Beaming Up
Every now and then, one of my friends or family reminds me of my "greatest claim to fame" in the comics industry. Did I write something really groundbreaking? Not unless you consider a never-published inventory story "groundbreaking" in some way (ground fertilizing, perhaps). Do a fantastic job coloring? Um, no. I figured out after one job that coloring isn't the best career path for someone overwhelmed by the color options in a 24-pack of Crayola. Draw? Or letter? Well, if you knew me, you wouldn't ask about those. Let's just say "stick figure" and "chicken scratch" and leave it at that.
No, no, my claim to fame is that I was "cast" as a transporter room crewmember in a few issues of DC's Star Trek comic.
That's right, I really did beam them up. Or at least my alter ego did. In a mini skirt, too.
And how did I become so famous? Because the writer knew me and decided to use my name, which at the time was Sara Tuchinsky. He often borrowed the names of family and friends when creating new characters and I guess my last name caught his eye as interesting. What he hadn't realized is that that the artist knew me as well. So when he saw my name in the script, he naturally drew me.
I had no idea until the bundle of comics came out (Marvel editors and their assistants at that time got a bundle of comics each week with everything published by Marvel and DC). People started coming down the hall saying "Hey, you're in Star Trek." And so I was, for several issues. I even got hypnotized once so that a weird alien-guy could try to use the transporter without being caught.
Years later, while vanity-googling, I discovered that some Star Trek fan had created a web site listing every single spaceship by serial number. He'd gathered the info from the show, books, and various other Trekkie media, but whenever he couldn't find a ship's name for a particular serial number, he'd make one up from "authentic" names he'd seen in Star Trek material. And there I was, the USS Sara Tuchinsky. I'd include a link, but the page disappeared a couple of years ago. Fame is fleeting.
Labels: comics
posted by Sara Kocher @ 11:37 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
That story is priceless! I never that you were in a comic before. I was once written into a back-up story in "the Star Brand" with Rod Ramos and Chris Ivy. Hmmm...I think I'll take a look at that story again.
Fame may be fleeting, but the internet is forever.
http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Sara_Tuchinsky
Well, isn't this the damnedest thing.
That website you mentioned? I'm the guy who owned it.
When I started my project in its very first form, I was in middle school & yeah, I took names from everywhere including the comics (or at least, the ones I had). Over the years, I've revised, revamped, & rebuilt the project many times. The version you found on the website was sort of a testbed version, totally unfinished & liable to change at any time.
So here I sit tonight, doing this round of edits (the entry phase is finally done--all 100,000 entries) in the TUs in the alphabetical list of names..& I come across...you guessed it. I ended up dropping your first name because I'd since learned that she/you was/were a real person & wanted to make it a little less specific should you actually go looking; of course, you you'd like to keep that little fame, I'll gladly reinstate it. Had I known that you actually FOUND, though...well. On a lark, I decided to see if you had a web presence other than the Memory Beta link provided above...& here I find this old post.
Here's the kicker, though: last year, I ended up talking with Peter David's wife through a writing contest on Livejournal we were both part of & I mentioned something about using your name for the ship. She mentioned it to him & said that he remembered using your name, & that it was funning that it stuck with me. It did, though, & I don't know why.
By the way, it's now 2 ships Old ones do get retired, or destroyed, or go missing you know.
Well, I guess fame is a little less fleeting than I thought! Thanks, Shik...it's actually quite flattering to be remembered and I'm charmed by the idea that a starship is/was named after me. You're welcome to use my full name (Sara Tuchinsky) for the ship(s). After all, that name is already TM and copyright Paramount anyway. :-)
What's the URL of your new site?
I actually don't have the site up yet because...well, I haven't finished.
I'm still finishing 2nd round of alphasort name smoothing, then it's on to minor fixes, then larger class randomization. Once that's done, then I get to go hunt a server that will handle the amount of traffic I expect to get, sit down with textedit & code the HTML, try to improve (or actual gain) some CS3 skills, & build the triple-damned thing. Oh, & also talk to a couple people to see about the feasibility of setting it up as a web database rather than just a bunch of HTML.
In short (too late), I don't plan to have it up & running for at LEAST a year; if I can go online by January 2010,that would be amazing. I do have a name chosen as well as a preferred domain; haven't registered or bought it yet, but I don't think it's in danger of being taken. And if it does, there's alternates
How I miss the days of personal websites that didn't have to be anything grand in design or content. Only do it to myself, though.
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