User:Etoile

A fan of Star Trek since about the age of 12, Etoile was acquainted as a preteen with Trek writers including Marc Okrand and Howard Weinstein, with Trek comic inker Arne Starr, and with other sci-fi notables such as Joe Straczynski. She collected numerous action figures (and took them out of the boxes!), books, and trading cards. She also became caretaker for her mother's collection of literature from the original series, including Chekov's Enterprise and the original hardcover technical manual. She attended conventions featuring John de Lancie and George Takei and was a member of the USS Trition, a ship in SFI.

Etoile's participation in fandom waned throughout high school and college, but she was still a fan of the shows themselves. In 2002 or so, she rejoined SFI and attended a USS Athena meeting where her skill with sign language was noted. She was asked to serve as interpreter for the Shore Leave convention in 2002, and subsequently became a professional interpreter. She returned to Shore Leave in 2003 and 2004, and in 2005 began interpreting for the Farpoint convention as well. She very much enjoys the opportunity to participate in the production of these events.

In her free time, Etoile enjoys blogging (her website is Amanita.net), geocaching, and textile arts. She lives in Northern Virginia with her wife of 10 years.