HELP - In need of advice

[donutsweeper]

My bigbang is nearing the 11,000 word mark and I was about to begin to drop hints to what the alien menace was, except now I have a problem.  I just read the Torchwood book  Another Life, and while it's not exactly the alien storyline I was going for there are plenty of similarities.  I don't know what to do.  Should I:

1- Write it the way I planned and hope no one notices the similarities or accuses me of copying the book's premise?

2- Try to figure out a way to rewrite the alien menace to limit the similarities as much as possible?

3- Give up, since there is no way to alter the story to the point that there aren't some basic similarities or assumptions?

Comments

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

spoilers for the book below:


the basic premise is a ship came/is coming through the rift and into the Cardiff Bay (it's underwater). An alien from the ship takes over people's bodies, eventually killing them, but using them to learn enough about earth to find and obtain a fuel source for the ship so alien can leave and get home.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medley_/]

That's...not exactly unique in sci-fi. *g*

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

no, but the whole body-of-water thing seems a bit too close for comfort

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medley_/]

Well, there are a limited number of places to hide a spaceship, really, and underwater seems like a good place.

And if I was trying to land a ship with not enough power/fuel/whatever, better to hit the water than the ground, I'd think. If it's good enough for NASA, it's good enough for me. *g*

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

ah, very true.

sorry for panicking and bothering everyone there

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medley_/]

Pfft, you're not bothering anybody. Nothing at all to apologize for. It sucks about the book, it really does, but I really do think continuing as you've started is just fine.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

thanks

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medley_/]

You're very welcome. Any time!

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

Cardiff is a port, and also close to a very mountainous area. Where else is a bloody alien going to park it's ship to keep it out of sight? It ain't going to find a lot of room in the Brecon Beacons is it? I think the Bay has been under-utilised as a plot device personally; we know about the rift spitting things out, why would they all end up on dry land? We know they do dredge the Bay for items (can't remember whether it was the knife or the glove that came out of the Bay) so they would be used to stuff ending up in the sea.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

My bigbang revolves around 'spooky-doos' going on in a lake, so this hit close to home