Laura Taylor

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Name:	Laura Taylor
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Laura Taylor is a Trek writer.

Interview

See The Best of Trek Fanfic Interview with Laura Taylor (2000).

Fan Comments

In 1998, fans put their votes in for Laura Taylor for an ASC Award -- Best New Writer of 1997:

So let's see, where to start extolling Laura's virtues. Well, I've already gone on ad nauseum in other sections of this contest about her 'vividness'. So, I won't dwell on it here -- I'll just mention it again ;). It's astonishing, and almost scary, how she manages to reach right into my brain with her words and put a picture there. It's a quality I'm totally envious of, and seldom find -- even in the 'better sort' (ahem) of published fiction.

But apart from that, I think she should have this particular award for applying those skills as a writer to such a wide variety of Star Trek series, situations, and characters. I must shamefacedly confess that I haven't actually read 'Oasis' -- Laura's debut work on asc. I became a hopeless fan of hers when she posted 'Facilis Decensus Averno'. I've already gone on about this particular story at some length under the 'Voyager Story Awards', so I won't repeat myself here. Suffice it to say that it is one of my all time favorite fanfic stories -- a true epic in every sense of the word.

But did Laura stop there? No way! She's treated us to a number of delightful shorter pieces -- vignettes such as 'Mi Rumba Enchando Candela' (J/C), 'Communion' (K/Du); and 'Aspirations' (Q,7,J,C). Notice something here? She quite comfortably jumped between series, topics ('Aspirations' is about the meaning of life, *not* romance), and showed *no* hesitation in taking on characters as different -- but equally complex and difficult to handle -- as Q and Dukat.

*And*, let us not forget her sweeping, high-romance debut into the K/Du genre: 'The Serpent and the Hawk'. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and give it a try. If anyone can convincingly write a story in which Kira falls in love with Dukat -- it's definitely Laura. What's really annoying is that she set out to write this story without initially having seen much DS9 at all -- caught up on tapes, checked the available databases, and wrote us all a love affair to remember :).

But she didn't stop there either...oh no. Her next K,Du piece was not another romance, but a very dark and brooding study of a post-'Waltz' Dukat -- 'Bittersweet Revenge'. Brutally realistic, tragic, and very thought provoking. I wish this was the episode we'd be seeing on our TV's next week rather than the much rumored 'Wrongs Darker....'

So for tackling everything from PWPs ('Quid Pro Quo'), to epics, to high romance; for handling all kinds of sticky characters and making up some highly original new ones; for never ceasing to come up with something novel and fascinating; and for doing it all with incredible skill.... I recommend to you, Laura Taylor. What *will* she come up with next?

Shamefacedly I must admit that I have not read Laura's debut. I first saw Laura's name attached to a story about my own favorite pair -- Janeway and Chakotay. I can't even remember if it was a story fragment or chapter I was reading. All I can remember is that it was one of the finest pieces of writing, published or unpublished, that I had ever read in my life. I was so overcome that I emailed her immediately and she was kind enough to invite me to be a beta reader of this story. The story, of course, turned into the epic "Facilis Descensus Averno".

Many wonderful things have been said about this piece, and they are all true. The characterizations are true, the plot is plausible. It's an alternate version of Voyager that remains true to the ST vision, yet expands the rigid parameters by the length and breadth of an entire universe. The depth of characterization is tremendous -- it's where the characters could be if the suits had pelotas enough to try something as daring as platonic friendship and/or love.

One more thing, and then I'll be done. Marlissa is oh-so-correct when she points out that Laura can write comfortably in any of the ST settings. She has the "voices" of our beloved characters down to near perfection and the settings and stories are always compelling. And although she now writes about two characters that I just can't quite bring myself to enjoy (apologies to all you K/Du's out there), I still read the stories for the beautiful prose that is the hallmark of all her work.

If you want storytelling at its finest, run to the nearest archive and read her work. You will not be disappointed.

Works

• Walking Among Ghosts, (Star Trek: DS9) (1998)