Interview with Tricia McKinlay

Interviews by Fans
Title:	Interview with Tricia McKinlay
Interviewer:	Susan P. Batho
Interviewee:	Tricia McKinlay
Date(s):	April 22, 2003
Medium:	online as PDF
Fandom(s):	Star Trek
External Links:	effect of commercialisation and direct intervention by the owners of intellectual copyright : a case study : the Australian Star Trek fan community by Susan Bathos (2009)
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Tricia McKinlay was interviewed at Swancon, Perth WA.

The interview was included in an academic paper by Susan P. Batho which addresses the effect of the Viacom Crackdown, TPTB, and Australian fandom.

Part of a Series

• Interview with Susan Batho
• Interview with Geoff Allshorn
• Interview with Julie Gormly
• Interview with Ruth Collerson and Joanne Kerr
• Interview with Shayne C. McCormack
• Interview with Ian McLean
• Interview with Tricia McKinlay
• Interview with Rose Mitchell
• Interview with Regina
• Interview with Jim Rondeau
• Interview with Derek and Sharon Screen
• Interview with Rachel Shave
• Interview with Nikki White
• Interview with Donna Hanson
• Interview with Bob Miller
• Interview with William Hupe
• Interview with Dr. Ann Hupe
• Interview with Fern Clarke and Jodi Williams

Excerpts

I was never into costumes, writing stories or several other typical fan activities, but I did have token attempts at costumes and story writing, and we even put a few zines together from the stuff sent to the club in the very early days. I do have a treasured collection of zines starting with Spockanalia and ending with a couple of really good reads, plus a Starsky and Hutch zine that I personally paid to get photocopied (cause it was out of print and not for sale and not even in this state) It cost a fortune but it's still a fun read. I've even got one or two of the obligatory R rated ones. I also found a few more good authors because I started reading Vonda McIntyre's novelizations and novels and now grab everything I find with her name on it. Greg Bear (him and Dan Simmons are top of my authors list at present) has also autographed my copy of Bjo Trimble's On the Good Ship Enterprise. I'm very fond of my On the Good Ship Enterprise. Every guest at a con with a Star Trek connection, including Harlan Ellison at Syncon 83, has autographed this book.

...I was horrified to discover the number of fans in Brisbane who could not cope with a discussion that did not involve their favourite character and his sex life, plus so many of them were very overweight. Yes I know they are all entitled to their place in the sun and the Star Trek club, but I want someone to talk to too!!!

I haven't thought a lot about this owing to being so out of it for the last five years. I

jumped into Highlander and HLDU with a vengeance. This show is fantastic. However since the baby arrived I have enough of a struggle to read, if I want to sleep as well. She's now nearly two and things are hopefully getting more organised. However it seems to me, cause my friends are still fairly fannish and I have seen the recent movies which the producers and owners would have had a fairly free hand in I would think, that there is definitely something missing. Maybe something has always been missing, because I can sure pick holes in classic Trek as well, but now I think the heart is gone. They are after a certain look and there are certain philosophic or cultural points which need to be shown, but now the look is the focus not the points to be made or discussed, and classic Trek took risks - it was more daring, so were some of the Next Gen episodes. Enterprise is just so self -conscious it's painful. And I think the producers seem to have this condescending attitude to the fans - sort of a 'we know where you're coming from, we are fans’ which may have been true ten

or so years ago but they've got in a rut. I'm going to HLDUV next month and that'll be the extent of my active fannishness this year I should think.