The Thargoid Guide is Done, so Now I Wait and Sit on My Bum

It’s finally done! The Thargoid Guide is now being circulated around the Elite fiction writers’ forum so that everyone writing about our insectoid friends can start putting some words on paper, including yours truly. Playing a part in the creation of an alien race has been both challenging and enjoyable. It’s taken a lot of effort on the part of everyone to get this far, and we are all hoping that readers and gamers alike will enjoy the results when the fiction and game hit the shelves in 2014. There is still some polishing to do, but the result will be a team effort, with contributions, suggestions, and amendments provided by everyone involved along the way. Obviously this means that many of my initial ideas have been dropped or changed from the original draft as Frontier’s vision for our space-borne antagonists became clearer. I can honestly say I am not … Continue reading

There’s Thargoids on the Starboard Bow, Starboard Bow, Starboard Bow, There’s Thargoids on the Starboard Bow, Starboard Bow, Commander!

Here we are, nearly halfway through February as I type this, amazed at how well several of the other writers working on their Elite: Dangerous novels are getting along. There’s talk of outlining, approval from Frontier, plan-draft critique and all kinds of progress. You are lucky, lucky people because there’s a dedicated crew of word-monkeys typing madly to bring you a wall of Elite fictional goodness as you read this (between peeling the odd banana and picking insects from their armpit hair, but everyone is entitled to some time off). While their creativity flows in a torrential outpouring of brilliance, what have I been able to eke out of the unforgiving bedrock of my imagination? Nuggets. Thargoid shaped nuggets. The thing about aliens is that they are, well, alien, which means they need defining/refining if they aren’t to come off the page as humans in rubber suits. (I love the original 60s Star Trek series, … Continue reading