Okay, I'll bite. (It's a slow day.)
For those who came in late,
The House of Jacquarelle is told around characters and settings that I originally developed to be a
Star Trek series... back when Paramount was looking for a new series to run after
Voyager had run its course. It was intended to look at the civilian side of the Federation, the life we never saw in all those paramilitary
Trek series. In (little-known) fact, Captain Carolyn Kestral was inspired by a character in a
Trek novel,
Prime Directive.
When the
Trek connection fizzled (they chose
Enterprise. Go figure.), I redeveloped the setting and characters to be original, but still vaguely familiar to
Trek fans, adding a few elements that I felt made it more realistic overall. I received quite a surprise when, not long afterward, I saw Joss Whedon use a lot of those same elements for his new series
Firefly! A saying about "great minds" springs to me...
Anyway, Kestral and crew were a big hit right off, and quickly shot to the top of my fan e-mail "We want more of that!" list. My premise that civilian characters could still have rollicking adventures turned out to be spot-on, and I think the added realism of the setting makes it much more believable, and just as much fun! And the characters have proven to be well-suited to expansion and development, but still distinct individuals that make for a coherent and well-balanced whole.
In short, these have become my "go-to" characters, the ones I could write about for years. If I ever became famous someday for creating this particular series, it wouldn't bother me a bit.