ORLANDO, Fla. -- While he may be in Accounting at CFE Federal Credit Union, as a science fiction writer Steve Costas transforms the everyday into the extraordinary.
"I minored in creative writing in college, which was years ago but I've always liked science fiction since I was young," said Costas. "As a writer I like taking familiar ideas and concepts putting a new twist on them to create something that has never been done before."
He picked the right entry point. Recently out of some 500 submissions Costas' short story, The Book of Fulfillment was one of 22 selected for Star Trek Strange New Worlds, which is a collection of short stories set in the Star Trek universe.
"I've tried to get in for a few years and when the deadline came and went for the winners I was disappointed because I really thought I had a shot this time," said Costas. "Then I got a message on my answering machine telling me I'd been selected and I went nuts. It was just the right time, I was getting depressed and was thinking about quitting. It was a real rush to finally accomplish this."
A religious convention provided the spark for the winning story. "During the sermon my mind wandered and I started thinking about what holy writing would look like on other planets and how an ancient civilization encountered by familiar Star Trek characters would preserve their own legends," said Costas.
--mdigiovanni@cutimes.com
