Kirsten Beyer Explained

Kirsten Beyer
Language:English
Nationality:American
Education:University of California, Los Angeles (MFA)[1]
Genre:Science fiction
Years Active:2005–present

Kirsten Beyer is an American science fiction writer, known for her novels based on the television series. She was a staff writer for , and co-creator and executive producer of .[2]

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 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. 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.

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". 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 .[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.

TitleDateISBN
FusionOctober 25, 2005
Full CircleMarch 31, 2009
UnworthySeptember 29, 2009
Children of the StormMay 31, 2011
The Eternal TideAugust 28, 2012
ProtectorsJanuary 28, 2014
Acts of ContritionSeptember 30, 2014
AtonementAugust 25, 2015
A Pocket Full of LiesJanuary 26, 2016
Architects of InfinityMarch 27, 2018
To Lose the EarthOctober 13, 2020

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.

IssueIssue DateCollectionDateISBN
The Light of Kahless, Issue 1November 29, 2017The Light of Kahless, 1August 8, 2018
The Light of Kahless, Issue 2January 24, 2018
The Light of Kahless, Issue 3March 14, 2018
The Light of Kahless, Issue 4May 30, 2018
Succession, Issue 1April 18, 2018Succession, Vol. 1October 9, 2018
Succession, Issue 2May 23, 2018
Succession, Issue 3June 27, 2018
Succession, Issue 4August 1, 2018
Star Trek: Discovery Annual 2018March 28, 2018
Aftermath, Issue 1September 4, 2019Aftermath, Vol. 1Apr 14, 2020
Aftermath, Issue 2September 25, 2019
Aftermath, Issue 3November 20, 2019
Captain Saru (special issue)March 13, 2019

Star Trek: Picard (2019–2020)

Star Trek: PicardCountdown comic miniseries is as a prequel to . Artist is Angel Hernández.

IssueIssue DateCollectionDateISBN
1November 27, 2019Countdown, 1June 30, 2020
2December 18, 2019
3January 29, 2020

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2008)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer tie-in novels published by Simon & Schuster.

TitleDateISBN
One Thing or Your MotherMarch 3, 2008
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 3 (omnibus)November 16, 2010

Short fiction (2005–2009)

Beyer has contributed to the following short story collections:

WorkCollectionEditorDateISBN
"Isabo's Shirt"Distant ShoresMarco PalmieriNovember 1, 2005
"Widow's Weeds"Space GruntsDayton WardMay 14, 2009

Filmography

YearTitleRole
2017–2024Consulting ProducerCo-Producer (33 episodes)Staff writerStory editor (29 episodes)Episode: "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" (written by)Episode: "Saints of Imperfection" (written by)Episode: "Unification III" (written by)
2019Episode: "Children of Mars" (written by)
2020Co-creatorExecutive producer (11 episodes)Episode: "Remembrance" (story by)Episode: "Stardust City Rag" (written by)
2022Co-executive producer (10 episodes)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Getting to Know Kirsten Beyer. 2017-11-06. Star Trek. en. 2019-07-21.
  2. Web site: 2017-09-23. INTERVIEW: Discovery Writer, Voyager Novelist Kirsten Beyer. 2018-04-08. Star Trek. en.
  3. Continuing Voyager with Kirsten Beyer. Literary Treks. Trek.fm. Matthew Rushing and Christopher Jones. 2012-12-01. 2021-10-23.
  4. Book: Ayers, Jeff. Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion. Voyages of Imagination. November 14, 2006. Pocket Books. 9781416503491. New York. 2006-11-14. 299–301.
  5. Web site: Deffner. Jens. 2009-04-05. Kirsten Beyer interview. 2018-04-08. Unreality-SF.net. en-GB.
  6. Web site: 2011-05-31. Kirsten Beyer Unleashes a Storm. 2017-11-01. Star Trek.
  7. Web site: Fletcher. Harry. 2016-06-01. Star Trek TV show hires Voyager novelist Kirsten Beyer. 2017-11-01. Digital Spy. en-GB.
  8. A Ship Full of Legends. Literary Treks. Trek.fm. 2018-04-08. 2020-01-25.
  9. Web site: FitzPatrick. Kevin. 2016-05-30. CBS 'Star Trek' 2017 Adds 'Voyager' Novels Writer to Staff. 2018-04-08. ScreenCrush. en.
  10. News: Martinelli. Marissa. 2017-09-21. How shows like Star Trek: Discovery stick to canon.. en-US. Slate. 2018-04-08. 1091-2339.
  11. News: Johnston. Rich. 2017-07-19. Star Trek: Discovery's Kirsten Beyer Behind Spinoff Comic, Starting In October, From IDW. en-US. Bleeding Cool News and Rumors. 2018-04-08.
  12. Book: To Lose the Earth Audiobook by Kirsten Beyer. 2021-10-23. Simon & Schuster. October 13, 2020 . 978-1-5082-8669-1 .