Consistency

[JRoss]

Hi, I'm new to the forum but not to Trek. I used to read the novels as a kid, my favorite was Vendetta by Peter David.

Anyway, I'm now a part-time professional writer, and I am really hoping to write a Star Trek novel. I've been out of the loop as far as the novels go for quite some time.

I was wondering, what with the DS9 relaunch and the post Next Generation books, is there an internal consistency being set up for the books? I've been doing some research on Memory Beta and have seen numerous references to the same characters, such as the Federation president.

If I write a novel set during the end of the Dominion war and featuring the Enterprise-E crew, what do I need to know? Thanks.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Star Trek literature appears to have held to its own internal continuity since at least 2001, beginning with the Deep Space Nine relaunch (beginning with S.D. Perry's Avatar books). I've noticed in threads here that the various Trek authors read the other Trek novels in doing their own research.

For an introduction, the TvTropes page on Star Trek's extended universe should be most helpful -- it was prepared by Trek BBS members.

Quite a few Treklit authors hang around these forums, so they should be able to give you much firmer answers.

 

[JRoss]

Thanks for this. I think that I've got a really solid idea, and having been published in non-Trek media, I think that I've got a good shot at landing an agent, which is essential for publishing with Pocket Books.

 

[JRoss]

Okay, I've been to the tvtropes section. Well, I guess what I need to know is what was the condition of the Enterprise-E during the end of the Dominion War (about a month or two before Worf kills Gowron)? Any indication of where it served?

I'm wondering if anyone can help me out with the crew, such as the Tactical Officer, and if any supporting characters, such as Admiral Nechayev, have been killed off.

 

[Smellincoffee]

There was a thread about that a few months ago, but it was little more than speculation. We don't know what the E-E was up to during the Dominion War, though John Vornholt wrote two novels (part of the four-part Dominion War series) about one mission of the Enterpise and Picard (Behind Enemy Lines and Tunnel through the Stars). They're not part of the modern shared continuity, and one section slightly contradicts it in a minor way. Back in 2005, Keith R.A. DeCandido edited an anthology of Dominion War stories you might want to look into (Tales of the Dominion War). I don't know if CBS wants to do anything more with the Dominion War, though. :-/

Nechayev is still alive and kicking in the late 24th century.

 

[kkozoriz1]

There's nothing that say your novel HAS to follow the continuity that's been established in the books. A stand alone is perfectly valid as well.

 

[JRoss]

That's true, but I feel it'd be an easier sell. It wouldn't do anything to change the Dominion War, and would mainly focus on Riker, plus a Klingon from TNG and a race that deserves more screen time.

 

[Christopher]

Keep in mind that tie-in writing doesn't work the same way original writing does, where you write the manuscript first and then submit it through an agent. Tie-ins are work for hire on behalf of the franchise owner, so any novel premise has to be approved by the licensor at the outline stage before you get to proceed with the manuscript. So if you're writing an entire MS with the intent of submitting it through an agent, that's pretty much a waste of effort. Just write an outline and three sample chapters, and understand that whatever you write will probably serve only as an audition; if the editor is impressed enough to solicit work from you, you'd most likely be asked to develop a different story.

Also, unsolicited treatments are subject to certain limitations; they have to focus on one of the main TV casts, be standalone tales, not make any permanent changes to the status quo, etc. So explicitly tying into the ongoing book continuity would probably be a bad idea.

 

[Therin of Andor]

and if any supporting characters, such as Admiral Nechayev, have been killed off.

Memory Beta would note many/some such spoilers:
http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

 

[JRoss]

Thank you very much, Christopher, that's a great piece of feedback. I am aware of the limitations and submission guidelines for such manuscripts, and I'm planning to follow all the guidelines that you've listed.

This will be a standalone story, but I simply don't want to step on anyone's toes. Thanks again. This has to be the fastest-responding, best-informed Trek community on the web.

 

[Stevil2001]

"All such spoilers" is pretty ambitious; MB's coverage is spotty at best.

 

[Therin of Andor]

"All such spoilers" is pretty ambitious; MB's coverage is spotty at best.

Sure, but it's a start. But who do we blame, the slackers who read MB but never contribute to it? It grows.

Significant, non-canonical events in canonical characters' lives are also often noted as apocryphal asides in Memory Alpha.

 

[ryan123450]

If you're so inclined, it might be good to look into the two TNG books which take place just before and just after the point in time you specified: TNG- The Battle of Betazed and TNG: Gemworld, Books 1 and 2. Both are in continuity with the modern Litverse.

As far as security officers go, I think this is the era between First Contact and Nemesis were there was a different security chief every so often. That's until Christine Vale got the position.

 

[Christopher]

The security chief in FC and INS was Lt. Daniels (Michael Horton), who features in one of the Slings and Arrows e-books and occasionally shows up in movie-era TNG fiction. Other Enterprise-E security chiefs in the prose include Linda Addison from Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles, Rhea McAdams from Immortal Coil and Baeta Leyoro from the Q Continuum trilogy. I think a couple of those are explicitly stated to be filling in for Daniels while he's on leave or something.

 

[Greg Cox]

The security chief in FC and INS was Lt. Daniels (Michael Horton), who features in one of the Slings and Arrows e-books and occasionally shows up in movie-era TNG fiction. Other Enterprise-E security chiefs in the prose include Linda Addison from Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles, Rhea McAdams from Immortal Coil and Baeta Leyoro from the Q Continuum trilogy. I think a couple of those are explicitly stated to be filling in for Daniels while he's on leave or something.

In the case of Leyoro (who was played by Lucy Lawless in my head), I asked Ordover who was supposed to be the security chief at the time, and he told me to just make someone up, but--SPOILER ALERT!--to make sure she was gone, one way or another, by the end of the trilogy.

Nobody knew who Worf's replacement was going to be, so we were writing around the problem.

 

[William Leisner]

The security chief in FC and INS was Lt. Daniels (Michael Horton), who features in one of the Slings and Arrows e-books and occasionally shows up in movie-era TNG fiction. Other Enterprise-E security chiefs in the prose include Linda Addison from Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles, Rhea McAdams from Immortal Coil and Baeta Leyoro from the Q Continuum trilogy. I think a couple of those are explicitly stated to be filling in for Daniels while he's on leave or something.

Slings and Arrows #2: The Oppressor's Wrong is the big Daniels story, though he does appear or is mentioned in the rest of the subsequent tales.

And yes, Daniels was on paternity leave during those stories where others were filling in as security chief, until he resigned after the end of the Dominion War.

 

[Greg Cox]

The security chief in FC and INS was Lt. Daniels (Michael Horton), who features in one of the Slings and Arrows e-books and occasionally shows up in movie-era TNG fiction. Other Enterprise-E security chiefs in the prose include Linda Addison from Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles, Rhea McAdams from Immortal Coil and Baeta Leyoro from the Q Continuum trilogy. I think a couple of those are explicitly stated to be filling in for Daniels while he's on leave or something.

Slings and Arrows #2: The Oppressor's Wrong is the big Daniels story, though he does appear or is mentioned in the rest of the subsequent tales.

And yes, Daniels was on paternity leave during those stories where others were filling in as security chief, until he resigned after the end of the Dominion War.

Though this must have been established retroactively or something. As far as I know, Daniels did not exist when I wrote the Q trilogy. Nothing had been officially established regarding who had replaced Worf, so I just made somebody up.

 

[Christopher]

As far as I know, Daniels did not exist when I wrote the Q trilogy.

Well, yes and no. Michael Horton's security guy first appeared in FC, but he apparently wasn't named Daniels or established as security chief until INS.

 

[Stevil2001]

And it was A Time for War, A Time for Peace that retconned the other security officers as fill-ins while Daniels was on paternity leave. There was Leyoro in the Q books, Rowan and McAdams from Immortal Coil, and some kinda alien guy (a Benzite or Bolian, I think) in the Shatner books, though I imagine he doesn't count.

Add in Vale, Nave, Battaglia, Leybenzon, and Choudhury, and that's about ten security chiefs in eight years. Sounds like the position is jinxed.

 

[Greg Cox]

And it was A Time for War, A Time for Peace that retconned the other security officers as fill-ins while Daniels was on paternity leave. There was Leyoro in the Q books, Rowan and McAdams from Immortal Coil, and some kinda alien guy (a Benzite or Bolian, I think) in the Shatner books, though I imagine he doesn't count.

Add in Vale, Nave, Battaglia, Leybenzon, and Choudhury, and that's about ten security chiefs in eight years. Sounds like the position is jinxed.

It's kind of like being the drummer for Spinal Tap . . ..