Better Late Than Never
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Better Late Than Never |
| Publisher: | It is unclear whether Bill Hupe or Peg Kennedy agented/distributed this zine for other publishers or whether they edited and published the zines themselves. Check the copyright on the printed fanzine for confirmation. |
| Editor: | |
| Author(s): | Mary Elizabeth Shapiro/Mia Shapiro |
| Cover Artist(s): | |
| Illustrator(s): | |
| Date(s): | September 1989 |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TNG |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Better Late Than Never is a het 114-page offset printed Star Trek: TNG novel by Mary Elizabeth (Mia) Shapiro.
It was edited by Mia Shapiro. The art is by Christina Lightsey.
This novel is a love story that gets Riker and Troi back together, and is set in the 2nd season of TNG.
It features Dr. Kate Pulaski. The love interest is original character Commander/Dr. Sarah Kirk ("granddaughter of the great Legendary Captain James T. himself").
From Bill Hupe's catalog: "A long lost love from Will Riker's past is assigned to the Enterprise, but she harbors an old anger. But, they quickly find out that someone else was responsible for their separation."
Dedications
The author thanks many people for assistance with the zine. One example:
To Roberta Debono, Jane Land and Bill Hupe: For taking the time to answer my letters on how to print a zine. There's an awful lot involved and these kind folks took the time to sit down and explain it in writing. Also to Jane and Roberta for writing, printing and distributing their own great stories and providing me with the inspiration that I could make this fly!
As Always: To Gene Roddenbery [sic] and the casts of old and new star Trek; for without Mr. Roddenberry's vision for the future and those casts to bring it to life, there would be no Star Trek and I think that would be sad. Star Trek gives us all hope that mankind will survive and grow into a responsible species!!
From the Editorial
I started writing this story for a variety of reasons. I have been writing Trek since I was in high school (But I can remember sitting in my 7th grade math class with Wayne Nesbit and Sarah Schroeder talking about Star Trek, much to the extreme annoyance of our math teacher!) and my first memories of Star Trek actually go back to a rather young age. The long and the short of this, is that Star Trek has been apart of my life for quite some time. I was fully prepared to hate Star Trek: The Next Generation. I was offended by what I perceived as the desecration of the old or classic Trek. It didn't help that the first episode I saw was The Naked Now. I screamed ripoff through the entire show. But, as with the original Star Trek, something, that oh-so-undefinable something caught me. By the time the second season came around, I was hooked. For a while there, before Pocket Books started publishing next Generation stories, I was desperate. I found a few Next Generation zines in Datazine, but that didn't really hit the spot, so at an opportune moment I started writing down the story that I had running around in my mind. Yes, it is a love story. However, in the best tradition of Star Trek, I have also tried for adventure, as well. But, if they won't get Riker together with Troi, then they leave themselves open for stories like this. I like my story. I think that'd good. Because if I didn't like my own story, how could I expect you to?? I have spent the last nine months working on this. And I have learned a lot about computers, the printing process (I am extremely fortunate that my printer is the nicest kindest most wonderful couple who get excited with me about my project!! Thank you Ruth & Ron & Marilyn!), and I suppose, ultimately about myself. Never in college did I work this hard on any project .
It you have anything you want to say about this , please feel free to write . (Please include a SASE if you do). I think Jane Land of Kista and Demeter said it best when she said that the hardest part about the entire undertaking is not the writing and printing of the zine, but sending it off into the void and never knowing how it's received. I hope you like my story.
