Lora Johnson

Lora Johnson (credited as Shane Johnson) is a novelist, author, and technical graphics artist who has written and illustrated several Star Trek reference books.
A "Trekkie" from the moment made its resurgence in syndication, Johnson got her start in the Star Trek universe by creating fanon blueprints and schematics before being hired by firstly Pocket Books and subsequently by Starlog Press for her licensed works, all of which written around the time of , , and the relaunch of the television franchise with .
A huge fan of Franz Joseph's Star Trek Blueprints, as were so many fans of the era, Johnson approached Pocket Books in 1985 with a proposal to do a similar set based on the refit-. The publisher declined, but countered with the offer to do a book instead, which eventually led to her first officially commissioned Star Trek title, Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, to be followed by three later ones.
Johnson was already a personal friend of Original Series performer Walter Koenig, and who introduced her to various other Star Trek alumni when writing her first commissioned title. 
== Career ==
Hailing from Texas, Johnson was, aside from being a science fiction fan, also deeply invested in real world spaceflight, those conducted by NASA in particular. All of her work created in the first part of her career concerned itself with either one of these subjects such as the 2002 novel Ice, which dealt with mishap on the fictional Apollo 19. A major project Johnson was involved with was the 1998 documentary series , serving as spaceflight historian and design consultant.
In the field of science fiction, for the Star Wars franchise she has created several works akin to the ones she had created for Star Trek, predominantly published by Starlog Press and Del Rey, and of which the 1995 Star Wars: Technical Journal, modeled after the earlier Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Journal, was one of the more notable ones.
In later life, Christian themes started to play a larger part in her life, which became exemplified by her 2003 novel Chayatocha, winning her the "Best of 2003 in Literature Award" from Christian Fiction Review magazine.
In 2008, pursuant life-threatening health issues, Johnson dropped out of the public eye. Born male, she later resurfaced as female as Lora. Prior to her gender transition, Johnson was married and father to a son. 
== Bibliography ==
*Weapons and Field Equipment Technical Reference Manual, June 1984; Unlicensed fan publication published by the Arlington, Texas-based The Noron Group. Aside from those featured in Star Trek, which takes up about half the book, attention is also given to the handheld equipment featured in the Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Space 1999 franchises.
*Blueprinting The Science Fiction Universes, March 1985; Featuring a foreword by personal friend and Star Trek alumnus Walter Koenig, the book covers several science fiction franchises, including . Essentially a fan publication as well, it was nonetheless picked up by the Schuster & Schuster publishing conglomerate for formal publication under its "New Media Books" imprint.
*Star Fleet Uniform Recognition Manual, 1985; Written and illustrated before the July 1987 title, and like the previous title essentially an unlicensed fan publication released by the same publisher. Still, in retrospect this work became a companion tome for the 1987 title, as parts, though not all of it, were ported over to that work.
*Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, July 1987
*The Worlds of the Federation, August 1989
*Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Journal, June 1992
== External links ==
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de:Shane Johnson
Category:Star Trek reference authors
Category:Star Trek reference artists