For your chance to poke T. James with questions until he giggles, read on….
Progress So Far: Three Quarters Present and Correct, One Quarter AWOI*
* AWOI: Absent Without Information
There comes a time in most long-term writing projects where there is a lull, a pause when the only thing to do is wait. For me, that time is now. I’ve just sent an email to Frontier full of awkward questions, many of which probably don’t yet have an answer. Getting answers is pressing in terms of my story, but my guess is that fleshing out these aspects of the game is probably lower down Frontier’s to-do list. It involves game content that is more likely, I think, to be released as a later update or add-on pack. (Frontier hasn’t given me any basis for my assumption, I’m just reading between the lines.)
This puts me in the rather strange position (for a writer) of being unable to visualise something that does not exist. Making stuff up is what we do. I could try to substitute something from my own imagination, but these are ending scenes with strong visual elements that will be key to how they play out. Just imagine a movie actor working on a green-screen set where there are no visual cues to respond to, and no other actors to interact with. All that is added later by a computer. Right now I feel like that actor, but the film mascot ate the script, my director is on holiday with his mistress, the camera crew lost their equipment (which is now in Ecuador), the sound crew has come down with a severe case of microphone roundworm, and the head of lighting got over-excited and blew all her fuses. Creativity will have to wait for the arrival of the muse, and an email from Dem Dat No Tings Bout Elite. (Wotcha, FILFs. *waves* 
).
Ask The Author, Maybe
So, what to do while time meanders on its merry way? After listening to the LaveCon podcast Q & A sessions (having unfortunately missed the event itself), I thought I would try my own author interview, and who better to interrogate me, than you? If there is anything you want to ask (within reason), then please put your questions in the comments below, or send them to me via email, or DM me on Twitter. (Comments will be moderated, and so will not appear straight away.) I will do my best to think up something intelligent to say (although that does not come with a guarantee). Alternatively, I can sit, embarrassed, in a dark corner of my writing room knowing I have no readers, or friends. (Emotional blackmail? Absolutely!)
This is your chance to pet your own author—I promise I’m house trained.
***¾√ ¼?***
(Image, ‘Human Resources Concept Stock Image’, courtesy of 89studio, hosted by freedigitalphotos.net.)
