Ian Kimmins speaks to author Kevin Dilmore.
Kevin
Dilmore has worked with co-author Dayton Ward for over 15 years of Star Trek
novels we had the pleasure of being able to talk the man himself
His
new Star Trek novel Purgatory’s Key the conclusion to the trilogy has just
been released and is now available. So
I asked him what direction we can expect?
If I were to choose a word to describe
our direction for Purgatory’s Key, it would be ‘metaphysical’
And
about his working relationship with Dayton Ward his co-author
When dividing our work for this book, I chose
to do the first drafts of each chapter that takes place in the unnamed realm
beyond our own in which important parts of the story take place.
I got to use the most diverse
assortment of characters in those chapters that I’ve ever used, from races we
know well, to beings the likes of which we’ve not seen. I also explored relationships among
the crew of the Enterprise as well as with persons they love not typically
aboard the starship. For me, the characters of Star Trek are family to one
another; that’s a theme we got to explore this time around.
It
seems as though Kevin and Dayton have a wonderful working relationship and also
the pertinent question - how much of a challenge was it to co write the
conclusion to the 50th anniversary story?
Each book presents its own challenges
to me personally. One challenge I don’t have is in
Dayton’s and my processes of co-writing.
We have a shared voice that’s distinct
from our separate writing voices, and it’s one we can snap into pretty easily
at this point.
Beyond our writing partnership,
Dayton’s not only my closest friend, we are practically family. Our goal is to make each of our projects
the best story possible but never at the expense of each other or of our
friendship. I always enjoy collaborating with him.
Did
having worked with the other authors (David Mack and Greg Cox) in this series make
the process easier?
Our past work with Dave and Greg
certainly contributed to ease in the plotting process. We share a sensibility
of what we believe makes a great Star Trek story (we learned that about each
other years ago through fun conversations whenever we get together).
I
then moved on to his other Star Trek novels (The Vanguard Series) and how they influence his present work. Was
it easier to write these earlier books? (since you had the freedom to create a little
pocket of your own in the Star Trek universe) or would you prefer to deal primarily
with the established crews?
It’s been more than a decade now since
Dave and former Star Trek editor Marco Palmieri invited us to contribute to
their vision of Star Trek: Vanguard. At conventions, Vanguard is cited
without fail as being among someone’s favorite Star Trek series of books.
I remain very happy about my writing
for the Vanguard story; I imagine I will regard it among my top accomplishments
for the rest of my writing career. I felt no more or less freedom with the
characters of Vanguard than I do with those from series produced for the screen
because I felt no more or less responsibility to them.
While writing, I have just as much fun
working with our Vanguard cast as I do any other characters in Star Trek,
including those of the original series—and for me, that is saying something!
And
of course, with the excitement building about Star Trek: Discovery, I had to ask
about the possibility of Kevin being asked to write a novel from this pre-The Original Series era
Who was it that said, “There are
always possibilities”? I have complete confidence that the creative minds
behind Star Trek: Discovery will present to us an exciting and intriguing facet
of the Star Trek universe, and one I would be happy and flattered to explore in
prose. Whether I; or anyone I know is invited
to do; so remains to be seen.
Going
back to the Golden Age of Star Trek; you used to write for the Communicator magazine; how much fun was it to be involved in that period of Star Trek?
I owe my Star Trek career to Star Trek
Communicator publisher Dan Madsen and Editor Larry Nemecek. These two men placed confidence in me to cover
everything from the opening of Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas to the
finale of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I had uncounted opportunities to meet and
interview Star Trek’s writers, visual artists, crew and cast, including a few
people for whom I was their first journalistic interview. I made so many
friends through the Communicator, such as the contributing writers of the
Strange New Worlds anthologies published by Pocket Books, including Dayton, we
met when I interviewed him about his short story in the first volume of the
series.
Fun is a vast understatement!
And
lastly, I asked Kevin what he had in store for the rest of 2016/2017 whether
Star Trek related or not.
Looking ahead in 2016, I have a couple
of children’s books to be published by Hallmark Gift Books. Dayton and I wrote
a story for issue #2 of Star Trek Way-point, heading to news-stands in November
from Comics. I stay pretty active co-hosting Pop Minded, a weekly YouTube
series on the Hallmark and Community channel. Watch my Facebook page for more updates.
A
true pleasure it was to speak to such a talented and thoroughly nice man. Kevin’s
books are available on all formats and I would highly recommend that you
indulge yourself in some excellent Star Trek storytelling.
Thanks
again to Kevin Dilmore for speaking to us!
Star Trek: Legacies 3; Purgatory's Key'is available from Simon and Schuster ISBN 9781501122774.
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