Kirsten Beyer
Kirsten Beyer is an American science fiction writer, known for her novels based on the Star Trek: Voyager television series. She was a staff writer for Star Trek: Discovery, and co-creator and executive producer of Star Trek: Picard.[2]
Kirsten Beyer | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Kirsten Beyer at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con | |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | UCLA, Master of Fine Arts and Acting[1] |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Years active | 2005–present |
She has also written for the Buffyverse.
Career
Little is known of Beyer's career prior to her involvement with the Star Trek franchise. She briefly worked as an actress and dancer for stage productions in the Los Angeles-area until the mid-1990s.[3] After corresponding with Star Trek: Voyager executive producer Jeri Taylor and expressing an interest in writing for the series, Beyer was invited to pitch for the series.[4] Beyer had previously submitted two spec scripts which were both rejected. She later pitched stories from Voyager's season five onward, but none were produced.
In 2004, Beyer was encouraged to send a query package to Pocket Books by her writing partner, Heather Jarman. Her query was accepted, and development of a new Voyager tie-in novel began. However, the editor leading the development moved on to other projects, and the novel under development was never realized.[4] Beyer was later introduced to Marco Palmieri, editor of the Star Trek line at Pocket Books, by Jarman while both were attending the Shore Leave science fiction convention.[5] Palmieri agreed to accept samples of her work, and invited Beyer to write for him a few days later.[4]
Beyer's first novel with Palmieri was Fusion (2005), the second book in the Voyager: String Theory miniseries. A subplot involving the Vulcan character Tuvok was originally pitched as an episode of Voyager tentatively titled "Siren's Song".[4] Another un-produced pitch was reworked as the short story "Isabo's Shirt", anthologized in Distant Shores (2005). Beyer became the lead writer of the Voyager novel series, replacing Christie Golden, with the release of Full Circle in March 2009.[6] She has written eleven Voyager tie-in novels.[7][8]
In May 2016, Beyer was hired as a staff writer for Star Trek: Discovery.[9] She was recruited because of her familiarity with Star Trek canon, and her experience as a tie-in fiction writer.[10] She has contributed to the Discovery and Star Trek: Picard comics line published by IDW.[11] In 2020, Beyer read for the audiobook edition of To Lose the Earth.[12]
Bibliography
Star Trek: Voyager (2005–2020)
Star Trek: Voyager tie-in novels published by Simon & Schuster.
| Title | Date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Fusion (String Theory, Book 2) |
October 25, 2005 | 1-4165-0955-0 |
| Full Circle | March 31, 2009 | 978-1-4165-9496-3 |
| Unworthy | September 29, 2009 | 978-1-4391-0398-2 |
| Children of the Storm | May 31, 2011 | 978-1-4516-0718-5 |
| The Eternal Tide | August 28, 2012 | 978-1-4516-6818-6 |
| Protectors | January 28, 2014 | 978-1-4767-3854-3 |
| Acts of Contrition | September 30, 2014 | 978-1-4767-6551-8 |
| Atonement | August 25, 2015 | 978-1-4767-9081-7 |
| A Pocket Full of Lies | January 26, 2016 | 978-1-4767-9084-8 |
| Architects of Infinity | March 27, 2018 | 978-1-5011-3876-8 |
| To Lose the Earth | October 13, 2020 | 978-1-5011-3883-6 |
Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2020)
Star Trek: Discovery tie-in comics published by IDW Publishing. Co-written by Mike Johnson. Beyer is credited as "Comic story writer" for most issues.
| Issue | Issue Date | Collection | Date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Light of Kahless, Issue 1 | November 29, 2017 | The Light of Kahless, Vol. 1 | August 8, 2018 | 978-1-63140-989-9 |
| The Light of Kahless, Issue 2 | January 24, 2018 | |||
| The Light of Kahless, Issue 3 | March 14, 2018 | |||
| The Light of Kahless, Issue 4 | May 30, 2018 | |||
| Succession, Issue 1 | April 18, 2018 | Succession, Vol. 1 | October 9, 2018 | 978-1-68405-360-5 |
| Succession, Issue 2 | May 23, 2018 | |||
| Succession, Issue 3 | June 27, 2018 | |||
| Succession, Issue 4 | August 1, 2018 | |||
| Star Trek: Discovery Annual 2018 | March 28, 2018 | |||
| Aftermath, Issue 1 | September 4, 2019 | Aftermath, Vol. 1 | Apr 14, 2020 | 978-1-68405-650-7 |
| Aftermath, Issue 2 | September 25, 2019 | |||
| Aftermath, Issue 3 | November 20, 2019 | |||
| Captain Saru (special issue) | March 13, 2019 |
Star Trek: Picard (2019–2020)
Star Trek: Picard – Countdown comic miniseries is as a prequel to Star Trek: Picard. Artist is Angel Hernández.
| Issue | Issue Date | Collection | Date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | November 27, 2019 | Countdown, Vol. 1 | June 30, 2020 | 978-1-68405-694-1 |
| 2 | December 18, 2019 | |||
| 3 | January 29, 2020 |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2008)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-in novels published by Simon & Schuster.
| Title | Date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| One Thing or Your Mother | March 3, 2008 | 978-1-4169-3632-9 |
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer 3 (omnibus) | November 16, 2010 | 978-1-4424-1211-8 |
Short fiction (2005–2009)
Beyer has contributed to the following short story collections:
| Work | Collection | Editor | Date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Isabo's Shirt" | Distant Shores (Star Trek: Voyager) |
Marco Palmieri | November 1, 2005 | 0-7434-9253-6 |
| "Widow's Weeds" | Space Grunts (Full Throttle Space Tales, No. 3) |
Dayton Ward | May 14, 2009 | 978-0-9818957-4-1 |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2017–2020 | Star Trek: Discovery | Staff writer / Story editor (30 episodes) Episode: "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" (written by) Episode: "Saints of Imperfection" (written by) Episode: "Unification III" (written by) |
| 2019 | Star Trek: Short Treks | Episode: "Children of Mars" (written by) |
| 2020 | Star Trek: Picard | Co-creator / Executive producer (11 episodes) Episode: "Remembrance" (story by) Episode: "Stardust City Rag" (written by) |
| 2022 | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Co-executive producer (10 episodes) |
References
- "Getting to Know Kirsten Beyer". Star Trek. November 6, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
- "INTERVIEW: Discovery Writer, Voyager Novelist Kirsten Beyer". Star Trek. September 23, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- Matthew Rushing and Christopher Jones (December 1, 2012). "Continuing Voyager with Kirsten Beyer". Literary Treks (Podcast). Trek.fm. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- Ayers, Jeff (November 14, 2006). Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion. New York: Pocket Books (published November 14, 2006). pp. 299–301. ISBN 9781416503491.
- Deffner, Jens (April 5, 2009). "Kirsten Beyer interview". Unreality-SF.net. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- "Kirsten Beyer Unleashes a Storm". Star Trek. May 31, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- Fletcher, Harry (June 1, 2016). "Star Trek TV show hires Voyager novelist Kirsten Beyer". Digital Spy. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- "A Ship Full of Legends". Literary Treks (Podcast). Trek.fm. April 8, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
- FitzPatrick, Kevin (May 30, 2016). "CBS 'Star Trek' 2017 Adds 'Voyager' Novels Writer to Staff". ScreenCrush. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- Martinelli, Marissa (September 21, 2017). "How shows like Star Trek: Discovery stick to canon". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- Johnston, Rich (July 19, 2017). "Star Trek: Discovery's Kirsten Beyer Behind Spinoff Comic, Starting In October, From IDW". Bleeding Cool News and Rumors. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- "To Lose the Earth Audiobook by Kirsten Beyer". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved October 23, 2021.