Killing Time (Star Trek tie-in novel)

Killing Time is a science fiction novel -- in response to many years of fannish complaints about how horrible professionally published Star Trek books were and the fans could do it better, Della Van Hise (a prolific K/S slash writer and experienced fanzine editor and publisher) sold her manuscript for Pocket Books in 1982, as told to fans in December."On a brighter note, I've just had a novel accepted for publication by POCKETBOOKS - and am going to use the $$$ from that "to finish printing NT4/5,- 'Killing Time', and get the whole mass of it mailed out. So far, however, the publishing company hasn't forked over the $$$, so I can't be sure how soon that'll be. At my rate, it's something to look forward to - for all of us." -- from In regards to the rumors - I'm not surprised that they're circulating... (December 1982) The book was published in 1985 as a Star Trek tie-in novel. 
The original manuscript had Kirk/Spock slash fiction elements, and these were requested to be removed by Paramount. However, they were not removed, and 250,000 copies were printed. These romantic undertones between Spock and James T. Kirk were brought to the attention of the office of the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, who made Pocket Books recall the first edition. This edition subsequently became a collector's item, with more than fifty changes made to a revised version.
See List of Star Trek TOS Pro Books with Fan Connections for other titles.
==Book Summary==
From the book: "A Romulan time-tampering project leaves the Enterprise (and the rest of the galaxy) in an alternate dimension, where Kirk is an embittered young ensign and Spock is a besieged starship commander. Together they race to escape the plotting Romulans and return to their original timeline, before the unforeseen effects of the Romulan project destroy the galaxy."
==The Rumored K/S Version==
According to Gene Roddenberry's assistant, Richard Arnold, Roddenberry "received a letter from a woman who felt the book suggested a homoerotic relationship between Kirk and Spock... Following complaints from Roddenberry, the original version of the novel was recalled. The corrected version ended up in stores soon afterwards. Reputedly, there are over fifty changes from the first version to the revised version." from "Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion" by Jeff Ayers (2006) 
In August 1985, the editor of Interstat wrote: 
In September 1985, Teresa Nielsen Hayden summarized how there happened to be two editions to this book, though she very incorrectly misidentifies the author: 
There had been ongoing debate as to whether a K/S version of the novel even existed. According to TV Tropes:
An example of this debate can be found on the Orion Press website:
=="Killing Time": The Fanzine==
Some fans believe that the pro novel started out as a proposal for a zine.
In 1981, a fanzine titled "Killing Time" was listed "In the Planning Stages" (to be available in early Fall 1981) in Datazine #12, and an expanded ad was placed in 1983 in T'hy'la #2.
In K/S Relay #4, there was a full-page ad which said the zine was "expected Summer '82."
This fanzine was eventually retitled Time Out of Mind and sold in that form.
In 2012, one of the authors of Time Out of Mind clarified the relationship between the two works: "The fan novel [Time Out of Mind] is its own creation with its own cast of characters, none of which appear in "Killing Time." It was written before the novel "Killing Time."... Never was "Time Out Of Mind" even a template for the pro novel...."Time Out of Mind" was simply another, separate time travel story.”November 26, 2012 e-mail to Fanlore from Nathan St. Germaine.
From the 1981 Datazine #12 ad for the zine "Killing Time":
From the 1982 K/S Relay #4 ad for the zine "Killing Time": 
An excerpt from a flyer: 
For more on this subject, see Time Out of Mind.
==The Plot of Killing Time: The Book==
The novel is classic fanfic, concerning a Romulan plot to travel back in time and change history. This results in an alternate universe. The Romulans murdered the people who would have established the Federation, but an Alliance was formed instead. It's dominated by Vulcans instead of Terrans and the Enterprise is now the ShiKahr. Many people, including key Alliance personnel, are losing their minds as a result of the altered timestreams. Meanwhile, the Romulan Praetor decides to negotiate for peace, hoping to affect both the original and altered timelines. Here, Spock is the captain of the ShiKahr and Kirk is a drug-addicted ensign who was drafted into the service after being wrongly convicted of murder. There's massive amounts of angst on the part of both misplaced men.
A few quotes from the original printing show that the subtext was barely sub:
==Differences Between Editions==
From ISFDB says "A quick comparison of the first and last 50 pages between the first Canadian edition [not embossed] and the first US edition [embossed] shows no differences in text. By the fourth printing a section of text on page 41 had been completely excised."
In an undated explanation, one fan writes: 
A fan in 1986 offered up this summary: 
In 1987, a fan offered line by line comparisons between the two editions in issue #5 of On the Double."To all who enter here: 
Later printings of the novel removed the most obvious slashiness, though plenty still remains.
Read Homoerotic Star Trek Novel "Killing Time" - uncensored vs. censored by lexx-the-flex at LiveJournal to see the differences in the editions.
===The Different Editions: A Quick Field Guide===
From a 2015 eBay seller: "I had a copy of the "revised" book when it came out, and it had blank spaces in the printing that showed where the original parts were taken out. It was rather weird to see this."
Numerous covers can be found when purchasing a copy of the tie-in novel, with slight subtle differences in the typography and color of the cover title, as well as the colors used on it. Below are three variants:
	
For more covers see isfdb's killing time covers page.
Some quick text checks to know if you have the original, uncensored edition:
: 1. The book is printed in July 1985 with the ISBN 0-671-52488-7 (any different date or code indicates a new version)
: 2. The letters on the cover are embossed and golden
: 3. Page 41 has a paragraph that contains the sentence “I understand that you were probably playing with dolls and wearing lipstick until you were twenty!”
==Killing Time's Author Comments on the Different Editions==
===1985===
In October/November 1985, the author explained why there may be different versions of the novel:
===1986===
The author wrote an open letter in April 1986 that was published in Interstat—see Open Letter by Della Van Hise Regarding "Killing Time"—an excerpt: 
From Della Van Hise in K/S - A Personal Experience, published in Naked Times #10, June 1986:
===2011===
In a 2011 interview Della explains:
===2014===
From Della Van Hise's blog:
 
==The Author Sells Copies of the First Edition==
Starting in 1987, the author began selling copies of the novel’s first printing in fan published adzines.
A 1987 ad in Datazine #50:
A 1987 ad in Communications Console #4:
In 1988, the author began offering copies of the original manuscript. From an ad in On the Double #8:
==Some Academic and Press Commentary==
In September 1985, Teresa Nielsen Hayden wrote a letter to Ansible in which she gets a lot of things wrong, one of them citing the author as Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath: 
This novel is discussed at length in From Slash to the Mainstream: Female Writers and Gender Blending Men (2005) by Elizabeth Woledge. In it, she describes Killing Time as "erotic but not sexual" and said that Spock and Kirk both "combine masculine and feminine imagery," and that it was not the romantic overtones that caused reactions from fans, but rather gender-blending.
This novel was also the subject of a 2013 essay at Tor.com by Ellen Cheeseman-Meyer. See Spock Loves Kirk. Love, Della Van Hise: A Careful Consideration of Killing Time.
And in 2018, we have this version of the story, attributing the "deletion of slash elements" business to Roddenberry and not Paramount:
From an anonymous, undated online essay exploring what should and shouldn't be considered canon in the Star Trek universe: 
==Reactions and Reviews==
===Unknown Date===
From Della Van Hise's website:
===1985===
 
 
 
 
===1986===
Star Trek pro book writer A.C. Crispin wrote (February 1986): 
Linda S wrote (February 1986): 
T'Purr wrote (Feb-Mar 1986): 
 
Regina M wrote (March 1986): 
Mary F. G wrote (May 1986): 
Michele A wrote (May 1986): 
A.C. Crispin (May 1986) commented on comments she made in February 1986: 
Ann C wrote (June 1986): 
Jan M. M wrote (August 1986): 
Kristen Brady wrote (1986 in Universal Translator #30 and posted years later to Orion Press): 
===1987===
A fan commented on the lack of K/S in the book, and the author of the book responds (1987):
Also in 1987, the fan who prepared a line by line comparison of the changes made between the first and later editions commented:
===1988===
Surreysmum wrote (wrote in 1988, posted in 2010): 
===1989===
Michael Zachayus wrote (1989): 
Joyce Devlin wrote (1989): 
===1990===
Admiral Keel zantai-K'tari, a fan: 
===1991===
A fan wrote (1991): 
===1992===
Camille Bacon-Smith examined the fandom communities reaction to the novel in her book Enterprising Women (1992):
===1996===
In her book Boldly Writing (1996), Joan Marie Verba offered her memories of the novel, and of fan reactions in Interstat:
===1999===
===2001===
mattb123 wrote (2001): 
Rabbi Yonassan Gershom wrote (2001): 
===2003===
Hypatia Kosh (2003): 
Hypatia Kosh (2003): 
===2004===
A fan expressed puzzlement over the two versions of the book (2004):
===2006===
Zauberlehrling! wrote (2006): 
===2008===
===2009===
A fan discussed and reviewed the book (2009):
A fan artist was inspired by the novel (and the discussions surrounding the novel) to draw art pointing out some of the parallels between the 1985 novel and the newly released Star Trek (2009) movie (2009): 
A fan in 2009 wrote: 
Charles wrote (2009): 
delmarsdoll wrote (2009): 
===2010===
Mrs. J. Proctor wrote (2010): 
Natasha wrote (2010): 
sabotenda wrote (2010): 
likesharkteeth wrote (2010): 
slashshipper wrote (2010): 
eliyes wrote (2010): 
daphnie 1 wrote (2010): 
coeurdesoleil wrote (2010): 
klangley56 wrote (2010): 
===2012===
A tumblr post, one fan lamented (2012):
A Trek writer Nathan St. Germaine (one of Della Van Hise's (the author of the the book) pseuds) offered a take on rumors regarding the novel (2012):
===2013===
===2017===
===2019===
===2021===
===2023===
==External links==
* Star Trek: The Lost Books
* Killing Time's entry on Memory Beta
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Kirk/Spock
Category:Star Trek TOS Professional Works‏‎
Category:Scandals
Category:2018 Featured Articles