You may remember back a few years ago, when this blog was young, that I was working on a space epic story about a group of spaceship crash survivors who wind up on a derelict battleship from a war some 800 years earlier, said ship suffering from some pretty serious psychological problems.

Proving that no idea truly dies, I’ve been thinking about it recently. Something occurred to me, but I can’t decide whether or not to use the idea. So I’m presenting it here for comments.

Background: The long-ago war was started by a species called the Gillig as revenge against all living things for the destruction of one of their colonies and their beloved leader. They overreacted. Long story short, the end result included the dehabitation of the Gillig home solar system and a plague that wiped out 75% of the rest of the galaxy. In the ensuing centuries, the Gillig have come to regret their actions. As part of their penance, they act subservient to pretty much everyone, despite their actual intelligence and other prowess.

In the course of the main story, it becomes known that the assembled intelligences of the galaxy are finally coming together to attempt to reestablish something like the old galactic government. Naturally, our hapless heroes will eventually threaten that progress.

Okay, so, here’s the idea: The Gillig have not merely been the galaxy’s whipping boy out of collective guilt, but have in fact been working to undo the damage they did by guiding events as servants to the powerful people to bring about the reassembly of the galaxy. In the original concept, the Gillig were a broken and scattered people without a homeworld and lacking the drive to make anything of themselves. This new idea makes them the secret manipulators of all known space.

On one hand, I wouldn’t put it past them. It’s pretty much exactly the sort of long term planning they demonstrated during their war effort. On the other hand, I like the idea of them being a scattered and broken people who are Really Sorry About The War, who maybe lack the confidence to attempt this sort of thing as well as the organization to pull it off. Although, given that everyone knows what the Gillig did way back when, having them attempt repair and then threatening it by revealing them as the secret manipulators because no one would trust anything they came up with might be a good story point.

So, what thinkest thou?

It has been suggested by people in my writing group that I submit a story to the “Writers of the Future” contest.

On the upside, it’s apparently great exposure, and the winners receive an amount of money entirely out of proportion with what the rest of the market pays.  It’s judged by current leaders in the sci-fi field, so if you win, it’s because you’re good.

On the downside, the contest was created by, and is still closely affiliated with that great bastard Elron Fucking Hubbard.  I’ve got a serious moral quandary when it comes to anything with that skidmark in human form’s name on it.  I’ve got a list of actors whose movies and TV shows I refuse to watch for no reason other than they are in his cult, and I don’t want to give them any money they can then hand over to it.  I only excuse Jason Lee because he was born into it and is therefore not responsible for believing anything he was told before he developed critical thinking skills, and also because he makes a point of not prosyletizing, unlike The Teeth and The Hair.

 But I digress.  To summarize:  on one hand, potentially $5000 for a story I might get $300 for elsewhere, assuming I could sell it.  On the other, I am revolted at the idea of my story and my name in a book with that name on the cover.  I realize my opinion in this matter is extreme and not widely held.  The question is, do I hold my nose for the chance at money, or stick to my admittedly hardline principles?