Old Blog Entries
Soon I'm going to delete the original Intrepid Trek blog to free up a database slot for something else. I copied some of the more interesting entries and moved them here. You can access them through the "Old Blog Entries" link in the menu bar at the top of the page.
Tags: News
August 28, 2010 at 05:26 PM
Yeah, I'm Doing It Again
Yeah, so I'm going weeks without a post. Not that I don't have anything to say, but that I've got a lot of personal craziness to take care of right now. An old medical problem has appeared on the scene (for the second time), and now I have to take care of it (again). Because of some insurance idiocy, I have to travel fifty miles to another hospital to get a procedure done. Nuts!
I'll post when I can. I'm just so busy. And ticked off. 
Gratuitous Sarek Pic
Time to decorate this place with some Vulcan awesomeness. 
Tags: GratuitousPics, Sarek, Vulcans
July 29, 2010 at 10:37 AM
Well, That Was A Mistake
Back when Voyager was first-run, I stopped watching some time during the second season. Earlier this year I got the first season; the nice price helped with that decision. I was curious about Janeway's following among some fans, and thought it might be a good idea to carry my questions to where some of them hang out.
I won't be making that mistake again.
I went in with no agenda beyond wanting to know more. And when I don't know something, I ask questions about it. Either the militant J-fans didn't like my questions, or they didn't like being questioned. I'm reminded of my time among the Star Wars Prequel bashers (yes, I'm proud of that title) at that site I will not name. We knew which questions were genuine attempts at learning what we were thinking, and which were meant to provoke a response. I should have remembered those days going in, given their militant reputation. In the span of only a few days, they lived up to every stereotype thrown at them.
At the time, I didn't have any opinion on Janeway's death in the novels. I only heard about it, never read the book in question, Before Dishonor. Research clued me in to the particulars of the issue. You can boil down the arguments in the pro-Janeway side to "they (TPTB at Pocket Books) killed her off for the sake of killing her off", "you don't kill off a major character like her", "they killed her because of some sexist agenda" and variations of those. To even suggest that it was done for plot and dramatic reasons and only those reasons will bring the pack running for blood. Just the suggestion.
Therin of Andor, while going at these folks last year, summed up my next piece of annoyance:
I'm frustrated that most of these ongoing VOY/Janeway complaints seem to demand that ST tie-ins must come with some guarantee that any variation or character arc must be settled fast, or there at least be assurances that major changes will be reversed by a certain date. In the TV episodes, unless it was a two-parter, almost every shocking event had to be "repaired" because the regular cast had five-year contracts. Novels written after the end of a series can afford to be different. Each of the relaunches have been designed to permit longer story arcs, and yet I detect a distinct lack of patience and trust.
Being TV tie-ins, the story is never going to go so far from the parent show's status quo as to be unidentifiable and, with a little patience, most of ST's character deaths are traditionally undone. When your scope for what makes a novel successful (ie. strong focus on a youthful, long-lived Kes, everyone back on the ship like a happy family, and an alive Janeway) [my emphasis - IS], you're bound to hit disappointment. Over and over again.
What you want is seen as stagnation and repetition to others.
The mere suggestion that the J-fans might need to expand their definition of what they want is like showing Dracula the cross. They liken it to "compromise", and they hate that word. What I bolded in that quote appears to be the only definition of Voyager they will accept. I asked certain questions with the intent to prompt people to think a little harder about what they're demanding asking for. I said:
Okay...
Janeway comes back. The whole crew comes back. We've spent seven years watching them trying to get home. What stories are left to tell? Expand an episode? "Missing" scenes? Alternate timelines? Dig into people's backstories? Fix fics?
Doesn't matter, bring her back. Going over the same ground? Doesn't matter, bring her back. Well, it does matter. It matters that in the chance that Janeway does come back, it won't be on Voyager with the same happy family. Plots move inexorably forward. If you go to the past, it will be for one-shots, a duology or trilogy at the most, not an entire new series. Me? If you're gonna bring her back (and there had better be a good story reason for doing so), find a new enemy to sic her on and watch the fur fly!
Like I said, I didn't have an opinion one way or another. That may change. For the meantime, I'll watch Voyager when I can acquire the DVDs, and keep my questions to myself.
Okay, I Have Had Enough!
Yesterday I emerged from the latest chronic illness-producing brain fog to be freaking angry at myself. Earlier this morning I looked through the update thread I keep at Ad Astra for something I posted a good whie back. I found it, posted more than a year ago. Then I realized that I've been agonizing over The Captain's Chair for over a year now. I mean, come on! I can recite just about everything I intended to put in the story without really thinking about it. How much has been written? Half a page?!
What the hell is wrong with me?
Okay, I can chalk up a lot of the stalling to my various medical problems. An old wound reopened last year, and the healing involved a great deal of pain and anxiety. I wouldn't undergo a treatment without being thoroughly stoned on pain pills. That lasted seven months. Adjustments in medication made me sickly and wrecked my appetite. You can imagine I didn't have much inclination to write. But can I lay the blame squarely on that alone?
This story must have some merit to it, or else it wouldn't be stuck in my head for so long waiting to be told. It's not how I feel about it that might be holding me up. It's what I think others will feel about it.
Yes, it's stupid to think that way. But in my thirty-plus years of writing, certain themes show up repeatedly. Strong characters, byzantine plots, strong emphasis on character interactions (especially within families), paranormal powers, the air of the spiritual. Not always Trekkian characteristics. A lot of folks are about the "boldly go" thing. I've been mostly about the "strange new worlds" thing. The one between your ears.
That's why Tales is so hard to do sometimes. Because it isn't "SLAM! BANG! POW!" I guess you can call it "Spockian Trek" as opposed to "Kirkian Trek". And I love doing it! Not that I don't like the other stuff. I have to really work at it when it's required, but I read it. It's hard for me to measure if anybody is reading the "Spockian" stuff because not very many writers do it as often as I do. I can't name anyone off the top of my head, pro or fan writer, but I think Diane Duane comes the closest.
This is absolutely crazy. I'm doing a disservice to my characters and my work by letting myself get locked up by this. And yet I can't stop doing it.
Tags: Rant, Writing, TalesOfTheStoryteller
July 16, 2010 at 02:09 PM
Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
Even people who lived under rock during TNG's run know what that means. And, yes, I do drink Earl Grey. I got a box sitting next to the regular tea in my kitchen right now.
As a transplant to the South, I know about all there is about the phenomenon called iced tea. And about that invisible line between Virginia and North Carolina where north of that, you'd be hard-pressed to find iced tea with sugar in it. I was introduced to herbal teas in college. My favorites are darjeeling, English breakfast tea, and a variety put out by Twinings called Lady Grey. Lady Grey has a more "delicate" flavor than Earl Grey, though I do like strong flavors. And it can be quite strong.
Why would an ostensibly French dude drink a decidedly English beverage? Um, maybe he likes it? You can consume something solely because you like the taste and not have some kind of deeper motive for doing so.
Let the man drink his tea in peace. 
Serendipitous!
(^Is that even a word?)
Anyway, a few days ago I was bored and decided to check out episode of Voyager I had never seen before. I catch it on YouTube and afterwards I thought "Whoa! I had the same idea for something in The Captain's Chair, but I wasn't sure it would be even slightly believable!" What a time to have watched this episode, as I have been struggling with how to set up the climax of the story.
If I say what the episode is and what the idea was, I'd definitely spoil the story. So if you want to know, you'll have to wait. 
Tags: Voyager, Writing, TalesOfTheStoryteller
June 24, 2010 at 05:04 PM
Gratuitous Freak-Out Pic
The good Dr. Bashir meets the mysterious Garak for the first time in "Past Prologue" (DS9:1x03).
Tags: DS9, Bashir, Garak, GratuitousPics
June 20, 2010 at 09:26 PM