TrekGirl Interview with Rob Morris

Interviews by Fans
Title:	TrekGirl Interview with Rob Morris
Interviewer:	Annie M.
Interviewee:	Rob Morris
Date(s):	July 2, 2000
Medium:	online
Fandom(s):	Star Trek
External Links:	interview is here; reference link
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Rob Morris was interviewed for the website TrekGirl.

"Author of Delta Veritas, Dear Connor, Nicked and Nicked Again, The 67's, The Ancient Destroyer series and countless other humorous and serious cross-overs."

Excerpts

I would describe myself as a comic book writer who got so frustrated with the paths comic books were taking that he found fanfic and converted. Oddly, I have yet to write a single comic book based fanfic. The closest I've come is 'A Leap In Anger,' which was a Quantum Leap/TV Bixby-Hulk crossover, and J*L*A* (Justice League of America), a fun amalgam piece I wrote where the Justice League is manned by the characters from the 4077th MASH. I want to write believable unbelievable stories. Things that could never happen, but work when I look for connections. I guess, in the end, the best way to describe myself is as a writer who looks for connections.... 75% of my stories are Star Trek stories, about 15% MASH, and then there are some other genres, like Quantum Leap and Highlander. I have a MASH/HL xover series, involving Radar becoming Duncan's protégé after the series end in 1998. I tie in events like Amanda's departure, Connor's return, Richie's death, as well as the shattered trust between Macleod and Methos.

My main theme is that TV-Land is a 'real' place, waiting just around the corner. It is alive and vital, though, not at all 'Pleasantville.' Actions we have seen on screen have consequences. Darrin Stephens' (Bewitched) frequent downing of Martinis leads to liver problems, although he actually gives up this habit without the usual movie of the week routine--or his wife's magic. Harriet Olsen (Little House) eventually tells her twisted adoptive daughter Nancy 'No.' But it is too little, too late, and the psychotic girl turns on and kills the unrepentant busybody. Since 'Lost In Space' never solved the question of Penny and Will's long-term needs, I was forced to craft a taboo solution--with a twist. Their physical relationship, it turns out, is one they can live with. But loneliness has forced another consequence--they are in love. But for all this, it is still TV Land, and things move as we've seen them. The story with Darrin's drinking (Ensign Stephens) does not focus on that, but rather on a time traveling USS Voyager. Harriet Olsen's fate is addressed briefly at the end of the story (Little Horseman On The Prairie--featuring Methos of HL) but the main focus is on an attack in Walnut Grove by the Melvin Koren gang, leading to an early Methos-Kronos battle. The LIS incest story line holds within it several secrets, one of which lessens the disaster. The Robinson family survives this turn because, despite slips, they are still the strong family we saw and loved on the small screen. TVLand may morph, but we must know the point of divergence, otherwise, its just a story with named and licensed characters.

My greatest failure was the original version of 'Behold, The Ancient Destroyer!'. It was badly formatted. It attempted to tell way too much story in too little time. I ignored the enmity between Godzilla-Fans and ST-fans until I woke up, and then wasted my time trying to convert the hard-core antis on either side, rather than listening to those people who liked the story but had some valid criticisms of it. I didn't even introduce Captain Kirk until the end of Chapter Five. I used too much monster, and not enough story. Ultimately, I could bear no more, and walked away. This was my smartest decision to date. I restarted the series with a short called 'Peter's Christmas,' a story superior by far to the overwrought 'masterwork' I left behind.

Then, a few months into the new series, I learned the old one had been named a 'Best Smeller' by Godawful Trek. I became vengeful, whiny, and defensive. I slammed them back on the NG, never admitting to myself that, their tone aside, GATF was merely stating the reasons I walked away. Worst of all, my tirade started a multi-week flame war that I was soooo glad to see die. I posted a mea culpa, but by then the NG's well was poisoned, and it took time to clear. I had started a big to-do over a piece that I suddenly raised up to masterpiece level through rose-colored memory.

In the end, this inspired me to get the series away from monsters and space ships, even more so than I had already done. So I reconnected Peter and Saavik, and made them young troubled lovers. 'I'm A Believer,' the story that dealt, very explicitly, with the rapes the two had suffered as children, was a turning point in many ways. Ironically, someone on GATF's BBS nominated IAB, but couldn't remember its name. Realizing that this story, too, could have been done better, I offered its name up on the BB. I wouldn't say it was entirely maturity that drove me. I mainly hope that this helps to erase my prolonged 'How Dare You Not Like It?!' phase from public memory. Eventually, IAB will be revised as well.

So more so than the story, that phase of my writing is a great failure, and I fear it may have given me a rep as having a temper, though I hope this is not the case.

While good came of it, it came the hard way, to be certain.