"Crossroads" sequel

[wiseheart]

I finally got around to translate the Prologue to "The Joy Machine", the first part of my Original Trek/Original Battlestar Galactica crossover. "Crossroads" was just the pilot to this series that has some 30+ parts planned at the moment.

This is a story that requires an incredible amount of research. And I don't mean Trek trivia research. According to the best Trek tradition, I gave the characters multicultural backgrounds. There's a group of practicing Muslims aboard, a Chinese Taoist, some Japanese I haven't decided yet whether to make them Shinto or Buddhist, two Hindus, at least one Jew, and those are just the human characters.

Actually, aliens are easier to write. You don't have to take cultural and religious sensitivities into consideration. This is a complicated topic, especially where Muslims are considered. I don't want to step on any toes. Is it perhaps because Christianity is so fragmented that most Christians (aside from brickheaded, right-wing fundamentalists) are easier to deal with? Or do I just believe so because I know so little about the other religions?

And religion is just one aspect of this complex problem. There are all the little details of daily life and customs and superstitions and whatnot. I've wrtitten the original (German/Hungarian) version back in the mid-90s when I had no idea that one day I'll publish it and for how many things you can get bashed on the Net.

But it's not the possible reactions only why I care. I really want to write a good story, with believable people who have believable backgrounds. Characters with whom the readers can identify. I know that many readers don't care for these little details, but for me, it has to do something with self-respect and respect for my own work.

I only hope I'll find some people on Memory Alpha who can help me.

Comments

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

To me, those little details are one thing that makes your writing stand out amongst others.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) I'm trying. Even though the flip side is that I tend to get lost in all that background trivia and kill the trajectory of the entire story. *g*

[gone2thedogs.livejournal.com]

You're taking on a big project there with respect to the various religions. While it may seem that Christianity is more fragmented than other religions that is not the case. Both the Muslims and the Hindu have diverse sects that interpret their religious documents in varied ways, this is also true in the differences between orthodoxies in the Jewish community. I can't speak with any intelligence about the Shinto or Taoist as these are religions I haven't studied yet. I believe the Buddhist are probably the ones with the least amount of fracturing in their practices worldwide.

You might want to pick a specific sect or form of interpretation to save your sanity *g*. Heaven knows all that scifi technical jargon is heavy stuff as well. Hope you do find someone who can help you.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yep, I know the two main directions among Muslims. Not so much about the rest, unfortunately. Will have to research on the 'Net some more, as the Memory Alpha crowd is hibernating as usual. Almost two hundred members and you can't get a frigging reaction out of them, regardless of the topic.

Actually, the basic outline of the series is that while on Earth itself most of those religions arranged themselves with the changes (like contact with alien species, deep space exploration and stuff), fundamentalists fled this too lenient planet and founded colonies on other worlds where they can follow the rules more strictly. That's how I wrote these things almost ten years ago, but I'll have to be very careful not to insult anyone now.

[gone2thedogs.livejournal.com]

the basic outline of the series is that while on Earth itself most of those religions arranged themselves with the changes (like contact with alien species, deep space exploration and stuff), fundamentalists fled this too lenient planet and founded colonies on other worlds where they can follow the rules more strictly.

That's a good premise, might make it a little easier for you.


That's how I wrote these things almost ten years ago, but I'll have to be very careful not to insult anyone now.

Very forward thinking of you *g*, and unfortunately you're right about the insulting business, everyone has such a thin skin anymore. :-(

Two hundred members and not a peep?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Two hundred members and not a peep?

Nope. Although some of the names would suggest that the folks should know more about this stuff than I do.

But again, that's nothing new with that group. The great majority are guys, and the only reactions you can get out of them are to topics about military or technobabble. As you know, such things don't come up frequently in my writing.