Join us for another in a series of interviews with winners of awards from our 2023 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 Wyatt Ral playing a Human/Betazoid assistant chief of engineering assigned to the USS Astraeus. He won the Phoenix Award for Engineering:
This is awarded to Engineering officers who continue a tradition of excellence in the field of engineering. Named for the vessel that legendary engineer Zefram Cochrane piloted during his historic first warp flight. The award is given to those who perform their tasks with enthusiasm, imagination and diligence,, make their equipment perform above and beyond its rated capacities, and d further the mission of their ship. In short, they are our fleet miracle workers.
Nilsen: Tell us a little about the writer behind the character — where in the world do you hail from?
Ral: My name is Jason and I currently live in the North East of England. I work for a bank as a business analyst and luckily get to work from home since the pandemic.
Nilsen: I think we all love to indulge in a bit of technobabble and from what I’ve read, you’re a master of it. What makes good technobabble?
Ral: I think you have to try and mix it up with a little bit of reality.
If you can inject a bit of real science into the tech elements it sounds more believable. And of course, making sure you study up on your topic at Memory Alpha always helps.
Nilsen: You were also commended for how you can be relied upon to drive the plot forward. Can you describe what you like to do to drive the plot forward and share any tips with our readers?
Ral: I like to try and mix it up a bit and introduce new avenues into the narrative. You’ve got to keep your other crew members on their feet after all. I always enjoy the way my fellow simmers on the Astraeus will pick up on a plot twist and go with it.
Nilsen: What advice would you give your fellow engineers looking to improve their simming?
Ral: If you have an idea, go with it. Ensure you make full use of the resources available, such as Memory Alpha, to make your technobabble believable and make it as enjoyable for your fellow crew members as it is for you.
Nilsen: What are your future plans for Wyatt Ral?
Ral: Well, Wyatt has just been promoted to Lieutenant and been given the Assistant Chief Engineer role (thank you Zeph 
) aboard the Astraeus so I think he needs to settle into that role for a while before expanding my horizons further. He’s also still on the look out for a love interest so we’ll see what fate brings along.
Thanks for your time, Lieutenant Ral
