Vonda McIntyre wrote one of the first and most beloved Star Trek novel , The Entropy Effect . Here she tell the story of how she got the gig , and how the Star Trek book serial started .
David Hartwell invite me to write a Star Trek script for Pocket Books , which had recently obtained the permit to publish original Star Trek novels . He knew I had been a handsome fan of the original series and that I would treat the characters with some regard . I was quite pleased to be asked .
The dialogue was relatively elementary . The restrictions were much fewer than ( as I understand it ) they are now . They compensate me well , they paid me royalties – in fact they still ante up me royalties on occasion – and Star Trek novels subsidized quite a lot of my original fiction .
The only likely bug in the Star Trek account book came about because I could n’t project out how to write a love scene where the protagonists shout each other by their surnames . So I give Mr. Sulu a first name , “ Hikaru , ” which is from The Tale of Genji . I was blissfully incognizant of the glitch till long after the fact ; someone at Paramount objected to the idea of the graphic symbol ’s having a given name , for understanding ill-defined to me . David had the good idea of asking Gene Roddenberry and George Takei their opinion , and both of them order “ Go for it ” or words to that effect . And so Mr. Sulu has a first name .
As time went on , the deadlines became more intense . That ’s on-key for a lot of publishers , that the author is look to take up the falling off for any pillow slip in the schedule . When the writer accomplishes this feat , the publisher come to the conclusion that because the writer did it once , the writer can do it again , only more so . specially for movie linkup - in rule book it ’s important to stay on agenda even if the copyeditor takes three time as long as planned and make screaming hash of your school text and you have to fix it all . By a week ago last Wednesday . If the Good Book is late , not matter what the situation or how many other people are involved , it ’s your error .
The funniest deadline story was for the twentieth day of remembrance Star Trek novel , Enterprise . My editor in chief , Dave Stern ( who also edited The Moon and the Sun ; he ’s a terrific editor ) , asked what I thought about the idea of a 20th anniversary Star Trek book , and I said that sounded like a fun thought . “ Great , ” he said , or speech to that upshot . “ What ’s it about ? ”
I told him to call me tomorrow and I would recount him .
So he did and I did .
Then the higher - ups decided it should be the first “ gargantuan novel , ” so I had to make it longer . Then they want it earlier than project . When I was about halfway through write the Holy Writ , Dave tell me that Paramount had approved the idea , but they wanted a detailed outline . This was after they had ask for it to be twice as foresighted and double as tight .
I fell down laughing and told Dave that they could have a elaborated schema or they could have the novel on metre , whichever they prefer , but they could n’t have both , and they had to pay up me the same either style . He laugh , and I never see another word about the elaborated outline .
I was n’t ever part of organised Star Trek fandom . ( I ’m not much of a joiner . ) I did attend one formula , as a invitee , that had a Star Trek cut and I enjoyed it – should I repeat the story about Mr. Spock ’s Dad ?
There ’s a reference book that says I started out writing Star Trek fanfic . I do n’t do it where they stick that idea . I had sold and bring out a number of stories and three novels and won two Nebulas and a Hugo before I ever save a Star Trek novel . Perhaps the quotation work ’s editors misconceive the fact that I wrote several Star Trek screenplays , one of which got as far as Gene Roddenberry ’s desk before the show was scrub . One of my screenplay develop into The Entropy Effect . I found it an interesting cognitive process to cooperate with myself at the age of 18 from the age of 30 . But the screenplay was n’t conceive , written , or handled as fanfic .
When I was a pup I used to write the episodic spec hand , which pretty much guarantee that the show I wanted to write for would be canceled . I never sold anything to TV , though I heard by roundabout means that one screenplay got to the star of the scratch serial ( I have no idea how ) and that he said “ If all our hand had been like this one , the show would n’t have been offset . ”
Vonda McIntyre is the author of Superluminal , Dreamsnake , and The Moon and The Sun . Find out more about her work , and buy ebook copy of some of her novels , on her web site .
BooksStar Trek
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and culture tidings in your inbox daily .
News from the future , delivered to your present .
You May Also Like
