I had already invented gendermorphs from the planet of Haollstrom IV in the Theta Sigma story Cam/Camilla. In that story, Chrístõ is very confused by his feelings about Camilla, a sensual woman who turns out also to be a very handsome young man. Once he had resolved his issues about being kissed by a woman who is also a man, he spoke to his father:-

“A gendermorph?” The Ambassador smiled. “They are wonderful people. Very passionate, sensual. But also good hearted. When you make a friend among them, it is a friendship for life. I knew Cam’s parent. Wonderful being. Both of them.”

“Father!” Chrístõ protested. “You didn’t…. What about…”

“My honour as a Gallifreyan noble remained quite intact,” he replied. “I spent a few hours dancing in the arms of a very lovely woman and the next day he and I forged a vital treaty.”

This obviously had to be given some further explanation in the Marion and Kristoph stories, and so, enter Hillary. One or two people have pointed out that Hillary is usually spelt Hilary. But bear in mind she comes from another planet. Actually, she’s named after the former Irish President, Patrick Hillary. It’s a surname used as a given name. But it is, of course, a fully unisex name however it is spelt.

Originally, I was going to have Marion feeling out of her depth around Hillary, and jealous of the fact that there is history between her and Kristoph, perhaps even feeling that he still fancies the much more sophisticated woman. I decided against that and allowed Marion to hit it off with her from the start.

And then, of course, the next day, Marion meets the other version of Hillary, a dignified looking man very much like Kristoph. And again she hits it off with him. Hillary in both forms is confirmed as Marion’s friend.

The carriage trip is the first revelation that Marion’s favourite song is ‘Across the Universe’ by the Beatles. I have known that particular song for a long time, but it was only when I listened to it in the context of Marion’s life, as a Merseyside girl who fell in love with an alien, that it began to have a fuller meaning. Having established it as her song, I actually used it a couple of times more in the Theta Sigma stories. I was actually rather thrilled to discover in February 2008, that Marion’s song was being broadcast to the stars by NASA. It was a rather nice real world vindication of my characters.

The carriage accident, and the assassination attempt was really just a dramatic device. The important thing was that Hillary’s baby survived it all. After all, this would be the one who would grow up to be Camilla, Chrístõ’s friend.