Strange New Worlds volume ten

[HopefulRomantic]

Linda, your book is on its way.

A few more comments on SNW 10 stories:

"The Fate of Captain Ransom" by Rob Vagle

Missing-scene stories fascinate me. What's the backstory behind that line of dialogue? What happened after the camera cut away? What fleeting moment can be spun into an entire story all its own? I love reading them and writing them. Of the 15 stories I sent in to SNW, I think 11 were missing-scene pieces.

I was quite taken by the premise of "Captain Ransom," the idea of taking those few seconds as he's waiting for his ship to explode, climbing inside his head, and finding a story there. Rob did a good job of grounding me in the arena of the source episode from Voyager on which he based his story, so it didn't matter that I hadn't seen in in forever; I could follow along just fine. (Tricky question that I encountered myself. How much do I reveal, and how much do I hold back?)

Ransom is given a chance to avoid death--this penance he has willingly chosen--by aliens who have no conception of the right or wrong of the situation. But Ransom gradually realizes that his conscience won't let him escape responsibility, even if he wanted to. Watching him relive his past, the happy life he feels he no longer deserves, the ideals and morals that he thought he would never abandon, was heartbreaking for me, just as it was for him.

In the end, though, the story was uplifting. By refusing to escape into fantasy, Ransom achieved a greater measure of redemption and nobility for me than he had in the episode. There was no crew to save this time, no sacrifice to make...just the personal desire to do what was right. The ending touched me deeply. Beautifully written, as well.


"The Day the Borg Came," by M.C. DeMarco

I really enjoyed this one. For one thing, it followed the thread of the Borg storyline from the arctic of First Contact's time all the way to the Borg Queen's destruction in Voyager's time in a way that made sense to me. Yay! And as each section moved the story forward, told from a different person's POV (each character spot-on, which was great), I got more emotionally involved. Gradually it is revealed that the main narrator is Admiral Janeway, who has set out to change the past and create a new timeline that will save Voyager, and more.

By the end of the story, I was more emotionally in tune with Janeway and her quest than I had been watching the Voyager finale. The story helped me by getting me to feel Annika's fear, Picard's helplessness, Janeway's determination. Her resolve to die in order to create this new, better future was breathtaking, and well done.

[Linda]

Thanks, HR, I will be looking for the book's return with its 'defacing'!

I think I forgot to make a comment on the Captain Ransom story in this thread, so I am glad that you did. I haven't done much with 'missing scene stories' myself as such by that name, except in the larger sense that all our fan fic seems to be fleshing out what canon has created but not fully explored. Have you shared all your 15 SNW submissions with us on this site yet? If not, it would be nice to see them.

What impressed me most about the Captain Ransom story was its 'almost infinite' time delay device. I suppose it has been used before, but I thought it original and clever. And yes, his decision certainly makes the character more honorable than what canon projected. I like that you pointed that out. It is interesting that this affected you quite a bit. It seems the reverse of what affected me about my favorite DS9 episode 'In the Pale Moonlight' where Sisko, who is my favorite captain, goes the other way in the 'honor' catagory when he realizes he can live with the underhanded act that Garak commited when Sisko asked for his help. Though not expecting Garak to go as far as he did, Sisko still accepts responsibility for Garak's act, yet admits to himself that in a less than honorable way, he can live with it.

The Day the Borg Came is a good story and gives a good overview of the Borg. Yes, well written. It reminds me that I am waiting for someone to write a story continuing the tale of those Borg disconnected from the hive on that planet in the VOY series, who blew up their cube. Maybe some one has written one and I have not found it yet. For otherwise, the Borg have the seeds of their own destruction. Where do they go when they have assimilated all sentient life? Despite their inventiveness in the movie First Contact, and their omega concept of perfection, they are basically users: assimilators. To survive ultimately, like the nature of all life, they must evolve into something other than what they currently are. They are great villians though, more sinister than the Dilaks of Dr. Who. I enjoy a good Borg story, even if I prefer Vulcan stories. Maybe one Borg story to every ten Vulcan stories?

[HopefulRomantic]

I haven't done much with 'missing scene stories' myself as such by that name, except in the larger sense that all our fan fic seems to be fleshing out what canon has created but not fully explored. Have you shared all your 15 SNW submissions with us on this site yet? If not, it would be nice to see them.

Thank you. There are five here at TriS and links to five more at Trip/T'Polers. I submitted a shorter version of "Logic, Inescapable" to SNW, but the 9-chapter version I wrote and posted here at the first of the year is a lot better. I'll be posting one more Similitude story (yeah, I really got that episode out of my system, LOL) later this year, but it's Archer/Phlox/Sim, so I don't know if it will qualify for TriS. The last two are "Memorable," the Soval/Forrest story that made the Alternates list, and a Trip/T'Pol missing scene story from Zero Hour which was cut at the last minute. For the time being, I'm not posting those publicly.

What impressed me most about the Captain Ransom story was its 'almost infinite' time delay device. I suppose it has been used before, but I thought it original and clever. And yes, his decision certainly makes the character more honorable than what canon projected. I like that you pointed that out. It is interesting that this affected you quite a bit. It seems the reverse of what affected me about my favorite DS9 episode 'In the Pale Moonlight' where Sisko, who is my favorite captain, goes the other way in the 'honor' catagory when he realizes he can live with the underhanded act that Garak commited when Sisko asked for his help. Though not expecting Garak to go as far as he did, Sisko still accepts responsibility for Garak's act, yet admits to himself that in a less than honorable way, he can live with it.

The key here is that each story gave us revelations about the characters and drew us in emotionally, and I think those are great goals for any story.

The Day the Borg Came is a good story and gives a good overview of the Borg. Yes, well written. It reminds me that I am waiting for someone to write a story continuing the tale of those Borg disconnected from the hive on that planet in the VOY series, who blew up their cube. Maybe some one has written one and I have not found it yet. For otherwise, the Borg have the seeds of their own destruction. Where do they go when they have assimilated all sentient life? Despite their inventiveness in the movie First Contact, and their omega concept of perfection, they are basically users: assimilators. To survive ultimately, like the nature of all life, they must evolve into something other than what they currently are. They are great villians though, more sinister than the Dilaks of Dr. Who.

You know what we all say: You saw the need, so you're elected to write it. Get cracking!

I enjoy a good Borg story, even if I prefer Vulcan stories. Maybe one Borg story to every ten Vulcan stories?

That'll work.

[Linda]

Hey, I think with the slow adsition rate of stories here, we could ask Elessar for a catagory for just 'other Enterprise characters' so there would be a home for your Archer/Phlox story. Since you are one of the main writeres on this site, you might be able to get that idea through. How about suggesting something like 'The mess hall' as a category, or 'The Shuttle Bay' or 'The Exercise Room'. Point being a place on the ship where everyone goes, which suggests a story about anyone aboard Enterprise. I was even thinking of 'The Ready Room' but that more implies Archer, although he might call any crew member in there for a conference. But you get the idea.

Borg story, hmm. I will add it to the list. Of course that means submitting it to another site and I only have put stories on T&T and Triax. I don't go to other sites, but perhaps I should. Just having too much fun in RL, I guess, with the boat and C.G. Aux, the straw weaving workshops I give, the ethnic festivals and dancing, my full time job (not fun usually), and various family stuff. But then, I have trained family that when I disappear into my basement lair where my laptop lives, I bit when disturbed.

[HopefulRomantic]

Hey, I think with the slow adsition rate of stories here, we could ask Elessar for a catagory for just 'other Enterprise characters' so there would be a home for your Archer/Phlox story. Since you are one of the main writeres on this site, you might be able to get that idea through. How about suggesting something like 'The mess hall' as a category, or 'The Shuttle Bay' or 'The Exercise Room'. Point being a place on the ship where everyone goes, which suggests a story about anyone aboard Enterprise. I was even thinking of 'The Ready Room' but that more implies Archer, although he might call any crew member in there for a conference. But you get the idea.

I like "The Mess Hall." I think "Main Engineering" is already designated for non-T/T stories as well as Trip stuff...but I don't think folks who come to TriS are much interested in reading non-T/T Archer stories. This one can be regarded as the last story in my "Sim series" because it's another Phlox POV story, so I think Bucky will take it, to have the whole series at Trip/T'Polers.

Borg story, hmm. I will add it to the list. Of course that means submitting it to another site and I only have put stories on T&T and Triax. I don't go to other sites, but perhaps I should. Just having too much fun in RL, I guess, with the boat and C.G. Aux, the straw weaving workshops I give, the ethnic festivals and dancing, my full time job (not fun usually), and various family stuff. But then, I have trained family that when I disappear into my basement lair where my laptop lives, I bit when disturbed.

Writing is a glorious way to take a breather from reality, decompress and rejuvenate. Nothing wrong with being busy in RL, tho. Keeps you grounded.

[Linda]

The Main Engineering section is for non-T&T? I will have to check with Elessar, because when I tried to put my story about Trip's father (also an engineer, in my story at least) in Main Engineering, Jedikatie said it didn't belong there. SO it was put in The Library at P'Jem because I had an OC Vulcan in the story.

Yes writing IS glorious. I feel so good when developing new stories. Other than the basement lair, I am thinking of writing on the boat. The gentle rocking in its slip is so soothing to me. And, LOL, if anyone is trying to find me and I don't want company, I could just start up the engine and go a mile out in the lake to write!

Gosh, at this time last year we were all getting aware of the impending SNW deadline approaching. It is sad that we don't have that this year!

[evcake]

HR did a Phlox-Archer story? Where is it?

[HopefulRomantic]

The Main Engineering section is for non-T&T? I will have to check with Elessar, because when I tried to put my story about Trip's father (also an engineer, in my story at least) in Main Engineering, Jedikatie said it didn't belong there. SO it was put in The Library at P'Jem because I had an OC Vulcan in the story.

Eeep! My mistake. Back when the site was first up and running, all kinds of questions were going around about what was going to be archived here, and in which section. I guess I lost track.

Yes writing IS glorious. I feel so good when developing new stories. Other than the basement lair, I am thinking of writing on the boat. The gentle rocking in its slip is so soothing to me. And, LOL, if anyone is trying to find me and I don't want company, I could just start up the engine and go a mile out in the lake to write!

Perfect.

Gosh, at this time last year we were all getting aware of the impending SNW deadline approaching. It is sad that we don't have that this year!

It sure was crazy fun, wasn't it? I'll miss it too.

HR did a Phlox-Archer story? Where is it?

Um, sitting here on my hard drive. I haven't posted it yet. I thought everybody would be burned out on Similitude stories for a while, actually.

[framework4]

So how many believe that SNW was killed because of FanLib?

[CX]

Why would that have anything to do with it?

[Linda]

Ah, I never even considered that SNW might have been killed because of fan stories. Could fan fic, which is free to the reader have an influence on publisher's profits? I really don't know. Does anyone else have any info on this?

I do know that Dean Wesley Smith was the only one reading all those stories at first - four thousand of them. He handed them on to another editor, but I am not sure the second editor read more than those he chose for his second read pile (about 180-190 stories), or the ones he chose for the book and the alternates. HR, do you know anything about who else was reading the submissions?

Anyway, Dean had been doing this contest for ten years and wanted to get on with his own writing. Something like 80 novels of his own have been published. And from Dean's writer's board (no longer in existance), it was my impression that no one else wanted to take up the job of reading through four thousand story entries a year. That may have been the main reason SNW ended. But it is true that ST publishing has been down since there are no current ST TV series being made. I think Pocket Books (Simon and Schuster) has cut down from publishing 24 ST novels a year to 12, or less. And on a sad note, the used bookstores that I frequent seem to have cut by about 75%, the Star Trek books they carry. Not a good sign. Maybe this next movie will revive interest in published ST novels.

[HopefulRomantic]

Ah, I never even considered that SNW might have been killed because of fan stories. Could fan fic, which is free to the reader have an influence on publisher's profits? I really don't know. Does anyone else have any info on this?

Nah, my guess would be no. Fanfic has been around since TOS, long before SNW was started. And SNW was created specifically as a venue for fan stories... a way for unpublished writers to have their work assessed by a professional editor, with a shot at getting a story published. Of course there were contributors who never wrote fanfiction, but the idea was to give fanfiction writers a way into the professional world.

According to Dean, the reason the SNW series was cancelled was business, pure and simple: the books had been losing money for Pocket for years. Not enough people were buying them. Pocket kept putting them out anyway, long after another book or series would have been shut down, as a gift to the fans until they had ten volumes.

I do know that Dean Wesley Smith was the only one reading all those stories at first - four thousand of them. He handed them on to another editor, but I am not sure the second editor read more than those he chose for his second read pile (about 180-190 stories), or the ones he chose for the book and the alternates. HR, do you know anything about who else was reading the submissions?

Dean was the only reader until he whittled down the pile to a proposed "book list" and "alternates list", usually about 23 each in recent years. That group of 46 or so stories was the stack that was passed on to the editor at Pocket (Margaret this year), then Paula at CBS. Three editors total. (There were other people in previous years--Elisa Kassin, John Ordover, etc.) The three editors would work together to hash out the final list of stories for the book and select the top three.

Anyway, Dean had been doing this contest for ten years and wanted to get on with his own writing. Something like 80 novels of his own have been published. And from Dean's writer's board (no longer in existance), it was my impression that no one else wanted to take up the job of reading through four thousand story entries a year.

I don't think it got as far as a replacement being sought. Pocket simply made the decision to end the series at the same time (probably earlier) that Dean chose not to edit any more books.

But it is true that ST publishing has been down since there are no current ST TV series being made. I think Pocket Books (Simon and Schuster) has cut down from publishing 24 ST novels a year to 12, or less. And on a sad note, the used bookstores that I frequent seem to have cut by about 75%, the Star Trek books they carry. Not a good sign. Maybe this next movie will revive interest in published ST novels.

If ST:XI is successful, it may revive interest in the entire franchise, which will be a good thing for all the ancillary products, including the book line. So I'm rooting for success. Plus, Nimoy! I'm a longtime admirer of Nimoy.

[HopefulRomantic]

Aaaaaand some more SNW 10 comments.

"You Are Not in Space" by Edgar Governo

I liked the ensemble feel of this story, and the character studies. It was good to see the characters at their best--Archer compassionate and patient, Trip and Mal supportive even as they admitted they were clueless, Phlox the focused and attentive listener, Travis the perpetual optimist. Hoshi is a great example of a brilliant person capable of being paralyzed by her own too-high expectations; it was satisfying to see her "try softer," and hit upon the solution to the problem by, basically, winging it.

After the big buildup, I was expecting the final translation to be something special, and happily, it was for me--lyrical and poetic. (And not "Where's my sandwich." )


"So a Horse Walks Into a Bar..." by Brian Seidman

First off: great title.

Beautifully written. An imaginative explanation for the uncanny knowledge and behavior of the Vic Fontaine hologram, who is actually covering for his real identity. It was a great touch to have twitchy, cranky Lewis Zimmerman from Voyager be the guy to hunt down Vic's secret. Also that the reason Zimmerman doesn't go through with taking Vic offline is his lingering affection for the now-married Leeta. Awww.

I liked both Vic and Lewis on their respective series, so I enjoyed revisiting them. I thought their characters were both spot-on in this story. Other little gems: Vic's Rat Pack lingo, the "lounge lizard," and the Emergency Culinary Hologram. "Please state the nature of the culinary emergency." Priceless.


"Adjustments," by Laura Ware

A poignant little piece about having to grow up a little, even when you don't want to. Naomi seems to be the only person on Voyager who is sorry that the ship made it home--Dad is a stranger, friends have moved on, Mom doesn't have as much time for her anymore. Rebellion is the only option, until a few grown-ups gently remind her about responsibility and get her to look at the situation from perspectives other than her own.

The Riker of this story is the one I like--intuitive, humorous, charming. Janeway is in mentoring mode, which suited me much better than her stiff-necked, protocol-obsessed incarnation. Seven sounds like Seven, though I don't know if I'd ever get used to her smiling. (Was that in the show? I was just baaaarely watching there at the end.) They all work together to help this unhappy kid and get her to see the bigger picture. Responsibility and empathy are important for any child to learn--there are so many people out there who didn't learn them. I was happy to see her reconciled with her folks at the end. Sweet and satisfying.

[pookha]

yes they were quick little smiles but seven did smile.
and i remember one or two that happened when she was talking to naomi.

[HopefulRomantic]

Thanks, pookha. I remember Seven doing that "smiling with her eyes" thing that T'Pol would do... Been a while since I've seen Voyager.