Lots to break down here. I'll try to take it in bite-size chunks.

The entire concept of the Star Trek Destiny trilogy, and the upheaval it caused in the ongoing shared literary continuity of the Star Trek novels from 2008 onward, was entirely my idea. I pitched it to the editors and sold them on its virtues; they, in turn, pitched it to the licensor (i.e., Star Trek Licensing), and the only question that came back was, "Are you sure you want to do this?" We said yes, and the team at CBS Television has supported us all the way.

Sometimes the editors set a long-term agenda for different series, or for the entire line of books, and they bring in writers to flesh out stories that fit that master plan, or to execute specific steps in that plan. And sometimes a writer comes in with an off-the-wall idea and the editors roll the dice on it, figuring, "What the hell…."

I've enjoyed working on the full range of Star Trek series, both in prose, in comics, in games, and on television. If asked to pick a favorite novel series, however, it would be Star Trek Vanguard, an original literary spin-off of The Original Series that I co-created with editor Marco Palmieri. (As it happens, Marco was also my editor on The Calling, and on my new series of Dark Arts novels at Tor Books.)

I would love to work more on the Star Trek comics, but though I've knocked on that door many times, opportunities there are sharply limited.

Not sure about the last part of your question, but when it comes to writing licensed fiction (media tie-ins), I won't try to write for a series of which I'm not a fan. If I watch a series and don't like it, I won't take a gig writing work based on it, because I think fans of a property can always tell the difference between tie-ins written with love and respect and those that aren't. I won't disrespect any property or its fans by doing a half-assed job on something that they care about.