Part of the premise of the Sentient 39 “universe” is that life, while somewhat plentiful in the galaxy, has actually evolved fairly rarely. Life evolved on a few worlds and then spread out to populate other planets. Usually this was done because some species on a planet evolved intelligence and with intelligence technology. With technology the species is then able to leave its world and colonize others.
This critter is a Dunak. His species is named for the original Dunak, a character in a novel I tried writing in 8th grade. The Dunak in my novel was basically a human in alien drag. He was inspired by both the Frank Kelly Freas cover for Conscience Interplanetary and Michael Whelan’s Little Fuzzy covers. For some reason the alien on the Conscience Interplanetary cover is always blue in my memory so that’s probably why Dunak ended up having blue fur.
I remember that novel. You wrote it in cursive, didn’t you? Cursive – ugh! I remember somebody in a spaceship but that’s about it. Lee Avera was tickled when you described the main character’s cursing as (something like) “he shouted words in ugly colors.”
Do you still have it?
Assuming it was in the boxes you mailed up I’ve still got it. There are a few boxes that I’ve never more than opened and then shut again. I’m pretty sure I set it aside to save. I certainly saved all the stick figure monster stories. I might have written it in cursive. If I was still using cursive in 8th grade then that’s how I’d have done it. I can’t remember when I stopped writing that way. I think I gave up after about 165 pages, maybe a few more, maybe a few less.