As many of you know, I’m busy with writing the debut novel in a forthcoming alien invasion series over on my paywall site.

Yes, I know this is as tired of a trope in the sci-fi world as they come. However, this will be my take on an alien invasion series- I’m looking to switch it up, to do something fresh.

There will be no little green men. There will be no Will Smith riding to the rescue. There will be no convenient virus that wipes out the strangely human-like alien hordes. Nobody in a lizard suit, although that would be fun, admittedly. No vast, coordinated, and heroic military response.

Nope. None of that.

I’ve given this some thought. If for some reason an “alien” spacefaring civilization happens upon us right now, and they have the same biological imperatives that we have (i.e. kill anything that looks like a threat), then we are totally screwed. After all, the killer app in warfare for thousands of years has been holding the high ground, and space is the ultimate high ground.

At present, we are defenseless against any attack from space.

Also, why would any aliens ever want this planet? Especially if they could roam the cosmos at will with notional FTL travel? There are few attractive reasons to come here.

First, just because conditions on Earth are suited to us, this does not say that they would be suited to aliens. In fact, it’s quite likely that they do not. Also, one could hardly say that this planet is pristine. It is contaminated and is becoming more so by the day. Of course, this could be attractive to our aliens- maybe they love a CO2 choked atmosphere. One never knows.

Second, the argument that Earth could be exploited for mineral wealth is also a NOGO. Our alien miners would do far better digging around in the asteroid belt, or, if they need water, head to one of the numerous moons with thin atmospheres throughout the solar system. Most of the easily recovered mineral wealth of this planet has already been exploited, and there is that small matter of having to escape Earth’s gravity well to get the goodies, which will be scant, to the mother ship.

Also, an advanced civilization would probably not stop by for a snack. If they can fly using FTL, I doubt they need to procure alien protein of dubious nutritional value for sustenance. If protein is a part of their diet, this can be derived from its base components, or grown in a tank. Even we have managed this, let alone a culture thousands, if not millions, of years in advance.

Finally, why would anyone come here to subjugate us and make us part of some stupid empire or something? To plant the flag? This makes zero sense. With our crude tools, we can see hundreds of exoplanets fairly close by. This spacefaring civilization would have millions of planets to choose from. Why should we get the dubious honor of being chosen for conquest? We wouldn’t.

So, why would I write an alien invasion novel, when I think most of the reasons for a typical invasion don’t make sense?

Because I have chosen a reason that doesn’t have to make sense. That has nothing to do with logic. Right now, even my hardcore readers over on my site are clueless, and I mean to keep it that way for a while.

This is great fun. Whether it sells when I launch in December remains to be seen. However, it’s keeping me entertained in this early, unplanned retirement.

Like my violins.

Guys, I blew the “cheap” violin that I wrote up yesterday apart, and modified it. I knew that with some tweaks it would be a solid instrument, and I was right. Behold, the Witek violin‘s new look!

I left it with the factory furniture, but I gave it some much-needed performance mods.

First, I carefully sanded the dreadful black paint from the fingerboard and nut. There was honest Asian hardwood of some sort under there, and once sanded, it turned a rich dark brown color with a very light coat of olive oil. What maniac would want to spray shitty flat black paint over that?

(As an aside- be very careful when sanding a fingerboard. It is supposed to be .7mm concave from front to rear for resonance purposes. You can destroy that quickly with aggressive sanding.)

Second, I adjusted the spacing and height of the nut. It was usable as-it-was, but it’s much better now. I soaped and fitted the pegs, and I trimmed and relocated the sound post. Where it was from the factory was sub-optimal at best. Also, I sanded the bridge feet to entirely contact the upper plate’s surface. I applied a light coat of bearing grease to the fine adjusters- this is a detail that is often overlooked, but it makes the adjusters a lot more user friendly.

Finally, I took off the awful strings that came from the factory and replaced them with a used set of D’Addario Preludes I had laying around.

Then I played the transformed fiddle.

Guys, it made for a powerful difference! This is actually a pretty nice instrument, and I’m shaking my head that I have less than a hundred dollars invested in this. No 69 USD instrument has any business being this darned good!

Alright, now it’s time to write once more, as the alien bastards devastate our world.

It’s a shame.