Writing a summary, how do you do it?

Summaries can be a bit difficult to write especially when an author is writing a rather complex fanfic. For instance, I had a really hard time coming up with a summary for my second book in the Rogue Officer series: A Sacred Trust Broken. I wasn’t sure whether to include the Cardassian’s in the summary or just the Federation spy/informant for them. To me though, its all about the action and drama that’ll hopefully bring in the audience. Continuing from where Chaos Erupts left off it can be found on the Archive here:

A Sacred Trust Broken

*First two chapters are up.*

 

And what about the story summaries of others draws you in?

What draws me in to other’s stories summary-wise is what the premise has to offer,  is there action, drama, angst, romance, that sort of thing. Or if there are certain favorite characters from a series I really like, and original one’s too. Good and effective summaries that lead into the thicker plot of the story almost always have me hooked within the first chapter. It’s amazing how author’s have a way with words, and there are so many of us who want our works to be read and praised.  I know a lot of author’s over on the Archive I’ve yet to dig into their stories. There are just so many amazing stories to be told in the trekverse.

Reviewing: what you love to see in a review,  what you love to give in a review, what you want to do for your own reviewing skills in the future?

What do I love to see in a review?

If someone reviews a work of mine, I like a well-rounded constructive one. One entailing what was good and what needs some work. Particularly if I don’t get characters quite correct. I strive to make all my readers happy by posting different scenarios. It helps keep things balanced story wise.

What do I love to give in a review?

Same thing as the answer to the 1st question. I do my  best to give a well-rounded review with what I liked and what could be improved in a story.  Punctuation that kind of thing. Praise is often the best tool you can bestow to a fellow author.  We all tell stories that we want out there to be told and giving well-rounded reviews helps make them better in the long run.

What do I want to do for my own reviewing skills in the future?

Let’s see: Make them as detailed as possible and not make them a one or two liner. I’m getting better at telling other authors about how I loved the scenery they used in a story and the atmosphere. The emotions portrayed by each character, and how I felt like I was actually there living the scene with them.  It’s all about the substance you put into a review and what you get out of it as the reviewer, not only you, but hopefully the author as well.

Let’s start off with the 1st question: What character do you love to write the most?

Hmm… I would have to say my original character Laura Jane Riker. Riker’s oldest daughter:

 

 

She’s a lot like her father Will Riker in so many ways. Sometimes her adventurous spirit gets her into mischief.  But what child doesn’t get into mischief? She is the oldest of 4 children. One thing is for sure, she keeps her daddy on his toes, and isn’t afraid to play in the dirt.

*Original character made with DAZ Studio 4.6*

Who’s your favorite Trek blogger and why?

Hmm… I would have to say FalseBill. His blog posts are always interesting and entertaining. I like that fact that when he puts a blog post up he uses pictures to enhance what someone is reading. To help gain a better understanding and clearer big picture to his audience.

I look forward to reading his posts on his blog. It makes for some good reading.

*Heh, I decided to make this one short and to the point.*

What was the hardest story I ever had to write? What was the easiest? And why?

Let me start with the first question. The hardest story I ever wrote was called Hard Realities. Hard Realities was really a labor of love for me as a writer. It took me nearly two months to get the complete picture of the story I wanted to tell before I put it into words.

Hard Realities takes place in the TNG world, somewhere between Season’s 6 or 7. The Enterprise comes to the aide of the badly damaged U.S.S London, when they arrive, she’s adrift in space. No functioning engines and in the Gamma Quadrant.

When the Enterprise tries hailing them, they get no answer. So Picard sends an away team over to the London.  The London is barely holding it together. They arrive to find a little girl screaming and her mother pinned under some titanium support beams. The screaming little girl notices Riker and mistakes him for her father. Confused but staying with the mother and daughter as they beam to Sickbay on the Enterprise, Riker plays it down.

In this scene we find that Riker’s ‘twin’ from the episode Second Chances has married and had a family of his own.  On the verge of death we find that the woman Riker’s ‘twin’ has married is called Morgan. She soon passes on after giving birth to a daughter named Erica.

In the second chapter we find that ‘Thomas’ has recorded a video for Riker in case anything had happened to him. The video reveals that he’s leaving both his daughter’s Jessica and Erica with Will and to take good care of them.

Riker finds fatherhood rewarding yet challenging.  Jessica and Erica worm their way into Will’s heart and he learns to cherish every moment with them.  He plays with Jessica and her stuffed dog Spot, and he plays peek-a-boo with Erica.

His happiness is cut short when Rose and Roger Jansen, Morgan Jansen-Riker’s parents contact Will to say that they want Jessica and Erica.  They are to meet at Starbase 96 to discuss who would get custody of the girls.

When the Enterprise arrives, both Riker and Troi find that it is a trap and that a Family Support JAG Officer has taken the side of Jessica and Erica’s grandparents.

A week passes by and Riker finds himself alone and unable to sleep. He receives a message from Roger Jansen, Jessica and Erica’s grandfather informing Will that there has been an attack on the U.S.S. Hood. A Cardassian Warbird crossed the Neutral Zone into Federation space and attacked. In the loss of 35 people aboard the Hood were Jessica, Erica and their grandmother Rose.

Riker is beside himself with grief. He goes to Ten Forward and grieves while he nurses a few drinks. He retells what he’s learned from the subspace message to Troi and Guinan. Q to cause more of a mess appears and Will lunges at him, angry at everything in the universe, and what it had stolen from him.  He asks Q to bring his girls back, but Q replies with:  I cannot bring them back. The universe wanted them.

I absolutely bawled as I wrote this story. There was just so much Tragedy in it. One of my best-to-date though.  The last chapter we see Q has sent Will to the past and we see through ‘Thomas’ eyes, the birth of Jessica. Trying to avert the tragedy that has happened in the future hasn’t helped. Morgan had intended to send Jessica and Erica with her parents anyways.

Again, Hard Realities was a labor of love and difficult to write since there was so much tragedy in it.

If you’d like to have a look at the fanfic it’s posted to the Archive:

Hard Realities

Comments most welcome. I spent a lot of time on this and am proud of it.

 

Second Question: What was the easiest fanfic to write? The easiest story for me to write was Trapped In The Past: Area 51. 

I’d had the idea of Riker, Troi and Doctor Crusher going to the past and experiencing what life was like for us in our time frame.  Area 51 seemed appropriate because it was about aliens and alien contact.

The premise is this: Q transports all three to the past and to Area 51. Troi and Riker are caught and arrested at one of the restricted area entrances to Area 51. Doctor Crusher is found at another gate on the East side of the compound.

The fanfic tells the story of the three of them having to deal with 21st Century tech and not knowing exactly what things were. Doctor Crusher on the other hand knows how each medical instrument is used and what’s it for, for that time frame.  The doctors in the secret facility soon find out that Troi is only half human and want to take her and Riker’s daughter from them to see where she comes from. It appears that the doctors at the facility are hiding more than they lead on.  Troi soon gives birth to her daughter Laura and she is taken to a nursery with four other children that we find are from Riker’s past. This is where it gets kind of AU.

Each child is taken from a different point in time. We find that the scientists and doctors have found a way to open up Temporal Distortions and move through time.

Q toys with them a little longer and after Riker demands he send them back to the Enterprise, he reluctantly sends them back. He sends them back to the same point he took them from. Laura is safely tucked away inside her mother.

Soon things begin to change when the scientists from the 21st Century find the right frequency to open up a Temporal Distortion into the 24th Century. They board the Enterprise, surprised at the technological advancements made in the last 3 centuries. They are highly suspicious.

But there is only one soldier/doctor who isn’t suspicious and is absolutely fascinated by everything the future has to offer. He doesn’t agree with the other doctors and breaks away from them. We learn his name is Wallens, and soon Doctor Crusher takes him under her wing.

Later we find that Doctor Crusher’s great-great-great-great-great grandmother is working at Area 51. Q has transported them back there just after Riker and Troi find that Laura was a twin. The other baby, Lily had essentially hidden from all medical scans for 8 months.

It’s a tough labor with Lily, but with Doctor Crusher and her grandmother’s help, everything goes smoothly.

I finish off the story with Q sending the three, now four back to the 24th Century and the Enterprise. A happy ending for all.

We also get to learn about Doctor Crusher’s grandmother and her grandfather.

 

This fanfic can be found on the Archive:

Trapped In The Past: Area 51

 

Comments most welcome. The fanfic is 22 chapters long, but believe me, well worth it.

What has Star Trek fandom–and ficcing specifically mean to me?

Well, the Star Trek fandom has always been special to me. Ficcing especially for TNG has been a source of enjoyment for me since the early 2000’s.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know all the TNG characters, watching episodes to get ideas for my fanfics. But I especially like writing Riker. Ficcing gives me an outlet in which I can express myself.

 

I hope that I can continue to express myself with the different stories to come.