The Daily Tar HeelThursday, February 20, 19925 1
231
Student-author treks along New York Times bestseller list
By Kristin Leight
Staff Writer
Terry Mancour used to write in
Greenlaw computer lab like every other
student churning out words that be
came gray figures on perforated com
puter paper. But unlike most, Mancour's
words now rest on the pages of a glossy
black book bearing the red-blazoned
title "Spartacus" a title that was
ranked number 13 on the New York
Times bestseller list for two weeks in
January.
Mancour, a fifth-year senior from
Durham, has always wanted to be a
writer.
"I am one of the few people who
actually decided to consciously go out
and become a writer, because I didn't
want to work for a living, and (writing)
seemed like a pretty good thing to do,
and I had some talent at.it," he said.
But even he was surprised at his early
success. "Selling a book at age 2 1 is not
unheard of, but it's extraordinarily rare."
"Spartacus" is the 20th book of the
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" se
ries, published by Pocket books. It uses
characters from the TV show as well as
Mancour's original characters.
Mancour said that the day after the
pilot episode of "Star Trek: The Next
Generation" aired in 1 988, "I got sort of
a vague idea about one of the characters
named Data. Data is an android who
was built by humans. He's more than a
toaster, but there's a lot of confusion
surrounding his classification."
Data shook his head. 7 am not hu
man, Kurta. I can only copy my fellow
crewmembers' habits and try to theo
rize the basis for their actions. I try,
because I am terribly interested in the
race that created me.'
In "Spartacus," androids like Data,
created by aliens to be slaves, revolt and
escape their planet. "The Enterprise
Books
found them, and
basically the story
continues from
there about the
nature of slavery
and the nature of
warfare and jus
tice," he said.
Since his freshman year, Mancour
has wanted to be a science fiction writer.
"But I had no real inkling that I wanted
to do 'Star Trek' at all," he said. "That
wasn't really something I had looked
into, but when the plot jumped into my
head, and the story forced itself out of
my brain, I decided to take it down and
send it off."
Before "Spartacus," Mancour had
submitted acomplete "Star Trek" novel
that was rejected. He was later advised
by a science fiction writer not to sell a
complete novel, but an idea. So he pro
posed the idea of "Spartacus" to Pocket
Books. "I sold 'Spartacus' on two
pages," he said.
Mancour educated himself about the
publishing process, not only by talking
to local science fiction writers, but also
by reading books about it. "A lot of
people don't understand that writing is
a business," he said. "I endeavored to
learn the business of it, instead of learn
ing how to write, because I figured you
learn how to write by writing."
Never having taken a creative writ
ing class, Mancour prefers his style to
remain independent of others' criticism.
"Basically, I'll stare out the window
or walk around campus, or, God forbid,
do my homework, write papers and
stuff and veg until the idea gets enough
energy on its own to keep me awake at
night," Mancour said. "And when it
keeps me awake at night, I know it's
time for me to start writing it down."
After he has written something,
Mancour puts it in a file and lets it
simmer on the back burner for about six
months. "Then I yank it out later when
it starts to obsess me again."
Mancour is now working on two
science fiction books, two original fan
tasies and two nonaction books. "Of
those six, four will probably spontane
ously abort, because either the ideas
aren't strong enough, or there's not
enough there, or my interests will be
taken up by something else. It's a matter
of what you're obsessed on," he said.
But Mancoursaid he wasn't obsessed
with the TV series "Star Trek.""I wasn't
really a Trekkie," he said. "I didn't run
around with Spock ears on and stuff. It
just presented a philosophy and back
ground that I could get into."
Mancour, a religious studies major
with a minor in history, said he realized
through studying religion that "Star
Trek" was a viable mythology for
Americans.
'Data, personalities aren't limited to
carbon-based life-forms' she said softly.
' You have one as interesting and impor
tant as anyone on the ship. You may not
be as adept at humanoid mannerisms as
we are, but you were made by a creature
with a soul. Anything that such a being
makes takes a little of his creator' s soul
with him.'
"When you're writing for 'Star Trek'
fans, you have a tremendous responsi
bility, because you're not just writing a
science fiction book, you're adding to a
religious canon in a very important way,"
he said.
Mancour said he wanted his writing
to serve a purpose. "When I write, espe
cially with 'Star Trek' now, I'm writing
to 300,000 people who are going to read
my book with a certain amount of en
thusiasm, and the words I say are going
to carry over into those people's lives. I
see it as a responsibility to put forth
ideas that will hopefully change the
way people think in a positive manner."
Mancour said he would accept the
ACC foes join with the Tar Heels
to raise awareness about homeless
challenge of writing more books for the
Star Trek series. He would like to pub
lish several within the next two years
and then apply to the University of
Wisconsin at Madison to do graduate
work in cultural anthropology.
Although Mancour is not sure what
he ultimately wants to do, he knows
what he does not want: "I don't want
any particular career.
"I plan on doing a variety of things to
fuel both my imagination and my works
in progress probably just hang out
and have as much fun as possible, learn
as much as possible and see which way
the winds take me."
Mancour recommended that people
planning to be serious writers do some
thing similar. 'The biggest piece of
advice I can give you is that if your
mother encourages you to get your En
glish teacher certification so you can
have something to fall back on, then 99
times out of 100, you're going to fall
back. Having a fall-back position is an
instantaneous way of undermining your
success.
'The only way to become a profes
sional writer at any sort of early age is to
be utterly desperate and utterly deter
mined," he said.
Mancour will be signing copies of his
book today at 2 p.m. in the Bull's Head
Bookshop.
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Terry Mancour displays his contribution to the Star Trek series, "Spartacus"
By Jon Whisenant
Staff Writer
Duke and UNC may be rivals on the
court, but when it comes to raising
awareness about homelessness, the N.C.
colleges are all one big team.
Members of the UNC chapter of
Habitat for Humanity invited campus
groups to build cardboard shacks and
Taxes
from page 3
County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro con
tribute funds to the RSVP program.
RSVP volunteers will be available to
answer questions about tax returns at
the Chapel Hill Public Library every
Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. until
April 15. No appointments are neces
sary. For information about other RSVP
sites, call 968-6060.
Hours for Beta Alpha Psi's Carr Mill
Mall office are Wednesdays from 4:30
p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Fridays and Satur
days from 1 0 a.m. to 2 p.m. No appoint
ments are necessary. For more informa
tion call 968-2517.
FCStiVal from page 3
illustrated by the Winter Olympics and
the upcoming union of the European
Economic Community.
International Festival Day kicked off
the week Sunday in the Great Hall.
Booths displayed pictures, art and cos
tumes from more than 25 countries,
including Greece, Jamaica, Cyprus,
Turkey, India and Thailand.
In addition to an Asian fashion show,
performances included Tae Kwon Do
demonstrations, a Chinese lion dance
and two Indian dances.
Food from various countries, slide
shows, films and international art from
the Ackland Art Museum will add to the
global atmosphere during the week,
organizers said.
place them in the Pit. The shacks were
printed with the slogan "No More
Shacks" as part of a statewide protest
against poor housing conditions.
UNC, Duke University, Wake For
est University, N.C. State University
and East Carolina University all pitched
in by building shacks and planning
sleepouts for Wednesday night.
"Our purpose for this event is to
present to the media an image of schools
that are often seen as rivals working
together to fight homelessness," said
Matt Williamson, president of the UNC
chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
UNC students began building the
two-foot-by-two-foot shacks Tuesday,
and as of Wednesday night, there were
more than 50 cardboard houses. Cam
pus groups such as the UNC Water Polo
Club, the Newman Catholic Student
Center and Project Literacy had shacks
set up in the Pit Wednesday night.
Elections
David McDaniels, national director
of campus chapters of Habitat, was
scheduled to kick off the Pit sleepout
Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. with a speech.
Members of Habitat expected 200 to
400 students to attend.
Habitat organizes volunteers to help
poverty-stricken people renovate old
homes as well as build new ones. Their
slogan is "Give me a hand up, not a hand
out," which explains their practice of
helping people help themselves.
"We don't give away houses,"
Williamson said. "Those who receive
assistance must provide $600 worth of
labor, and they have to pay for the
building materials."
To help pay for the materials, Habitat
provides the future homeowners with a
$35,000 no-profit, no-interest loan.
The campus chapters provide sup
port by publicizing the need for ad
equate housing and by raising funds.
from page 1
That was Monday at 6 p.m., and no
one ever filed."
NickFranzese, 1991 Elections Board
chairman, said the Abner-Lumsden case
could not progress to the Student Su
preme Court because the statute of limi
tations to file a case had expired, and
Bracey already had approved the peti
tions when the original complaint was
filed.
Franzese said he thought the cases
against Moore should be under the ju
risdiction of the Honor Court. "Karen is
willing to testify, and if someone forged
her name, they're guilty," he said. "Can
didates are supposed to be responsible
for their campaign (workers), so does
that mean Tim is guilty, too?"-
Bracey should look into the cases, so
he can make a recommendation to the
Honor Court, Franzese said. "He's say
ing since the petition is approved that
supersedes everything else. But my
understanding is that if you forge a
signature, it's an Honor Court viola
tion. It's lying."
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