Alien Whispers: Conflict and Communion follows a woman and her son who return to Earth to find it taken over by an authoritarian regime, and they must work with their Martian alliance to save humanity. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

The inspiration is derived, of course, from the flow of the first two novels in the series, where the alien characters and their modus operandi were introduced. Beyond that, a prime plot source was the current day behaviour of our own species with a stretch to imagined post-conflict world orders.

Mix that with the presence of the Rbuzen aliens and the developed hybrid beings working with Laura on Mars, plus other aliens who bear ill will to Earth, and the inspiration for the plot directions became almost self-creative.

Another prime inspiration was the distinct possibility of other dimensions. To quote a Terran translation of an Rbuzen saying, before the aliens’ discovery of extradimensional space: Like the worm in the soil, or the spider in the web, we know nothing of creation, save that of our immediate surrounds, for that is all we need to know in order to survive.

What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?

Laura Sinclair is a wonderful person to work with. Her love for her son, Jason, is unbound, even if they drift apart somewhat after the events of Milijun. She endeavours to be a strong character, a scenario improved a little by nanobotic enhancements, but still possesses the mental and physical frailties that haunt us all.

In Alien Whispers: Conflict and Communion two other characters spring to mind in terms of a writing challenge: Damien Dayananda, the autocratic leader of the Tellurians, and Belle Aubertin, a Tellurian operative. Of the two, Belle was probably the most challenging to write into the story. After all, there are plenty of despots in the world to use as models.

Belle, though, was different. For one thing, she is French, and for another, she has the ultimate in enquiring minds. In the novel, she is torn between two worlds, eventually becoming a lead character—but for which side is not always clear.

And then there are the hybrids…but that is another story.

What was your process in writing the characters’ interactions to develop the bond they have?

I give the characters a background, sometimes exotic, sometimes not, and then I put myself in their shoes. And then I let them talk. Nothing complex, just natural conversation, depending on the situation they are in—and what part of the universe they come from! That is, I let them react pursuant to their inner thoughts, and the influence of their surroundings and who happens to be with them.

The bonds between humans are sometimes fraught with uncertainty. The bonds between hybrids and humans, however, carry no such qualms. The entire history of humankind is given to the hybrids in their birth chamber. They know us even better than we know ourselves.
After all, their alien half-parents have been surveying Earth for a very long time!

Will there be book 4 in the Milijun series, and if so, when will it be available?

There is likely to be a sequel to the trilogy. However, I am toying with the idea of a collection of short stories based on the Milijun concept and the future of the characters within the books. There are a diverse series of events to be built upon, and an anthology would be a good way to tackle those events, and the destiny of several leading players.

As time is just a permanent spiral of events, it could be available tomorrow or two years from now—whenever now is.

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