We’re big fans of Star Trek in all its incarnations here at Gratz Industries, but there is perhaps no Trek series as near and dear to our hearts as Star Trek: The Next Generation (aka ST:TNG). Wendi and I watched episodes on VHS together when we started dating, we’ve cosplayed as TNG characters, and Wendi once even pretended to be my agent so I could submit a TNG novel to Pocket Books. (You can read the whole funny story about that here, in an article where I talk about the Star Trek novel I did actually get published fifteen years later.)
So when our daughter Jo came along, we naturally initiated her into the Star Trek fan club, beginning with The Next Generation.
(That’s me and Jo, Rikering in Acadia National Park.)
I was very lucky to be a stay-at-home dad with Jo for the first few years of her life, but by the time she was old enough to go to school, my writing career was taking off. I was on the road a lot after that, visiting schools across the country to talk about my books. In my heyday, I was visiting a hundred schools a year—while also doing conferences and festivals. To say that I missed a lot of nights at home with the family during that time is an understatement.
To stay connected while I was gone, Jo and I watched Star Trek episodes together online in the evenings when I got back to my hotel room. Netflix Party was new then, and it let us watch the same episode simultaneously no matter where I was in the world. We would start the episode, put both our phones on speaker, and analyze and talk and joke about the episodes in real time.
One of the episodes we liked to joke about is Identity Crisis, a Season Four episode in which the Enterprise’s chief engineer Geordi LaForge transforms into an invisible alien who only shows up under blacklight:
It took four make-up artists six hours to apply all the make-up and prosthetics that turned poor LeVar Burton into a glow-in-the-dark Tarchannen. According to TNG make-up supervisor Michael Westmore, it was the longest ever make-up job done for an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. (Which is saying something.)
Jo was even more excited to learn that I own an action figure of Geordi as a Tarchannen III alien. Because of course I do!
The next time I was getting ready to leave home to go on a school visit trip, I hid Geordi under Jo’s pillow, so she’d find him after I’d gone. She was delighted—and returned the prank by hiding him in the cookie jar when I returned. Thus began a tradition of the two of us hiding Geordi for each other when we had to be away for a while. I even took a chance that I’d never see him again and hid Geordi in Jo’s suitcase when she went off to college. Luckily Geordi was one of the few objects that returned intact from Jo’s foray into higher education, and he lives on in the Gratz household today.
I had to be away for a month recently, and when I returned, I opened a box of tea to find this:
Nice.
This October, I’ll be leaving home again to go on tour for three+ weeks. I still haven’t decided where I’m going to hide Geordi this time. I only have two weeks to figure it out, because here’s my travel schedule!
Join me at one of my War Games and Refugee: The Graphic Novel launch events, and I’ll tell you where I hid him! (Unless you’re Jo.)
Please note: most of these events are ticketed, which means you need to sign up with the host bookstore in advance to reserve your place. For times and ticketing information, check out the Events page on my website:
Click on the event you’re interested in to read more information, and to find the link to the host bookstore’s event page, where you can reserve your ticket.
Can’t join me in person, but want signed books?
Preorder War Games, Refugee: The Graphic Novel, and any of my other books from my hometown bookstore Green Bean Books by September 30th, and I’ll sign them before I hit the road! Green Bean Books will mail them out after I’m gone, as soon as they officially go on sale:
Order signed books from Green Bean!
You can also order my books from these other fine booksellers, but they won’t come signed:
Order Alan's books from Amazon
Order Alan's books from Bookshop.org
And don’t forget…
Free virtual school visits return next week!
Yes, my free, live, virtual school events are back! Once a month in September, October, November, and December, I’ll be hopping online to talk for an hour about my books, my background, and my writing process. (I have one next week, in fact!)
In my virtual school visits, I give a presentation for the first half hour, and then spend the next thirty minutes answering questions from attendees. Whether you’re watching from home, a classroom, or an auditorium, there’s no fee to attend, and no limit on how many people can watch.
And as a special treat, my October virtual school visit will be a virtual launch party for War Games and Refugee: The Graphic Novel, where you’ll hear the same presentation I’ll be giving during my in-person tour!
Here’s the schedule for this fall. Click the links below to register:
Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 11am ET, 10am CT, 9am MT, 8am PT
Tuesday, October 28, 2024 at 1pm ET, 12pm CT, 11am MT, 10am PT
(Virtual launch party for War Games and Refugee: The Graphic Novel)
Thursday, November 20, 2024 at 11am ET, 10am CT, 9am MT, 8am PT
Tuesday, December 16, 2024 at 1pm ET, 12pm CT, 11am MT, 10am PT
Can’t join me live, or want to replay an event for readers who missed it? Each virtual event is recorded, and will be available for at least a month afterward to anyone with the link. (I usually just take the old one down as soon as a new recording is available.) You can even sign up and view a presentation after the fact! Regardless of how or when you watch, I hope you’ll tune in.
Great. Got anything new?
I’m glad you asked! I spent all day adding goodies to my web site. Now you can find audiobook excerpts from War Games and Refugee, PDF excerpts from War Games and Refugee: The Graphic Novel, a War Games discussion guide, and over on my Alan Gratz Books playlist on YouTube, I’ve added a cool new War Games trailer and a twenty-five minute Two Degrees Book Talk! Go check out my web site and click around. You never know what you’ll find. I sure don’t!
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