Hello ladies and gentlemen! There’s a lot to get to but first let me spell out a few things.

Who Am I?

I am Tarzan, hear me…okay, I’m not Tarzan. My name is trekfan (that’s trekfan without a capital “T”) and I’ve been at this writing thing for many, many years. I could sit here and bore you with the entire account of my experiences that led me to fanfiction but it’s quite a long story; perhaps I’ll get into the nitty gritty of it in the future. Here’s the short version;

I started writing Star Trek RPGs back in late 2006 (my senior year of high school-very much needed a release) and that’s where I first chose my name, trekfan. It was simple, short, sweet, and to the point. It worked. It has stuck with me since (over five years now). The RPGs I participated in ended in the summer of 2007 and for me, I figured that was it. However, after my first year in college, I had come to find I missed writing Star Trek…in fact, I quite needed it. So, I wanted to start up another RPG but sadly my old RPGing friends were otherwise engaged.

That’s when I hit upon fanfiction. I was up late one night, watching some Star Trek episodes, and the thought crossed my mind if anyone had done any books about Riker and Troi kids (cause they do finally end up together in Nemesis). A quick google search revealed nothing official had been done but there was some unofficial stuff; fanfiction. Now, I had heard some things about fanfic before and generally I was wary of it. I didn’t think they could match quality of the official stuff then but it was late, so I gave it a shot.

I stumbled upon the Omega Sector and it’s fan trek forums, where a lovely lady by the name of Terilynn was writing up Riker kid stories by the ton. I spent about three nights reading through her threads as a guest before being convinced that her stuff was far superior than any of the official Trek stuff I’d read in years. I joined up, made my presence known, and from that point began my fanfic journey.

Inspired by Terilynn’s writings and itching to get in on the action, I took the idea for the RPG I was going to start and began writing the first book of the Star Trek Chronicles series. It was merely a spur of the moment thing; I didn’t think I’d be that good at it nor that I would get much love for it, but the folks at the OS were great (especially Terilynn, Mr. Picard, and Glenn) and there support was instrumental in cultivating my fanfic drive. While also posting this story one SLWalker (Yes, the founder of Ad Astra itself!) found her way into the topic, began posting in it, and also provided great help. As part of a few story for art trades there, she’s the one who did the wonderful artwork of the Star Trek Chronicles characters in the blog header

Fanfiction from that point on was a firm part of my life. I made many friends there on the OS and more when I joined SLWalker’s Ad Astra. I’ve written a lot of stuff since then and there are a lot of stories behind all that which brings us to…

What This Blog Is About

This blog is firstly about fanfiction and more importantly the stories behind the stories. Sure, there’s the actual stuff that is written and posted to the Ad Astra Archives (or other sites) but then there’s the behind the scenes stuff, the special features as it were, that never see the light of day. These are the stories about the stories, the “how it came to be” kind of stuff.

I’ll also be talking at length about the development of some of the characters in the stories I’ve written and the development of the stories themselves. I’ll use the blog to keep you good folks in the loop of what I’m currently doing writing wise as well. This place will also be for all those projects (and there are lots) that sadly, for one reason or another, never really got off the ground. I plan to debut some of that stuff on this blog from time to time just to give you a peak at the “what could have been’s” in my writings.

This blog will also serve as a place where I can talk about other things related to fiction in general; books I’ve recently read, Star Trek (or other show eps) that have sparked an idea in me, and more. In general, fiction-all fiction, all forms-will be covered here. I’ll also devote some time for art (all forms) and other things as they come to me.

Why the Blog is Called “Red Shirt Eulogies”

Well, as all Star Trek fans know, if you wore a red shirt in The Original Series (and your name wasn’t Scotty, Uhura, or Kyle) your likelihood of dying in that episode was very high. That’s kind of how it is with me and my writings; just because I’m currently writing a particular story doesn’t mean I’ll stick with it. If I get stuck on a story I tend to switch to another one and there’s no guarantee I’ll come back to it.

All my stories, at one time or another, have been “red shirted” (a college football AND Star Trek term, two of my favorite things). Some have died horrible red shirt deaths while others, like many red shirts on the original series, “die” in one episode but come back in a later episode.

The “eulogies” part of the blog name is based on what a eulogy is. From wikipedia; “A eulogy (from εὐλογία, eulogia, Classical Greek for “good words”) is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services…Eulogies can also praise a living person or people who are still alive…”

So, there you go. “Red Shirt Eulogies” is primarily a blog with writings in praise of all the stories that have been “red shirted” in my time as a writer. It has many secondary objectives as well, as previously spelled out.

Other Things of Note…

I absolutely love, adore, and welcome feedback of all kinds. If you hate what I’m blogging about, tell me. If you’d like to hug me if you saw me in real life, tell me. If you want to launch profanity laden torpedoes at me, do so; if you’d like to set phasers to love, I’m all for it. Any kind of comments are welcome and loved.

As for a particular schedule with this, I’ll try to post as often as I can when I have time, at the very minimum once a week, likely more.

Otherwise, if you have any questions, comments, or more, please do feel free to leave a comment here, message me, or contact me in some other way. Hailing Frequencies are open, always. 🙂