Received this email today from Julie Bell: Yes, that was painted by Boris! Thank you for asking. Best wishes to you, Julie and Boris Sent from my iPhone I responded with some fannish squeeing -- I've been a fan of Vallejo's work since I was in high school, when he did a series of covers for Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers paperbacks from Ace Books.
I've scanned your annotations for you TOS novels and shorts and noticed that you make some continuity set-ups/fixes for stories like the Vulcan's series while making strong references to stories like Assignment Eternity, Unspoken Truth, Night Whispers, The TOS Section 31 novel, Home is the Hunter, First Frontier, The Rings of Time and various LA Graf novels. I was just wondering what you include in your Personal canon for the entire TOS era? In no way is this a question about your opinion of quality towards other writer's works. I'm just curious what you view as your TOS universe and what stories (in whole/ not peace parted) inform your past and future writings? Thanks and have fun, jsplinis
^I don't recall referencing Home is the Hunter in my books. I don't count it as part of the continuity, because it kills off Mr. Garrovick, who's still alive years later in In the Name of Honor. I think the references in my books and annotations pretty much answer your question, Jsplinis. I don't really want to give an exhaustive list of what I do and don't count, since my references cover the most relevant ones, and otherwise it's the sort of thing where my choices and opinions can change over time.
I understand your reasons for not wanting to list your canon. But let me just say how great it is that you take the time to respond to a very inquisitive fan like myself. Thanks. About the Home is the Hunter reference, in your annotations for DTI #2 you wrote, "43 Bonnie Prince Charlie is a hero from Scottish history, and Scott actually joins his rebellion in the time-travel novel Home is the Hunter by Dana Kramer-Rolls (set in the post-TMP era, so it would come after this novel). Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a great engineer of the Victorian era, and I'm aware of him mainly through the delightful alternate-history webcomic 2D Goggles." I wasn't sure if that was just a nod to a fact in that novel or if it was an inclusion in your personal canon because of the way you mentioned its time placement relative to your book. Sorry I interpreted it wrong. Thanks again, Jsplinis
Maybe this is a losing battle, but the term is personal continuity. Canon, by definition, means the official version as opposed to alternative interpretations, so "personal canon" is an oxymoron.
Nothing personal, just trying to clarify the word usage. And no, acknowledging that Home is the Hunter used Bonnie Prince Charlie had nothing to do with personal continuity or anything of the sort. It was just a bit of trivia that I thought I'd mention. And while I personally don't count the novel, I don't want to dictate to anyone else what books they can or can't count.
No, that's why Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer came up with Saavik for ST II, 'cos Nimoy really, really, really meant it when he said he wasn't coming back.
If that's what you think happened, you ought to rewatch the show. Nothing could be further from the truth.
A lot of the numbers TOS books have something off on them. It's usually the way the characters are drawn. It usually something off about the faces.
There are so many examples I can think of, but I don't want to derail the topic more than I have. But I know what I'm talking about and I can certainly list examples. They are the very reason I quit the show.