A Message To The Authors Of Star Trek Novels

[Shane Houston]

Hello everyone. Forgive me if the following words appear to be overly sentimental. But my main goal is to show some gratitude.

3 Weeks ago my mother passed away. It was a quick and suddenly death and definitely not expected. You can imagine how I feel, yet unless you've experienced it, you can never know. Anyway, moving on and getting to my point.

Over the last three weeks I have been dealing with the grief but also suffering from bouts of insomnia. Medications haven't helped. The night I came home from the hospital, on the day she died, I pulled out a box of my stuff Mom had put in my trunk the week before. It was full of my favorite Trek novels from a few years ago, before I ever got Kindle. And each day and most every night since I've been reading them in my spare time and seems to be the only thing that takes my mind of Mom even for a bit at night.

I'm the kind of reader that reads the Acknowledgement pages. I see the love, sweat, tears and time that goes into writing these books. How some of you even sacrifice time with your families. I see it take a lot of effort.

For your excellence in keeping Trek alive and entertaining us for over 30 years. Thank you to every Trek writer, from 1982-Present. You guys were with me as a little boy in a small town in Kentucky all the way to city living on the 10th floor of a great apartment. I am so grateful for all the works that's ever been written, even when those stories aren't to my liking.

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. And please forgive the cheese fest in here, I just needed to share how these folks have helped me get through a really rough time.

Take care.

As to what books I've been reading this week:

Lost Era Well Of Souls by Ilsa Black

Full Circle by Kirsten M Beyer

Indistinguishable from Magic by David A. McIntee

The Cold Equations Trilogy by David Mack

It was awesome mourning and crying for Scotty and then jumped right into celebrating the return of Data..or Data 20. Whichever.

 

[David Mack]

Glad to hear that our work has been of some small comfort, or at least a source of needed diversion, during a difficult time for you. Here's hoping you'll continue to enjoy them in better times, as well.

 

[martok2112]

Shane, you have my most sincere condolences (and understanding) for your loss.
Have you ever read: "How Much For Just the Planet?" Of the few FASA era novels I'd read, that one is probably my favorite just because it had me in stitches, rolling on the floor laughing.

 

[Greg Cox]

Thanks so much and all my sympathy.

 

[Shane Houston]

Thanks to you both. I know it may be strange, coming to a message board and thanking creators of our favorite stories and what they have meant to us. But I really meant what I said. I've dealt with Mom's death, the aftermath and my regular life, by licking my wounds alone, grabbing one of the Trek books Mom found for me before she died, and relax and get into the story. There were a lot of times the last couple of weeks where the only peace I got was a Trek novel in my hand and I Love Lucy in the background.

I've read every Trek novel from I could get my hands on from 1982 on to now. It's been a great adventure for me and I'm so glad I could learn about loss through characters like Chakotay in Full Circle or Jean Luc Picard in Buried Age.

Teaching me and reminding me, that how I deal with death, is at least as important as how I deal with life. The writers of these books have the awesome honor of adding to the Trek universe. I say thank you.

http://www.halltaylorfuneralhomes.com/cgi-bin/CompanyInternal?stdout+115+halltaylorfuneralhomes.com+1258+4+9103:Lcgi_html/shelby/

Spoiler: Mom's Obit

Nancy "Dee Dee" Long, 70, of Elk Creek, died on Saturday, the 24th day of May, 2014, at Baptist Health Louisville. A native of Eminence, Kentucky, she was the daughter of the late Lindsey Duvall and Martha Elizabeth Purvis Powell. A member of the Buckner Christian Church, she also attended the Eastwood Baptist Church. She was the owner and operator of Long's Upholstery. Working on her farm and caring for her horses were two of her favorite pastimes and she also enjoyed bowling.

Her survivors include her husband, Joe Long of Elk Creek; her sons, Tony Acree of Goshen, Billy Acree of LaGrange, and Shane Acree of Louisville; her stepsons, Joe Long, Jr., of Jeffersontown, and Josh Long of Elk Creek; her sisters, Betsy Overstreet and Dana McGee, both of Louisville, and her six grandchildren.

Memorial services will be conducted at 11:00 A.M., Wednesday, the 28th day of May, 2014, at the Buckner Christian Church in Buckner, Kentucky, with Reverend Bill Hancock and Reverend Jim Hume officiating. Visitation will be from 5:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M., Tuesday, at the Hall-Taylor Funeral Home of Shelbyville, and expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to the MLD Foundation, 21345 Miles Drive, West Linn, Oregon 97068.

 

[Kirsten Beyer]

Shane,

I am so very sorry for your loss.

Obviously, no one can know exactly how you feel or what you are going through right now. That these books have offered you some comfort or relief makes all that went into creating them that much more meaningful.

For what it's worth, I lost my father, who was the center of my universe, just a few days shy of my 23rd birthday. It was sudden, completely unexpected, and absolutely unacceptable. His death was the worst thing I had or have ever experienced. There were so many lessons that came along with it. Many took years to settle or make any sense.

He was an avid reader, but died before I began writing. Although Full Circle was the fourth novel I ever wrote, and I had long wanted to dedicate one to him, I waited until the right story presented itself. Full Circle is what it is because of who he was, who he taught me to be, and who I have become since his passing.

Your post took me back to those early days and weeks. It was such a chaotic time. I, too, suffered from insomnia, for months, actually. I distinctly remember reaching a point when I could only fall asleep with the lights on in my room. There were lots of recurring nightmares.

And then, one night, several weeks after he had passed, when I couldn't sleep, I decided part of my problem was that there was so much I needed to say to him that I never got the chance to say. I got out of bed, sat down with a notebook that became a journal of the early months, and just started writing to him. There were lots of tears during that first entry. But it was the strangest thing. When I'd finished that first night's "letter" as I came to think of them, I turned off the lights and fell asleep pretty quickly.

I continued to write to him until the time came when I didn't need to anymore. Every now and again, even so many years later, I feel the need to write to him again, so I do. That journal still lives in a drawer right beside my bed.

I wish you peace as you begin this journey. It is incredibly kind of you to say that my words are among those you have turned to.

Best always,
Kirsten Beyer

 

[Shane Houston]

Shane,

I am so very sorry for your loss.

Obviously, no one can know exactly how you feel or what you are going through right now. That these books have offered you some comfort or relief makes all that went into creating them that much more meaningful.

For what it's worth, I lost my father, who was the center of my universe, just a few days shy of my 23rd birthday. It was sudden, completely unexpected, and absolutely unacceptable. His death was the worst thing I had or have ever experienced. There were so many lessons that came along with it. Many took years to settle or make any sense.

He was an avid reader, but died before I began writing. Although Full Circle was the fourth novel I ever wrote, and I had long wanted to dedicate one to him, I waited until the right story presented itself. Full Circle is what it is because of who he was, who he taught me to be, and who I have become since his passing.

Your post took me back to those early days and weeks. It was such a chaotic time. I, too, suffered from insomnia, for months, actually. I distinctly remember reaching a point when I could only fall asleep with the lights on in my room. There were lots of recurring nightmares.

And then, one night, several weeks after he had passed, when I couldn't sleep, I decided part of my problem was that there was so much I needed to say to him that I never got the chance to say. I got out of bed, sat down with a notebook that became a journal of the early months, and just started writing to him. There were lots of tears during that first entry. But it was the strangest thing. When I'd finished that first night's "letter" as I came to think of them, I turned off the lights and fell asleep pretty quickly.

I continued to write to him until the time came when I didn't need to anymore. Every now and again, even so many years later, I feel the need to write to him again, so I do. That journal still lives in a drawer right beside my bed.

I wish you peace as you begin this journey. It is incredibly kind of you to say that my words are among those you have turned to.

Best always,
Kirsten Beyer

You know, your words meant a lot. Not because you're one of my favorite writers, but because no one knows what this feels like until they go through it. I thought this crazy person I've become the last couple of weeks was abnormal.

I'm going to write to Mom tonight when I get home from my AA meeting. Still suffering from insomnia but feel my mood improving today. It makes sense that Chakotay's pain in Full Circle was a genuine mourning, I find myself relating to him. Too bad there's no Tom Paris to come lead me out of the woods. Perhaps your post will accomplish that.

Thanks to the writers and others here on the TrekBBS who've been supportive.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Sorry to hear about your mum, but glad the books help - I'd wanted to write about Geordi's mother in IFM because I'd been reflecting on my mum (it'll be ten years at the end of the month), so hopefully it helped rather than hurt.

 

[Shane Houston]

Sorry to hear about your mum, but glad the books help - I'd wanted to write about Geordi's mother in IFM because I'd been reflecting on my mum (it'll be ten years at the end of the month), so hopefully it helped rather than hurt.

I picked it up again this weekend. IFM is one of my favorites because if felt like old fashioned TNG but has been a while since I read it.

It now has a whole new meaning. I like that even when she's not there Captain LaForge and the Hera feel present. I'm sorry you lost your Mom too.

 

[publiusr]

It hurts to lose parents. I lost both of mine in four months.

I also want to thank all of the fine writers who take time to talk to us here.

 

[Shane Houston]

It hurts to lose parents. I lost both of mine in four months.

I also want to thank all of the fine writers who take time to talk to us here.

Me too. It's made quite a difference hearing these fine folks who have lost a parent tell me how they felt or dealt with it. It's a club that you can just join, there's a price to pay. But it's good that so many of us support each other.