Peter David

Writing for the ``New'' Paramount

Writing Star Trek, the comic (and for that matter, novels) while working in tandem with Paramount is like walking a tight rope with razor blades for nets.
Now it's not so bad when they're doing their job, which is to maintain Star Trek continuity. For example, I had an issue where I forgot to have a Klingon warship decloak before it fired on the Enterprise. That was fair and square--they caught it and it had slipped past both myself and Bob Greenberger, no question. Nor do I mind the self-proclaimed nitpicking changes. It's the vascilation that can get to me. And the contradictions. And the ignoring of Star Trek history. We are told that Star Trek command personnel can never be less- than-sterling characters, despite ``Patterns of Force'' and ``Doomsday Machine'' and ``The Omega Glory'', etc., etc. We are told that we must concentrate almost exclusively on the principle seven characters, but everytime we try and develop a storyline involving those characters (for example, Chekov wanting his own command, or Uhura returning home to visit her family) they are shot down.
We are told (honest to God) that a female bridge crewmember I created angered certain people at Paramount because ``women shouldn't be on the bridge crew.''
We are told that ``terran'' is an unacceptable term to refer to natives of earth--although Picard used it just the other week. We are told the word ``civilian'' does not exist since Starfleet is non-military--despite the fact that Riker's father was called, several times, a civilian adviser.
And I guess, bottom line, the most frustrating thing is being made to adhere to guidelines even more stringent than the TV show's, and then considered to be second class citizens by the offices at Paramount. We are perfectly okay as a source of revenue, but legitimate Star Trek? ``Real'' Star Trek? Sorry, only the TV and the movies. And not even that. We've done things that were based on concepts or have precedents in third season Trek, the second through fifth films, and the animated, and been told that all of those are not legitimate sources either.
I understand that Paramount owns Trek. I just don't understand who is calling the shots anymore, or why.

In his own words, ``Peter David writes lots of stuff.'' He is and has been involved with the Star Trek comic book series for a number of years. He is the author of the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel _Strike Zone_. His new novel, _Rock and a Hard Place_ should be out sometime in mid 1990.