The planet Retfai. |
Portia was the first character who came alive and began to take over a story that I was writing. Sometimes the demands of a character can become annoying and in the past I've often stifled demanding characters who began to take control of a plot. I want to challenge myself to experiment with allowing a character to instruct me and teach me things I don't know.
Can Gladia stop Vasilla's evil robots? |
Several years ago, my character Sachiz was starting to become annoying and I wrote her out of the Exode Saga. Here in 2020, I want to develop a new character with the ability to annoy me and this time I want to let that character wreak a bit more havoc than I allowed Sachiz.
More Firsts
In the Ekcolir Reality The secret of going hairless: the defollifier. Original cover art by Lloyd Rognan and see this |
The Skaña Intervention |
A week after I posted "August Sennor on Time", I included the name of a famous science fiction writer in the title of a blog post: "Asimov's struggle with aliens". That blog post is one of the most frequently visited pages on this blog.
Azynov the replicoid |
Later, a replicoid of Asimov was created and sent into the Asimov Reality Simulator. To avoid confusion with the real Asimov, that replicoid was called "Azynov". Inside the AR Simulator, Azynov works with Yōd to investigate the origins of human telepathy.
Hana |
Later, I wanted another character, similar to Franny, who could be integrated into the story Exode. That new character became Hana. The only problem with Hana was that someone had to do the dirty work and teleport her off of Earth. That "someone" became Parthney, one of the clones of Thomas Iwedon.
The Editor
Earth's Reality Chain |
Change Challenge 2020
Each year I create an annual change challenge (for example, see 2017). For 2020, I want to create a new interesting alien character.
I have an annual search for interesting Hollywood aliens (SIHA). I was amused to see that my local newspaper ranked Arrival as the second best movie of the past decade. The heptapods in Arrival are cool, but I'm dreaming of an interesting humanoid alien.
Other things to avoid
I like to imagine that Asimov's fictional universe of the Foundation is based on events that took place in the Foundation Reality. That Reality was terminated by Grean, a Kac'hin. However, the Kac'hin were created as a human variant and they are not really alien enough for the 2020 change challenge.
I also like to imagine that Jack Vance's fictional universe of the Oikumene and the Gaean Reach is based on actual events from the Asimov Reality. In that Reality, the Phari were allowed to help create telepathic humans, but the Phari were "out of reach", existing inside the Hierion Domain. Just as we humans have not ever been in contact with the Huaoshy, the Phari only indirectly influence human affairs.
Hai'zek |
I recently created a new positronic robot character known as Danni or Dani. However, as a humanoid robot, this character is not really new. Dani is in some mysterious way related to Asimov's famous robot Daneel. A humanoid robot of alien design and manufacture would qualify for the 2020 change challenge, but I'm not sure if I really want to create a non-biological character. I've tried that before and ended up with Man Bin.
Collaborators
I have fun creating imaginary collaborators who can help the Editor. Is there an alien character who could collaborate in telling the Exode Saga?
Also, I like Asimov's idea of developing characters who the reader cannot easily categorize as good or evil. I'm imagining an alien humanoid (for now, call this new character "NAx") who becomes involved in the writing of the Secret History of Humanity, but the Editor is not certain that NAx can be trusted.
a Preland |
Related Reading: Nirutam and her pet cat
2019 Change Challenge
2021 change challenge
Next: Two Wrongs (make a right)
visit the Gallery of Book and Magazine Covers |
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