Don’t worry, all is well.
Season 2 of OT is still coming. I have been working on it with a co-writer, but personal events have caused a lot of slowdown.
While they work on their portion, I have been busy, however. Though I am still learning, I have begun teaching myself Blender, and here is something that I’ve been working on-
A model of the Craton!
I know it was a short little story, but that is exactly what I wanted for this between-season episode. Just sometime to give an idea of where people are after the end of 13.
Episode 15, the first of Season Two, is coming right along. I have a readable version of it done, but as it is a very important episode for the continuation of the story I have been doing some revisions and adding a new plotline.
So far it’s not a massive episode in length, and that’s again by design. I’m not sure how long it will be when I’m done, but prior to adding the new bits it’s just over 30,000 words – which would make it the third shortest episode, just longer than Episode 1.
I’ve been very sick with covid for the last week, and that’s slowed me down a bit. But I hope to have more to report by the end of the month.
Just an update for readers; the first episode of Season 2 is coming along well. I do not have an estimate of when it will begin posting, but I just wanted everyone to know that this project is definitely continuing.
Take care, and if you care to leave a comment let me know what you hope to see going forward!
The season finale of Other-Terrestrial, Dark Star, will begin posting on Monday, November 27th!
Many things will come to a head, and questions will be answered.
Well, that’s it.
Exodus has been a very special story for me, on a lot of levels. Some of my close friends/editors have told me they liked it more than anything else I’ve written. It makes me glad because it felt that way to me, too.
I think I’ve talked about this already, but now that the episode is posted, I am brooding on it again. The end of Ko and the fate of the !Xomyi is not a wholly happy tale, though I think realistic given the circumstances.
I chose Ave Maria as the song to commemorate the world after giving it a lot of thought. I asked around, but I wanted a song with deep connections to our history. Realizing that the meaning of the song could adapt to a new universe and conditions made it a perfect fit. And I feel that it is simply a beautiful song, no matter your beliefs.
Will we see the !Xomyi again? One of my goals in this has been that individual episodes would not be dropped and forgotten in the future, so yes. There will be references, the impacts it has on individuals and the Union as a whole will be felt in the future. The universe at large has seen the actions that occurred here and will have their own thoughts and views on it. Distance and different outlooks will color their opinions.
It will be some time before we see a live !Xomyi again in the flesh. But I have plans.
Speaking of such plans – there is one more episode of Other-Terrestrial for this season. It is already completed, and posting will begin on Monday, November 27th.
I’ll reveal more about the story tomorrow, including its name and cover art!
Soon after, I’ll talk about plans for after episode 13 is finished.
To those who have been regular readers – thank you. Coming in and seeing that people are looking at these stories makes me incredibly happy. I sincerely hoped you enjoyed this episode and that maybe at some point it moved you, like it did for me when I was writing it.
Just as the title says, my work on editing is nearly completed, and I’ll be having my editors take a look at this final version. Then, next Monday, the story will begin!
I have completed my writing of episode 12!
At this point, the story is 94,000 words, so I fell just shy of the 100k mark.
Now begins editing, which is a process that will still take a few days. I’m going to try to knock this one out in record time, because I am very eager to be getting this out there to you!
Thanks for hanging on. 🙂
I know people must be wondering about the latest story. I am still working every day! At this point I am nearing the finale; only a few more scenes left to write. Editing will have to begin then, but I do not think it will be very long.
This is now the longest Other-Terrestrial story I have written, currently sitting near 90,000 words (I estimate only because the official count includes some notes and such that will be taken out + there’s always editing). I expect it may surpass 100k by the time I’m done. I started the file for this episode on April 23rd, so about 100 days so for a novel-length work – pretty good, I think.
It is the most ambitious story to date, not only incorporating the setting and its myriad complex characters and advanced but grounded* technologies, but also extensive study (albeit amateur) of anthropology, geology, physics, and biology to create a vibrant, living world with an intelligent species with plausible society and culture, as well as a realistic world and biosphere being impacted by stellar-scale threats. It’s been a lot of effort, but including ideas that I’ve wanted to explore for many years, long before I even started Other-Terrestrial.
Well, I have little else to say. I have some other stuff coming on here, supplementary materials, that I hope to put soon.
Just a brief update – Episode 12 is about 2/3 finished at this point, and over 59,000 words. I am writing thousands of words each day, multiple scenes. This is not to say I am rushing, but this story is already written in my mind, and so I must just put it on my screen!
Soon I’ll share more about Ko, but I’ve been exhausted since my crazy work week last week, followed up with a lot of housework. Anyone who has a family knows how it can be!
Here is the cover for Episode 12 – Exodus!
Today, we’ll take our first look at the upcoming Episode 12 of Other-Terrestrial.
Titled “Exodus”, the episode will involve a new species of aliens, who come to be called the !Xomyi. The ! at the start of the name represents an postalveolar click sound, which is a type of click that appears in only a handful of human languages in Africa, and in one ritual language in Australia. It is created with a downward motion of a concave tongue.
The ! sound exists in the word because the !Xomyi are a species descended from nocturnal ancestors who were able to use a form of echolocation. Clicks and other sounds are common in their languages – of which there are many! It exists in the names of specific groups, such as the !A!amo, in animals such as keko!un (a type of predator), he!pa (a type of animal the !Xomyi hunt), and the ko!go (a bird-like animal).
The !Xomyi are not a united people, but exist still as hunter-gatherers. There are many scattered groups of !Xomyi across their homeworld of Ko.
While normally the Sapient Union would be quite happy to leave such a people to their own devices, to allow them to develop in their own way, there are still events that may force contact . . .
I’ve done a lot of work on this, and soon I’ll share some other background material, like my map of Ko and the cover art for the episode!
Other Terrestrial 
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