Irons in the Fire Update

When Robbie was sick, I sat with him and poured myself into work. This week, as my friends left town and Ginger began to fail, I also focused on work. It’s a useful coping mechanism.As a result, I managed to complete a few projects, clearing the decks for the moment.One was an interesting ghostwriting assignment

About Last Night

Now I know how it feels to be Ed McMahon. Last night was a touch surreal, a touch magical, and most memorable.William Shatner is currently touring the country, screening Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and then chatting with a moderator for an hour or so. When I saw he was coming back in

Irons in the Fire Update

One reason I have failed to write here with more regularity is that I have been busy. Not only am I coming up to speed on teaching in my new environment,  but I have been writing as time has permitted, tidying up old and existing projects.As a result, I thought it appropriate to update my

My Shore Leave 39 Schedule

It’s hard to believe it’s time for Shore Leave 39 already. I’ve been coming steadily since SL 3 back in the early 1980s and I delight at how it has grown but retained its intimate, fan-centric experience.I’ve got a rather packed schedule along with playing emcee most of the weekend. For those attending, here’s where

Talking Outside In Boldly Goes

What feels like a million years ago but was actually more like three, I was invited to be one of 117 authors to contribute essays to a book in ATB Publishing’s Outside In series. They’ve done other media properties but tackled Star Trek aiming to have this mammoth work out in time for the 50th

Saluting 50 Years of Star Trek

Although Gene Roddenberry first conceived of Star Trek in 1964, today we celebrate its 50th anniversary as it debuted on NBC. For a number of reasons having to do with post-production optical effects and editing, the network decided to open with a monster-of-the-week episode, “The Man Trap”, rather than the second pilot, which introduced us

Canon and Continuity

I walked into my classroom the other day to see two students arguing whether or not Superboy Prime was still part of the DC Universe canon. At first I was amused then I paused to consider the question because up until then, I had never really focused much on what constituted DC Comics’ official canon.Deriving

Paramount’s Star Trek Move is not Viewer Extortion

Variety broke the news on Friday that Nicholas Meyer had been signed to be a consulting producer and writer for Paramount’s new Star Trek series. I shared the news on my Facebook page because, to me, this gives me great confidence in the thinking going into the show. First you have Bryan Fuller, a proven

About those Star Trek Stamps

So, back in the summer, I was on vacation but checked email and found an invitation to consult on the USPS’ forthcoming Star Trek stamp set. For a modest fee and a few hours of my time, would I look over their designs and text?Of course I agreed and when I returned home, I found

Star Trek Continues to Entice Fans and Early Adopters

There’s been a lot of debate – and more than a little mockery – at the news this week that CBS was going to produce a new Star Trek series.About the only truly surprising thing is that it finally got announced. My understand all along had been that the CBS side of the Viacom split