Indistinguishable from Magic??

[ProwlAlpha]

As long as they qualify and complete the Federation's equivalent to the command officer course, I see no problems with them being a CO or an XO. I do have problems with one being a CEO then becoming an XO within a week's time. If I was serving under that person, I would go for a transfer because I doubt their abilities to command. Just because the Captain says your the XO doesn't mean you should be the XO. When I read that in Rough Beasts of the Empire about Sisko, I just rolled my eyes, unless Sisko left the ship to go through the course.

 

[DarKush]

It's funny to me that there seems to be some stiff resistance to the idea of a Captain LaForge.

For me I just never bought how people can seemingly switch between tracks. Otherwise, why bother even having the different tracks to begin with?

Also, I've never seen how Geordi being a great chief engineer or Vale being a good security chief means they'd be great captains or first officers.

Who said they would be great captains? But it could be neat to find out. To see them step outside the boxes they have been assigned, to see them stretch themselves, and perhaps bring something new to command.

 

[DarKush]

It's funny to me that there seems to be some stiff resistance to the idea of a Captain LaForge.

My resistance is not to that in particular, but to the notion that an officer who hasn't become a captain is "stagnant." And just to repeating something that's been done multiple times before. We've had plenty of Trek regulars become starship captains already. It's got nothing to do with Geordi himself, as far as I'm concerned -- just with the excessive preoccupation with captains in general.

For me, I don't equate being captain with not being stagnant. I've said in previous posts that it could be an avenue to explore different things with Geordi. As it has been with Ezri.

I'm certain that Christopher can't talk about this, but I'm going to ask anyway. I don't know how the Trek Lit. character's storylines are generated, but is there any discussion at all about Geordi's future? Perhaps I should just wait to read Indistinguishable, after I finish Paths of Disharmony, before asking this. But I am curious about the process of how, or if, character arcs are plotted out or discussed by the group, or if individual authors present an idea and if the editor(s) are cool with it, they get the green light.

 

[Christopher]

I'm certain that Christopher can't talk about this, but I'm going to ask anyway. I don't know how the Trek Lit. character's storylines are generated, but is there any discussion at all about Geordi's future? Perhaps I should just wait to read Indistinguishable, after I finish Paths of Disharmony, before asking this. But I am curious about the process of how, or if, character arcs are plotted out or discussed by the group, or if individual authors present an idea and if the editor(s) are cool with it, they get the green light.

I can talk about it, in the sense that I can freely reveal that I know nothing about any long-term plans for the character. We don't have it all plotted out in advance as a group; novel writing is a much more individual exercise. Sometimes, for continuity-heavy stuff like Vanguard or the immediate post-Destiny books, the authors directly involved in the project correspond and keep each other abreast of their plans, and if it's a single multi-author project like Mere Anarchy, there's a lot of cross-pollination of ideas in the development stage. But more usually, we each do our own thing and it's up to the editor to deal with the big picture. That could mean that the editor has specific ideas for character arcs and asks the authors to work them into the ideas they come up with (like how I was asked to include Picard & Beverly starting a family in Greater Than the Sum), or it could mean that the authors come up with their own ideas and the editors either approve or reject them (like how I independently had Riker and Troi start to consider having a baby in Orion's Hounds).

 

[BillJ]

Who said they would be great captains? But it could be neat to find out. To see them step outside the boxes they have been assigned, to see them stretch themselves, and perhaps bring something new to command.

I'm not sure moving from Chief Engineer to Captain is exactly stepping outside the box though. Both, in the real world, would be mainly administrative positions.

 

[Technobuilder]

Whenever talk of Geordi LaForge comes up I always start to think about Sonya Gomez.

Gomez is now the Captain of an SCE ship (last time I looked), but LaForge hasn't made any major changes (we've seen) since Gomez worked for him. Again, yeah, Gomez is a captain, but what I'm more concerned with is the fact that substantially more life experiences have happened to her storywise that to Geordi in the same amount of time.

I'm more concerned that we're never shown what Geordi does in his endeavor to become the best Chief Engineer in Starfleet.

We don't see him making choices, or living his life to the degree that we see other characters on the Enterprise.

I don't care if he becomes a Captain, or if he stays an Engineer, but I'd like to see some exploration of his character and more of his everyday life.

I think that's where I tend to get frustrated at his portrayal. I don't get to see him being the person we're told he is. The person I've been lead to believe he is over the past 20+ years.

Give the guy something to sink his teeth into, in addition to being the engineer. Give him advanced research projects, a social life that's not poker every Saturday night. Friends he communicates with off-ship. Hell, he could be a special attache of the SCE.

Heck, the Enterprise should have it's own SCE team aboard regardless, it's always the only ship in range.

 

[DarKush]

^
Bingo! You hit so many of the right points. I didn't even realize how much Gomez has progressed since I've read very little SCE.

I was glad that we finally got to see Geordi's sister in Losing the Peace and I hope future works build on that relationship, in addition to others. As a matter of fact, where is his father?

Also, thanks Christopher for answering my question and giving me some illumination on the writing process.

 

[Turbo]

Based on what we've heard about IFM so far, I'm starting to wonder if the Challenger might be an SCE-affiliated ship. Or, at the very least, the SCE has commandeered it for a mission.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

As a matter of fact, where is his father?

Out on one of the Luna-class ships, apparently.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Based on what we've heard about IFM so far, I'm starting to wonder if the Challenger might be an SCE-affiliated ship. Or, at the very least, the SCE has commandeered it for a mission.

Well, I suspect SCE fans will get a little something out of it...

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Based on what we've heard about IFM so far, I'm starting to wonder if the Challenger might be an SCE-affiliated ship. Or, at the very least, the SCE has commandeered it for a mission.

Well, I suspect SCE fans will get a little something out of it...

The villain of the piece is a power-mad Tev, who's taken control of an SCE ship and micromanaged it to the point of oblivion?

 

[Janos]

Quick Q(s?) - Does this book focus on Scotty's ship and crew with a supporting role for Picard and ship or vice versa or something else? I'm interested in reading about Scotty's crew kinda as a lead, not another Picard book. However, if its the latter, the back cover blurb does intrigue me nonetheless. Cheers & thx in advance.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Quick Q(s?) - Does this book focus on Scotty's ship and crew with a supporting role for Picard and ship or vice versa or something else? I'm interested in reading about Scotty's crew kinda as a lead, not another Picard book. However, if its the latter, the back cover blurb does intrigue me nonetheless. Cheers & thx in advance.

More like the former - Picard's ship is just where Geordi comes from.

 

[Janos]

Quick Q(s?) - Does this book focus on Scotty's ship and crew with a supporting role for Picard and ship or vice versa or something else? I'm interested in reading about Scotty's crew kinda as a lead, not another Picard book. However, if its the latter, the back cover blurb does intrigue me nonetheless. Cheers & thx in advance.

More like the former - Picard's ship is just where Geordi comes from.

Great. Thanks. I am so there.

So, it is under the TNG banner b/c that's a good hook/draw for TNG readers? Was there a thought of calling it ST: [whatever Scotty's Ship's name is] instead of the TNG banner?

Unlike say "Titan" which makes it clear those stories are about Riker's crew?

 

[Thrawn]

^ It was originally just "Star Trek", with no series heading. It was decided to add "The Next Generation", iirc, for pretty much the reasons you describe.

 

[Lonemagpie]

^ It was originally just "Star Trek", with no series heading. It was decided to add "The Next Generation", iirc, for pretty much the reasons you describe.

And also it's on balance more derived from TNG than TOS or DS9 - Geordi and Guinan from TNG, Scotty from TOS, Nog from DS9...

 

[Cybersnark]

The villain of the piece is a power-mad Tev, who's taken control of an SCE ship and micromanaged it to the point of oblivion?

That's gonna be the next movie.

 

[Technobuilder]

^Sadly, I would go see that movie in a heartbeat.

It would have to be better than Insurrection & Nemesis.

Based on what we've heard about IFM so far, I'm starting to wonder if the Challenger might be an SCE-affiliated ship. Or, at the very least, the SCE has commandeered it for a mission.

Well, I suspect SCE fans will get a little something out of it...

 

[captcalhoun]

i want Scotty using proper Scots dialect. i expect to get it. anything else is gravy.

 

[BrotherBenny]

The villain of the piece is a power-mad Tev, who's taken control of an SCE ship and micromanaged it to the point of oblivion?

That's gonna be the next movie.

That would be Borders: The Movie