Myriad Universes-Full novels?

[Christopher]

As for the central question of full-length Myriad novels, probably not. The "mirror universe" has it's place in accepted continuity, the "myriad universes" do not.

If by "accepted continuity" you mean screen canon, there's one that does: The Chimes at Midnight is in the same alternate timeline seen in "Yesteryear." Also, Places of Exile does tie into events from canonical continuity and features one character who did appear in a televised episode -- the same actual character, not an alternate version thereof.

Anyway, why would doing MyrU as 80,000- or 100,000-word novels be fundamentally less acceptable than doing it as 50,000-word novels? And what has "accepted continuity" got to do with it?

 

[Claudia]

I'd really appreciate more MyrU-stories - actually, apart from TOS-novels another MyrU-book's the only thing Trek-wise that I'd buy in a second without thinking twice about it as I absolutely love "What if"-stories.

So, I really hope there'll be a 4th book (whether one long novel or 3 shorter novels in one book) in the forseeable future.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I wasn't trying to establish my desired output (which would be back to the two-books-a-month level)

When the average page count per novel was about half of today's?

 

[SicOne]

Some time ago, I asked the authors on the board at the time if their Myriad Universe stories had grown in the telling, and initially had exceeded the 50,000-word level to one more befitting a stand-alone novel. I seem to recall Christopher saying back then that his contribution was written strictly at the 50k level, but don't remember if the other authors had mentioned if their entries ended up at the 80-100k level before editing for length.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Anyway, why would doing MyrU as 80,000- or 100,000-word novels be fundamentally less acceptable than doing it as 50,000-word novels? And what has "accepted continuity" got to do with it?

It's just a Myr technicality.

 

[Christopher]

Some time ago, I asked the authors on the board at the time if their Myriad Universe stories had grown in the telling, and initially had exceeded the 50,000-word level to one more befitting a stand-alone novel. I seem to recall Christopher saying back then that his contribution was written strictly at the 50k level, but don't remember if the other authors had mentioned if their entries ended up at the 80-100k level before editing for length.

Actually I initially outlined and pitched Places of Exile as a full-length novel, since I offered it to Marco when I first heard about the project and before its format had been settled on. When MyrU finally went forward about three years later, I had to trim down my outline to work at a shorter length, and I still think it came out too rushed and cramped.

I doubt anyone would've ended up with a first draft over 80K words. We were all under contract to do 50K, so that's what we would've outlined for, and in tie-ins, once you get your outline approved, you're expected to stay close to it. So while it might be possible to run over by 10, even 20 percent, I doubt an overrun of 60-100% is likely.

 

[E-DUB]

All I meant was that books set in the known Trek "universe" would have greater sales potential than those set in "one-shot" alternate realities.

A reader like myself, who would probably buy a novel entitled "Captain Kirk's grocery list, is going to buy the "Myriad Universe" books too.

A more casual Trek reader, on the other hand, might not, regarding such works as "missable". Their loss, I would say but there it is. That was the full intent of my earlier comment.

By the way, I'll second the observation that the MU series has produces some of the best writing in recent Trek lit. Perhaps, because, the writers are doing "one-shots" they feel a greater latitude in, say, killing off a character (or all of them, as in one case).

 

[The Wormhole]

A more casual Trek reader, on the other hand, might not, regarding such works as "missable". Their loss, I would say but there it is. That was the full intent of my earlier comment.

A "casual" fan probably isn't bothering with the regular novel continuity. As a casual fan, they likely just stick to the stand-alone novels which don't stray too far from what was established on-screen.

Anyone who reads and follows the continuing novel continuity is not what I consider a casual fan, since you're putting more than a casual investment into it. I feel rather confident that anyone who reads the regular novels continuity would also buy a Myriad Universes novel. The key would be to have them similar to the stories from the anthologies, have them set in an alternate reality which is pretty much the same to actual continuity but with one diverging point that makes it different.

 

[Therin of Andor]

a novel entitled "Captain Kirk's grocery list"...

Got it, read it. It was like a laundry list of ideas rather than a respected literary work.

 

[Fer]

Myriad Universes has consistently been one of my favorite reads. I'll gladly buy more no matter what format they're in.

 

[JD]

All I meant was that books set in the known Trek "universe" would have greater sales potential than those set in "one-shot" alternate realities.

A reader like myself, who would probably buy a novel entitled "Captain Kirk's grocery list, is going to buy the "Myriad Universe" books too.

A more casual Trek reader, on the other hand, might not, regarding such works as "missable". Their loss, I would say but there it is. That was the full intent of my earlier comment.

By the way, I'll second the observation that the MU series has produces some of the best writing in recent Trek lit. Perhaps, because, the writers are doing "one-shots" they feel a greater latitude in, say, killing off a character (or all of them, as in one case).

Yeah, but if they consider a stand alone novel missable, why would they feel any different about 3 stories done in the style? If anything I would think that they would consider three stories an even bigger waste of time than just one.

 

[E-DUB]

Yeah, but if just one of the story descriptions "grabs" them, they buy the book. With three stories, you triple the chance of that happening.

 

[Scott Pearson]

Honor in the Night (from Myriad III) was my favorite out of all these stories. I'd love to see it expanded into a full novel.

Thanks!

Now I can't help but think about how I'd like to do more with Baris's wife, Sima. I did get the chance to add a little bit to her role in the editing process, thanks to some great feedback from CBS, but there simply wasn't room left to do more.

Some time ago, I asked the authors on the board at the time if their Myriad Universe stories had grown in the telling...

Early in the process, as I outlined my chapters and started writing them, I was able to confidently predict that my first draft would run at about 55,000. Marco gave me the OK to turn it in at that length. So it was already 10% over when I was asked to add a couple more scenes. I cut a chunk out of the prologue that the story is better without and wrote the two new scenes. I'm not sure now what the final word count was. You can read the deleted scene on my blog.

 

[Stevil2001]

Some time ago, I asked the authors on the board at the time if their Myriad Universe stories had grown in the telling, and initially had exceeded the 50,000-word level to one more befitting a stand-alone novel. I seem to recall Christopher saying back then that his contribution was written strictly at the 50k level, but don't remember if the other authors had mentioned if their entries ended up at the 80-100k level before editing for length.

As published, The Tears of Eridanus runs about 55,000 words. I don't have the files on this computer, but I know that at some point there was an overrun of at least 10,000 words, maybe 15,000. But the book is better off with them lost. If it was to be expanded, it would be in following up or prequelizing, not putting new material within the story itself.

 

[SicOne]

Thanks, guys, and thanks for the deleted scene!

 

[Scott Pearson]

Thanks, guys, and thanks for the deleted scene!

Sure. There are a couple of character bits I still like in that scene, but overall it was weak, meandering into the story instead of getting things moving.

It also included one of the novella's many obscure in-jokes about William Schallert. I mentioned Baris reading old Western novels because Schallert, like many actors of his generation, made a lot of Westerns back in the day.

 

[DonIago]

Scott, just wanted to say that I'm a huge fan of Honor in the Night, including how it echoes Citizen Kane. I really love that we've now been given essentially three different versions of Darvin to consider. One wonders how the future Darvin seen in T&T would feel about his master plan if he knew how things might turn out.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ T&T?

 

[Christopher]

^"Trials and Tribble-ations."

 

[DonIago]

^Got it in one!