Ask the Author: Christopher L. Bennett
Answered Questions (4)
Christopher L. Bennett
I'd be open to it in theory, but it's up to the publisher to commission novels, and there are fewer Trek books being published these days than there used to be. So there's no way of knowing if or when I'd get the chance.
Christopher L. Bennett
Thanks, but the answer's the same -- these days, the Star Trek novel line seems to be focused mainly on the new shows and on perennial best-sellers like TOS and TNG. I haven't been offered the opportunity to do anything more in the ROTF setting.
Christopher L. Bennett
Nothing is planned at the moment. Beyond that, it's hard to say.
Christopher L. Bennett
Well, there's always the perennial answer, get a steadier job to supplement the writing income, and take better care of your savings. Submit stories more diligently and don't give up on them. Trust what editors tell you. Try harder to get an agent. Diversify; don't get too dependent on a single source of steady work.
There's also the advice I got from Robert Hewitt Wolfe the one time I pitched to STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, which he was probably passing on from Michael Piller: Always work from the perspective of character. Don't just focus on plot and cool ideas; ask what a story means to the characters, how it changes them or reveals them. That's probably the best single piece of advice I ever got.
Beyond that, I'm not sure how much good advice I'd have to offer my younger self, since there's a lot I still haven't quite figured out or that I'm struggling to do better at.
There's also the advice I got from Robert Hewitt Wolfe the one time I pitched to STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, which he was probably passing on from Michael Piller: Always work from the perspective of character. Don't just focus on plot and cool ideas; ask what a story means to the characters, how it changes them or reveals them. That's probably the best single piece of advice I ever got.
Beyond that, I'm not sure how much good advice I'd have to offer my younger self, since there's a lot I still haven't quite figured out or that I'm struggling to do better at.
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