John Scalzi cased out the Armstrong Air and Space Museum before getting to work on his new book, "When the Moon Hits Your Eye."
The bestselling science fiction author, who is known for injecting humor into his stories, did not arrange for a tour of the Ohio museum or let the staff know that he was coming. He bought his ticket just like any other visitor. Had they noticed him, though, they might have thought he was there to rob them of their moon rock, given the attention he paid to where the surveillance cameras were and what was protecting the Apollo 11 lunar sample from prying hands ... and noses and mouths, but more on that soon.
"I went to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum very specifically so I knew what the layout of the place was, so I could see the moon rock there for myself and so when I wrote about it, it would be reasonable to what is actually there," said Scalzi in an interview with collectSPACE.com. "They had no idea."
Had the docents approached him and asked why he was interested in the moon rock, they might not have believed him anyway. In "When the Moon Hits Your Eye," released today (March 25), it is Virgil Augustine, the museum's (fictional) executive director, who comes to realize what has happened, however impossible it might seem.
A brief excerpt from the first chapter:
