So, I’m not about to get into a debate of who’s the better captain (we all know it would have been Nog, eventually, but let’s sidestep that argument :))
I grew up with Original Series and I still love it (and all Star Trek) passionately. When TNG debuted, I had my doubts – like many people. I kept coming back to it and then, like many of us Trekkies, by the third season, I was hooked. I can’t even tell you how much money I spent on Playmates action figures.
This bald guy wasn’t Kirk, but there was … something about him. As seasons progressed (that Locutus moment! Ressikan flutes! Four lights!) Picard was so magnetic a character I would watch him read the phone book.
I began working at Paramount in 1996, and they’d just wrapped First Contact. By sheer LUCK (and great friends at Marvel Comics), I ended up at the premiere, which was beyond cool. It was my first Hollywood premiere, and until they make a movie of something I’ve written, it will remain the most amazing premiere I have experienced (including Pirates of the Caribbean, where I had better seats than David Hasslehoff. Go figure.)
I loved Picard anyway, but the iconic “The line must be drawn here!” scene still rivets me. I will stan Picard for life because of that.
I’m thrilled we get more time with him in this new show. I’m thrilled that I got to do this book. I hope everyone enjoys diving in and re-living all the iconic moments as I did in pulling this together.
Star Trek means a lot to me. The fact that I’ve gotten to meet so many of the cast and crew, the fact that I still get to play in this little corner of the sandbox quadrant is beyond belief to me at times. I hope the Prune Juiced Prose of Guinan can be my next book.
So, I’ll leave it at that.
Oh, I need a stronger ending for a blog post? Okay. How about …
“Engage.”