As I predicted
last week, I've had no difficulty bringing my current writing project up to 22,500 words. I've carefully parceled this new story into three linked parts, suitable for serial publication. My current drafts of the three parts, each a stand-alone mystery story, are 7,499 (
part 1), 7,496 and 7,497 words long, respectively.
My attention is now turning to the task of creating illustrations for this mini-trilogy of science fiction mystery stories. Although this is not the real name, here I'll refer to this set of three mystery stories as the Sessily Trilogy.
This new story is set in the same fictional world as the
Exode Trilogy. I ask the question: what if some alien
Prelands were found living on Earth? Biologically, the Prelands originated from Earthly primates, but they were altered and artificially crafted into a type of hermaphroditic organism.
Preland reproductive physiology is odd. Similar to earthly marsupials, there is only a brief time for Preland intra-uterine embryogenesis. Normally, Preland reproduction is carried out in virto by artificial means. However, in the primitive environment of Earth, as told in the Sessily Trilogy, Prelands can impregnate each other and give birth to their young. Preland newborns are tiny, but they can reside in the thoracic pouch and while there, grow and mature.
Thus, one of the illustrations for the Sessily Trilogy must be a depiction of the Preland thoracic pouch. I want to show a nearly full-term infant seemingly bursting out of the chest of its parent.
Elfish
I've previously depicted Prelands as having nearly normal human facial features. However, the Prelands of
Hemmal seldom reveal their true biological form to humans. The Prelands learned long ago that humans, upon viewing Prelands, think of them as odd elf-like creatures. Thus, in the Sessily Trilogy, when a Preland is first seen on Earth, members of the press warp the initial eyewitness accounts and begin referring to the alien as an "elf".
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| Elf prisoner |
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| D'hab pretending to be a Preland |
I want one of the illustrations for the Sessily Trilogy to show the odd facial features and small body size of a Preland Overseer. Although the events described in the Sessily Trilogy take place in 2014, one of the characters is a famous person who died in the previous millennium. I'd love to have an illustration that includes both that famous person and a Preland, but I'm not sure if I dare try to publish a photoshopped image of a dead person holding hands with an alien creature. A possible alternative is suggested in the image to the left.
Giant Prelands
Not all Prelands are small. For the Sessily Trilogy I imagine that there have been two different types of Prelands on Earth. The Preland Overseers all have small bodies, like a human child. However, most Preland colonists on Earth have had a body size similar to that of modern humans. From the perspective of Preland Overseers, the colonists are "giant Prelands".
The "giant Preland" who appears as a character in the Sessily Trilogy goes by the name "Noah". Noah worked with Trysta during the Phasi Intervention. A third illustration for the Sessily Trilogy should depict Noah and Trysta during the time of the Flood, 10,000 years ago.
Read the story here: Sessily Trilogy
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