Join us for another in a series of interviews with winners of awards from our 2024 Awards Ceremony. Our goal is to give you insight into how our fleet’s best simmers write, and imagine their characters as well as their out of character contributions and achievements.
This month we’re interviewing the writer behind Lieutenant Talia Ohnari playing a female Haliian Medical Officer assigned to the USS Khitomer. She won the Prestigious Service Medallion – Medical: “Awarded to members in the fleet who are steady and unwavering from their chosen Duty Post.”
Matthews: First of all, congratulations on winning the Prestigious Service Medallion! I’m sure it must mean a lot. Why don’t you tell us a little about the writer behind the character — where in the world do you hail from?
Ohnari: Thank you so much!! I was extremely honored and may or may not (totally did) tear up a little. My name is Roxanna, I live in Ohio with my husband and two kids plus bonus teen (son’s partner) in our chaotic land of midwest flavored nerd.
Before joining SB118, what were your favourite Star Trek movies and/or shows? Has being a part of all this changed the way you view Star Trek content?
Always TNG, it was my jumping point, thanks to my best friend. Although I adore Strange New Worlds, and I am this close to getting my husband into Trek based off SNW and Lower Decks.
What do you take inspiration from when you’re writing your character?
Honestly I find inspiration from a bit of everything. Mainly I will have a outline of the type of character I want to write, and invariably it changes and morphs as the missions go on, for example I never planned to have Talia be super into prosthetic limbs, but after a chance encounter in a chopshop, it’s kind of taken a life of its own, and timing seemed great since somehow everyone seems to be a limb down right about now…
So, you’re closing in on your three year anniversary with Lieutenant Ohnari in SB118. What has been your favourite part of being with the community up to now?
I’ve always loved the collaboration. You can have an idea in your head for how a mission is going to go, but you never know what another writer is going to bring to the table. What you expect to be a routine medical exam turns into an anaphylactic reaction that turns the exam on its head and ends with a bit of a morbid bonding experience between Ensigns.
Looking back on your experience so far, what would be the one piece of advice you’d give to anyone who has just joined the Fleet? Especially for those walking the Medical path.
It can be daunting, with all the advanced medical care. Writing the line between “This advancement makes sense” to that’s straight up science fiction maybe dial it back a tick is a balance. I personally review existing treatment ideas and then compare to the Memory Alpha list and see if it makes sense. I also reach out to fellow writers to get their opinions if I feel I am pushing the boundaries of believability. My biggest piece of advice is to remember it is supposed to be fun. Enjoy it, if you are starting to get overwhelmed or stressed, take a breath, and ask is this still fun for me? Sometimes it helps reset my mindset and takes a bit of the pressure off.
Finally, where do you see yourself going within the Fleet? Both in character and out of character — is there anything you have planned for Talia in the future or would you be interested in joining any of the OOC groups?
Well, I’ve just been promoted to Lieutenant Commander, which was unexpected and lovely. I have leaned into mentoring, a very long time ago on my original character, I did some FNS recordings for the news team which was loads of fun. I would love to be a part of the training team once my schedule allows. I love how much more there is offered to writers with the OOC groups, it’s really a lovely family we’ve all joined.
Thanks for your time, Lieutenant Ohnari!
You can read more about Lieutenant Talia Ohnari on the Wiki, here.