Thanks much! I hope you enjoy it!
FWIW, I think that The Art of the Impossible and Articles of the Federation are my two strongest Trek works. How-some-ever, YMMV.
Again, thanks!
The trouble with William Shatner is...
- Thread starter The Laughing Vulcan
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Thanks much! I hope you enjoy it!
FWIW, I think that The Art of the Impossible and Articles of the Federation are my two strongest Trek works. How-some-ever, YMMV.
Again, thanks!
Both were good, but for sheer fun, it's hard to beat Diplomatic Implausibility.
</tangent>
In that case, at least, the format is an obstacle to the content for many of those who talk of it rather than the stories. I understand your lament, though.
Hate to be the noob here, guys, as I'm sure this has been discussed before ... but the Shat uses a ghostwriter or two, does he not? I can't imagine Bill himself sitting down to write a series of Trek novels.
FWIW, I've only read one: The Return. I found it to be about average. But then, I was 14.
FWIW, I've only read one: The Return. I found it to be about average. But then, I was 14.
No, they're not ghostwriters, because their names are right there on the cover. They're collaborators. ("They" being Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens for the Trek novels.)
it's not exactly ghost writing:
IIRC Shatner dictates the plot, someone types it up. This is send to the Reeves-Stevens, who than write a manuscript based on Shatners ideas. Shatner reads it, says what he want to have differently, the Reeves-Stevens do the corrections and when both parties are happy it is send to the editor, Margaret Clark.
ETA: And like Steve says, the Reeves-Stevens are mentioned as co-writers)
^, ^^ Roger, guys; thanks for the clarification. I knew that if the other authors' names are featured on the cover then they're "collaborators," but I wasn't sure all of Shatner's novels featured names on the cover besides his own.
Anyway, that was a cool look inside the process. Thanks again.
Anyway, that was a cool look inside the process. Thanks again.
I checked Voyages of Imaginations to see if i remembered correctly, here is what Margaret Clark (editor) said about the collaboration:
"They all sit down and do the outline, where they come up with the core of the story together. What is the heart of the story? What is Kirk's motivation? Judy and gar than go away and write a more detailed outline based on their meeting and their notes. It#S a back-and-forth process that extends to the execution of the manuscript, Ninety-five percent of the Kirk material in these books comes from Bill, with gentle tweaks from Gar and Judy. They give their books the excellent continuity."
Shatner:
"We agreed that we wanted to write together. The way we write is I start things off with an outline. They start work from that outline and then I [go over it], rewrite, and hand it back to them. It's a process of interacting at all phases of the writing, I'm into plot and character more than anything."
"They all sit down and do the outline, where they come up with the core of the story together. What is the heart of the story? What is Kirk's motivation? Judy and gar than go away and write a more detailed outline based on their meeting and their notes. It#S a back-and-forth process that extends to the execution of the manuscript, Ninety-five percent of the Kirk material in these books comes from Bill, with gentle tweaks from Gar and Judy. They give their books the excellent continuity."
Shatner:
"We agreed that we wanted to write together. The way we write is I start things off with an outline. They start work from that outline and then I [go over it], rewrite, and hand it back to them. It's a process of interacting at all phases of the writing, I'm into plot and character more than anything."
I think the SHAT books started out very good, but got a bit tired as they went on, each one being slightly less good than the one before. The last one I read, the one with his son becoming the new shinzon or whatnot was pretty crap. I literally don't remember that book actually having any plot at all.
Technically, the Reeves-Stevens aren't credited on the cover for the first six. I think they were credited on the title page, though I don't want to say for sure for the first three (which I don't have in hand right now).
I stand corrected. But between the title page and the back cover inside dustwrapper flap bios (they're on both from Ashes of Eden on), there's never been any attempt to conceal their identity or involvement. I don't know if Ron Goulart was ever acknowledged as publicly for his role in the Tekwar novels, but Shatner has usually credited his collaborators.
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