Editing David Gerrold

{{Short description|American screenwriter and novelist (born 1944)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox writer
| name        = David Gerrold
| image       = David Gerrold 2016 (cropped).jpg
| caption     = Gerrold in 2016
| birth_name  = Jerrold David Friedman
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1944|1|24|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| occupation  = {{flatlist|
* Writer
* author
* screenwriter
}}
| genre = Science fiction, film, television
| years_active = 1966–present
| website     = {{URL|gerrold.com}}
}}

'''David Gerrold''' (born '''Jerrold David Friedman''';<ref>''[[Again, Dangerous Visions]]'', edited by Harlan Ellison, Introduction to the story "With a Finger in My I"</ref> January 24, 1944)<ref name=Reginald>Reginald, R. (September 12, 2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=L25ycEzuXxIC&pg=PA911 ''Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Volume 2'']. Borgo Press p. 911. Archived at [[Google Books]]. Retrieved June 23, 2013.</ref><ref>[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/david_gerrold_ii/ "David Gerrold (II)"]. [[Rotten Tomatoes]]. Retrieved June 23, 2013.</ref><ref>Harden, Don; Farley, Tim (April 1984). [http://www.orionpressfanzines.com/interviews/blochandgerrold.htm "An Interview with Robert Bloch & David Gerrold"]. Sensor Readings 1. Orion Press. Retrieved June 23, 2013.</ref> is an American science fiction screenwriter and novelist. He wrote the script for the original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' episode "[[The Trouble with Tribbles]]", created the Sleestak race on the TV series ''[[Land of the Lost (1974 TV series)|Land of the Lost]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/articles/dg1.cfm|title=David Gerrold Interview – Part 1|first=David|last=Lambert|publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com|date=July 26, 2004|access-date=24 September 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102190412/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/articles/dg1.cfm|archive-date=January 2, 2016}}</ref> and wrote the [[Novella|novelette]] "[[The Martian Child]]", which won both [[Hugo Award|Hugo]] and [[Nebula Award]]s, and was adapted into [[Martian Child|a 2007 film]] starring [[John Cusack]].

== Early life ==
Gerrold was born to a [[American Jews|Jewish]] family<ref>[http://www.jewishjournal.com/geekheeb/item/top_5_jewish_moments_in_trek_20090507/ Jewish Journal: "Top 5 Jewish moments in ‘Trek’" by Adam Wills] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009175458/http://www.jewishjournal.com/geekheeb/item/top_5_jewish_moments_in_trek_20090507 |date=October 9, 2016 }} May 7, 2009</ref> on January 24, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois.<ref name=Reginald/> He attended [[Van Nuys High School]] and graduated from [[Grant High School (Los Angeles)|Ulysses S. Grant High School]] in its first graduating class, [[Los Angeles Valley College]], and [[San Fernando Valley State College]] (now [[California State University, Northridge]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Gerrold |first=David |date=1973 |title=The Trouble with Tribbles |location=New York |publisher=Ballantine Books |pages=5, 8, 12 }}</ref>

==Career==
=== ''Star Trek'' ===
==== ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' ====
{{main|Star Trek: The Original Series}}
Within days of seeing the ''Star Trek'' series premiere "[[The Man Trap]]" on September 8, 1966, 22-year-old Gerrold<ref>Hanley, Jr., John. [http://www.findingmywaymovie.com/davidgerrold.html "David Gerrold Interview"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130110222744/http://www.findingmywaymovie.com/davidgerrold.html |date=January 10, 2013 }}. Finding My Way: Wisdom of the Ages for All Ages. Retrieved June 23, 2013.</ref> wrote a 60-page outline for a two-part episode called "Tomorrow Was Yesterday" about the ''Enterprise'' discovering a ship launched from Earth centuries earlier. Although ''Star Trek'' producer [[Gene L. Coon]] rejected the outline, he realized Gerrold was talented and expressed interest in his submitting some story premises. Bearing preliminary titles and, in some cases, preliminary character names, Gerrold submitted five premises.<ref>David Gerrold, ''The Trouble with Tribbles''</ref>

Two of the submissions of which he later had little recollection involved a spaceship-destroying machine, similar to Norman Spinrad's "[[The Doomsday Machine (Star Trek: The Original Series)|The Doomsday Machine]]", and a situation in which Kirk had to play a chess game with an advanced intelligence using his crew as chess pieces. A third premise, "Bandi", involved a small being running about the ''Enterprise'' as someone's pet, and which empathically sways the crew's feelings and emotions to comfort it, even at someone else's expense.

A fourth premise, "The Protracted Man", applied science fiction to an effect seen in ''[[West Side Story (1961 film)|West Side Story]]'', when Maria twirls in her dancing dress and the colours separate. Gerrold's story involved a man transported from a shuttlecraft trying out a new space warp technology. The man is no longer unified, separating into three visible forms when he moves, separated by a fraction of a second. As efforts are undertaken to correct the condition and move the ''Enterprise'' to where corrective action can be taken, the protraction worsens.

{{rquote|right|<poem>Since I first wrote that damn script for Gene
And the electrical picture machine
Tribbles have chased their creator
From here to [[Decatur, Georgia|Decatur]].
Nobody knows of the tribbles I've seen.</poem>|David Gerrold<ref name="bbcgerrold">{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/interviews/gerrold/printpage.html | title=David Gerrold – The Trouble with Tribbles writer | publisher=BBC | access-date=May 7, 2011}}</ref>}}

The fifth premise, "The Fuzzies", was also initially rejected by Coon, but a while later he changed his mind and called Gerrold's agent to accept it. Gerrold then expanded the story to a full television story outline entitled "A Fuzzy Thing Happened to Me...", and it eventually became "The Trouble with Tribbles". The name "Fuzzy" was changed because [[H. Beam Piper]] had written novels about a fictional alien species of the same name (see ''[[Little Fuzzy]]''). The script went through numerous rewrites, including, at the insistence of Gerrold's agent, being re-set in a stock frontier town instead of an "expensive" space station. Gerrold later wrote a book, ''The Trouble with Tribbles'', telling the story of producing the episode and his earlier premises.

"[[The Cloud Minders]]" from the third season has a story credited to Gerrold and [[Oliver Crawford]].

<blockquote>I came in with what I thought was a near-perfect Star Trek story, which is we find a culture that isn't working for everybody and fix it. But my original ending was that, as they're flying off, [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]] says, "Well, we solved another one." [[Spock]] says, "Well, actually, it'll take years and years and years for all of these changes to be put in place." And [[Leonard McCoy|McCoy]] says, "I wonder how many children are going to die in the meantime." So the idea was, "Let's get gritty. We're not going to change things overnight, but we can put changes in place that will have long-term effects." There was also more to the story that was about the social issue, and there was no magical zenite gas that was causing the problem. [[Fred Freiberger|Freddy Freiberger]] and [[Margaret Armen]] came in and changed it to a "Let's solve it all in the last five minutes with gas masks" (ending). And I thought, "That's really not a very good story. It doesn't do what [[Gene Roddenberry]] or [[Gene L. Coon]] would have been willing to do." So I was disappointed.<ref name=Gerrold>[http://www.startrek.com/article/trek-writer-david-gerrold-looks-back-part-1 Trek Writer David Gerrold Looks Back – Part 1]</ref></blockquote>

''The Trouble with Tribbles'' was one of two books Gerrold wrote about ''Star Trek'' in the early 1970s after the original series had been canceled. His other was an analysis of the series, entitled ''The World of Star Trek'', in which he criticized some of the elements of the show, particularly Kirk's habit of placing himself in dangerous situations and leading landing parties himself.

====''Star Trek: The Animated Series''====
{{main|Star Trek: The Animated Series}}
Gerrold contributed two stories for the [[Emmy Award]]-winning ''[[Star Trek: The Animated Series]]'' which ran from 1973 to 1974: "[[More Tribbles, More Troubles]]" and "[[Bem (Star Trek: The Animated Series)|Bem]]". "Bem" featured the first use of James T. Kirk's middle name, which was revealed to be Tiberius. This was later entered into live-action canon in the movie ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country]]'' when Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy are on trial for the death of the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon.

====''Star Trek: The Next Generation''====
{{main|Star Trek: The Next Generation}}
Many of the changes Gerrold had advocated in ''The World of Star Trek'' were incorporated into ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' when it debuted in 1987. He parted company with the producers at the beginning of the first season.

Gerrold wrote a script for ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' entitled "[[Blood and Fire (Star Trek)|Blood and Fire]]", which included an AIDS metaphor and a gay couple in the ship's crew. Gerrold wrote this script in response to being with Roddenberry at a convention in 1987 where he had promised that the upcoming ''Next Generation'' series would deal with the issue of [[sexual orientation]] in the egalitarian future. The script was purchased by the TNG producers, but eventually shelved. He later reworked the story into the third book in the ''[[Star Wolf (David Gerrold)|Star Wolf]]'' series (see below) and again as a two-part episode of the fan-produced ''[[Star Trek: New Voyages]]'', which he also directed.<ref>[http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/?p=15 "June Shoot Features Return of David Gerrold"]. ''[[Star Trek: Phase II (fan series)|Star Trek: Phase II]]''. January 31, 2010.</ref>

====Other ''Trek'' involvement====
Gerrold had wanted to appear onscreen in an episode of ''Star Trek'', particularly "The Trouble with Tribbles". The character of Ensign Freeman, who appears in the bar scene with the Klingons, was originally intended by Gerrold to be a walk-on part for himself, however another actor took the role since Gerrold was deemed too thin at the time. He also had an [[in-joke]] cameo of sorts in ''[[Star Trek The Animated Series]]'': "More Tribbles, More Troubles" where a very thin Ensign is told to seal off the transporter room area by Kirk. Gerrold also provided the voice for alien Em/3/Green in "The Jihad". While Gerrold appeared as a crewman extra with other Trek fandom notables in ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'', he did not appear in a Trek series until ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', when he played a security guard in "[[Trials and Tribble-ations (DS9 episode)|Trials and Tribble-ations]]", set during the timeframe of his original episode.

Gerrold wrote a novelization of the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' series premiere "[[Encounter at Farpoint]]", published in 1987, and an original ''Star Trek'' novel titled ''The Galactic Whirlpool'', published in 1980, which was based on his story outline "Tomorrow Was Yesterday". In 2006, for the 40th anniversary of ''Star Trek,'' he co-edited, with [[Robert J. Sawyer]], an essay collection titled ''Boarding the "Enterprise"''.

Gerrold acted as a series consultant for fan-produced series ''Star Trek: New Voyages'' and ''Star Trek: Phase II'' starting in 2006. In June 2013 he was named [[showrunner]] of the series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/?p=3443|title=Startreknewvoyages.com}}</ref>

===Early science fiction novels===
His science fiction novels include ''[[The Man Who Folded Himself]]'' (1973), about a man who inherits a time-travel belt, and ''[[When HARLIE Was One]]'' (1972), the story of an [[artificial intelligence]]'s relationship with his creators. ''When HARLIE Was One'' was nominated for best novel for both the [[Hugo Award]] and the [[Nebula Award]].  This novel is notable for being one of the first to describe a [[computer virus]].  A revised edition, entitled ''When HARLIE Was One, Release 2.0'', was published in 1988, incorporating new insights and reflecting new developments in [[computer science]].

=== ''The War Against the Chtorr'' ===
{{Main|The War Against the Chtorr}}

Gerrold is the author of the ''[[War Against the Chtorr]]'' series of books, about an invasion of Earth by mysterious aliens: ''A Matter for Men'' (1983), ''A Day for Damnation'' (1985), ''A Rage for Revenge'' (1989), and ''A Season for Slaughter'' (1993). He eventually announced that what was initially supposed to be a trilogy would in fact require seven books.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gerrold.com/chtorr-index.htm |title=The War Against the Chtorr |publisher=gerrold.com |access-date=April 8, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517061554/http://www.gerrold.com/chtorr-index.htm |archive-date=May 17, 2014 }}</ref> In approximately 2010 Gerrold was reputed to have a considerable amount of work completed on the remainder of the series, and the fifth book, ''A Method for Madness'', was listed on Amazon with a publication date. The publication date has been updated several times since; the last was January 1, 2014.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Method for Madness |date=November 2012 |publisher=Amazon |isbn = 978-0765340382}}</ref> At that time the remaining books in the series were tentatively titled ''A Method For Madness'', ''A Time For Treason'', and ''A Case For Courage''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.iswintercoming.com/david-gerrold-t1658.html|title=Is Winter Coming?: blog post enumerating published and tentative Chtorr series titles|access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref> In 2017, he announced that the fifth book, now tentatively titled ''A Nest for Nightmares'', and the sixth book, ''A Method For Madness'', are nearing completion, over two decades after the last book came out.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/david.gerrold/posts/10210892332156677 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/1003624962/10210892332156677 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|title=David Gerrold Facebook Timeline |last=Gerrold |first=David |publisher=Facebook |access-date=17 March 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2019}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/david.gerrold/posts/10210882475190259  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/1003624962/10210882475190259 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|title=David Gerrold Facebook timeline |last=Gerrold |first=David |publisher=Facebook |access-date=17 March 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2019}} Whether a seventh Chtorr book is still planned, or what its title will be if it is, are unknown. Gerrold is considering crowdfunding and other ways to raise money to fund completion of organization of the material and final writing for the two books.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/david.gerrold/posts/10210863480595406 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/1003624962/10210863480595406 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|title=David Gerrold Facebook timeline|last=Gerrold|first=David |publisher=Facebook |access-date=17 March 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=October 2019}}

The alien invasion is an ecological one. Instead of Earthlings [[terraforming]] another planet, the aliens are "Chtorraforming" Earth. Instead of armies, the unseen aggressors gradually unleash plants and animals from their older, more evolved planet (which is indicated as being perhaps a half billion years older than Earth, and evolved into a higher effective competitiveness). These outcompete and displace their terrestrial counterparts and Earth becomes more and more Chtorr-like as the "war" progresses.

Portions of the remaining books have made it into print, however. Gerrold released to fans a cliffhanger teaser chapter from ''Method for Madness''. In his collection ''[[The Involuntary Human]]'' ({{ISBN|978-1-886-77869-6}}), he included "It Needs Salt" (as a portion of the planned but not formally scheduled ''Time for Treason''). Finally, he also published the story "Enterprise Fish" in a volume of ''[[Thrilling Wonder Stories]]'', ({{ISBN|978-0-9796718-1-4}}; edited by Winston Engle). "Enterprise Fish" is described as an excerpt from ''Time for Treason''. The Chtorr series and its central character have moved through stages of development with each book in the series, with another layer of the Chtorran ecology explained and understanding of it unveiled with each successive book. Since "It Needs Salt" and "Enterprise Fish" are short stories from planned future layers of plot and character development, fans of the series are forewarned that they contain "spoilers".

=== ''Star Wolf'' ===
{{main|Star Wolf (David Gerrold)}}
Gerrold is also the author of the ''[[Star Wolf (David Gerrold)|Star Wolf]]'' series of books, centered on the star ship ''Star Wolf'' and its crew: ''Voyage of the Star Wolf'' (1990), ''The Middle of Nowhere'' (1995), ''Blood and Fire'' (2004), and ''Yesterday's Children'' (1972) which is actually an earlier novel that features the same main character, later significantly expanded and republished as ''Starhunt'' (1985)—it occurs prior to the other novels in the series' main continuity. The initial germ of ''Yesterday's Children'' was the "framing" story in his early ''Star Trek'' proposal "Tomorrow Was Yesterday", much altered over time. Gerrold had planned to develop this concept into a TV series, as he writes in an introduction to ''Voyage of the Star Wolf''. The ''Star Wolf'' series reflects Gerrold's contention that, due to the distances involved, space battles would be more like submarine hunts than the dogfights usually portrayed—in most cases the ships doing battle would not even be able to see each other.

=== Other works ===
After his early success with "The Trouble with Tribbles" Gerrold continued writing television scripts (mostly for science fiction series such as ''[[Land of the Lost (1974 TV series)|Land of the Lost]]'', ''[[Babylon 5]]'', ''[[Sliders (TV series)|Sliders]]'', and ''[[The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'').  He has also made several uncredited appearances on the TV series ''[[The Big Bang Theory]].''

In 1999, he contributed a short piece to ''Smart Reseller'' magazine predicting that cell phones could evolve into devices he called "Personal Information Telecommunications Agent", and described a feature set very similar to modern [[smartphone]]s:

{{blockquote|I've got a cell phone, a pocket organiser, a [[Pager|beeper]], a calculator, a digital camera, a pocket [[tape recorder]], a music player, and somewhere around here, I used to have a color television.

Sometime in the next few years, all of those devices are going to meld into one. It will be a box less than an inch thick and smaller than a deck of cards. (The size will be determined by what's convenient to hold, not by the technology inside.)

The box will have a high-res color screen, a microphone, a plug for a headset or earphones, a camera lens, wireless connectivity, cell phone and beeper functions, a television and radio receiver, a digital recorder, and it will have enough processing power and memory to function as a [[desktop computer|desktop]] system. It will be able to dock with a keyboard and full size monitor. Oh yes, and it will handle email as well.

Most important of all, it will have both [[speech recognition]] and [[speech synthesis]]. It will listen and respond in English or whatever language you need, and yes it will be a translator too. It will be an agent, going out and doing cyber errands for you. For instance, I need a Japanese restaurant in [[Tulsa]], near the [[Ramada Inn]]. Book a reservation and arrange transportation.

If there's no Japanese restaurant, try for Italian. Or voicemail Bob as follows: 'Bob, we accept your offer, but we'll need a draft of the deal memo by the 15th. Let me know if that's a problem.'

I call this device a Personal Information Telecommunications Agent, or Pita for short. The acronym also can stand for Pain in the Ass, which it is equally likely to be, because having all that connectivity is going to destroy what's left of everyone's privacy.|David Gerrold, 1999<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mobile.twitter.com/estherschindler/status/979005249452232704 | title=Is That a Pita in Your Pocket |date=December 20, 1999}}</ref>}}

Gerrold wrote the non-fiction book ''Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy'', published in 2001.

''[[The Martian Child]]'' is a semi-autobiographical novel, expanded from a novelette of the same name, based on the author's own experiences as a single adoptive father, with most of the key moments drawn from actual events. The novelette won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and [[Martian Child|a movie version]] was released in November 2007, with John Cusack playing the adoptive father.  There is some controversy surrounding this character, as David Gerrold and his character in the novel are both gay, but in the movie he is a straight widower.<ref>{{cite web|last=Juergens |first=Brian |url=http://www.afterelton.com/blog/brianjuergens/the-martian-child-whered-the-gay-go |title=The Martian Child: where'd the gay go? &#124; Movie Reviews, Celebrity Interviews & Film News About Gay & Bisexual Men |publisher=After Elton |date=April 4, 2007 |access-date=10 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108214428/http://www.afterelton.com/blog/brianjuergens/the-martian-child-whered-the-gay-go |archive-date=November 8, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.contracostatimes.com/movies/ci_7350457?nclick_check=1 |title='Martian Child': Won't send you into orbit |work=Contra Costa Times |date=February 11, 2007 |access-date=10 February 2011 |first=Mary |last=Pols |quote='Martian Child' is based on science fiction writer David Gerrold's novel, which was inspired by his own adoption, as a single gay man, of a boy named Dennis. David and Dennis may have struggled mightily in real life, but this is movie land, where every obstacle seems infinitely surmountable (and apparently, it is more marketable to be widowed, rather than gay). |archive-date=March 31, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331011014/http://www.contracostatimes.com/movies/ci_7350457?nclick_check=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2000, his long-time admiration of the works of [[Robert A. Heinlein]] led him to create a new series, called ''[[The Dingilliad]]''. It follows a resourceful teenager and his family as they try to begin a new life. Although not necessarily canon, there are hints that it ties into the ''[[War Against the Chtorr]]'' universe, with everything from the plagues to the rumored appearance of a giant purple worm (similar cross-universe tie-ins occur in Gerrold's [[Trackers (David Gerrold)|Trackers]] books). The Dingilliad trilogy consists of ''Jumping Off the Planet'' (2000), ''Bouncing Off the Moon'' (2001), and ''Leaping to the Stars'' (2002). ''Jumping Off the Planet'' received the 2002 Hal Clement (Young Adult Award) for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction Literature.<ref>[http://www.goldenduck.org/winners.php Goldenduck.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713150514/http://www.goldenduck.org/winners.php |date=July 13, 2007 }}</ref>

In 2005, Gerrold was awarded the Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology in Telluride, Colorado.

In 2013, Gerrold wrote a ''[[Starcraft 2]]'' short story titled "In the Dark" for Blizzard Entertainment's series of ''Starcraft'' short stories.<ref>[http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/lore/short-stories/in-the-dark/1 "Starcraft Lore – In the Dark"] Blizzard Entertainment, 2013</ref>

As of 2015, he is also a member of the board of directors for the Hollywood Science Fiction Museum.

Gerrold was the winner of the [[Robert A. Heinlein Award]] for 2022.

==Personal life==
Gerrold has one son who he adopted from a foster group home in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Krol |first=Debra Utacia |title=Tribes Seek Foster Care for Kids in Need, but Strained Resources Lead Some to Group Homes |newspaper=Arizona Republic |date=April 17, 2025 |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2025/04/17/arizona-tribes-struggle-with-foster-care-try-to-prevent-another-tragedy/82417203007/ |access-date=April 21, 2025}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
{{Incomplete list|date=October 2023}}{{bots|deny=Citation bot}}

===Novels===
* ''[[The Flying Sorcerers]]'' (also known as ''The Misspelled Magishun'', 1971; with [[Larry Niven]])<ref group=lower-alpha>{{Cite book|last=Ellison|first=Harlan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ccYqAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT536|title=Again, Dangerous Visions: Stories|date=2014-04-01|publisher=Open Road Media|isbn=978-1-4976-0495-7|language=en|quote=[Gerrold] wrote novels and sold them. ''The Flying Sorcerers'' (originally titled 'The Misspelled Magishun') in collaboration with Larry Niven, published in August of 1971 by Ballantine.}}</ref>
* ''Space Skimmer'' (1972)
* ''Yesterday's Children'' (1972)
* ''[[When HARLIE Was One]]'' (1972; revised as ''When HARLIE Was One, Release 2.0'', 1988)
* ''[[Battle for the Planet of the Apes]]'' (1973)
* ''[[The Man Who Folded Himself]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Moonstar Odyssey]]'' (1977)
* ''Deathbeast'' (1978)
* ''Chess with a Dragon'' (1987)
* ''[[The Martian Child]]'' (2002)
* ''Child of Earth'' (2005)
* ''Ganny Knits a Spaceship'' (April 2019), {{ISBN|978-1948818339}}. Based upon a 2009 short story of the same name that was first published in ''[[Jim Baen's Universe]]''.<ref group=lower-alpha>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.baen.com/Chapters/1932093042/1932093042___3.htm |title=Ganny Knits a Spaceship |first=David |last=Gerrold |magazine=[[Jim Baen's Universe]] |volume=4 |number=2 |date=August 2009 |editor-first=Jim |editor-last=Baen |publisher=Baen Books}}</ref>
* ''Child of Grass'' (2014)
* ''thirteen fourteen fifteen o'clock'' (2015)
* ''Hella'' (2020)

;The Dingilliad
{{main|The Dingilliad}}

# ''Jumping Off the Planet'' (2000)
# ''Bouncing Off the Moon'' (2001)
# ''Leaping to the Stars'' (2002)
# ''Hella'' (2020)

;''Star Trek''
# ''The Galactic Whirlpool'' (1980)
# ''[[Encounter at Farpoint]]'' (1987) (a novelization)

;Star Wolf
# ''Yesterday's Children'' (aka ''Starhunt'') (1972, rv.1980)
# ''Voyage of the Star Wolf'' (1990)
# ''The Middle of Nowhere'' (1995)
# ''Blood and Fire'' (2004)

;Trackers
# ''Under the Eye of God'' (1993)
# ''A Covenant of Justice'' (1994)

;The War Against the Chtorr
# ''A Matter for Men'' (1983)
# ''A Day for Damnation'' (1984)
# ''A Rage for Revenge'' (1989)
# ''A Season for Slaughter'' (1992)
# ''A Nest for Nightmares'' (in progress)
# ''A Method for Madness'' (in progress)
# ''A Time for Treason'' (projected)
# ''A Case for Courage'' (projected)

===Novellas / short novels===
* ''Praxis'' (2024)
* ''The Man Without a Planet'' (2025)
* ''Here There Be Lawyers'' (2025)
* ''The Boy Who Was Girl'' (2025)

=== Short fiction ===
;Collections
* ''With a Finger in My I'' (1972)
* ''The Far Side of the Sky'' (2002)
* ''Alternate Gerrolds'' (2005)
* ''The Involuntary Human'' (2007)

;Stories<ref group=lower-alpha>Short stories unless otherwise noted.</ref>
{|class='wikitable sortable' width='90%'
|-
!width=25%|Title
!|Year
!|First published
!|Reprinted/collected
!|Notes
|-
|The Martian Child
|1994
|{{cite journal |author=Gerrold, David |date=1994 |title=The Martian child |journal=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction|F&SF]] |volume= |issue= |pages=– }}
|
|Subsequently expanded into a novel.
|-
|The Great Pan American Airship Mystery, or, Why I Murdered Robert Benchley
|2015
|{{cite journal |author=Gerrold, David |date=July 2015 |title=The Great Pan American Airship Mystery, or, Why I Murdered Robert Benchley |journal=Asimov's Science Fiction |volume=39 |issue=7 |pages=22–36}}
| 
|Novelette
|-
|}
<!-- Move entries below into the table above -->
* "The Impeachment of Adlai Stevenson" (1992) (collected in [[Mike Resnick]]'s alternate history anthology ''[[Alternate Presidents]]'')
* "The Kennedy Enterprise" (1992) (collected in Mike Resnick's alternate history anthology ''[[Alternate Kennedys]]'')
* "The Firebringers" (1993) (collected in Mike Resnick's alternate history anthology ''[[Alternate Warriors]]'')
* "What Goes Around" (1994) (collected in Mike Resnick's alternate history anthology ''[[Alternate Outlaws]]'')
* "Satan Claus" (1994) (also collected in ''Alternate Outlaws'')
* "The Fabulous Marble" (2017) (in ''Baker Street Irregulars'' edited by Michael A. Ventrella & [[Jonathan Maberry]])
* "Dangerous Virgins" (2018) (in ''Release the Virgins'' edited by Michael A. Ventrella)
* "The Man Who Broke Time" (2022) (in ''Three Time Travelers Walk Into...'' edited by Michael A. Ventrella)
* "The Four Course Men" (2023) (in ''The Four ???? of the Apocalypse'' edited by [[Keith R.A. DeCandido]] & Wrenn Simms)
* "The Real Trouble With Tribbles" (2025) (in ''[[If (magazine)|Worlds of IF]]'' edited by Justin T. O'Conor Sloane & John-Paul L. Garnier)

===Anthologies edited===
*''[[Protostars (book)|Protostars]]'' (1971) (with [[Stephen Goldin]])
*''Generation'' (1972)
*''Science Fiction Emphasis 1'' (1974)
*''Alternities'' (1974)
*''Ascents of Wonder'' (1977)

===Plays===
* ''Uncle Daddy Will Not Be Invited'' (2013)

===Nonfiction===
* ''[[The Trouble with Tribbles#Merchandising and adaptations|The Trouble with Tribbles]]'' (1973)
* ''The World of Star Trek'' (1973, rv. 1984)
* ''Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy'' (2001)
* ''Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix'' (2003) (with [[Glenn Yeffeth]])
* ''Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles, and the Vulcan Death Grip in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek'' (2006) (with [[Robert J. Sawyer]])

==Notes==
{{reflist|40em|group=lower-alpha}}

==See also==
{{portal|Novels}}
* [[Sexuality in Star Trek|Sexuality in ''Star Trek'']]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{official website|http://www.gerrold.com/}}
* {{IMDb name|314775}}
* {{ISFDB name}}
* [https://archive.today/20130110222744/http://www.findingmywaymovie.com/davidgerrold.html Career spanning interview]

{{Hugo Award Best Novelette}}
{{Nebula Award Best Novelette}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerrold, David}}
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