Melinda M. Snodgrass

Fan
Name:	Melinda M. Snodgrass
Alias(es):	Phillipa Bornikova
Type:
Fandoms:	Star Trek: TOS, Star Wars, Star Trek: TNG, Odyssey 5, The Outer Limits, SeaQuest DSV, Reasonable Doubts
Communities:
Other:
URL:	Wikipedia
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Melinda M. Snodgrass is a Star Trek: TOS and Star Wars fan.

Snodgrass' later professional activities include writing a Star Trek tie-in novel called Tears of the Singers, writing five episodes ST:TNG, and working with George R.R. Martin on Wild Cards.

Fanac

• editor of the Star Trek: TOS and Star Wars print zine called Dream Ship (1981) (within that zine are three fanworks: "The Way of the Klingon" (Star Trek: TOS), "A Matter of Expediency" (Star Wars), and "Klingon Menu")

• the article: Copyright: Can Fan Writing be Afforded Protection as "Literature?" (printed in Pegasus where Snodgreass is credited as an "Attorney-at-Law," 1981). Some of this information on copyright was adapted and used in A to Zine: The "How-To" of Fan Publishing in 1982).
• was a panelist (along with Judith Gran, Carol Mularski, Karen Osman) for "Legal Aspects of Fanlit" in 1981 at MediaWest*Con
• con guest at several cons

Pro Work

• professionally-published shared universe, "Wild Cards" series edited by George R.R. Martin and Melinda M. Snodgrass

Fanwork Inspirations by Others

• On the Cutting Room Floor, fiction by by Christina Mavroudis, was inspired by Star Trek: TNG episode written by Melinda Snodgrass (published in Data Entries #9, 1990)

Fan Comments

Melinda Snodgrass made an appearance at the New Orleans Science Fiction and Fantasy Fair this past June 1990. Her talk centered mostly on the steps toward becoming a successful script writer, which was very interesting. Her motives for leaving TNG were that she mainly wanted to go on to other things. I am not sure if there were any other reasons which she did not mention.

For my part, I felt extremely uncomfortable with Ms. Snodgrass’ attitude. This could be due to some bitterness at leaving, but I felt she was talking down to the audience. She did say her script for "Measure of a Man” was left unchanged and that most scripts have to go through Gene Roddenberry, Michael Piller, and Rick Berman.

Her comments about certain rules having to do with the show have been contradicted somewhat by the fourth season scripts. She had said not to expect to see any of Data’s relatives; since, as of this writing, “Brothers” is set to air, it seems as if someone changed his or her mind. Her comment that Brent decided that Data had no emotions has also been contradicted. Brent himself has said that Data has “something,” but is not fully developed emotionally. There would be nowhere else for the character to go if he suddenly had every emotion in the book.