I liked that series. Was an interesting take on the era, and I liked the monthly serialisation too. Though I was happy when a combined book came out.
Who decides when to fill in backstory and history?
- Thread starter captainkirk
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Starfleet Year One I thought was better than Enterprise.
It would appear so!
At one point, we actually discussed the possibility of the "Riker and Troi on the Titan" and "Worf on the Enterprise" plot threads both being part of my Star Trek: Picard novel, but I felt that they would be better served by being told seperately. (And to be clear, this doesn't mean I've also been asked to write a "Captain Worf" novel... But it is a neat idea...)
That could’ve been fun, but I suspect your creative instinct is correct and the two stories both deserve books of their own. That said, I won’t object to a Captain Worf cameo in The Dark Veil if you see fit.
If it’s not you writing the Captain Worf novel, it seems like a concept that might suit David Mack. After all, he set up Worf’s new status quite nicely in Collateral Damage, even though, as I understand it, he wasn’t aware of the new Picard continuity at the time he wrote it.
Whoa! Thank you for sharing this behind-the-scenes tidbit with us!It would appear so!
At one point, we actually discussed the possibility of the "Riker and Troi on the Titan" and "Worf on the Enterprise" plot threads both being part of my Star Trek: Picard novel, but I felt that they would be better served by being told seperately. (And to be clear, this doesn't mean I've also been asked to write a "Captain Worf" novel... But it is a neat idea...)
He gets a namecheck...
I'm always happy to talk about the process!
Hmm, very interesting. It's kind of what I expected though. It makes sense. It's the writers job to come up with the story and it sounds like sometimes the editors just point them in a particular direction--and sometimes they are just given a blank slate, which is not surprising either. I wonder, though, do editors ever just give an author a total blank slate? Just like, 'we want a Star Trek story pitch from any TV series'. Or do they say 'we'd like you to write a TNG book?' Does the blank slate ever go that far to leave even the specific series open?
I wonder how the editors pick an author for a story. Is it just someone's turn basically. 'Christopher's up next to write a Star Trek novel' (assuming that particular author is currently available of course). Though I guess sometimes it's because a particular author has adopted a series (i.e. Christopher seems to be our go to Enterprise novel guy, Kirsten Beyer was the go to Voyager novel gal, etc.). But when it's something more generic I wonder how the editors determine which author to ask for a book?
I also find it interesting that James Swallow was asked about a potential Vanguard novel. I guess I just assumed that was Mack and Ward's baby. I wonder where a Swallow Vanguard book might have taken us? Alas, we will never know.
I'm glad to see a Titan based Picard novel coming out. I admit I'm intrigued to see what elements James might include from the existing Titan series as he has hinted at. And I look forward to seeing a Worf/Enterprise novel at some point. I was a bit surprised there was virtually no mention of the Enterprise in "The Last, Best Hope", though as others have argued they probably wanted to wait to see where Picard went before tackling any plot lines there. While you can't avoid plot conflicts completely, it probably doesn't make sense to write something in a book that might have a good chance of being contradicted right off the bat. It'll be interesting to see if an Enterprise based Picard novel similarly might include some familiar litverse elements. Even "The Last Best Hope" included a nod here or there (Worf being Picard's first officer and some of the Cardassian bits in the novel felt like they could have fit nicely with the Cardassian based DS9 novels that McCormack had previously written).
I wonder how the editors pick an author for a story. Is it just someone's turn basically. 'Christopher's up next to write a Star Trek novel' (assuming that particular author is currently available of course). Though I guess sometimes it's because a particular author has adopted a series (i.e. Christopher seems to be our go to Enterprise novel guy, Kirsten Beyer was the go to Voyager novel gal, etc.). But when it's something more generic I wonder how the editors determine which author to ask for a book?
I also find it interesting that James Swallow was asked about a potential Vanguard novel. I guess I just assumed that was Mack and Ward's baby. I wonder where a Swallow Vanguard book might have taken us? Alas, we will never know.
I'm glad to see a Titan based Picard novel coming out. I admit I'm intrigued to see what elements James might include from the existing Titan series as he has hinted at. And I look forward to seeing a Worf/Enterprise novel at some point. I was a bit surprised there was virtually no mention of the Enterprise in "The Last, Best Hope", though as others have argued they probably wanted to wait to see where Picard went before tackling any plot lines there. While you can't avoid plot conflicts completely, it probably doesn't make sense to write something in a book that might have a good chance of being contradicted right off the bat. It'll be interesting to see if an Enterprise based Picard novel similarly might include some familiar litverse elements. Even "The Last Best Hope" included a nod here or there (Worf being Picard's first officer and some of the Cardassian bits in the novel felt like they could have fit nicely with the Cardassian based DS9 novels that McCormack had previously written).
See my earlier post; that's happened to me a few times, both the "blank slate" and "write this series" directives.
Well, I just recorded an interview for an upcoming episode with The Voyages podcast where I talk about all about my Vanguard novel that never was, as well as the Mirror Universe Vanguard story I wrote for the Shards and Shadows anthology.
You'll see some familiar faces.
Oh, yes, certainly. There have been times when I've been asked to pitch whatever I had to offer, and I'd toss out several possibilities and the editor would pick one.
I was assigned to Enterprise by Margaret Clark -- or rather, she offered it to me after shooting down my original idea of a series set between First Contact and Enterprise.
The original plan was to open it up to more authors. I was tentatively offered a chance to pitch for it as well, though nothing came of it. Eventually Marco decided just to keep it with Dave, Dayton, and Kevin.
Oh, ok, I missed that.
I guess currently that's probably less likely to happen since there are currently running series (and with only about 8 books coming out per year).
Which do you prefer. Do you like it better when an editor points you in a direction or a total blank slate? I guess a total blank slate can be good when there is something you have in mind, but I guess it could be a challenge too.
I suppose that probably varies from author to author as well. I imagine some authors might prefer the blank slate, while others might prefer to be pointed in a particular direction.
Oops, forgot about Kevin Dillmore. I wonder what Dillmore has been up to lately since he seemed to have left the Star Trek family. Hope he is well, I haven't seen anything on him in a while.
I sometimes wonder what other authors have been up to that have left us that we haven't heard from, like Michael Martin, Andy Mangels, Michael Jan Friedman, David George, among others (though I know some have worked on other tie ins and even other formats like comics). But some just seemed to have disappeared. Hopefully they are alive and well and just moved on to other things or retired from writing.
Honestly, the only accurate answer here is "It depends." An author may pitch an idea, an editor may use their own judgment on "say, this kinda sounds like a good fit for Greg (or Christopher or Una or whomever)," it may depend on who is available at any given moment, or whether there's a hole in schedule that needs filled. Certainly I've had conversations along the lines of:
"So, Greg, you got any ideas for a new TOS book?"
"Sure. You want a Pike book, a five-year-mission book, or a Movie Era book?"
"Let's stick with the five-year-mission this time around."
"Works for me."
It can be pretty informal.
"So, Greg, you got any ideas for a new TOS book?"
"Sure. You want a Pike book, a five-year-mission book, or a Movie Era book?"
"Let's stick with the five-year-mission this time around."
"Works for me."
It can be pretty informal.
I guess it depends on whether I have something I'm particularly interested in doing at that point, or just grateful to have the work for another year.
Last I heard, he's still working at Hallmark.
Andy is still quite active on Facebook and seems to have a lot keeping him busy. Mike Friedman is with Crazy 8 Publications along with a bunch of other Trek/Shore Leave stalwarts.
Yup. I was given that same tentative offer, but then it wound up being just the two writers/teams.
As Christopher said, Kevin works for Hallmark full-time, and that's keeping him pretty busy, though he still does plenty of writing, both with and without Dayton.
As for everyone else, we're all working hard. Just because someone stops writing Star Trek, it doesn't mean they've stopped writing. And it's not that hard to find out what we've been doing in this Internet age......
The Wardilmore Bromance continues unabated.
A lone beacon of wholesome constancy in a troubled world.
In fairness, 2020 has set the bar has pretty low.
"Wholesome Constancy" sounds like a character name in a Victorian novel. Or the most ironically named Bond girl ever.
For The Never-Ending Sacrifice, Marco Palmieri approached me with the idea of a book about Rugal, and we took it from there.
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