A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Fan-friction: To Trek or not to Trek

On Wattpad™, fanfiction is king, queen, and the royal hamster's second cousin ... 2,000 times removed.  (Hamsters really go overboard on that whole "second cousin" thing.  Just saying.)

Once upon a time, Green Boysenberry invented a super duper "sci-fry" franchise: Stair Tracks.

You know:

• Captain Corgi, Commandant Squawk, Ensign Checkers, Spotty, Dr. Dog Biscuits ... and a cast of 10s or 12s ... instead of "a cast of thousands."  [Budget cuts are a rump biter.]

Of course, I'd never, ever, Never-Ever...  Confess that...  He Did It!!  It's All His Fault!!!

-um-

¿¿My teddy bear made me do it??

"Dude?"

Yes?

"You don't own a teddy bear whilst you is a-writing this here bilge water."

You got me there.  (Ahem.)  Where was I?

"You're Asking ME?!"

~•~

James Doohan was a Canadian actor — who was probably most famous for 1 particular role:

•  A very specific, chief engineer on a really rather famous vessel.  [And, no, it was not The Good Ship Lollipop.  Who came up with that demented idea?]

"You."

(See what I have to put up with?)  Any-who, I once saw Mr. Doohan at a convention.  I was impressed by his candor, skill with various accents, and his interest in engineering.  His regret was that "Scotty™️ never got the girl."  [As clearly as I remember, that is a direct quote.]

Years later, I decided to write a fanfiction wherein that character either [A] "got the girl" or [B] was set up to get the girl ... if somebody else wanted to extend my storyline.  At first, I intended it to be a gift from me to Mr. Doohan.  Publishing it was immaterial.  Unfortunately, he died before I could finish it.

There's more to the tale, of course.

Some more time passed.  I began writing what became a 200,000+ rough draft for a "Trekkie" novel.  That 1 was aimed towards getting published.  However, I decided to incorporate a character from my memorial project.

Big.  Mistake.  Huge.  Simply monumental.  [A "me-style" character in a "Roddenberry-style" story...  ¿¿What was I thinking??]

So...  I tried to salvage the project.  That not only flopped.  It bellyflopped.  It was an epic failure.

However, I decided to develop my more original ideas into a project that (hopefully) didn't replicate the flaws that sank both my memorial project and my overly long rough draft.

For me, that's when the fun began.  It was no longer work, per se.  Alien species.  Exoplanets.  Characters.  Science: biology, chemistry, physics, etc., etc.  Technology: both advanced and primitive.  Politics.  Starships.  Cultural anthropology. 

And themes that fired my imagination.  Colonialism.  Intrigue.  Moral dilemmas.  Family ties.  "Human" rights.  The emancipation of slaves.

•  It was all of the making of my own personal hog heaven.

Well.  I got in my way.  No surprise there.  And then, as every writer can attest, there's no greater distraction than life itself.  This is no less true for a "professional crazy person," such as me.  [O!  Being normal!!  What a calamity!!!]

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A few major things changed my course as a writer.  I joined several writers' groups.  I read some of my material in public.  I wrote some poetry.

And I discovered Wattpad™.  I've since published an anthology, primarily about sci-fi-based superheroes.  Much of Part 1 of this "autobiography" was first published as separate essays. 

•  All on Wattpad™.  But don't expect much in "Trekkie" fanfiction from moi.  Of course, as a, um, "Reformed Trekkie," I owe a lot to both James Doohan and Gene Roddenberry.

You see, a person needn't emulate all aspects of one's heroes and inspirations.  Besides, sometimes it suffices knowing who one is not.  And I am not Gene Roddenberry.  Then again, he was no "Macbeth Raymondovich." 

That stated, as men, we were not as different as I'd originally imagined.  That's Ok.  By trying to work in his literary domain, I truly began to forge my own literary legacy.

Since Mr. Roddenberry and I both suffered from PMS [Persistent Machismo Syndrome: a pernicious mental illness caused by a man's brain being infested with rabid flying squirrels] ...

"Macbeth!!  You're a horrible person!!"

(You have no idea.)  Please excuse me, but I'm late taking my happy pills.

😶😐😛

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