As a child, I was always aware of Star Trek, kind of in the same way that other kids my age knew who hosted the local 6 o’clock news and which Elvis record your folks would play first when they hosted a summer cookout. My parents watched the reruns on weekends, and Star Trek: The Animated Series was also in syndication. At the same time, Star Wars was a huge cultural phenomenon, so we kids played Han, Luke, and the rest, and the woods behind our home became Endor after school and all summer long.
I rediscovered Star Trek on my own, around 1990. I was out of my teens, and Star Trek: The Next Generation was in its third season. I’d been writing fan-based fiction since I was about 15, starting with The Monkees and then moving to The Beatles. Once Star Trek hooked me, I started writing my own adventures (many of which survive to this day, yellowing but safe in an accordion folder).
Ahead warp factor 5
As time went on, Star Trek continued as a significant presence in my life. Star Trek: Enterprise premiered the same year I had my first child, and fan-created series like Star Trek: Osiris were hitting the internet in 2008, when I graduated from college and was still determined to make my living writing.
Today, I do indeed write full time, and when I’m not writing Star Trek content, I still write original fiction. Imagine, 35 years later, and this cultural sci-fi touchstone is not only still relevant and inspiring new series in the franchise but also inspires me (and many other fans, no doubt) to live my best life every day based on Star Trek’s simple principles.
Why Star Trek?
While science fiction, especially Star Trek, is no longer that thing you don’t talk about outside your home if you want to appear like the average human, making it a way of life is still something I get the occasional side-eye for. “Why Star Trek?” some have asked, and I can answer that with one word: Hope.
Star Trek in all its forms gives me hope. Recognizing infinite diversity in infinite combinations, the idea that humankind can rise above hatred, bigotry, and war, and the thought of what we will discover when we learn to love each other—all of those reasons and more is why Star Trek gives me hope and comfort in a present filled with uncertainty.