^ Armin and I met through a writing partner I had at the time, with whom I had sold a story to the Voyager producers (for the first-season episode "Prime Factors"). Armin, it turned out, wanted not so much to direct (as so may actors do), but to write. In fact, as a young man, Armin thought that he would end up being a writer.
Well, my writing partner introduced me to Armin, and the three of us met several times to come up with Deep Space Nine stories that we could pitch to the producers of the show. Armin and I did get along well, but we only met a few times before taking our tales in to Paramount. None of our stories sold, but because Armin thought that they were really strong stories, he suggested that we pen a novel. Our other writing partner was not interested, but Armin and I decided to go forward with it--which resulted in The 34th Rule.
After that, Armin and I kicked around some other ideas, both for the show and for publication, but in the end, we decided to pursue other projects. In truth, I am more comfortable writing by myself. Still, it was through our collaboration that Armin and I first got to know each other, and from which sprang our friendship.
In crafting the episode stories we pitched to DSN, Armin and I did form a good working relationship, but that really progressed a great deal when we worked on the outline for The 34th Rule. As you might imagine, the tale you can tell in a forty-two-minute television episode is necessarily far less complex than the one you can tell in a 135,000-word novel. Armin and I worked hard on expanding our original story--completely reworking it, really--to formulate our literary effort. That process really cemented our working relationship, and as I said, also served to propel us into a friendship.
And just so you know (and because I frequently see people do this), Armin spells his last name with two ms, not three--Shimerman, not Shimmerman.
