And like the Commander will have cash on him    Probably will do that, "I left my wallet in my other nehru, Alec."

Amelia,
This is one of those 'The Way It Should Have Ended' episodes!  Loved it! 

Blue,
God, I feel so bad now about letting Alec die in my Hewett series. At least it wasn't at the hands of the aliens, and he didn't die alone.





Blue Shrew has been known to stalk authors with a big stick if they as much give Alec a scratch. 


Actually I firmly believe that other than following the basics of good writing, nobody should allow any other person, people or style to dictate to them what defines a good UFO story. Creativity doesn't only come in one color. People bash Straker and Alec in stories, or they use them in pornography, or they write them in what seems to ME to be too far removed from how Straker and Alec were in the series, or more accurately how I interpreted them to be. That doesn't mean my opinion is the only one that counts or that the writers are WRONG. That's my personal feeling. If a person dictates to others, to me that's more about ego than anything else. Nobody watched UFO in the same way. We see things through our own eyes. That means we see things based on how we grew up, what we like, what we hate, what our own experiences have been. Ed Bishop could have had an itchy butt and so Straker walked that way.   Straker stood with his arms wrapped around himself and touched and toyed with objects, so I reached a conclusion. Sure, I reached it through my own understanding of psychology but that doesn't make me right. I'm interpreting it because I project my own isolation, my own loneliness, my own need for tactile stimuli to Straker. It's up to a reader to say, "Hey, wow, I never thought of that" or "FAIL!"    Although I take writing seriously, I know enough to determine that there's a reader for every story. Hell, even my own teachers said 'learn the basics, then throw them out!" and Edward Wellen (name dropping yes  ) was among my teachers. That made me fortunate, that didn't make me the best. I'm rewriting the Silk Wood Manor stories both to have fun but also to improve on them. Never really be sorry that you killed poor Alec  or that you write and enjoy non-canon stuff. My husband and I put canon stuff in Maelstrom, but neither of us claim we do canon. We like some canon (what we personally see as canon ) stuff.  Never limit yourself. Explore. You're a writer. You're doing what many people don't even understand, many aren't capable of it. Be unique whenever you can. Writing is work, but it's wonderful, too. You create characters. You bring them to life. Be proud of it, no matter what others may say. That confidence is tough to develop, but it'll come through in your work. I remember a teacher telling me "You have to like your characters, even the bad guys"   
and while I'm on the rented soapbox, other than giving warning for adult material, language, violence etc. that's IT. Reading is discovery. Readers are intelligent people. If they need road maps they can go where they'll find stories set up that way. I was TAUGHT  not to tell what I do or how I do it. I nearly was decapitated by a teacher when I finished a reading of my story (yep folks in that class homework was you write a WHOLE story, you make copies for the students and you READ IT in front of strangers (fellow writing students)     So I read it. The class ASSAULTED me with questions!!    I opened my mouth and the teacher said to me aloud SHUT UP and LISTEN.  Afterwards he called my story a force majeure (I may not have that spelled right) and when class ended this student came up to me and had me sign the copy of my story.  I think that night I realized I was a writer. Even remembering that brings me to tears. I had a shitty childhood in which few people appreciated me. My husband changed all that.    That shity childhood is what helps me write. Am I really good?  heck no giggle. I need all kinds of improvement!!! Deborah and Nans are witness to that    I nearly quit writing. No more. You're stuck with me.

(gets pushed off soapbox by husband)

Neesierie wrote on Mar 6^th, 2011 at 7:39am:



That's the way it DID end ! (folds arms) 


Did we ever do a way it should have ended challenge, Deborah?

I only have done challenges I liked. Malestrom started out as the christmas one.

Matt as long as it was wwell written and was a principle part of the story, you are forgiven.

Just finished reading a Voyage story where the writer had Nelson already dead and buried but it helped flesh out the human element of the story.  Though when Harry is missing from a story I usually pass reading it.

Wait a minute.  I'm not the high roller you may think I am.  I said I was a Physics and English major in college.  I never got my degrees.  I was seduced into marriage and left academia behind.    But I never left my love for both those fields, so I stay abreast of things going on even today.  However, if I ever get the chance to take classes these days, I always somehow end up in English rather than science.  It's just my first love -- what can I say? 

Say, Amelia.  My creative writing class was like yours.  I thoroughly loved the challenge of writing a complete story in a short time.  It was good training.  My teacher was really encouraging to me, although a few of my classmates were annoyed that I had too rosy of an outlook on life. *snicker*  Well, hell!  So did Gene Roddenberry, but that never stopped him, did it?  (He's been my muse for decades!  Star Trek changed my life.)

One of the ways in which my love for the Star Trek universe affects my UFO stories is that even when my subject matter is grim (terminally-ill children, mass murder, forced retirement, mental breakdowns, etc.), the main characters end the story in a better place.  Although I really enjoyed the angst of UFO, the show left me feeling sad and made me wish it could be more like Star Trek with its happier, lessons-learned endings.  So I took a leaf from Roddenberry's book and always write my UFO stories with happy endings.  I suppose some would say that I violate 'canon' in doing so  , but somehow my readers never seem to care about that.  They love reading a story that doesn't leave them wanting to commit suicide.  Go figure!  :

My husband says that canon probably brings a bigger readership. So we flavor our stuff with canon, or in areas where we think canon works.
 
My husband defines canon more as reality. He says the entire episode of The Responsibility Seat was not canon.    He says the minute Straker found out Frasier had the tape, he should have had a security team go get it, then dose Fraser with the amnesia drug. The minute Fraser whacked him over the head with the vase, that was assault. He should have called the police. So Straker is upset when the G6 reveals she's a con artist? Straker needs a lesson in responsibility. He put himself at risk bringing that woman into his house. Straker would have wound up on National Inquirer * if he hadn't the sense to ask Ealand to do the G6. Straker's achilles heel is women. Those episodes unfold for drama,  not reality. Who in that entire episode saw Fraser for who she really was?   FORD!  Ealand was sizing Fraser up, too.  Fraser HATED Straker and all he represented. What's to prevent her from flapping her lips about 'Commander Straker? Commander Straker?" I don't buy the crap about 'no time' (to play it back)


My one question was What did he cook her?????????? 
that book about UFO says Straker's an expert cook. needed to get book name:

The Complete Book of UFO by Chris Bentley.
Straker's such fun.
* or TMZ :

WE'VE GOT HOT PICS OF FILM EXEC. STRAKER BARES ALL IN THE BEDROOM. FRASER TELLS ALL!

Not that I personally would have them blownup into a poster look at them.