The Best of Trek Fanfic Interview with Penny A. Proctor
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| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Best of Trek Fanfic Interview with Penny A. Proctor |
| Interviewer: | The Best of Trek Fanfic |
| Interviewee: | Penny Proctor |
| Date(s): | July 2001 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | Star Trek: VOY |
| External Links: | An Interview with Penny A. Proctor, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Best of Trek Fanfic Interview with Penny A. Proctor was conducted in 2001.
It is part of a series of nineteen interviews, see The Best of Trek Fanfic.
Excerpts
[How long have you been a Trek fan?]: Since 1966. I was 10 when TOS debuted and it completely captured my imagination. Since then, I've enjoyed all 4 Trek series; each has its own strengths. Voyager has a special place in my heart, though - I identified way too much with Kathryn Janeway from day 1. After all, we were about the same age and I had always wanted to command my own starship! What is your favorite series to watch? To write for? So far, I only write Trek, and mostly Voyager. I feel as if I know those characters personally. I've started to explore TOS and TNG and hope to continue along those lines. There's a lot that I admire about DS9 but so far I can't seem to write for it.
[Tell us a little about "Revisionist History," probably the fic you're best known for. What inspired that story?]: It's one of three stories I began in anger (the others are "Reset" and "Pre-Emptive Strike"). At the end of Voyager's season 6, I was totally disgusted with the lack of respect for continuity shown by TPTB - not just with Trek canon, but with Voyager's own history. I figured that if they could change the show's past to suit their purpose, so could I. There's a singing group I love, The Four Bitchin' Babes. They've got a song with the line, "I'll fix you, I'll write a song." Well, that works for fanfic, too. I wanted to show Them that it was possible to write an interesting story and still include relationships - not just J/C, but all kinds of relationships. Then, once I came up with the idea of featuring characters from all 4 series, the anger faded and I began to really enjoy myself. In fact, the only story that was as much fun to write was "A Little Diversion."
[What type of fanfic do you like to write?]: There's two things that are important to me - the characters, and the themes of Trek. When I get it right, the stories are either character driven or reflect my own take on the appeal of Star Trek - that no matter what the universe throws at the characters, they strive to be hopeful, even noble, and always seeking the unknown. Within that, there's a lot of room for adversity, adventure, and relationships of all kinds. I'm an optimist by nature, and I don't do angst well.