Updated 2/18/02!
It went on hiatus for four years or so, because I lost interest in Q for a while. Now I've regained my interest, and I'm back writing again, but cheez whiz, this is a freakin' long story. Don't expect miracles.
There's two answers to that. The first is, "when I finish it." Or at least when I've written enough of it that I won't feel I need to go back and rewrite. The second is, "check out my mailing list if you want to see the draft posts." I'm releasing the story in beta on my mailing list only in hopes of getting comments and help in improving it.
Send email to onlyhuman-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, or visit the web site and sign up.
I'm a hurt/comfort writer. In other words, I get a vicarious thrill out of being inside the head of a character who suffers. I torment characters I love, not characters I hate, and I sympathize with them as I do it. I also tend to pick on characters who I think are strong enough to take it, and who are not "innocent"-- rather than beating up on cheerful, fresh-faced teenage superheroines, I beat up on people who are cynical, aware of the darkness in the universe, and have committed their share of Not Nice Acts. Q qualifies.
See question number 8.
See question number 8.
You know the drill by now...
Fortunately for you, this is question 8. :-) The answer is yes. As to who he has sex with, the answers to all of the above is: maybe. And maybe not. Only the author (and the many people she told) knows for sure. :-)
Oh, you read that? (blushes) Heh, heh... uh, the Secret Toy Surprise may or may not actually happen, once I get there. See, I know what's going to happen in a broad scheme, but the fiddly details aren't clear until I get there.
I joke about this sometimes, but I don't think so. Hell, I don't really think Queria Lang is a Mary Sue (you haven't met her in OH yet, but she appears in PropinQuity), and she's a lot closer to the technical definition, except for the "steals the show" part. T'Laren is an original character, who shares some of my characteristics and exists in part to deal with issues that affect me profoundly, but then, I draw heavily on personal experience in writing Q as well, and Anderson, and lots of other people. T'Laren has flaws, can't always save the day, and isn't more important than Q to the plot.
They don't. All of them so far are spinoffs using the backstory to Only Human, but beginning before Only Human does and going into an alternate universe.
See the mailing list information above. in question 3.
Each section of Only Human is posted to alt.startrek.creative and alt.fan.q as I finish it. It will also be posted to the Qniverse list, and, since Chapter 4 will in fact contain sex, I will be beginning to post it to alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated/ASCEML mailing list. Also, if you want a sneak preview, it's in draft form on the mailing list.
If all you want to do is another spinoff of Deja Q, that's as much your right as it was mine-- you don't need my permission. Go ahead. (And let me see it when you're done, pretty please! :-)) But if you want to write a spinoff of Only Human, using my characters and/or situations, please e-mail it to me before you post it or publish it anyplace, and I ask that you not publish in a printed fanzine until after Only Human sees publication. I reserve the right to decide if your story uses my original characters in a way that's consistent with their personality, and the situations in a way that's consistent with the logic of the original, before you post to the Net. (Throwaway walkons are one thing; I accept these as homage. But if you make one of my characters a major recurring character in your work, I really want to know before you publish.)
Because Pocket Books will only take mediocre stories. :-) Seriously, this story violates nearly all of Pocket's guidelines-- it focuses on a character who's not a main crew member in one of the series, it is an alternate universe, it changes characters permanently, it contains sexual situations, and it's too long. I could revise the too long part, but I'm not willing to touch the others.
You betcha. As soon as it's done.
Because so far only three places have bought my stuff. :-)
"Tainted Blood", a fantasy short story about a boy who summons demons, was published by the magazine Midnight Zoo, or so they told me-- I never received contributor's copies, and then they went out of business. If you actually have seen this story in a copy of Midnight Zoo, let me know! And I published "Calley's Story", about one of the werewolves from the roleplaying game "Werewolf: The Apocalypse" by White Wolf Studios, in "When Will You Rage?", a paperback anthology edited by Stewart Wieck. It's back in print now. Finally, and probably of most interest to you, a Q story of mine won honorable mention in Pocket Books' Strange New Worlds competition, and thus was published in the first Strange New Worlds anthology, available in bookstores right now.
I've thought of it. My ideas don't fit well into Paramount's formula. I focus too much on character, not enough on plot; I like introducing new characters or exploring the ramifications of old; and I'm a control freak. The amount of revising they do to scripts they receive would seriously annoy me. Also, nowadays they require agents.
That, I'm definitely considering. I have a Q and Borg-related TNG story in the works that focuses on Picard, doesn't permanently change anyone, introduces only one new character and he's not that major, fits into canon, and doesn't have sex. I may work it up into a submission for them. Also, I will be submitting to Strange New Worlds again if I can get my story done by deadline.