Pretty much the kind of doctor that every little med student wants to be when we grow up.  He's going to do emergency surgery in outer space using only a plastic kitchen knife and freeze-dried space food. And he also is trained in cannibalism, and can perform an alien autopsy without puking.

Charlie Bravo:  Astronaut/Pilot. Very rico suave.  He might've been inspired by the volleyball scene in Top Gun.  Unfortunately, the best looking astronaut always has to be the first one to die.  Sorry Charlie, those are the rules of space travel.

Mitch Becker:  Astronaut/Co-Pilot.  Alcoholic.  NASA tells him, "Either you'll be sober on Mars, or you'll build your own rocket to come back to Earth to get booze.  We are fine with either one."  Still haven't decided which option would be more fun to write though...

Edward Soloman:  Astronaut/Engineer. Basically every boy I ever met at IIT.  Super dork.  Except you, Danny, you're the greatest. Not dorky at all.

Dale Richards: Astronaut/Biologist.  More similar to his bacteria than to his crewmates.  Rushed onto the mission and so he didn't have time to undergo a full psychiatric review prior to take-off.  Hint hint- he's gonna go CRAZY.

Those are my astronauts.  I'm glad that you've all been introduced.  And, needless to say, all of my astronauts love to have upside down, outer space, zero-gravity dance parties. Here's a picture from our most recent dance party while we were doing the YMCA dance.  I think Mitch and Edward got the hang of it (Excellent "Y", boys), but Charlie looks like a sideways L, while Dale and Jim are just doing somersaults in the background.  Come on guys.  Get your act together.