Good-bye, Carrie.

I've been a science fiction / space opera / fantasy fan for as long as I can remember. I was 15 years old when Star Wars premiered in 1977. When Carrie Fisher appeared onscreen for the first time, my reaction was, "Wow, she's pretty!" or something similar to that. Like I said, I was 15...and a boy. When Return of the Jedi opened six years later and Carrie donned that metal bikini...well, I was a 21 year old U.S. Army Military Police Investigator working on a joint narcotics team with the C.I.D. in Korea, but I certainly still took notice. After all, I was still a warm-blooded straight male of the species.

I was and always had been into Star Trek more than Star Wars -- I had always preferred the harder science fiction to the more fantasy-like stuff -- but I still thoroughly enjoyed the original trilogy, episodes IV, V, and VI for what they were -- a fantasy space opera filled with several larger than life characters and action and adventure. Years later, when the trilogy of prequel films came out, I went to the theater to watch with enthusiasm. Sure, they had their problems and were certainly...different, but I found something to like in each of them. I didn't "hate" them, and I still don't.

Last year, like millions of others, I went back to the theater to watch episode VII. Even though the film borrowed a lot from episode IV, I still found it entertaining and a worthy installment, and it felt so good to see Han Solo, Princess General Leia, and eventually Luke Skywalker up on the big screen one more time.

WARNING: ROGUE ONE SPOILERS BELOW!



Then, very recently, came Rogue One. I loved it. It was, in some ways, what I wish the entire franchise had been, and there were a few moments that made me grin a little extra wide -- the appearances of Grand Moff Tarkin, Bale Organa, the Mos Eisley Cantina bullies, the Red and Gold X-wing Squadron Leaders, and of course, the appearance and eventual fury of everyone's favorite Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader.

Then, at the end, we saw 19 year old Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia once more, albeit in CGI. That shot, too, made me grin a little wider and brought to mind the opening sequence of episode IV, just as I'm sure it was intended to. I left the theater that night feeling very satisfied with all that I had just seen and looking forward to episode VIII.

As you all know, we just lost our beloved princess/general. Carrie Fisher tragically passed away far too soon after suffering a heart attack. What has caught me totally off guard is how much I feel that loss. I didn't know Carrie. I've never met her. I don't even know very much about her other work, though I have seen her in a couple of other films. To me, she wasn't much more than an actress who played an important part in one of my favorite film franchises.

Or so I thought.....

Good-bye, Carrie. You never knew me, but apparently you meant something more to me than I ever realized...even now.

Foreign (Non-American) Films and Television

Back in the first half of the 1980's, I spent a total of four years of my time in the U.S. Army assigned to the Republic of Korea. During that time, I had a number of opportunities to see Korean films and television shows. To say that I was not impressed would be an understatement. Production values didn't seem to be very good, compared to what I was used to watching, i.e. American films and programming produced in Hollywood, and nearly everything that I watched reminded me of my own country's daytime soap operas.

Fast Forward to the 1990's and 2000's. I had married a Korean woman in 1981 -- 35 years later, we are still married -- so when we eventually discovered a Philadelphia channel in our cable lineup that showed Korean programming, she became quite excited. She asked me to watch a Korean historical drama with her, and since it was subtitled in English I agreed. It's English title was Age of Warriors. It was set in a time in Korean history when warriors rose up in rebellion against the king in an attempt to establish military rule, and I have to say that its production values were vastly improved over anything produced in Korea that I had watched in the '80's. It actually held my interest throughout its entire run.

Another Korean historical television drama produced at roughly the same time was Dae Jo-yeong, the story of the man who rose from slavery and eventually founded the Kingdom of Balhae. Like Age of Warriors, Dae Jo-yeong's production values were vastly improved over what Korea produced in the '80's. Sadly, I didn't get to finish this series because we moved out of the Philadelphia area before it finished its run and I have so far not been able to find it again.

Fast Forward again to the current decade. As Hollywood continues to produce and offer remake after remake after remake, I have become more interested in seeing what the rest of the world has to offer, and in addition to checking out a few of my own country's new films and television series I have recently began actively seeking out "alternate" programming from other countries. As you might expect, because I was already somewhat familiar with what Korea has to offer these days, I started there.

Signal is a Korean television series that tells the story of a police detective from the present day and another detective from the past who discover that they can communicate through time with one another and work together to solve as yet unsolved cold cases. That premise likely sounds familiar to anyone who has seen the 2000 film Frequency or the new television series of the same name. Perhaps the producers of this Korean drama were inspired by the film, I don't know. What I do know is that this series is important because science fiction has never been "a thing" in Korea -- even Star Trek is only now beginning to find an audience in that country -- and the writers seem to be doing it right. I have not yet finished the series because I stream it through Viki.com and as of this writing they have not yet finished adding subtitles to all of the episodes, but I have seen enough episodes to come to that conclusion.

So, while I'm still "in Korea," so to speak, what about their movies? Good question. I recently streamed two recent Korean films on Netflix.

The Admiral: Roaring Currents tells the story of a very famous Korean officer, Admiral Yi, who led a force of 12 battleships against an invading Japanese naval force of 330 ships...and won! The production values were, once again, excellent, and the CGI was stunning. I don't think I have ever seen such quality in a Korean production before.

North Limit Line tells the story of the 2002 incident that came to be known as the second battle of Yeonpyeong. The NLL is a disputed demarcation line in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of the two Koreas that serves as the border between the two countries. In 2002, small vessels from the north and the south battled one another near that line after those from the north crossed into the south and opened fire. Like the productions I wrote about above, this film had excellent production values, and the combat sequences were extremely well done.

Okay. Enough about Korea. What about other countries? Glad you asked.

I recently finished streaming, on Netflix, a 6-episode first season of a Netflix original Australian program entitled Glitch. In this series, a police officer in a small town is sent to the local cemetery one night and discovers that six people have risen from the dead in perfect health. Halfway through episode #4 I thought that I had the whole thing figured out, but as episode #6 came to a close I discovered that I was wrong. The story held my attention as well as most of the American programs that I watch and I am looking forward to watching season 2.

Finally, there is 3%, a Brazilian Portuguese science fiction production -- another Netflix original production. 3% is a story about a world divided into progress and devastation. The link between the two sides, Offshore and Inland, is a rigorous and painstaking ordeal known as the Process. Everyone who lives in the devastated Inland gets an opportunity to go through the Process and earn the right to live a better life in Offshore, but only 3% of candidates ever succeed.

I am only three episodes into this series' 8-episode first season, but as the small team of candidates that the series follows grows ever smaller as it goes through the Process, it, too, is holding my interest. I look forward to seeing what their next test entails.

So what is the point of all of this? Simple. I enjoy film and television... good film and television... almost as much as I enjoy writing. If you're like me and are growing tired of a lot of what Hollywood is giving to us, know that there are not just alternatives, but that there are good alternatives. Whatever your individual tastes, there are films and television programs being produced all over the world, and many of them are quality productions that truly deserve to be seen by the widest possible audience. Yes, they are in a large part produced to appeal to a "different" audience -- those with life experiences and sensibilities that differ from our own, but if you allow for that, I believe that you will find plenty of product out there to enjoy.

This Blog's Reach

Sometimes it's difficult to think of something to blog about, which is why I don't post something every day. I was just looking at my stats, and so far this blog has reached multiple readers in the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, Canada, Spain, Italy, Japan, Russia, and Turkey.

The world is shrinking. Isn't the Internet a wonderful thing?

Shorter (TV) Seasons, Longer Hiatus

Remember when a new television series premiered in September and its first season, consisting of 24 episodes, give or take, ran until June, and then it went on hiatus for three months before returning with another season of 20+ episodes? For example, the original Star Trek series showed 79 episodes in just three seasons.What is happening to television these days?

Some years ago networks started exercising an option to order just 13 episodes, or "half a season," rather than a "full season" for shows in which they felt hesitant to put a lot of faith. Then, if the show met with their hopes and expectations, they would order another block of episodes to complete the season. Okay, I can understand their point of view. The networks are a commercial business and commercial business is all about money and profits, after all. But a newer trend has crept into our most common form of entertainment, and I for one find it annoying...and potentially bad for the content producers and networks alike.

Back in 2004, what I consider to be the best dramatic science fiction program ever to grace the airwaves...or the wire...premiered on the Syfy channel...or SciFi...whatever it was at the time.

Battlestar Galactica (the reboot) began with a short miniseries in 2003, and when it did well the network ordered a first season. That first season consisted of only 13 episodes. Season 2 ended up being 20 episodes, but fans had to wait six months after season 1 for it to show, and they split the season into two 10-episode halves with a three and a half month long wait in the middle. Season 3 also consisted of 20 episodes and wasn't broken in half, unless you count a relatively short winter holiday break, but fans had to wait seven months for it after season 2. Eight months after season 3 we got the movie "razor," and it wasn't until four and a half months after that that season 4 finally premiered. Season 4 also consisted of 20 episodes, but once again they split the season into two halves with a seven month hiatus in the middle.

Then, of course, there comes another very popular show...

Each season of HBO's Game of Thrones is only 10 episodes long, with an approximately 10 month hiatus between seasons. Beginning in 2011, each season premiered in April -- actually, season 3 premiered on March 31, 2013 -- and ran through June. We got 10 weeks' worth of new episodes and then had to wait 10 months for the next batch! Granted, this show's episodes are worth the wait...but it's 10 months!

Not to be outdone...

USA Network's Colony premiered on January 14, 2016. We got a 10-episode first season that ended on March 17. Season 2 is coming sometime in 2017. As of this writing, no specific date has been announced as far as I can find. So, at a minimum, that's a 10-month wait. Will anyone who watched this show even remember the first season after ten months?

Finally, there is this...

HBO's Westworld premiered on October 2, 2016. Like Game of Thrones, to which the producers have compared it, Westworld's first season is going to be 10 episodes long with the final episode airing this December 4th. The show is doing well -- I am thoroughly enjoying it -- and HBO has just announced that there will be a 10-episode second season, but according to what I just read at the "Independent" website ( http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/westworld-season-2-release-date-hbo-sky-atlantic-2017-2018-new-episode-count-renewed-a7418051.html )...

"As for a release date, HBO is aiming for late 2017 but it might well be early 2018 due to the scale of shooting."

That's an entire year away...at least!

When I started writing this post, I stated that this trend of shows going on extended hiatus is potentially bad for the content producers and networks alike. Why do I say this? Well, another show that did this was SyFy's Helix.

Helix premiered on January 10, 2014 and its 13-episode first season ran until March 28, 2014. I, for, one, am not really into shows about pandemics, but this one was okay. However, season 2 didn't hit the air until January 16, 2015...nearly ten months later. By that time I had forgotten most of what happened and lost interest in the show. I didn't watch season 2, and apparently not too many other people did, either. The show was cancelled after that season.

I suspect that if this trend continues, more and more shows, even the better ones, are going to drop in the ratings after their premier seasons and be cancelled, unless they prove to be massive successes, like Battlestar Galactica and Game of Thrones. Granted, a 24-episode season of any show more intelligent than a sitcom would cost a massive fortune in this day and age, but I hope that producers and networks will soon begin to reverse that trend and return at least partway to the way it used to be.

The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

For the record, I am an Independent.

The campaign season. It was a long and painful one for both sides, filled with name-calling, accusations -- some false, some not -- lies, manipulations, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. In other words, it was a typical campaign season. How sad it is that that is the norm to which we have been forced to grow accustomed.

As I sat on my couch last night watching the returns come in, I expected what I suspect most of us did -- that it would be a tight race in many states, but that Hillary would ultimately win. As the night went on, I grew more and more surprised. Many Americans are fed up with Washington. That much was already known. What wasn't known was just how loud a statement those Americans would make. In the end, Donald Trump pulled an upset, though I doubt that he would consider it to be an upset...at least publicly. How he looks at the results in his own private thoughts is, of course, known only to him. So, very late last night, actually very early this morning, the race was called for Mr. Trump and my wife and I hurried off to bed.

Then, this morning, I got up and logged onto Facebook.

Hate. Vitriol. Name-calling. As I stated in a post there, I have not seen that much hate and vitriol on Facebook in one day for a very long time. Hillary supporters...some Hillary supporters...threw names such as Racist, Bigot, Stupid, Ignorant, Intellectually depraved, and several others at Trump supporters. Others, painting with a very broad brush, accused Trump supporters of not caring at all about the rights of non-whites, non-Christians, and members of the LBGT community. One man who happens to be gay posted that if any of his friends supported Trump then they are through as friends.

I understand the disappointment. I have felt it myself after previous elections. No one wants to see their candidate lose. But hasn't this country been divided long enough? At the very least, now that the process is over...thank God...let's give the man a chance. Let's stop the name-calling and all the other negativity. Let's pull together, work together, move forward and make things better. With the support and help of the American people, maybe our new president and his team actually will make things better. We owe it to them to give them a chance. If they fail then we can replace them in four years.

Yes, I said move forward. For example:

In one of the debates, Trump stated that if he were to win the election he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into Hillary's activities. As a man with 20 years' law enforcement experience and several years' experience working with classified information, I would like to see Hillary charged and prosecuted for her willful mishandling of classified information, and then punished IF found guilty in a court of law. I would also like to see her have to answer for a number of other things IF investigations showed that to be warranted.

All of that being said, this country is tired. If President Trump were to change his mind and let her off in favor of moving forward, I would, eventually, be all right with that.

Senior Officers, U.S.S. Endeavour, NCC-1716

Hello, dear readers. Welcome back. Yesterday I introduced you to the commanding officer of the Federation Starship U.S.S. Endeavour. Today I introduce you to the rest of the senior officers...at least to the point that each of them have been developed so far, which in a few cases isn't much at all yet.

FIRST OFFICER: Commander Sun Hee Kim: Human Female, Korean.

Deceptively petite, Sun Hee Kim nonetheless commands the respect of her subordinates and superiors alike. She makes it her business to know everything there is to know about both the ship on which she serves and the crew who serve under her. She is a master of the Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do and ranks high in several other arts.

Sun Hee Kim graduated first in her class from Starfleet Academy at the age of 21 eight years ago, after completing the four year program in only three years. She was commissioned with the rank of Lieutenant J.G. at that time and served her first two years as an Academy instructor.

At the end of those two years, she was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to the U.S.S. Exeter under the command of Captain Tracey, where she served for three years as a helmsman.

Her next assignment brought with it another promotion. As a lieutenant commander, she served as senior helmsman aboard the U.S.S. Hood for three years before her recent promotion to full Commander and her transfer to the Endeavour.

SCIENCE OFFICER: Lieutenant Commander Jeremy Daystrom: Human Male, Black.

Being the son of the acclaimed scientist Doctor Richard Daystrom, Jeremy Daystrom is naturally very well educated in the sciences. While not a leading authority in any one particular field the way his father was, he has a good working grasp of virtually all fields relevant to science duties aboard a starship. When he doesn’t know the answer to something, he knows where to find it.

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Lieutenant Commander Varan: Vulcan Male of the "Asian" race. Doctor Varan is a brilliant medical doctor, but as a middle-aged devotee to the teachings of Surak who has already completed the Kolinahr, he possesses nothing that resembles what humans would refer to as a good bedside manner. The only reason he chose to practice medicine in Starfleet rather than on Vulcan was because he felt that he already knew everything there was to know about treating his own people and had nothing more to learn. He decided that joining Starfleet in order to expand his knowledge in treating aliens was the most logical next step in his personal development as a sentient being.

HEAD NURSE: Lieutenant Isala: Deltan Female, incredibly beautiful by human standards.

Isala couldn’t be more of an opposite to Dr Varan. Where he is cold and distant, she is compassionate and empathic. Where he is a virtual walking encyclopedia of medicine, she often has to check reference materials when treating patients for anything out of the ordinary.

CHIEF ENGINEER: Lieutenant Commander Karla Baumann: Human Female, Caucasian.

Karla Baumann was instrumental while serving as part of the team that designed and developed the upgrades to the original Constitution-class heavy cruiser that have been integrated into the newer Bonhomme-Richard-class, of which Endeavour is a member. She served as lead for the Endeavour project personally, making her the obvious choice to serve as chief engineer.

CHIEF HELMSMAN: Lieutenant Shran: Andorian Female.

CHIEF NAVIGATOR: Lieutenant Marco Carlucci: Human Male, Caucasion.

CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: Lieutenant:

CHIEF OF SECURITY: Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Dawkins: Human Male, Black.

Commanding Officer, U.S.S. Endeavour, NCC-1716

So, I didn't have anything specific to post about, but it's been a few days since I last posted, so I decided to follow up on my October 30th post about the Starship Endeavour by introducing you all to some of her officers, beginning today with her commanding officer.

What you're about to read below is the background I created for him when I was working on my novelette, The 11th Hour.

Captain Christopher MacLeod: Human male, Caucasian, brown hair, brown eyes, mustache/goatee.

Chris MacLeod is a few years older than James T. Kirk, but attended Starfleet Academy at the same time, and in fact had several classes with him during their first two years as cadets. He didn’t particularly like Kirk at first—although he didn’t like the way upperclassman Cadet Finnegan treated him, either—so despite having had those classes together, the two of them never really became friends. “Friendly acquaintances” would be a better description of their relationship at that time. Later, when MacLeod and Kirk selected different career paths—MacLeod chose to pursue a career as a security officer—that acquaintance grew more distant.

Years later, when then Commander James T. Kirk took over as commanding officer of the scout ship Aeolus and brought Lieutenant (J.G.) Gary Mitchell in to serve as his chief helmsman, Lieutenant MacLeod saw it as an opportunity. He’d served with distinction in security and had even served with the MACOs for a period of time, but he’d wanted to transfer out of security altogether for some years by then and enter the command path. Unfortunately, Starfleet Command had denied his repeated requests, claiming that he was too valuable in his capacity as an experienced, seasoned security officer to be allowed to leave that specialty. Upon hearing of Kirk’s promotion, he contacted his old classmate and inquired after a position. A few weeks later he received orders promoting him to lieutenant commander and transferring him to the Aeolus as a helm and navigation transfer trainee.

MacLeod took to helm and navigation quickly, and during the time he served under Kirk he grew to admire the man and came to realize that those traits in his former classmate that he hadn’t liked were exactly the traits that had enabled him to rise to command so quickly. As required, they maintained a professional commander-subordinate relationship, but a friendship did develop in spite of that, and when the first officer was killed in the line of duty, Kirk selected MacLeod to replace him. Later, when Kirk was promoted to captain of the Enterprise and took Mitchell with him, MacLeod was promoted to commander and appointed the new captain of the Aeolus.

MacLeod has served as commanding officer of the Aeolus ever since, but has now been promoted to the rank of captain and selected to command Starfleet’s newest starship, the U.S.S. Endeavour.

Not Enough Hours in the Day

Where do we ever find the time to adult? How do we get it all done?

Over the past two and a half years I have written and released four original novels -- one, of course, was a re-release of my first novel from 2007, but I'm counting it anyway -- and five novellas/novelettes based on the fan-film series Star Trek Phase-II. In addition, I have begun writing three additional novels, all of which I am several chapters into, and outlined three more Phase-II stories. Add in the previous four or five years and I have also written literally dozens of comic book scripts, and even a few screenplays. I'm also a husband, a father -- my son is grown and on his own, so I suppose the father thing doesn't really count much anymore -- usually have a full-time job, and went to school for two and a half of those earlier years to earn my degree. Oh yeah, and I get to sleep every now and then, too.

How do we do it? Anyone?

The U.S.S. Endeavour, NCC-1716

Yesterday I wrote a little bit about my Star Trek Phase-II novelettes. In the synopsis for novelette #3, The 11th Hour, it is said that, "A new starship launches." I explained that that statement refers to the launch of the U.S.S. Endeavour, NCC-1716.

If you're a long-time fan of the Star Trek the original series (TOS) like I am, then you probably own, or once owned, the Franz Joseph Starfleet Technical Manual. Among many other things between that manual's covers that we Trek geeks got overly excited about when that book was published were a handful of pages listing starship names and registration numbers for five classes of ships -- dreadnoughts, heavy cruisers (the class to which the Enterprise belonged), transport tugs, scouts, and destroyers. The page dedicated to heavy cruisers listed the original Constitution-class ships, of which the Enterprise was one, as well as a few other classes. While these other classes and the ships that belonged to them could not at the time of publication be considered canon, some of them have since appeared on screen in Star Trek films and/or television episodes in the form of blueprints or on lists of vessels, thus making at least their designs canon.

One of the classes of heavy cruiser that appeared on that page was the Bonhomme Richard-class, and one of the ships of that class was the U.S.S. Endeavor, NCC-1716. Note the spelling -- no 'u' before the 'r'. Memory Alpha, The Star Trek wiki, states that there have been five Federation starships to bear the name Endeavour...with the 'u' -- NCC-1895 (listed on the Operation Retrieve chart in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country), NCC-25330, NCC-39272, and NCC-71805 (those three from the TNG/DS-9/VOY era). The fifth is listed as existing in an alternate reality, so let's forget about that one. My point here is this: The spelling of the Endeavor in the Technical Manual was a typo. It should have been spelled with the 'u', so that ship is actually the first Starship Endeavour to have been in service with Starfleet. So, when was it in service?

Well, we know from years of canon and "reverse engineering" of the official canon timeline that the Enterprise was launched in 2245 under Captain Robert April. She was later commanded by Captain Christopher Pike, probably for two consecutive five-year missions, and then by Captain James T. Kirk, beginning in 2266. In the TOS episode Tomorrow is Yesterday, Kirk tells USAF Captain Christopher that there are 12 ships like the Enterprise in Starfleet. The Technical Manual lists 14. That episode originally aired in January of 1967, so lets assume that the events it portrays occurred in January of 2267. That means that a couple of more Constitution-class ships were launched sometime after that -- let's say later in 2267 or perhaps 2268. According to the Technical Manual, the Bonhomme Richard-class was the next class of heavy cruiser to be brought into service.

This is where everything becomes a little more speculative -- a little more of my creation rather than inferred semi-canon. When James Cawley launched Star Trek New Voyages, he stated that the series was continuing the original five-year mission, beginning at the beginning of year four -- 2269 - 2270. By that time the Bonhomme Richard-class heavy cruisers could have begun to join the fleet. My novelette The 11th Hour takes place between the live-action episodes The Child and Kitumba, which are episodes 5 and 6, if you exclude the proof of concept Come What May -- Mr. Cawley is on record as stating that that doesn't count as an episode -- and count Blood and Fire parts 1 and 2 as one episode. That likely places them in 2269.

I mentioned the Operation Retrieve chart from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country above. If you look at that chart, pictured below, you can see from the silhouette near the upper right corner of the U.S.S. Endeavour, NCC-1895, that that ship is a "refit" heavy cruiser -- the same class of ship that the refit Enterprise was in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Memory Alpha states that The Undiscovered Country takes place in 2293. That means that the U.S.S. Endeavour, NCC-1716, could have been in service for up to 24 years, 2269 - 2293, before being replaced by NCC-1895. That is what I chose to go with when I decided to introduce the Endeavour in The 11th Hour.

As for the design of NCC-1716, I cannot thank my good friend Kenneth Thomson enough. Ken is a fellow fan and an excellent 3D modeler. I told him what I wanted, what changes I wanted to the original Enterprise design, and he built for me the model that you see in the images above.

I also mentioned in yesterday's post that I have plans for the Endeavour and her crew. What plans are those? Thank you for asking. As I've said, elsewhere if not in my previous blog post, I am planning to write at least three more Star Trek Phase-II novelettes. Perhaps four, as there is one of which I'm not yet sure. After those are finished and released, assuming that I can find the time between the writing of my Solfleet and KhiMara novels and the launching of my two future novel series, The Realm and Sentient, I'm plan to shift my Trek writing from Star Trek Phase-II, which has ceased production thanks to the new CBS/Paramount fan-film guidelines, to what I'm calling Starship Endeavour. Will those stories also be free to download PDFs? Possibly. That all depends on the results of a few inquiries that I have not yet made.

Star Trek Phase-II: Novelettes

Please forgive another round of self-promoting blog posts, but many among the large group of friends and acquaintances that I met through the fan film production Star Trek New Voyages/Phase-II are interested in this subject, so I thought that I would give it a treatment similar to if shorter than the treatment I gave to my Solfleet novel series when I started this blog nearly a month ago.

So, what are the Star Trek Phase-II novelettes? Well, they are short stories -- of the five that are now available, four are actually novella length and the fifth (#2) is a very short novelette length story -- that are available to download in PDF format for FREE from my Star Trek Phase-II: Novelettes page on Facebook. [ https://www.facebook.com/groups/307608796115457/ ]

Based on the award-winning fan film series and following the continuity presented in the episodes in which Executive Producer James Cawley portrayed Captain James T. Kirk, novelettes #1 - #3 take place between specific live action episodes -- each novelette indicates which two episodes it falls between -- and #4 and #5 take place after Kitumba, the final episode in which Mr. Cawley portrayed Kirk. At this time, I'm planning to write at least three more.

So, what inspired me to write them? Well, as I discussed in a previous blog post, I was part of the Star Trek New Voyages / Phase-II production team. I had the good fortune to participate in the shooting of three episodes, Blood and Fire, Enemy: Starfleet, and Bread and Savagery, the last of which has not been released (yet?) From my very first second at the studio, I was hooked. Soon after I got involved, I went back and watched the episodes that had been filmed and released prior to my involvement, Come What May (More proof of concept than episode), In Harm's Way, To Serve All My Days, and World Enough and Time. As I did so, I discovered something. Beginning with To Serve All My Days, small bits and pieces of information regarding what was going on in the galaxy started being dropped in character dialog and subsequent episodes were not following up on them. For example, that episode made it known that the economies of several Federation worlds were suffering, and as those economies collapsed the Klingons were moving in and taking over. I decided to pick up on that and other small bits and follow them up in stories of my own that would fit perfectly into the continuity -- perfectly enough that my stories could be considered part of the canon -- and the novelettes were born.

I could take the time to talk about each and every little tidbit that the episodes presented and how they inspired me, but I would end up writing a small book if I did that. Instead, I present to you here the cover and a brief synopsis of each novelette that I have released so far. Again, these novelettes are FREE to download via the link above, and you may share them with whomever you like as many times as you like. I don't make a penny from any of these. They are strictly labors of love for the franchise.

1. Friends and Foes

Takes place between the live-action episodes Blood and Fire and Enemy: Starfleet.

Captain Kirk is forced to work with a personal enemy from his past while confronting a much more dangerous enemy in his present, all while making first contact with a previously unknown alien race.

2. True To His Oath

Takes place between the live-action episodes Enemy: Starfleet and The Child.


Recently promoted, Scotty meets up with an old flame and tells the story of how that promotion came to be.

3. The 11th Hour

Takes place between the live-action episodes The Child and Kitumba.


An old friend returns. A new starship launches. The Federation makes an overture to an enemy as the countdown to all-out war reaches... THE 11th HOUR.

4. The Enemy of My Enemy

Takes place after the live-action episode Kitumba.


When Romulan Commander Dion Charvon returns home to a reception unlike anything she ever expected, her younger sister, Sub-Lieutenant D’Vahn Charvon of the Tal’Shiar, is afforded one opportunity to make things right and save her sister’s life. Meanwhile, aboard the Starship Enterprise, Captain Kirk begins his investigation into who really stands behind the conspiracy that very nearly plunged the Federation into interstellar war.

5. Calm Before the Storm

Takes place almost immediately after novelette #4: The Enemy of My Enemy.


Enroute to rendezvous with the dreadnought U.S.S. Alliance near the Romulan neutral zone to pick up Colonel Finnegan and his MACOs, Captain Kirk takes time out to tell his nephew, Peter, about his first mission as captain of the Enterprise.









You might have noticed in the synopsis for The 11th Hour that "A new starship launches." That would be the Starship U.S.S. Endeavour, NCC-1716. I have plans for that ship and her crew. More about that tomorrow.

WESTWORLD: The HBO Series

As a fan of good science fiction, I was excited when I heard that HBO was producing a series based on the 1973 film, Westworld. As time went on and teasers and trailers for the new series were released, I grew more interested. With actors like Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris on board, how could they go wrong?

For those of you who might not be familiar with the new series, here are two brief synopses lifted directly from the Westworld page on the HBO website and from Wikipedia:

HBO: "The one-hour drama series Westworld is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged."

Wikipedia: :The program takes place in fictional Westworld, a technologically advanced, Western-themed amusement park populated colmpletely by synthetic androids dubbed "hosts." Westworld caters to high-paying visitors dubbed "newcomers" (also known as "guests", who can do whatever they wish withing the park, without fear of retaliation from the hosts."

The series began airing on Sunday night, October 2nd. As I write this, four episodes have aired. Since the premiere I have seen several posts on Facebook from some of my friends who are watching it. Some of my friends like it and some do not. I have been watching as well, and I have to say that I like it very much.

The most common complaints that I read from those who do not like it are that it is too slow and that nothing much is happening. After three episodes had aired I read one post in which a friend stated that he was on the verge of giving up on the show.


Personally, I think the relatively slow pace is one of the show's strengths. After all, as the synopsis states, we're talking about the dawn of artificial consciousness here. Androids, artificial constructs that look human and are programmed like computers to mimic human behavior, begin to develop consciousnesses of their own. To be as realistic as possible, that should absolutely be a slow process.


With each successive episode, we have seen these emerging consciousnesses grow just a little bit more. As a fan of the show, I find watching this process occur as slowly as it is to be fascinating. I'm glad that it didn't occur "overnight" in the first episode or two. As the show's main theme, I am of the opinion that it should take most if not all of the entire first season.

And there's plenty of intrigue going on in the park and behind the scenes as well to add to the show's overall drama. The Man in Black (Ed Harris) is a guest who has been visiting the park for 30+ years. He believes very adamantly that there is more to the park than meets the eye. He is very determined to discover what that "more" is and appears willing to do anything, whatever it takes to do so. Doctor Ford (Anthony Hopkins), one of the founders of the park, has a secret. By episode #4 it has become clear that he is up to something, and that has added a whole new level of drama to the story.


If you're an action fan who loves car chases and explosions and you don't really care whether or not a movie of series actually has a well thought out plot or well developed characters, then HBO's Westworld is probably not for you. However, if you like characters who grow and change and a plot that is well thought out and carefully developed, then I recommend that you give this series a chance.

Decisions, Decisions: A Decision Made

Back on October 11th I wrote a post entitled Decisions, Decisions: An Author's Struggle. I talked a little about some of the books I have written and asked the question, "Do I go to work on Solfleet: Above and Beyond (3rd in my Solfleet series), Legend of the KhiMara: The Chronicle of Alexia Castellanos (3rd in my Legend of the KhiMara series), or Star Trek Phase-II: The Storm (6th in my Star Trek Phase-II: Novelettes series)? Or do I start one of my new series with The Realm or Sentient? Well, we have a winner.

I have decided work on Solfleet: Above and Beyond until it's finished. In fact, I've already started. Now, if you read that previous post, you might remember that I wrote that I had already written the first ten chapters, and I have. I had also already completed an outline for the entire rest of the book. However, there was a group of chapters later in the book that was causing me a real struggle. I added story specific sequences with specific characters, then later threw them out and replaced them, and then later still threw out the replacements. No matter what I tried it just didn't seem to flow.

All of that has changed. I've been working on the outline over the last several nights, and last night inspiration hit me like a baseball bat to the forehead. I realized what was missing and have begun working it in. I expect to finish the outline very soon, and once I do I will be diving back into Solfleet: Above and Beyond and will not stop working on it until it is finished.

 

Life as a Government Contractor Isn't Always Easy

So, do you want to be a government contractor? Do you want real job security? Well, from my experience, you cannot have both. At least not for any extended period of time.

I retired from military service in March of 2008. The following month I took a job with a company on a government contract. Then, in October of 2010, another company bought them out. Fortunately, it turned out that the new company kept all of us on, but for a short time it was questionable as to whether or not we were going to lose our jobs.

In August of 2012 I took a new job with a different company on a different government contract. I was good to go until April of 2014 when the DoD moved us from our downtown location to a place on the Air Force base, at which time the position I had left in August of 2012 disappeared. "Whew!" I thought. "I dodged a bullet there!" Not so fast. In January of 2015 the contract I was on ran out. The government did not renew it and I and my partner were out of work.

I was out of work until that August, when I finally got a position on yet another contract...a position that fell out from under me only 11 months later. It was July of 2016 and I was out of work yet again.

This time I was out of work for less than two months. This past September I started working on yet another contract on a different Air Force base. Almost everything about this job is better than the last one, too. The only thing is...I just found out that my last day there will be November 2nd. The contract is ending and a new contract for different duties has been awarded to a different company.

Once again, I am going to be out of work. Who knows for how long? Perhaps the new company will offer me a position on the new contract. Perhaps another as yet unknown opportunity will present itself. Government contract positions generally pay well, but the lack of long-term job security can be trying. Perhaps I should look more into the private sector?

What is the "correct" answer to that question? I suppose that only time will tell.

New Time Travel on Television

Time travel seems to be quite popular on television these days. In addition to Barry Allen bouncing back and forth between time periods and timelines on CW’s The Flash, which he has been doing for some time now, this season gives us two brand new series to mess with the logic centers of our brains—NBC’s Timeless and CW’s Frequency. If you know me then you know that I like a good time travel story—emphasis on good—so I thought I would discuss each of those new shows briefly. I invite anyone who might wish to comment below to do so.

* The descriptions following the titles are lifted directly from Google searches.

TIMELESS: When a mysterious criminal steals a secret state-of-the-art time machine, planning to use it to change past events to destroy America in the present, the only hope is a team of unexpected heroes composed of a scientist, a soldier and a history professor. The trio must use the stolen machine's prototype to journey back in time to critical events, being careful not to affect history themselves, while working to stay one step ahead of the villain who would unravel the timeline and understand the mystery driving his mission before it's too late.

As I watched the premier episode, I started to feel that, while enjoyable, the show was rather simplistic. That is to say that I felt as though the writers were just engaging in some basic, straightforward storytelling—bad guy goes back in time and changes history, good guys go back in time and change it back, or fix it as best they can, then return home and everything is okay. I started to worry that that was all the show would be—time fix of the week, episode after episode.

Not so fast. I’m happy to say that I was wrong. I don’t want to post any spoilers, so I’ll just say that by the time the first episode ended, it had become clear that there is going to be much more to this show than time fixes of the week. Turns out that time isn’t so easy to fix, and lines between good guys and bad guys aren’t necessarily very clear. At the time of this writing, I have seen the first two episodes. If you like a good time travel story like I do and unexpected plot twists make you grin, then I recommend this series.

FREQUENCY: Detective Raimy Sullivan has carried around pain and resentment over her father's death for 20 years, believing NYPD Officer Frank Sullivan was corrupted during an undercover sting and got himself killed. Everything changes when she hears his voice coming from his old ham radio, somehow transmitting from 1996. Raimy tells Frank about his murder, allowing him to survive the event, but the change has tragic consequences on the present, and the two detectives must find a way to rewrite the past without destroying everyone they care about.

The description pretty much says it all. As it infers, when Frank lives instead of dying like he was “meant” to, the resulting butterfly effect changes Raimy’s present. Again, I don’t want to post any spoilers so I won’t say anything more about the story, except that the plot twists in this series are every bit as interesting as those in Timeless. I recommend this series as well.

Decisions, Decisions: An Author's Struggle

On September 3, 2016, I released my fourth book, the second novel in my Legend of the KhiMara fantasy series, entitled The Chronicle of Zhào Gan-Zian. Since that time, I've been struggling with the decision of what to write next. You see, there are several stories in my head screaming to get out.

My first published novel, Solfleet: The Call of Duty, began a military science-fiction saga that continues with Solfleet: Beyond the Call and is waiting to continue further with Solfleet: Above and Beyond. It's a character-driven series with deep intertwining plots and subplots that will take some very unexpected turns along the way, and this first trilogy is only the beginning. With each of the first two books I literally had to bury myself in the Solfleet universe for months or even years at a time. As enjoyable as that is, it can also be exhausting. Yet, I'm anxious to continue.

The Legend of the KhiMara series, on the other hand, is a more adventure-based fantasy series. That's not to say that it's not character-based as well, of course, but the KhiMara books are shorter than the several hundred-page long Solfleet books and each is more centered on one individual character, whereas the Solfleet books are much larger in scope, so I can write them more quickly.

Then there is the series of novellas and novelettes that I've written based on the Internet fan film series Star Trek: Phase-II -- five of them so far (FREE to download in PDF format on my STP2: Novelettes Facebook page). The first few of those stories fall between the film series' live-action episodes and the rest continue the story arch beyond them. I have at least one more of them to write before I can even think about calling that series finished.

So the question has been this: Do I go to work on Solfleet: Above and Beyond, Legend of the KhiMara: The Chronicle of Alexia Castellanos, or Star Trek Phase-II: The Storm?

But wait. It's not that simple.

Remember those stories screaming to get out of my head that I mentioned? Those three aren't alone in there. Alongside them stands The Realm, a fantasy series that will take place roughly a thousand years earlier in the world of  Legend of the KhiMara. As of right now, that looks to be a six-book series, though that might change. *Yes, it's a prequel series, which is something I swore that I would never do, but the story is completely separate.* There's also Sentient, a near future science-fiction trilogy that will look at the emerging world of A.I. and artificial life from a very unique angle and give a very specific large group of readers a very nice surprise.

I'm anxious to get to work on all of them. So anxious, in fact, that I've already written the first ten chapters of Solfleet: Above and Beyond, outlined Legend of the KhiMara: The Chronicle of Alexia Castellanos, and outlined Star Trek Phase-II: The Storm. As for those other two projects, I've already written the first 22 chapters of The Realm and the first six chapters of Sentient.

So you see, readers, I'm at something of a loss. I want to work on all of them, but that's obviously not possible if I actually want to finish any of them. What to do???

Cover Art by Juan Carlos Baez

Cover Art by Jeffrey Hayes

Cover Art by Bill Lutz

Night Shift Isn't So Easy Anymore

Back in the stone age when I was an 19 year old rookie military policeman, working the midnight shift was no big deal. It was 1981 and I was stationed with the 2nd MP Company, 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea. For that entire year I worked from 1900 hours (7:00 PM for you civilians) to 0700 (7:00 AM) for four nights straight had a 24-hour break, worked 0700 - 1900 for four days straight, and then then had three days off before starting the whole thing over again. The adjustment from one shift to the other and back again was no big deal.

Fast forward 35 years to today. I got up at 0600 last Friday and went to work from 0730 - 1530 (that's (3:30 PM, in case you're keeping track). Then, at about 2230/10:30 that night, I went to bed. Knowing that I was going to be starting the midnight shift on Saturday night, I tried to stay up later so that I could sleep later Saturday morning, but my mind and body reused to cooperate and at 0600 hours Saturday morning my eyes opened. I was awake for the day.

My shift started at 2330/11:30 Saturday night, just as my mind and body started to protest the fact that I hadn't yet gone to bed. I worked until 0730 Sunday morning and didn't get home to bed until 0800. Needless to say, I fell asleep very quickly...and slept until 1730/5:30. Now here I am sitting at my computer at 2345/11:45 Sunday night -- no work tonight because Monday is the Columbus Day federal holiday -- having only been up for a little over six hours, feeling tired and wanting to go to bed because it's the middle of the night and my body knows that it's supposed to sleep at night, but knowing that I'll only lie there awake, tossing and turning, until my body thinks it's time to get up, which is when I'll start getting tired.

So what's the point to this post? I don't know. I can't think straight right now.

A Trekker's Dream Come True

Like many people around my age, I grew up on the original Star Trek series, or Star Trek TOS as it has come to be known. I didn't have many friends as a kid, which was okay with me because I've always valued quality over quantity. The few real friends that I did have and I were all fans of the show. We could discuss it for hours, talking about everything from James T. Kirk's exploits -- the ones they couldn't put on screen (snicker, snicker) -- to warp theory. I often imagined what it might be like to get just one opportunity to walk onto the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, knowing, of course, that that would never happen.

Or so I thought.

One day, many years into my adulthood, I was surfing the Internet and I stumbled across a website for something called Star Trek New Voyages. It was a fan film that had been shot somewhere in upstate New York. No, I soon discovered. It was actually two fan films. The filmmakers had done a second episode, and they were planning to do a third! I wanted to get involved! I had to get involved, and though it took a while, I finally got the opportunity.

It was the summer of 2007, and the episode was a two-part episode entitled Blood and Fire, written and directed by David Gerrold and guest starring Denise Crosby. What follows are a few photos from that shoot and an article I wrote about my experience there for the digital magazine that the production was releasing online at the time. I hope you enjoy it.

JUNE, 2007

All I can say is, what a phenomenal experience! My participation in the production of Star Trek: New Voyages' latest episode, "Blood and Fire" was so much more exciting than I ever expected it to be! I'm not sure where to begin. Don't get me wrong. I knew it was going to be fun. But I never dreamed that it would be as fun and as thrilling as it turned out to be.

After discovering that my digital camera was broken and realizing that my son still had my old Canon 35mm film camera, I left my home in West Chester, Pennsylvania at 9:00 AM on Thursday, May 31^st, 2007, expecting to be on the road for about six hours and hoping there would be photographers on the set whom I could persuade to take pictures for me. As I drove, I thought about what I might do when I arrive—how I might help the team. I decided that no matter what the task, I would do everything that might be asked of me. After all, I was going up there to help produce Star Trek!

Everything was going well until I made one wrong lane change somewhere near Albany, which sent me off to God knows where and ended up adding an additional three hours to my drive. After two hours of wondering if I was even traveling in the right direction, followed by an hour of feeling fairly confident that I was, I finally arrived at Retro Film Studios at 6:00 PM. Actually, I zipped right past the studio at first, but fortunately my eye caught a glimpse of the "RFS, Inc." sign as I passed and my brain registered it as the place I was looking for.

At first glimpse, the first thing to pop into my head was, "That's a production studio?" Now, keep in mind that I've never actually seen a film studio before, but I was pretty sure that the building I was looking at didn't qualify. But hey, who was I to judge? I parked my gas-guzzler and headed for the garage door.

Among the first people I met were Jeff Mailhotte (a.k.a. Lt. Sentell), who was hard at work at the circular saw, and Ron Gates, who was hard at work…watching him. Actually, as I soon found out, they were in the process of rearranging a small airlock to look like a short corridor. I introduced myself and asked where I could help. Turned out there was nothing for me to do at that moment, as filming had already begun and most of the crew were up the road at an old church on a closed set, so Ron offered to give me a tour of the studio sets.

The little airlock, the sickbay, the briefing room, the transporter room—all were great to see, but like everyone else, I'm sure, what I was really looking forward to seeing was the bridge. I only hoped, as Ron led me to it, that I wouldn't get all teary-eyed and make a fool of myself.

I followed Ron up a few steps and into the turbolift through its side. I turned left, and there she was—the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. My eyes did not tear up, but my mouth stretched into a grin that must have reached from one ear to the other. Even empty, unlit, and without power, the bridge was a sight to behold. As I stepped out of the lift, my grin grew even wider. Thirty-nine years after seeing it on television for the very first time, in black-and-white, I was actually standing on the full-color bridge of the Starship Enterprise.

Me in uniform, standing on the left during the filming of a scene on the bridge, with James Cawley (Kirk) getting a makeup touch up from Patty Wright, Ben Tolpin (Spock), Andy Bray (Chekov), Jay Storey (Kyle), Kim Stinger (Uhura), sound man Ralph Miller, and writer/director David Gerrold.

I stood there gawking for several moments, then returned to where Jeff was still working, still trying to process what I had just seen. I helped him and a few others move a couple of walls around—rearranging the sets for an upcoming scene, I learned. Had I just joined the Set Construction Department? Who knew? But I was there to help wherever I could, so if I had, I was fine with that.

Then came one of several company moves that would take place over the next ten days. I followed a couple of other vehicles up to the old church and helped load up all the lighting and camera equipment and take it all back down to the studio. I was amazed at how much equipment it took to produce a show such as this.

Discussion with writer/director David Gerrold inside the old church.

A little later that evening I had the opportunity to meet James "Captain Kirk" Cawley, who greeted me with a friendly smile, a hardy handshake, and an enthusiastic, "Sergeant." No inflated ego. Not even a little inflated. Just a warm, friendly, fellow fan who shares my love of Star Trek. A very down-to-Earth man. As the hours passed, I also met my distant cousin, Andy "Sarge" Grieb, Miss Kim Stinger (our lovely new Lieutenant Uhura), and Debbie (our lovely Nurse-Doctor-Nurse-Doctor-Nurse no-name eventually named Fontana). I also met a few others, including Ben Alpi, who'd been assigned to stay in the same cabin as me—my roommate for the next ten or eleven days.

And then, later that evening, I met David Gerrold. If there was one person I expected not even to get a chance to talk to while I was there, it was David Gerrold. I expected to meet a stereotypical, somewhat aloof Hollywood type with an over-inflated ego who would be so busy he'd barely have time to acknowledge my existence. I couldn't have been more wrong. When the time finally came that David—yes, David, not Mister Gerrold—appeared to be a little less busy, I took the opportunity to introduce myself. I found David to be one of the kindest and friendliest people I had ever met.

That was day one. It ended at about 2:00 in the morning. We went to the cabins, which I found to be… well… less than what I had expected, but after getting up at 7:00, driving for nine hours, and working until 2:00 AM, did I care? No. I was given a cot because there was only one bed and Ben had already made it his, but after almost 20 years of military service, a cot was not a problem at all. I made it my own, and fell asleep the moment I went horizontal.

The next morning, I went to the studio expecting to work with the construction crew, but upon arrival I learned that a couple of electrical wires needed to be run, so I jumped in and helped to run them. As I said, I was there to help wherever I could.

And then it happened. Some time around noon, I was sitting down and talking with some of the nicest people I had ever met when the call came. "We need extras." According to Einstein, had I jumped up any faster I would have been standing up before they made the call. James took me and a couple of other volunteers into the Costumes room to be fitted for uniforms—uniforms that included red shirts. I figured, "Okay, my character might not live long, but at least I'm going to be in the show." That was already much more than I ever expected.

My costume fit check.

I worked in one scene for a little while, but was eventually replaced by someone else before it was actually filmed. But hey, that's show biz. I didn't mind at all. The opportunity to watch and listen while the teams discussed lighting, camera angles, dialogue delivery, etc. made the whole thing worth while. I returned to the green room and sat and waited for my next call—a call that never came. We were released at 9:30. I figured, "Okay, I got to wear a Starfleet uniform. Cool. Tomorrow I'll get back to work behind the scenes." But to my surprise, David came to us—me and the others who had dressed—and told us that he wanted us back in costume the next morning. I was going to get another chance!

The next day was another long one. It went past midnight. John, another "atmosphere" actor, and I worked on the bridge, playing engineering technicians in a scene that I knew right from the first rehearsal would definitely not be cut out of the final product. So whatever was to come later, I knew that I had made it into the show, and I was content.

John and I on the bridge.

I mentioned above that I had found David Gerrold to be a kind man. One example of that kindness is this. Jeff Collinsworth, one of New Voyages' long-time contributors, had his son Joey there. David showed Joey so much kindness that I had to remark to several people about it. He invited him onto the bridge set, put him in the center seat, had the photographers take pictures of him with some of the cast. David had already shown us all his deliciously sarcastic sense of humor, and now he had shown us his softer side. Once again, I found myself in awe of just how "normal" a person David was.

One other thing that I took notice of that day was just how hard working the lighting and camera crews were. While "we" actors took breaks between scenes, those guys kept on working in the incredible heat to make sure they would get every shot lit and recorded as perfectly as possible. My hat's off to "camera Dave" Berry, "camera Alex," Jami from he land down under, and all the rest of the crew for a job extremely well done.

The highlight of the next day for me came soon after I had once again been replaced in a scene, when I learned that I was to have a speaking part in another scene on the bridge. Yes, a speaking part! I'd never expected to be in front of the cameras at all, and there I was being given dialogue—just a very short line, but dialogue nonetheless! On the bridge of all places! Talk about a dream come true! That made all the very long, long hours of sitting in costume and make-up, waiting and hoping for a call worthwhile. I reported to the bridge, we went through the scene, and filmed it. Actually, there was no film being used, but I digress. I had the distinct privilege of working alongside John "Kargh" Carrigan in that scene, literally—another extremely kind and friendly man, I assure you. At the end David called, "cut," and the scene was done. It was in the can, and I was in it! Two scenes on the bridge for a guy who'd never acted in his life! I couldn't believe it.

The next day, I was replaced in every scene that I was called for, except for one, but as I stated earlier, that's show-biz. I'd already spent more time in front of the camera than I had ever expected to, so how could I possibly be disappointed? What was the one scene I wasn't replaced in? I'm glad you asked. It was a scene where I sat at the helm. Yes, the helm. I don't believe I can be seen in the final shot—as David put it, "…in case the helm makes it into the edge of the shot."—but that's okay. I sat at the helm during the shooting of a scene!

Sitting at the helm.

I started day six feeling very tired of waiting around in costume for hours on end in the hopes that I might get called in to shoot a scene. Truth be told, after watching how incredibly hard the entire production crew was working day in and day out, I was also beginning to feel like I wasn't contributing to the effort as much as I should. After all, (co-producer) Gary Evans had been kind enough to invite me to participate. The least I could do would be to sweat for the cause like so many others had been doing all along. So I did something about it. After sitting at yet another bridge console for yet another scene, I changed out of costume and offered to help the lighting crew in whatever way I could.

That offer blossomed into several opportunities over the next few days to learn a little bit more about what goes on behind the scenes of a production such as this. Trust me, folks, this was no ordinary fan film. This was a professional production crewed by a lot of incredibly talented people. I learned a lot from many of them while I helped out. I helped the lighting crew some more by controlling a dimmer on a couple of occasions—a small contribution perhaps, but it freed someone up to do something else. I also helped with set construction again by assisting in the conversion of the corridor set into a cargo bay, and when "Sarge" Andy needed a break from the sound boom for a couple of days, I helped sound man Ralph Miller by taking over on one of those.

One more thing that all of this behind the scenes work did in addition to providing me with the opportunity to help the crew and learn was that it allowed other extras a few more opportunities to get in front of the cameras. Knowing how exciting it was to do that, I was happy to do my part in allowing others to enjoy it as well.

So, that's it in a nutshell. Ten days living a lifelong dream, all the while feeling amazed at what an awesome group of people I had found myself among. And then I left, but not before something happened to show me just how special a time it was. As I said my good-byes to those who remained, all was smiles and laughter and "see you next time." There wasn't a tear in the place as far as I could see. But then, as I passed the sets on my way out, I decided to take one more look at the bridge. Just as I had upon my arrival, I stepped up into the turbolift, turned left, and walked out into the nerve center of the Starship Enterprise. Once again empty, unlit, and without power, it looked just as it had on that very first day, but this time the emotions it invoked were quite different, for that emptiness reflected the emptiness that I was feeling in my heart over knowing that I had to leave. I couldn't help it. I couldn't stop it. The tears flowed freely. It was over.

Just a small portion of the crew.

I could have gone on and on and on in this account, writing out every detail of every day, but such an article would probably fill this entire publication. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't thank at least some of the wonderful people who make up the Star Trek New Voyages family.

To the principle cast as a whole—thank you for your warm acceptance and friendship.

James, as I have written elsewhere, by living your dream you have allowed me to live mine, and I thank you for that.

Ben "Spock" Tolpin, your professionalism and dedication are an inspiration.

Doc John and Charles "Scotty" Root, we didn't get a lot of opportunities to talk, but when we did, your warmth and willingness to engage this newbie extra in conversation was greatly appreciated.

Andy "Chekov" Bray, what can I say? "Entertaining" barely begins to describe you.

Kim "Uhura" Stinger, you dear lady are one of the most kind-hearted people I have ever met.

Bobby "Peter Kirk" Rice, your enthusiasm does you credit and will help you along your path. You have a bright future ahead of you.

Evan "Alex" Fowler, like John and Charles and me, you and I didn't get to talk much. But I did observe you while you worked, and I suspect the future holds great things for you as well.

To David Gerrold—thank you for helping to make my first ever experience on any set of any kind, working for any director, such an enjoyable one.

To Denise Crosby—thanks for your kindness. You are one classy lady.

To the rest of the supporting cast, my fellow extras, and all the members of the crew, from lighting and camera, to construction, to make-up, to photographers, to 5-0, to those who went on food and water runs and saved us all from starving and dehydrating—I thank you all. I will value your friendship forever. We are all truly members of a family, and I look forward to seeing you all again.

PRESENT DAY

I attended two more shoots after that one—2008's Enemy: Starfleet, in which the lovely BarBara Luna guest starred and for which I served as 2nd Assistant Director, and 2012's Bread and Savagery (as yet unreleased) for which we had use of some of the original costumes used in the TOS episode Bread and Circuses and I served as 1st Assistant Director. All three shoots were truly experiences of a lifetime.

Taking command during the filming of Enemy: Starfleet

On location for Bread and Savagery