I’m writing again, and this time it’s for real. The last story I came up with didn’t really cut it, but last week I came up with a fantastic idea for a sci-fi novel, inspired by a planet that’s recently been discovered to possibly be habitable, Gliese 581 g. I’m really excited, because this time the plot is writing itself in my head and I’m ready to tackle it properly. This is a short summary of my ideas so far:

The planet Qarteram orbits its star at exactly the right distance and is exactly the right size that it’s tidal locked, meaning its day is the same length as its year, so the same side is always facing the star, leaving the other side in total darkness. On the day side the countries and continents are prospering. They grow crops and have a host of clean, natural resources to use. The people are wealthy, cultured and happy. They are mostly at peace with one another and benefit from financial unions and diplomatic relations.

On the night side the people are poor. The governments are puppet governments ruled by crime lords constantly at war with each other over the few resources available. Industry consists mostly of mining and other dangerous and hazardous jobs. Many parts of the night side are completely uninhabitable due to the harsh, cold climate furthest away from the star where the air will freeze in your lungs. There is a high level of conflict with the day side, on whom they are dependent for foods, most prominently different types of grain which are almost impossible to grow and cultivate in greenhouses. The day side exploits the night side, trading food and medicine for minerals and metals, at poor rates.

Qarteram’s twilight zone is mostly ocean, but one island crosses the border between night and day: Cendar. Largely isolated from the rest of the world, Cendar exists in a state of perpetual sunrise, from the bright morning areas of the east, to the early dawn twilight in the west.

Introducing Andera. Born on the night side, her parents opposed their country’s puppet government and escaped to Cendar as political fugitives when she was very young. Andera has grown up watching her parents lead a resistance group intent on breaking down the criminal network on the night side and stop the corrupt exploitation of the night side’s people by the day side. Now, as she comes of age, Andera is ready to join in the fight to create a better world.

Meanwhile, the day side’s government are getting sick of dealing with what they consider the half-humans of the night side, and intend to escalate their conflicts to all-out war, getting rid of all the people and claiming the few resources there for themselves. When news of this reaches Cendar the resistance has little time to try to stop the all-out annihilation of the night side. If diplomatic means won’t cut it, it’s time to think differently.

The plot is likely to change a bit as I go along, but it’s a start. I’ve written one chapter (rough draft only, but as soon as it’s been refined a bit, I’ll post it) and have gotten started on the second. I’ve also done a bit of concept art to go with it. Here’s the planet:

The island you can see right at the border between day and night is Cendar, where we begin our story. The moon that is visible in this shot is Quenda, the larger of two satellites which the inhabitants use to tell time, given that there is no solar day or year. The smaller moon is called Pyulder.

I also drew my main character, Andera.

In Earth years I guess she’d be around twenty, though I haven’t quite worked out her age in “quen” yet, which is the calendar year of planet Qarteram, based on the cycle of the aforementioned moon Quenda.

I other news, I had my first vocal lesson today. Teacher seems nice and friendly, loves a lot of the same music as I do and was pretty good at making me feel comfortable with being there, which is a plus. I think we’ll get along fine. Gonna try to find something I can bring in to sing next week, so we can start working on repertoire for my whatsit concert thing at the end of the year.

I’ll be attending a meeting tomorrow about the Professional Project I’ll be working on all year, too. See if I can’t get a better idea of what it’s all about… It’s hard coming into third year and having no clue what people are on about half the time… I guess I’ll get used to it, though.