Trek screenwriters writing novels and other media

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by GHS, Apr 27, 2020.

  1. GHS

    GHS Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I assumed I'd find this info in here and couldn't, so I'm taking a shot at it. Here's a list of all the writers I'm aware of that wrote for Star Trek in movies or television, but also wrote novels or other Trek media. I assume I don't have every single instance, so would welcome additions or corrections:

    Gene Roddenberry, Film novelization

    D.C. Fontana (wrote on TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, produced TAS and TNG) a Pike novel, co-wrote several comics and video games, fan film

    Roberto Orci, (produced and wrote the Kelvin timeline films) plotted comics series

    Alex Kurtzman, (produced and wrote the Kelvin timeline films, producer for Discovery and Picard) plotted comics series

    Brannon Braga (produced and wrote for TNG, VOY, ENT, also wrote 2 films) co-wrote Hive mini-series

    Jeri Taylor, (producer and scriptor for many TNG and VOY episodes) Several VOY novels

    Kirsten Beyer – (wrote episodes of Discovery and Picard, producer on Picard) Novels, short story, plotted several comics series

    Judith & Garfield Reeves-Steven, (writers and co-producers on ENT) Novels, short stories, comics, video game plot

    David Goodman, (writer and consulting producer on Enterprise) TOS Novels, in-universe reference book

    Melinda Snodgrass, (writer, story editor and script consultant for TNG) TOS novel

    [LEFT][SIZE=4][FONT=Open Sans][COLOR=rgb(20, 20, 20)] [/COLOR][/FONT]
    [COLOR=rgb(20, 20, 20)]David Mack, (co-wrote DS9 episode, consultant on upcoming series) Novels, short stories, ebooks, comic mini-series, video game[/COLOR][/SIZE][/LEFT]

    David Weddle, (wrote several DS9 episodes) Plotted a novel

    Mike Sussman, (wrote episodes of VOY and ENT) Plotted an ENT novella

    David Gerrold, (writer on TOS and TAS) TOS Novel, novelization, comics, fan films

    John Ordover, (co-wrote a DS-9 episode) SNW short story, ebooks, co-wrote comic series

    David Bischof, (wrote two TNG episodes) TNG novel

    Diane Duane, (wrote a TNG episode) Novels, short stories, comics

    Terry Matales – (plotted two VOY episodes, produced a Picard episode) co-wrote comic series

    David George – (Story credit on Voyager) Novels, short stories,

    Alan Dean Foster – (plot for ST Motion Picture) Numerous novelizations, a TOS novel
     
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  2. Mysterion

    Mysterion Vice Admiral Admiral

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    You'll want to add Denny Martin Flynn, co-writer of ST VI. He wrote the Trek novel The Fearful Summons.
     
  3. David Mack

    David Mack Writer Rear Admiral

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    I think this also needs to include Michael Jan Friedman, who co-wrote at least one episode of Star Trek Voyager, as well as being the second-most-prolific author of Star Trek novels in the history of the franchise.

    Also deserving of inclusion is James Swallow, who co-wrote two episodes of Star Trek Voyager (though he was not credited on-screen for his contributions) in addition to being an acclaimed novelist and video game script writer.
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Alan Brennert wrote an issue of Marvel's 1980 Trek comic, then became a consulting producer on Enterprise under the pen name Michael Bryant. (For some reason Memory Alpha treats Bryant as his real name.)
     
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  5. KRAD

    KRAD Keith R.A. DeCandido Admiral

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    Specifically, Mike and Kevin Ryan wrote the story for Voyager's "Resistance." Kevin wrote the two Errand trilogies, some comics, and he and MJF cowrote Requiem together also.

    Also Eric A. Stillwell, who co-wrote "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "Prime Factors," is a co-author with DRG3 and Armin Shimerman of The 34th Rule.
     
  6. tomswift2002

    tomswift2002 Commodore Commodore

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    I can’t believe that people forgot about Captain Kirk himself—-William Shatner! He’s got story credit for Star Trek V, and then he wrote, with the Reeves-Stevens, his line of 24th century Kirk adventures.
     
  7. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Out of curiosity, who is the most prolific author of Star Trek novels?
     
  8. Defcon

    Defcon Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    My guess would be Peter David.
     
  9. KRAD

    KRAD Keith R.A. DeCandido Admiral

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    Who?
     
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  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    You know, the guy who was in Roger Corman's The Intruder and that Esperanto movie.
     
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  11. KRAD

    KRAD Keith R.A. DeCandido Admiral

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    Ooooooh, yeah. Whatever happened to him?
     
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  12. hbquikcomjamesl

    hbquikcomjamesl Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Howard Weinstein wrote "The Pirates of Orion" and then went on to write three TOS novels and three TNG novels.

    And in addition to his other works, we mustn't forget David Gerrold's ST nonfiction.
     
  13. GHS

    GHS Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Another writer of an animated episode was Walter Koenig, who wrote an issue of DC's Trek comic (I think that was the extent of his fictional literary trek output).

    My guess is - depending on how you factor in issues of the comic - Mr. Friedman's overall output surpasses Mr. David's
     
  14. Bryan Levy

    Bryan Levy Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    He was in Miss Congeniality! Yesterday was April 25th!
     
  15. DS9forever

    DS9forever Commodore Commodore

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    Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe wrote Legend of the Ferengi. I'm still not sure how to describe it as it isn't a novel or a reference work. A collection of short stories?

    Behr also wrote the earlier The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.
     
  16. David cgc

    David cgc Admiral Premium Member

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    Well, looking over Wikipedia's comprehensive list of Star Trek Novels, which is a little hard to quickly count (they double up cells on the spreadsheet when the same writer wrote consecutive books, and some miniseries are listed twice, so I'd have to go through it manually and can't just count the times a name appears on the page using the "Find" feature in my browser) but I can use to get a sense of the TrekLit oeuvre, it seems like Diane Carey has written and co-written the most Star Trek novels, which sounds right to me.
     
  17. Jinn

    Jinn Mistress of the Chaotic Energies Rear Admiral

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  18. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    He was great in THE DEVIL'S RAIN. :)
     
  19. David cgc

    David cgc Admiral Premium Member

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    It's that damn doubling up. PAD was only listed once on Wikipedia for all the New Frontier novels, and Carey got a lot of duplicates because of being involved in duologies, miniseries, and numbered novelizations.
     
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  20. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    D.C. Fontana also wrote the novelization for "The Questor Tapes".

    Diane Duane's original Trek characters feature in "The Kobayashi Alternative" text-based computer game.

    Walter Koenig, who scripted a TAS episode, also did a diary about the making of TMP, called "Chekov's Enterprise". His Trek comic was called "Chekov's Choice".

    Larry Niven (TAS) co-wrote a comic strip sequel, "The Wristwatch Plantation", as a sequel to "Slave Weapon".

    Michael Pillar's "Fade In: The Making of 'Star Trek Insurrection' - A Textbook on Screenwriting from Within the Star Trek Universe" was finally published posthumously.

    Writer of TNG's “The Inner Light”, Morgan Gendel, self-published a comic sequel called "The Outer Light".

    Surname is Flinn.

    The opening chapter of "The Fearful Summons" actually novelises the original "rounding up the crew" opening that he had scripted for ST VI, which was dropped and thus never filmed.
     
    Last edited: May 2, 2020
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