The Lumenkin was going to be a short work of eco-sci-fi exploring first contact between the fairy realm on Earth and an alien intelligence that descends through the northern lights.
Like so many works of fiction, though, The Lumenkin developed its own opinion about what was happening and I had no choice but to type what it told me. Scenes I expected to last a few paragraphs became entire chapters. Supporting characters I expected to provide the background began asking complex questions I had never considered. And the alien ‘invasion’ became a story about the challenge of communication when there is no shared language.
The central character, Lirien, is a young healer in the fairy realm; a parallel reality to the human realm. Her gift is not the kind of magic found in traditional fairy stories. Rather, she has the uncanny gift of perceiving the resonant frequency of other living beings, adjusting her own frequency to theirs, and healing all manner of physical and emotional ailments through touch.
So when the ‘alien invasion’ comes in the form of a photonic entity, she is the first to sense it, the first to commune with it, and the first to be transformed by it. From the photonic entity’s point of view, Lirien is a beacon; a highly receptive form of life ready to make first contact. In return for her openness, her awareness expands way beyond ordinary sight.
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