In the Pipeline

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But that was in 2017. Further back, a long-held belief that humanity is far better off without extraterrestrial contact prompted a draft of The Alien Story.

 It has not, however, progressed beyond the unexpected departure of The Visitors. They conveniently lobbed on the planet's doorstep with apparent solutions to most of humanity's twenty-first-century problems. At the beginning of the story, something prompts an unexpected departure. But that's as far as things have developed.

A dream in which a pack of dreadlocked youths pelted a TV news crew with rocks morphed into a narrative tentatively titled Real Estate Manners. 

A mild-mannered community radio presenter and amateur music critic named Mike Manners becomes involved in a struggle between influential players in the media and property developers. On the sidelines, a group of individuals have managed to establish a niche within twenty-first-century society that exploits a couple of intriguing loopholes. The players are all there, but they need somewhere to go.

Finally, the historical content in About The North prompted a scenario where a modified coastal landscape has produced an almost-Bowen in much the same location as the actual town. 

Tweaks to the chain of events around the 'discovery' of Port Denison and the separation of Queensland from New South Wales deliver a starting point for a sweeping historical narrative. 

From there, it seems possible to use the history of The North as one element in a developing saga as two influential families vie for dominance in a semi-familiar landscape.

There is even a tidy conclusion, but the subplots and intrigues that deliver the narrative to that point remain uninvestigated.

© Ian L Hughes 2021