I Did a Thing! Let's Talk About Aliens, ADHD, and Why I Wrote My Debut Sci-Fi Comedy Book

So here I am, writing my very first blog post, feeling like I should probably introduce myself before getting into the weird stuff, although the weird stuff is probably what you want to know about (and probably more interesting). I'm Dorian Lane, and I write sci-fi and (very soon) fantasy with lots of humor, usually set in small towns, usually in the PNW.

Okay, now the weird stuff: my debut novel Spaced Out is officially available for pre-order and drops September 20th! Set in a rainy PNW small-town off Hood Canal in Washington, it’s got two neurodivergent protagonists (one of whom may or may not be human), missing time, a shadow monster, a naked mud man, and lots of kooky locals. Throw in a little mystery (why the hell are so many people going missing, and what does it have to do with Elen’s missing month?), and you’ve got a pretty average Tuesday in Rättvik.

Early inspiration for Spaced Out

My original inspiration, when this was just an idea, was some kind of mashup of The X-Files and 3rd Rock from the Sun, with a little of The Burbs thrown in for good measure. So, yeah, definitely not everybody’s cup of tea but it didn't have to be. I remember watching the special features on one of the 3rd Rock DVDs that had an interview with John Lithgow and he said something to the effect of, "This show isn't about being alien, it's about being human." That concept stuck with me.

Being neurodivergent myself (hello, ADHD), and most of my family also having some form of neurodivergence (we have a lot of autism and even some BPD here), you can feel very othered. Like you don't quite fit in, or you just don't "get it" like everybody else seems to. I loved the concept of a ragtag band of misfits who genuinely don't know how to be human, trying to fit into society and relying on this character who actually is a human to help them navigate the world, but she's still trying to figure it out herself. So there's all these absurd things happening, but also these glimpses under the skin, where the characters are really vulnerable, and we see what really scares and motivates them.

Sci-fi comedy books and authors that inspire me

Christopher Moore's special brand of absurdist humor showed me that sci-fi and fantasy could be both hilarious and incredibly heartfelt. It doesn’t need to be a space opera, epic high fantasy, or a serial demon slayer detective series to be in the genre. And his work feels very in-line with Lithgow’s perspective. It’s about being human in the midst of all of these very bizarre, very out-of-this-world scenarios. Scalzi’s like that too with his humor, and he does satire so well.

Another eye-opener was picking up John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin. I remember reading it—the voice, the humor, the bonkers absurdity—and thinking "wow, this guy gets me." It's special when you find an author that makes you feel that when you're reading, and I guess that's what I'm chasing.

Living in the PNW

I also wanted to write something that felt like home, both to me and to anybody who picks up this book. Like Rättvik could be a real place they visited, even though it's totally batshit. To be fair, things get pretty weird anyway when you get out into really rural western Washington. We have a lot of characters here: quirky people, conspiracy theorists, hermits, homesteaders. You get these isolated little communities that only see each other during oyster and clam season, or at the grocery store or the one and only restaurant in town.

People are secluded and private here, but also surprisingly friendly and welcoming, and I chalk it up to the deep Scandinavian roots. Norwegian and Swedish immigrants settled all around here in the early 1900s, and the culture and landscape have changed very little since then. So that's the backdrop.

How the story found its start

I knew the basic direction I wanted to go with the story and what it was about at its core, but I wasn’t sure where to start. I was looking at a bunch of writing prompts to get ideas on how to begin the story, and one of them was something like, "your character walks into work one day to find out that they don't remember the last month, but everyone else does." I was like, that's perfect X-Files stuff right there, let's get cracking.

So it evolved from there, and it made sense to start it at the beginning, right when our main character, Elen, wakes up. I did my best to subvert that annoying cliché where the character gets out of bed and goes about their day, which was probably a risky choice for a debut author, but what the hell.

The dual POV structure happened because I fell in love with Adrian's character. Elen's got this sharp, anxious, kind of chaotic first-person voice with lots of pop culture references and self-deprecating dark humor, and then Adrian's almost the complete opposite: organized, analytical, controlled, maybe a bit paranoid, definitely peculiar. It’s a very opposites attract kind of dynamic. But they’re both sort of outsiders, and they bond over more than you’d expect. I love writing interactions between these two, and they get much more screen time together in the subsequent installments in the series.

What you can expect (and where to get it)

Spaced Out: A Small-Town Sci-Fi Comedy Adventure

When neurodivergent barista Elen Berg wakes up missing a month of memories, she must decipher bizarre clues—a shadowy figure in her kitchen, a mud-covered wild man, and a neighbor who definitely isn't what he seems—to uncover why people are vanishing from her small town before she becomes the next blank space in Rättvik's population records.

Spaced Out is available for pre-order NOW on Amazon! If you want a character-driven sci-fi comedy book that doesn't take itself too seriously, snarky protagonists, pop culture references, small-town shenanigans, and moody PNW vibes, then this is your jam.

What's next

This is my first blog post but definitely not the last. I'm still figuring out this whole author blog thing, but I plan to share more behind-the-scenes bits, probably overshare about my inside thoughts, geek out about music and movies and birds, and also share updates on the next books in the Spaced Out series, plus other projects I’m working on.

What authors made you feel "seen" as a reader? Drop a comment and tell me about that book that made you think "this person gets me." I'd love to hear about the stories that stuck with you and why they mattered!