Battling apathy
- Thread starter Ood Sigma
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Well, KRAD created the Pact under Marco's editorship, and I assume Marco had his own ideas for where to go from there. But then he was laid off and it was under Margaret that the Typhon Pact tetralogy was developed and outlined, at least. I'm not sure how much of the writing was done before Margaret was laid off.
I certainly don't want to speak for other writers or for any editors, but to my way of thinking, any consistency or variation within the editorial ranks is irrelevant to any failing in my book. Yes, an editor or editors can be a tremendous resource and a real boon for a writer, and I won't pretend that changing from one editor to another during a project doesn't present its own challenges. At the end of the day, though, that's my story and those are my words in the pages of the novel. I'm happy to lay praise at the feet of deserving editors (and I've been fortunate indeed to have couple of excellent editors), but any blame should be sent directly my way.
A good healthy attitude from someone who clearly takes pride in their work. I can appreciate that! 
I appreciate that attitude DRGIII (haven't read your latest yet, but I'm really looking forward to it), but what I fear most with the continually shifting editorial oversight is a lack of cohesion between books and a degradation of the larger stories as a result.
Marco was the conductor of a great symphony orchestra and without his particular coordination, the players are still as good as they ever were, but not necessarily playing together as well as they could be.
(I hope I don't sound condescending, I'm trying to make an allusion, and I may very well be terrible at it.)
Anywho, I'm hoping that the news that Costas is no longer involved is just rumor. I'd really like to have a guiding vision behind the scenes firmly in place once again. A Showrunner, if you will.
It isn't. I would post the link to where it was confirmed, but I'm not 100% sure if the place I read it was supposed to be leaking the info, given how hush-hush it seems to be trying to be around here.
Comrade Costas is suffering from simple head cold, and is expected to make a complete recovery soon. </pravda>
I had to google the word 'Pravda' and based on what I read, It's a very bad sign.
Have I misinterpreted?
Sorry, Russian history isn't something I've ever studied.
Have I misinterpreted?
Sorry, Russian history isn't something I've ever studied.
Ok, I apologize if my post seemed rude at all, that was not my intent. I don't know alot about what goes into writting these kinds of books, so I wasn't sure how much of impact a change in editors would have.
Oh, and I realize now that I should have said disappointing to some people, there have been quite a few people who have liked ZSG and so far the same has been true of RBoE. I'm reading ZSG right now and I'm enjoying it just as much as I have David Mack's past novels.
EDIT:I understand that it's your story and you write, with the editor just offering advice and guidance. I just wasn't sure how much of an impact that advice had on where the story went, and what effect having multiple people play that role during a books writing would have.
I do understand your point here, and it seems to me a legitimate concern. At the same time, I personally would hesitate to employ terms such as "a lack of cohesion" and "degradation of the larger stories." I'm not suggesting that you are wrong, exactly, but I would instead simply state that with different editors come different methodologies and different visions. Now, a new editor may send the novel line in a direction which does not satisfy you, and that would obviously be a real drag for you, but it really is the nature of the business. Frankly, the consistency in the Star Trek literary editorial staff across many years and many books is more the exception than the rule in the publishing industry. All I can tell you is that the writers and editors are striving to put out a product that will satisfy as many readers as possible, while also reaching for a level of artistry. Don't give up; good things may yet be in the literary future of Star Trek.
I can confirm that Jaime Costas is no longer editing the Star Trek line. That does not mean that there is not or will not be a "guiding force behind the scenes." I'm not really at liberty to say more, and I'm inclined to believe that no editorial announcements will be forthcoming, but I hope you'll trust me when I say again that there are likely good things to come in the Star Trek literary sphere.
Please, no apologies necessary. I didn't take your comments or questions as rude at all. I simply answered them to the best of my ability, consistent with my way of thinking. My name is on the cover of a book for a reason, and while other people can and do provide me great help with my various literary endeavors, the final result is ultimately my responsibility. Anyway, I'm happy to answer questions that people have, at least to the extent that honesty and professionalism will allow me to do so. So feel free to keep asking.
Thanks DRGIII, I'm sad to hear there's been yet another turnover in the editorship of the Star Trek Line, but I guess you're right in that it's the way of the business and I appreciate your taking the time to confirm it to us.
I think I've gotten so used to the level of direct contact and overall transparency behind the scenes of Trek Lit on this forum in the past, (Of which so many other tie-in lines don't have) that it's a challenge to remember that it's not the norm. Especially the early years of the DS9-R when Marco was posting here consistently.
All I can hope is that the shakeups and such, don't impact the flow of material more than it already has and try to stay positive in these times of transition.
Also, if I could get a firm answer on "The Ascendants" storyline and if it's dead or not, that would be super.
No seriously.
I think I've gotten so used to the level of direct contact and overall transparency behind the scenes of Trek Lit on this forum in the past, (Of which so many other tie-in lines don't have) that it's a challenge to remember that it's not the norm. Especially the early years of the DS9-R when Marco was posting here consistently.
All I can hope is that the shakeups and such, don't impact the flow of material more than it already has and try to stay positive in these times of transition.
Also, if I could get a firm answer on "The Ascendants" storyline and if it's dead or not, that would be super.
No seriously.
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I'm sorry to say that after reading the first three Typhon Pact novels, I don't have any further interest in novels that reference any of the existing post-Nemesis licensed stories. Ironically, my desire to read hypothetical Star Trek novels has never been greater. I'm very interested in reading Star Trek books that are daring, clever, imaginative, and match the feel of the various series, but those books are not presently published.
In many ways, the persons behind the novels seem to have fallen into the mindset that made Enterprise the least of the Star Trek television series. Their stories are derivative of existing fiction, whether Star Trek or otherwise. (Michael A. Martin epitomizes this tendency; his Romulan War novels seek to rectify obscure licensed material at the expense of story, and his Titan novels excessively revisit his own previous works; his work in both series is highly derivative of fiction in general.)
The great challenge of writing stories in an established universe is that one must draw something unexpected from a set of expected pieces, while resisting the temptation to simply change the pieces to fit one's own desires. Reap the Whirlwind is a fantastic example of meeting this challenge successfully - perhaps the only example in Star Trek fiction during the last half-decade. It is unconcerned with serving any interest but its own story, yet is entirely consistent with Star Trek, and with previous Vanguard stories; and a truly human story set within and against a gotterdammerung is new ground for Star Trek.
Good stories matter in and of themselves. Mirror, Mirror, The Enterprise Incident, Balance of Terror, The Tholian Web, The Best of Both Worlds Part I, Yesterday's Enterprise, The Wrath of Khan (even Bride of Chaotica!) - each of Star Trek's best-remembered stories is at once faithful, unexpected, and unconcerned with anything but itself (each is also unselfconscious, a trait which would have been admirable in Enterprise - and occasionally was, particularly when dealing with Shran).
Too many novels are by-the-numbers (arguably including all of Michael A. Martin's work), too many are far removed from filmed Star Trek (particularly the Next Generation novels, beginning at least with the A Time To... series, which were dramatically implausible as events immediately preceding Nemesis), too many are self-conscious (notably Articles of the Federation, which included deliberate pastiche of specific episodes of The West Wing, and Christopher's Titan novels, which aim to present a Star Trek remolded to his liking) and too many are concerned with events outside themselves.
I hope to read good Star Trek books again (outside the still-excellent Vanguard series, which proves that a single misstep - Open Secrets - does not kill a series), but I suspect I will probably have to wait some time before they appear - at the very least, I will have to wait until something significant changes.
(For what it's worth, I still think well of Kirsten Beyer's efforts for the Voyager series, but sufficiently dislike the effects that the Next Generation books have had on the Voyager novels that I don't particularly want to read them; they're at once too like Voyager to be a series of their own, and too unlike Voyager to be interesting as Voyager novels.)
In many ways, the persons behind the novels seem to have fallen into the mindset that made Enterprise the least of the Star Trek television series. Their stories are derivative of existing fiction, whether Star Trek or otherwise. (Michael A. Martin epitomizes this tendency; his Romulan War novels seek to rectify obscure licensed material at the expense of story, and his Titan novels excessively revisit his own previous works; his work in both series is highly derivative of fiction in general.)
The great challenge of writing stories in an established universe is that one must draw something unexpected from a set of expected pieces, while resisting the temptation to simply change the pieces to fit one's own desires. Reap the Whirlwind is a fantastic example of meeting this challenge successfully - perhaps the only example in Star Trek fiction during the last half-decade. It is unconcerned with serving any interest but its own story, yet is entirely consistent with Star Trek, and with previous Vanguard stories; and a truly human story set within and against a gotterdammerung is new ground for Star Trek.
Good stories matter in and of themselves. Mirror, Mirror, The Enterprise Incident, Balance of Terror, The Tholian Web, The Best of Both Worlds Part I, Yesterday's Enterprise, The Wrath of Khan (even Bride of Chaotica!) - each of Star Trek's best-remembered stories is at once faithful, unexpected, and unconcerned with anything but itself (each is also unselfconscious, a trait which would have been admirable in Enterprise - and occasionally was, particularly when dealing with Shran).
Too many novels are by-the-numbers (arguably including all of Michael A. Martin's work), too many are far removed from filmed Star Trek (particularly the Next Generation novels, beginning at least with the A Time To... series, which were dramatically implausible as events immediately preceding Nemesis), too many are self-conscious (notably Articles of the Federation, which included deliberate pastiche of specific episodes of The West Wing, and Christopher's Titan novels, which aim to present a Star Trek remolded to his liking) and too many are concerned with events outside themselves.
I hope to read good Star Trek books again (outside the still-excellent Vanguard series, which proves that a single misstep - Open Secrets - does not kill a series), but I suspect I will probably have to wait some time before they appear - at the very least, I will have to wait until something significant changes.
(For what it's worth, I still think well of Kirsten Beyer's efforts for the Voyager series, but sufficiently dislike the effects that the Next Generation books have had on the Voyager novels that I don't particularly want to read them; they're at once too like Voyager to be a series of their own, and too unlike Voyager to be interesting as Voyager novels.)
Hahaha. I was once a guest on a TV tonight show, and my dressing room door had a cardboard nameplate with red glitter on it! Not bad for a one-night-only appearance.
I'm so glad you are in the alternate TrekLit universe and I am in this one.
Nice to know that my novel broke the proverbial camel's back for you....
Well, of course they're derivative. They're television tie-in novels.
You seem to be objecting to too much inter-novel continuity. It never ceases to amaze me when people make that complaint but ignore the numerous standalone novels that have been published these past few years.
What does that mean?
Considering how much of Star Trek: Vanguard is derivative of both the original series, of espionage fiction, and of HBO-style TV series, I find that amusing.
And being derivative isn't a bad thing. Ultimately, all fiction is derivative of something else.
I liked Enterprise more than Voyager.
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