An Interview with Major Samantha Carter
Hello,
Major Samantha Carter! I'm glad I caught you before you left on your next
mission. Would you mind answering a few questions for the paper of record?
Assuming that's okay, what inspired you to create the Pan Historia novel
StarGate SG-1?
Not at all as long as you promise not to ask me to blow up another sun or such. Rodney McKay’s still shaking his head at me over that one. Umm…… (stops to think for a moment or two) I guess the reason I started the StarGate SG-1 board was the fact that I loved the idea that it allows our members to literally write just about any kind of civilization, planetary geography, or just about anything within the broad framework of the SG storylines. There are sooooo many possibilities that it is just mind boggling. There are only two rules in our board (NO magic-we are a true science fiction novel and NO jumping forward in the timeline of SG-1 and SG-Atlantis) but that leaves everything else open to be developed into a story.
How does the plotline or concepts of this novel resemble the TV series, and in what ways have you diverged?
That’s one of the most fun things about the board. We are using overall framework built by the series but we’ve taken off in multiple new directions. Some of them are plotted (people getting together and deciding that it would be cool to go do ___) and, sadly, some driven by the changes in writers/characters as time went on. For instance, General Hammond has already been promoted/transferred and a Marine, General Makepeace is our commanding officer. Which, for those who know the show, is one heck of a biiiiig change from what the story as told by the tv series.
And has your character changed or grown in different directions, personality-wise, from the TV version?
Ahh, I actually was able (for awhile at least) to command my own team. But, military life being what it is, I’ve been recalled and assigned to SG-1 with Colonel O’Neill. Not that that isn’t an honor to work with him but….well, you develop a special sort of relationship within an SG team if you’ve done your job correctly as its commander and I have to say, SG-3 was a damn good group and, frankly, I miss’em. The big difference for “this” Sam would be that she’s on a more equal footing with folks like O’Neill or Makepeace in that she’s got command experience whereas the Sam in the tv show didn’t when she was assigned to SG-1. So this Sam is more self-assured and more aware of the difficulties that command faces than she would be if we were just replaying the tv show as written. She’s had to order people into life threatening situations and had to live with the fact that not all of those she ordered in came back horribly wounded—if at all. And that has truly changed the “character arc” of “me” as Samantha Carter.
What do you find your greatest challenge is, in being a novel MoBster?
Oh boy. That sort of falls into two halves: one is maintaining continuity of the various stories folks are telling within the overall SG universe. I guess I’ve become a sort of SG Reference Library. Which is fine and I have fun with it although there have been some times my eyes crossed and uncrossed a couple of times trying to remember if SG-1 brought back a za’t’nik’atel yet or not so that SG-4 is ok to use one of them. There’s a lot of details to sort out and keep organized.
The other one is to make sure that I can help the writers move into the stories they want to tell and, if they get stuck or need something, that I can help them with whatever it is they need. My main goal as an MoB there is to make sure that people have a chance to have enjoy their story writing. They should be able to come to the SG-1 board and not have to worry about anything other than the pleasure of unfolding their story/character/whatever on whatever timeline they’ve worked out for it. For example, there have been (and will always be I guess) times when the various team’s timelines don’t mesh with what’s going on with other teams or the SGC or where ever. That’s when I can step in and do something to “bridge” the two so that they blend smoothly again. That’s the bigger challenge of the two halves maybe but it is also the most exciting for me as it can really make me stretch creatively to come up with something that works for the writers in the various parts of the timeline knot but still moves us all forward. Sorry to be so long-winded about that one.
I know you're interested in a thousand things in addition to StarGate. If you had the time to create an entirely new novel, what would you consider, and where would you like it to go?
A new one? The first thought off the top of my head is. . . a blank? (laughs at self) Believe it or not, I’d like to play a “dark” character – some one (or something) that is a complete polar opposite from somebody like Sam Carter. One idea I have toyed with was to create something using the general rp lines developed by the White Wolf Gaming System (which means we’d not run afoul of copyright laws in the process) and have a novel set in and around New Orleans and the Acadiana Parishes of Louisiana. The “Hand behind” Sam Carter was born and raised in New Orleans and think that from that basic premise there are lots of story opportunities there because we would be able to have humans, vampires, werewolves, other “changing breeds” (cats/rats/alligators [for real—I’ve got the references on all of same]), witches/wizards, wraiths, just a LOT of stuff. I’m not sure now is the time to be honest. It has been heartbreaking to watch what’s happened to the City but we’re a tough bunch. We will rebuild in some form. Count on that. *S*
The theme this issue is Harvest. How do you pick up on the theme of Harvest, or harvesting, in your own life?
You don’t ask simple questions, do ya? (teasing) I guess that like so many of us when we were younger, I wasn’t really too concerned with reaping/sowing/harvesting/whatever. That was for OTHER folks to worry about. I was just gonna have fun. Make no mistake, I did. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that the truly important thing that happened is that those OTHER folk were giving me the time and space to have my fun while doing things and taking care of things I hadn’t even a clue needed taking care of. Their expectation was that I’d grow to take over that role and then let those following behind come along and have their fun time. My “harvest,” if you will, is the knowledge that I’ve at least gotten started on this second part of my life (and not completely mucked it up as yet!) and that it is giving me a chance to give back what I was given and slowly help those following to grow into the place I’m in now before I move onto whatever follows this life we all sharing at the moment. Harvest is part of an unending cycle of birth/growth/life/death and learning, no.. SEEING/FEELING that and becoming comfortable with all the parts of it and being able to hopefully pass on that knowledge—and comfort—is what my life is truly about.
