Duty Post Award Winner – Mirra Ezo, USS Columbia (Lwaxana Troi Medallion)

StarBase 118 Staff · February 3, 2019

Join us for another in a series of interviews with winners of Duty Post awards from our recent 2018 Awards Ceremony. Our goal is to give you insight into how our fleet’s best simmers write, and imagine their characters.

This month we’re interviewing the writer behind Lieutenant Commander Mirra Ezo playing a Betazoid female diplomatic officer assigned to the USS Columbia. She won the Lwaxana Troi Medallion: “This award is given to a member who takes on a unique and non-traditional role outside of the normal Starfleet positions, while creating a colorful and engaging character such as, but not limited to: diplomat, civilian or mission specialist.”

GALVEN: First off, thank you for taking the time with me and answering a few questions! Could you tell us a little about yourself for our readers out there?

EZO: Thank you for having me! I’ve been a member of the fleet for about 3 years now, I live in Ohio with my two daughters, and I work in the healthcare field. Pretty much very un-Mirra like.

Winning such a distinguished award in our community must be a great feeling! Congratulations by the way! The award is given to a member who’s character is colorful and engaging outside of normal Starfleet positions. Do you take any inspiration from films, television, or books when writing your character and her actions?

Thank you very much, I was honored. Honestly Mirra just kind of lives in my head. I had an idea of what I wanted to play, and she kind of just became this larger than life little creation. I primarily played her as a doctor, so I did indeed take inspiration from TV and books for someone in that high pressure type role. And if I found something funny, I went with it.

Captain Theo Whittaker mentioned in his presentation that Mirra has a larger than life personality and is known for her sassy mouth. Could you explain more what he means by that and how has it improved her character development?

Actually it’s funny you should mention that, I never really thought of Mirra as all that sassy until she met Theo, and by proxy his creation Chennel, may she rest in infamy. I would find myself saying out loud the sarcastic responses to the outlandish villain and decided to write them in. It feel more natural, writing Mirra saying things I myself would say. Although, she is far less tactful than I try to be in my everyday life. She’s kind of my guilty pleasure outlet, able to say all the sassy quips at will. Although she isn’t mean about it, unless she’s shot at.

Your character has had three different duty post assignments in her career. Which one has been your favorite to sim so far?

I actually started in Science, and hats off to the amazing writers who play science officers, I was absolutely abysmal at it. I then moved to medical, which was my prime choice and by far my favorite. I enjoyed writing her as a doctor, as well as taking a very protective, almost maternal role in her duties, which made for some fun writing. However, in diplomacy I started it as a long running joke, considering her mouth, she shouldn’t be in peace talks, but as time progresses I’m actually really enjoying it and having to navigate the duty post right along with her. I’m really having fun with it and am enjoying it immensely.

Captain Whittaker also mentioned that from the moment Mirra confronted the Hur’Q leader on Arndall, he knew that they were in for something very special. What kind of diplomatic examples does Mirra use?

I kind of invision her as the reverse diplomat. Most of the time, when you picture a diplomat you see a very formal, albeit stuffy type person. That is far from Mirra. She is passionate, she is endearing, she is genuine, what she isn’t, is placid and fake. She can get heated, she can get frightened, and she can make things an actual conversation, and less like a “Terms of agreement” letter. Although, in the case of the Hur’Q leader, she was mainly trying to be a distraction in a “Let’s avoid getting blown up” sort of way.

And finally, what advice can you give the readers in creating a larger than life character and want to take on a unique role outside of the normal Starfleet positions such as diplomatic officer?

My biggest policy has always been: Don’t take it too seriously. It’s fun, it’s fluid. Yes, we all put in a lot of work and effort into our little fictional beings, but don’t forget to have fun. Laugh once and awhile, make them look awkward and a bit silly, let them be more three dimensional. One of my favorite things to write is Mirra failing at something and trying her very best to make the most of it. No one being is perfect all the time, which is why each person is unique. So have fun, if it sounds good to you (and it’s plausible) just go with it.

Thanks for your time, Lieutenant Commander Mirra Ezo!

You can read more about Lieutenant Commander Mirra Ezo on the wiki.

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