Here’s the start of the section entitled “Old Jim and the Biologists.” It’s atypical of the style of the novella as a whole, but the only part I feel comfortable unveiling for now… I’m letting “The Bird Watchers” coalesce slowly and organically, so I have no idea when I’ll have a final draft, but I’m enjoying revising the S&SB, exploring Old Jim’s involvement with various elements along the Forgotten Coast, and also in returning to a fictionalized history of that area. As you might imagine, I couldn’t let go of that juxtaposition and knew it would eventually come out in my fiction. One was comprised of psychics and the other of physicists. On the day I visited, I stumbled upon two separate groups of researchers taking readings. I had the idea for the S&SB when I visited the Coral Castle near Miami several years ago. It’s stuck there not just in the context of Central parasitically infiltrating and using the Brigade, but also in thinking about how their mission might extend to other places than the Forgotten Coast. But the idea came to me while thinking a bit more about the S&S Brigade–an organization that has really stuck in my brain. This isn’t an attempt to “wrap things up,” and I really didn’t expect to even work on any additional Southern Reach fiction. Like, for example “Old Jim and the Lighthouse” and “Old Jim and the Thing From Below”.

Structurally, the story is broken into sections that delve into the present and the past, each with Old Jim in the title. You might also catch sight of some characters from the lighthouse keeper’s thread in Acceptance. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that Control’s grandpa Jack makes an appearance. Well, it turns out Old Jim was involved in the Seance & Science Brigade’s mission, among other nefarious things. Some readers will remember Old Jim as “ol’ piano fingers” in one of the more chilling scenes in Acceptance. For those who’ve asked me on Twitter about the possibility of new Area X/Southern Reach fiction, I can report that I’m (slowly) working on a novella entitled “The Bird Watchers.” The novella is set during the last week before the event that created Area X and the viewpoint character is Old Jim.

Southern reach area x