What inspired you to write this story?

As a writer myself, the idea of "author as God" as related towards the world in a story intrigues me. Whenever something unbelievable or amazing happens, it's because the author wrote it that way. The Bible says that we are created in the image of God; our love of creating stems from that.

I also wanted to write a story that was more science based, hence the anomaly and Moss's mind power. But I think it was ultimately more about free will, our power over what we create, and a psychological exploration of two halves of the writer's mind; the protective side, looking out for their characters at all costs, and the rational side that knows that real people come first. I also made sure to include a Kirk romance because I wanted to try my hand at giving him a one-episode love interest. And quite frankly, I couldn't imagine anyone else getting so caught up.

In your last story, some of the names and made-up words had significance. How about here?

Well, for starters, the Halus system sounds like "hallucinate". Rave'el is an anagram + apostrophe of "reveal". And Essa? Her name sounds like "essence", and it's also pretty. Yeban and Awel – I liked the sound of their names. Mnemnisine- made it up because it has a prefix that has to do with memory, or minds. Anthospadrium and spavonite, etc – I don't know much about science and made up minerals with fun sounding names just because. Author's prerogative, especially in sci-fi/Trek realms!

Why were your Christian references so subtle? In The Best Robe, you used the parable of the prodigal son to frame the story, but said nothing about the Agapeans' religious beliefs. Here, the Rave'el and Yeoman Ming are the only ones who display religious beliefs; the former, in several gods as well as Moss briefly as the one who makes everything happen, and the latter in a quiet subdued way. Why did you do that?

I understand the main view towards religion on the part of Star Trek's creators hold it to be something rational man would move beyond. I respectfully disagree. (I dunno how Revelation and end times prophecy would fit into the Trek timeline, but lots of sci-fi authors create u/dystopias and ignore that for the story's sake- somehow, it hasn't come yet, that's all.) Hence Yeoman Ming, a Starfleet officer who still believes in God and prays faithfully. Not everybody who's Christian goes around trying to convert all their coworkers 24/7. We are called to bring light to the world, but we should live it out, not just talk about it. Incidentally, if you're worried about Ming being interested in a guy who's not necessarily Christian – nobody's perfect. And it happens all the time.)

I also know that in several episodes, Kirk debunks the people's religion by revealing it to be based on lies. These "guardian spirits" the Rave'el believe in are false, too, and Chazar (Zachary anagram without the 'y') is a representation of Moss, a flawed human. Kirk may be a bit anti-God here, too ("Creating your own little world, filling it with people who grovel at your feet, and then handing them just enough freedom to do everything you tell them to. That's not free will, 's slavery.") But God did give us free will; the ability to choose whether or not to worship Him, or, for that matter, do any of the things we choose to do. While Essa exerts her free will several times, Awel just follows blindly. It's not that she knows better than God, but better than Zachary/Chazar, who as I said before is just a man.

Aside from having the characters wonder at miraculous unlikely turns of events (and despite the fact that they may attribute it eventually to entities like Q), which I know they would do, I also didn't want to unrealistically have them convert just because I wish they'd believe (like some stories I've seen.) I wanted this to be a story that could easily fit somewhere into TOS. So any characters who display religious ideals, albeit divorced from Christianity itself, or unknowingly utter truth – like telling "Chazar" that, yes, he'd be willing to do anything for his people except die himself for them – and Kirk giving his life for his crew, as he has done on several occasions already.

Spock and McCoy have some good scenes together – not just fighting all the time. And we also have a nice Spock guilt scene, as well as one where he does something illogical (and ultimately for the greater good) by letting Moss come along on the shuttle with the scientists. He even understands Kirk's love for Essa.

Yes, I wanted to do that. He's not all logic, you know, especially when lives and quality of life are involved. (Think "The Menagerie").I also like to show them agreeing eventually, and working together. They're both scientists. He also seems to have the captain's number a couple of times!

Where did the title come from?

You know when you have one of those awesome moments where the perfect title clicks with you? This was one. (And it came about because I remembered reading the phrase in the Bible before!) It's from Colossians 1:15 and it fits for three reasons (love it when that happens!).

1) Chazar is the image of Zachary Moss (or at least part of him) to the Rave'el, who he created. They can't perceive or see him any other way.

2) The whole creation of Rave'el as a real (holographic) place is giving an image of the invisible world Moss created in his novel in progress, allowing everyone to see it, not merely imagine it.

3) God shows up in a big way, allowing mostly-out-of-character actions and help from unlikely sources, as well as the staggering coincidence of Essa's crystal even existing, much less being where it was needed. These occurrences are images that show an invisible God working in a world where He's been often forgotten.

Poor Chekov. Why did you include that tent scene?

It was something for him to do, but I agree, ultimately useless. A little humor to break up the drama of lives in the balance and romance. I made up for the exclusion of Chekov in the previous story by including him here. I also redeemed him later when he showed the little girl an illusion. When you think about it, it's a nice little moment and a metaphor for the whole thing being a fantasy.

All the redshirts made it. Was that deliberate?

Yes. I like creating characters and giving them a bigger role, including interesting dialogue. Little details like Petersham's hair blowing in the wind, Yoshida getting glowing goo on his hands – it makes things interesting. I kind of want to make up for all the expendables. (You'll notice I made sure Kirk sent them out in teams of three this time – no wandering off alone! Yes, they still got in a pickle, but all accounted for, Captain!)

Every senior staff member in this story had at least one scene where they featured prominently. Was this deliberate?

Yes. It's good practice and fair to all of them. Sulu gets to show kindness with a plant, Uhura gives advice to a woman who's trying to get a guy to notice her- this way I'm giving everybody a chance to participate in the narrative beyond doing their jobs.

Have you come up with your next story?

Not yet. Stay tuned!