David Alan Mack
Encyclopedia
This article is about the Star Trek and Wolverine novelist. For the comic book artist, see David W. Mack
.
David Alan Mack is a writer
best known for his freelance Star Trek
novels. Mack also has had a Star Trek script produced, and worked on a Star Trek comic book
.
's Tisch School of the Arts
as an undergraduate, from 1987 to 1991. There he majored in film and television production and screenwriting
.
After receiving several rejections on early spec-script submissions to Star Trek: The Next Generation
and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, Mack teamed up with John J. Ordover
, then an editor in Pocket Books
' Star Trek Department. Working together, the pair combined Ordover's ability to arrange pitch meetings with the shows' producers with Mack's training in screenwriting.
In 1995, the pair made their first story sale, to Star Trek: Voyager
, though the project was never produced. A few weeks later they made another sale, this time to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, for the fourth-season episode "Starship Down". Another story pitched by the pair during that same meeting was bought three years later, as the basis for the seventh-season episode "It's Only a Paper Moon", for which the pair received a "story by" credit.
During the 1990s, Mack performed freelance editorial work for Pocket Books. His duties ranged from reading slush
manuscripts and writing rejection letters to drafting reference materials for established authors and series, such as Peter David
's Star Trek: New Frontier
books. That work led to Mack being invited to draft a 5,000-word supplement for John Vornholt
's novel The Genesis Wave, Book One, which in turn earned Mack an invitation in 2000 to write his own first full-length Star Trek book.
Mack and Ordover wrote the four-part Deep Space Nine/Next Generation comic book
miniseries
Divided We Fall for WildStorm
. With Keith R.A. DeCandido, Mack co-wrote the two-part Starfleet Corps of Engineers
(SCE) e-book
story Invincible.
. His other SCE e-books are Failsafe and Small World. He next wrote the short stories
"Waiting for G'Doh, or, How I Learned to Stop Moving and Hate People" for the anthology
Star Trek: New Frontier: No Limits; and "Twilight's Wrath" for the anthology Star Trek: Tales of the Dominion War.
Mack's first direct-to-paperback novels were a Star Trek: The Next Generation duology: A Time To Kill and A Time To Heal. Mack also wrote Harbinger
, the first volume of the Star Trek: Vanguard
novel series, which he co-developed with editor Marco Palmieri.
His first non-Star Trek novel was the Wolverine
spy-thriller Road of Bones, published in October 2006 by Pocket Books. His first original novel, The Calling, which he described as "a modern-day fantasy-thriller," was published in July 2009.
Other work includes the Star Trek: New Frontier minipedia, the Starfleet Survival Guide, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine post-finale novel Warpath, the Mirror Universe short novel The Sorrows of Empire (first published in 2007, with an expanded version scheduled for release in 2010), and the multi-series crossover trilogy Star Trek: Destiny.
Upcoming projects by Mack include More Beautiful Than Death, one of four novels based on the film Star Trek, and Zero Sum Game, a part of the Star Trek: Typhon Pact series following Star Trek: Destiny.
Print
David W. Mack
David W. Mack is an American comic book artist and writer, best known for his creator-owned series Kabuki. Mack is known for his unique painted and collage-like work...
.
David Alan Mack is a writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
best known for his freelance Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
novels. Mack also has had a Star Trek script produced, and worked on a Star Trek comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
.
Early career
Mack attended New York UniversityNew York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
as an undergraduate, from 1987 to 1991. There he majored in film and television production and screenwriting
Screenwriting
Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession....
.
After receiving several rejections on early spec-script submissions to Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, Mack teamed up with John J. Ordover
John J. Ordover
John J. Ordover is the founder and CEO of JJO MARKETING and was previously an editor at Pocket Books responsible for overseeing the licensed novels of the Star Trek franchise. He is the co-creator of such spin-off series as Star Trek: New Frontier , Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers and Star...
, then an editor in Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
' Star Trek Department. Working together, the pair combined Ordover's ability to arrange pitch meetings with the shows' producers with Mack's training in screenwriting.
In 1995, the pair made their first story sale, to Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
, though the project was never produced. A few weeks later they made another sale, this time to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, for the fourth-season episode "Starship Down". Another story pitched by the pair during that same meeting was bought three years later, as the basis for the seventh-season episode "It's Only a Paper Moon", for which the pair received a "story by" credit.
During the 1990s, Mack performed freelance editorial work for Pocket Books. His duties ranged from reading slush
Slush pile
In publishing, the slush pile is the set of unsolicited query letters or manuscripts sent either directly to the publisher or literary agent by authors, or to the publisher by an agent not known to the publisher....
manuscripts and writing rejection letters to drafting reference materials for established authors and series, such as Peter David
Peter David
Peter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
's Star Trek: New Frontier
Star Trek: New Frontier
Star Trek: New Frontier is a Star Trek novel series created by John J. Ordover and Peter David and published by Pocket Books. The idea behind it was to create a Star Trek book series with its own continuity and not one that is purely a reaction to the television shows. Nearly every story of the...
books. That work led to Mack being invited to draft a 5,000-word supplement for John Vornholt
John Vornholt
John Blair Vornholt is an American science fiction author known primarily for his media tie-ins, particularly Star Trek novels.-Original works:*The Troll King*The Troll Queen*The Troll Treasure*The First Third...
's novel The Genesis Wave, Book One, which in turn earned Mack an invitation in 2000 to write his own first full-length Star Trek book.
Mack and Ordover wrote the four-part Deep Space Nine/Next Generation comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Divided We Fall for WildStorm
WildStorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
. With Keith R.A. DeCandido, Mack co-wrote the two-part Starfleet Corps of Engineers
Starfleet Corps of Engineers
Starfleet Corps of Engineers is a series of novellas set in the Star Trek universe, initially under the title S.C.E. , now under the new title Corps of Engineers . Like other Star Trek books, the books are officially licensed, but not considered canon.The S.C.E...
(SCE) e-book
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
story Invincible.
Solo work
Mack's first solo project was the two-part SCE e-book novel WildfireWildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
. His other SCE e-books are Failsafe and Small World. He next wrote the short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
"Waiting for G'Doh, or, How I Learned to Stop Moving and Hate People" for the anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
Star Trek: New Frontier: No Limits; and "Twilight's Wrath" for the anthology Star Trek: Tales of the Dominion War.
Mack's first direct-to-paperback novels were a Star Trek: The Next Generation duology: A Time To Kill and A Time To Heal. Mack also wrote Harbinger
Harbinger (Star Trek novel)
Harbinger is the first novel in the Star Trek: Vanguard series concerning the Starbase 47, otherwise known as Vanguard.-Synopsis:...
, the first volume of the Star Trek: Vanguard
Star Trek: Vanguard
Star Trek: Vanguard is a series of Star Trek books set during the time period of the original television series. At present six novels and one novella collection have been released.-Premise:...
novel series, which he co-developed with editor Marco Palmieri.
His first non-Star Trek novel was the Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
spy-thriller Road of Bones, published in October 2006 by Pocket Books. His first original novel, The Calling, which he described as "a modern-day fantasy-thriller," was published in July 2009.
Other work includes the Star Trek: New Frontier minipedia, the Starfleet Survival Guide, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine post-finale novel Warpath, the Mirror Universe short novel The Sorrows of Empire (first published in 2007, with an expanded version scheduled for release in 2010), and the multi-series crossover trilogy Star Trek: Destiny.
Upcoming projects by Mack include More Beautiful Than Death, one of four novels based on the film Star Trek, and Zero Sum Game, a part of the Star Trek: Typhon Pact series following Star Trek: Destiny.
- The 4400: Promises Broken (2009) (mass-market paperback)
- The Calling (2009) (trade paperback)
- Star Trek Destiny, Book Three: — Lost Souls (2008)(mass-market paperback)
- Star Trek Destiny, Book Two: — Mere Mortals (2008)(mass-market paperback)
- Star Trek Destiny, Book One: — Gods of Night (2008)(mass-market paperback)
- Star Trek: Corps of Engineers — Creative Couplings (2007), trade paperback collection, contains novella "Small World" (originally published as an eBook, 2005)
- Star Trek Vanguard — Reap the Whirlwind (2007)(mass-market paperback)
- Star Trek: Corps of Engineers — Grand Designs (2007), trade paperback collection, contains the novella "Failsafe" (originally published as an eBook, 2004)
- Star Trek: Mirror Universe — Glass Empires (2007), trade paperback anthology, contains the short novel The Sorrows of Empire
- Wolverine — Road of Bones (2006)(mass-market paperback)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Warpath (2006)(mass-market paperback)
- Star Trek Vanguard — Harbinger (2005)(mass-market paperback)
- Star Trek: SCE, Book Six — Wildfire (2004), mass-market paperback collection, contains the short novel Wildfire (originally published as an eBook, 2003)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation — A Time to Heal (2004)(mass-market paperback)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation — A Time to Kill (2004)(mass-market paperback)
- Star Trek: Tales of the Dominion War (2004), trade paperback anthology, contains the short story "Twilight's Wrath"
- Star Trek: New Frontier — No Limits (2003), trade paperback anthology, contains the short story "Waiting for G'Doh, or, How I Learned to Stop Moving and Hate People"
- Star Trek: SCE, Book Two — Miracle Workers (2002), mass-market paperback collection, contains the novella "Invincible," written with Keith R.A. DeCandido (originally published as an eBook, 2001)
- Star Trek — The Starfleet Survival Guide (2002)(trade paperback)
- Star Trek — Divided We Fall (2001), four-issue comic-book miniseries, written with John Ordover
Television
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — "It's Only a Paper Moon" (1999), with John Ordover and Ronald D. Moore
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — "Starship Down" (1995), with John Ordover
- Star Trek: Voyager — "Sickbay" (1995), (aka "Untitled Kes," with John Ordover) [unproduced]
Interactive media
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Dominion Wars (2001), CD-ROM game (voiceover scripts)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — The Fallen (2000), CD-ROM game (interactive dialogue scripts, dialogue polishing)
- Star Trek — Starship Creator (1998), CD-ROM Simulator (character development)