J. G. Hertzler (Martok) has spoken about his upcoming novel that focuses primarily on his Deep Space Nine character.

"[It's] very dark," he told Paul T. Semones at Library of the Prophets. "It pertains mostly to Martok's distrust and self-doubt of himself, being born in garbage dumps, out of the Ketha Lowlands."

Hertzler explained his thoughts behind where Martok originated. "I make them sort of akin to the garbage dumps around Mexico City," he said. "When [senior pocket books editor Marco Palmieri] first conceived the idea of the books being about Martok, in his mind the Ketha Lowlands were just sort of a low rent neighborhood. I said, let's go way beyond that, let's make them the garbage heaps of Mexico. That would give the man two things: first, an incredible journey to get to be Chancellor of the Empire from that beginning, and second, the possibility of immense self-doubt once he gets there because he has no business doing what he's doing—look where I come from. So he's filled with that."

He also revealed we'd be learning a bit about Martok's chilhood through flashbacks. "Just a little, but it's important," he said. "They're in crucial situations where there's an immense event happening, and he goes back to that childhood. But you know what's happening in the background, so you know this journey back can't take very long."

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The full interview, where Hertzler also reflects on DS9 and gives his views on the Iraq war, can be found here at Library of the Prophets.

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