Jedi Council Forums - Interviews with Authors Version 3.0

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Author	Topic: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with NYCityGurl (3/13)
solojones Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 11/1/04 9:09am Subject: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with NYCityGurl (3/13) - Date Edited: 3/13/05 2:57pm (14 edits total) Edited By: solojones
	Sebulba did a great job compiling numerous wonderful interviews in the second edition of this thread. Now that the torch has been passed to me, I'm happy to continue the tradition. The first and second threads contain some awesome interviews with a variety of great, intriguing authors. I would like to make this thread consistent, and would first like to complete interviews on the currently nominated authors before taking any new requests. Some of these people have been waiting a really long time, and I think we owe it to them and ourselves to hear from them. These interviews are always interesting and revealing, so I hope I can continue that tradition with this incarnation of the thread. I'm excited about starting up this thread again. I really loved doing interviews and reading them. It exposes you to authors you weren't familiar with before and gives you new insight into authors you already knew. So please, let's bring back this old tradition with new gusto Interviewers: solojones DarthIshtar CodeName_Targeter Knight_Dilettante Upcoming Interviews (current nominees) ThePariah LuvEwan Stacysatrip Author Interviews in this Thread: NYCityGurl ophelia Shaindl solojones ViariSkywalker Author Interviews in Previous Threads: Aanix_Durray Amidala_Skywalker ami-padme anakin-girl AngelQueen ArnaKyle Arwyn_Whitesun BlindMan bobill CalaisKenobi Calamity Jinn Casper_Knightshade CYNICAL21 Darth_Fruitcake Darth Pipes Darth_Tim Darth_Lex DarthBreezy DarthLothi DarthSnuggles1121 _Derisa_Ollamhin_ EmilieDarklighter Excalibur2358 Gabri_Jade geo3 GingerJedi Glad is June Grand_Admiral_Jaxx GunraysLawyer HaiGan HandmaidenEirtae Handmaiden_Yane Healer_Leona Herman Snerd Imzadi inez_the_swampgirl J_K_Dart Jacinta Kenobi Jade243 Jane Jinn JazzyJedi Jedi-Jae Jedi_Anakin_Solo Jedi_Jaina_Durron Jedi-Alman JediFalcon JediGaladriel JediKnight-Obi-Wan Jedi-Princess-Solo Jeff42 Jemmiah Jodiwent Julie Kit’ Knight-Ander Lady_Moonbeam LadyElaine LadyPadme Lilith Demodae Lisse LukeSkywalker_2001 Marawannabe Marnie Mcily_Nochi Melyanna Miana Kenobi Mistress_Renata Mouse2 NarundiJedi Neon Star obaona obi_ew Padawan_Di-lee padawan lunetta Padawan_Jess_Kenobi Queengodess Qwi_Xux RebelMom red_rose_knight Renton Kenobi Rokangus Runaway Shadow Sache8 Sara Kenobi Sebulba2179 Seldes_Katne Shanobi Shezan Tahi Talon Squad Leader Terr_Mys the_jedi_princess TheFallen Ty-gon Jinn VaderLVR64 Val Solo Whiskey in the Jar-Jar Wilhelmina ZaraValinor -----signature----- 6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation My short films: http://www.youtube.com/solojones1138
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solojones Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 11/1/04 2:36pm Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interviewers needed! (11/1) - Date Edited: 11/1/04 3:27pm (1 edits total) Edited By: solojones
	I already have three volunteers,which is awesome! Thanks so much guys. The sooner we get a crew together, the sooner we can start discussing how we're going to run this version of the thread, which means the sooner interviews will be up -sj loves kevin spacey -----signature----- 6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation My short films: http://www.youtube.com/solojones1138
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DarthIshtar Title: Former CR Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 11/1/04 3:47pm Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interviewers needed! (11/1)
	Yay, starting up again. -----signature----- "I feel like a more down-to-earth Pink 5 when I'm writing Leah. Same attitude, less lip gloss." ~Me on how to get in the right mindset for Twilight fanfic.
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solojones Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 11/1/04 6:27pm Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Thanks volunteers! (11/1) - Date Edited: 11/1/04 6:28pm (1 edits total) Edited By: solojones
	ANNOUNCEMENT: Thanks to the wonderful people in this community, it only took one day to get a new set of interviewers signed up! My tremendous thanks to DarthIshtar, CodeName_Targetter, and DCWiz00 for volunteering to help out now and to Knight_Dilettante, who will join us around January. I'm very grateful to you all It takes a team to do this. We should be organizing things soon so as to begin posting new interviews ASAP. I'll be sure to keep you all posted -sj loves kevin spacey -----signature----- 6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation My short films: http://www.youtube.com/solojones1138
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solojones Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 12/15/04 1:08pm Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Thanks volunteers! (11/1)
	Ladies and gentleman, I am happy to bring you the first interview vic-....er, subject of this version. This esteemed author is a frequent welcomed contributor to Resource discussions and insanely dedicated to her outstanding fic Spirit Warriors of Angharad. It is my pleasure to bring you a small little chat with Ophelia! --- 1. Can you give us some background information on yourself? (Please feel free to include your legal name, date of birth, and social security number) George Lucas, May 14, 1944, 555-22 . . . Okay, that’s not true. I did dress up as George Lucas for Halloween once, though. Nobody knew who I was. They all thought I was a bum. If you ever meet him, you can tell him that. No wait . . . don’t. He has lawyers. The truth is I’m actually damned boring. I’m six credits away from state certification as a teacher of students with emotional impairments, and just got a permanent subbing job at the place I used to student teach. (Yay!) I’m either the oldest of five kids or the oldest of two, depending on whether you want to count my half-sibs (I pretty much always do), and I grew up in a very eccentric, political . . . annoying . . . family. They embarrass me when we go out to eat somewhere. We spent my sister’s last birthday bickering about the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade, which wasn’t very sensitive, since said sister works in an abortion clinic. The whole fiasco was partly my fault really . . . : ( My mother was an unpublished author who wrote a couple of novels when I was a kid, and I spent some of my formative years watching her plug away daily at our old IBM XT, then go over to her huge index-card plotline taped to the wall. She’d squint at her color-coded character notations, and go back to the computer and back to work. Sometimes when she ran out of note cards she’d stick random pieces of note paper up there, or even scribbled-on paper plates. She and that novel obviously had a love-hate relationship, something I don’t think I appreciated enough at the time. Watching her work did help me learn what it took to write a very long story, though. 2. How did you first become a Star Wars fan? I saw the special Christmas release of ANH in December of 1978. I was six. Even though everyone on earth had already seen the film by December of ’78, my parents refused to take me before that because the title had “war” in it, and they were deranged liberal fundamentalists. You know those hippie chicks who used to put carnations down the barrels of soldiers’ guns during the Vietnam War? My mother was one of those. Luckily for me, my dad finally came home from work one day and said, for no apparent reason, “Hey, let’s go see Star Wars!” My mom gave him that, “Oh, honey, do you think we should?” look, but he suddenly thought it was a fabulous idea, and would not be dissuaded. He had probably been temporarily possessed by demons. It happens. So we went to see this terrible movie about war that worried my hippie mother, and I was absolutely transfixed. It think the appeal was partly because the evil was so evil that it made the good guys’ victory that much more exciting. Darth Vader was the scariest thing I had ever seen on a movie screen--probably because my parents wouldn’t let me see “violent” films where people threw cotton balls at each other and whatever, but still. After the final shot in the Massassi Temple cut to the star field, my days as a pacifist hippie child were over. Every crooked stick was a blaster, and every straight stick was a lightsaber. The radio buttons on my mother’s truck triggered ion cannon blasts. My mom wondered if I couldn’t find a better hobby, like sewing or something. “Don’t worry,” my dad said, “she’ll grow out of it.” 3. How did you get into writing fan fiction, and Star Wars fiction in particular? That started approximately the morning after I saw ANH. All my original works were “graphic novels”--meaning that I did not actually know how to write. I also lived in the kind of house where you could ask your mother, “Mom, how do you spell ‘Darth Vader?’” and she could honestly say, “I don’t know, dear.” Instead, I stole all of my dad’s legal pads and drew these really strange montages of Death Star chase sequences on them. It never occurred to me to put handy little boxes around each sequential event, so instead of looking like a comic book page, it just looked like there were fifty different Leias all doing inexplicable things. Nobody understood my art. The fools!! 4. What or whom has influenced your writing style the most? Well, watching my mother slave over her novels for two years certainly influenced my writing process, but I don’t know about my style, particularly. I’d have to say that a couple of major influences were Barbara Hambly, who has written gems of original novels in addition to her two or three mediocre EU novels, and James Khan’s ROTJ novelization, which has many beautiful, lyrical passages in it. Khan showed that cheeseball science fantasy writing didn’t have to be hack work. Douglas Adams and Berke Breathed--creator of the “Bloom County” comic strip—both had a lot of influence on the way I write humor. I don’t know if non-print media count, but the Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark series obviously had effects on what I write, as did the films of Akira Kurosawa, miscellaneous samurai animé and manga, and the X-Files TV series, of all things. I wrote X-Files fic for years. 5. Besides one shorter fic, Spirit Warriors of Angharad has been your sole focus as far as writing goes here at the JC. What’s the secret to your fanfic novel writing stamina? Insanity? Periodically I’m possessed by writing demons who will not leave me alone until I put the damn plot they’re whispering about on paper. The basic idea behind Spirit Warriors is very old—I came up with parts of it in high school. It’s been dogging me ever since. Occasionally I feel like Jacob Marley, condemned to wander the earth with this chain attached to my leg until my appointed task is done. “This is the fic I made in life . . . I wrote it, line by line, and chapter by chapter. Your fic was this heavy and long seven Christmases ago, Ebenezer solojones!!” 6. One interesting thing about the Spirit Warriors thread is the surprising amount of discussion between yourself and the readers and among readers. What role do you think this interaction and response has played in your writing of the story? I absolutely pay attention to things that readers say—what they hope will happen next, what they think is happening, what is unclear to them. I’ll alter parts of the story based on what seems to be going over well or not-so-well. Now and again I’ve tucked in things on request, or as in-jokes, such as a small part of an earlier (scrapped) draft from 2002, or an anagrammatically-altered version of a reader’s JC handle. Reader responses also help me stand writing the damn thing—which is at 123,000+ words, last I checked. I’m enormously grateful to my readers for their intelligent and thoughtful comments. I’ve had several people say that the between-posts dialogues are as interesting as the fic itself, which I choose to consider a high compliment of the dialogues, and not . . . you know. 7. You’ve mentioned the influence of The Seven Samurai on this story. Tell us about that. I’ve always loved the Japanese arts. The style is so clean; everything unessential has been cut away, leaving this really provocative negative space that invites curiosity. The crypticness asks the viewer or reader to bring something of themselves to the work, and I find that kind of challenge irresistible. That’s the definition of being a fanfic author, really—bringing a part of yourself to a work and filling in the blanks. The Seven Samurai is one of those gorgeous, stripped-down stories where the creator has kept only what’s necessary and thrown out everything extra. It gives the story a kind of mythic quality, as if these people could be anyone, anywhere. It’s a quality George Lucas manages to capture very well, for all that his digital universe crowded with doodads is the diametrical opposite of Kurosawa’s plain, black-and-white sets. Mythic storylines are very “portable;” you can say, “Ooh, I like that. I think I’ll do one like that too,” and not be an obvious thief. These kinds of stories can also be set anywhere—19th century Japan, “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” anywhere you like. I’m always on the lookout for these things, so I can rip them off. I mean—make literary allusions to them. Yeah. There are a few different mythic themes in “The Seven Samurai,” all of which I stole. One of them is the “twilight of the gods” theme—Kurosawa does that a lot—in which we see the very last of the samurai, still true to their traditions, but living in a world where they are no longer relevant. Noble and terrible though they are, there’s no real need for them anymore, and they find themselves badly down on their luck. There’s a sadness and vulnerability to “lost” characters like that, even if they are the greatest swordsmen that ever lived. The best example of this archetype is probably Toshiro Mifune’s character in “Yojimbo,” but you can see it in “The Seven Samurai” too. (Originally, Lucas wanted Mifune to play Obi-Wan, just for what it’s worth.) The whole feel of this storyline fits really well with the declining years of the Republic, in which Jedi are still Jedi, but the rest of the galaxy is changing. They can’t change with it, and will soon be “all but extinct,” in Obi-Wan’s words. Another theme is “when worlds collide.” In Kurosawa’s film, these seven starving, down-on-their-luck samurai take a job as a kind of security force for this village that gets raided by bandits every year at the harvest. The village is poor and desperate, and some of the people resent these strange, aloof interlopers who have come to eat their food before they’ve performed any useful services. The samurai, by contrast, are stuck with the job of making a bunch of sad-sack peasants into soldiers. Initially, the meeting of the two cultures is not pretty. Or rather, it’s sad and fascinating and hilarious—which is why I stole it. Finally, there’s the theme of noble desperation—which is an absolute favorite of mine. Put people in a situation that is about as bad as any situation could ever get, and watch what it brings out in them. People reveal their true character at times like that. I do this all the time. I’m a mean author. Very, very mean. 8. How exactly does one go about visualizing and writing speeder chases and action scenes such as that which you’ve included in Spirit Warriors? I usually draw them, and occasionally act them out with bits of paper representing different speeders and things. I’ve also been known to go find a section of 2” by 2” and use that as a “lightsaber” when figuring out the blocking for saber duels. Everything I know about strategy and tactics I learned from my high school basketball coach. Really. It’s all about knowing when to get who where in order to achieve the goal you’re working toward. 9. I have to do something different here and ask you about Future Imperfect. How in the world did you figure out how to write in future tense?!? Umm . . . how did I write that thing? The story’s a response to the future tense challenge, just for what it’s worth. Originally people were talking about writing stories in the second person too, so I wrote most of it in the second person, future tense, just to see if I could do it. I think the major challenge was trying to come up with a way to preserve traditional suspense in a story where you already know the ending--because it’s written backward, as it were. I decided that the prequel trilogy worked very well for that, since we all know the ending to that already. I also went with dramatic irony, which can often work where true suspense won’t. So the hard part was finding a subject where the really weird narrator style would work. Once I did that, it fell together very nicely. 10. Back to Spirit Warriors… do you find it hard to write the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan in this delicate time period between TPM and AOTC? Yes. That was evil. That was the single hardest thing for me to get right of any part of that stupid novel. I had to write the characters in such a way that they had just the right balance of conflict and love for each other, or else the story wouldn’t work. If they fought too much, the story would come to a screeching halt while they stood there and bickered. If they got along too well, there would be no dramatic tension. One of the emotional Obi/Ani scenes was so tangled up that it put the fic on hold for two years. Most of the others have been re-written at least ten times. I HATE THEM!! Actually, one of the themes that’s very briefly touched on in “Seven Samurai,” and that I expand on a lot in “Spirit Warriors,” is star-crossed love. I actually have a few different variations on this theme playing themselves out, but the main one is between Anakin and Obi-Wan. It’s star-crossed parent-child-type love. You don’t see that every day. 11. OC/Obi-Wan romances have a certain negative stigma attached to them, but you pull it off brilliantly and quite profoundly if I do say so myself. How did you go about crafting the character of Matreya and her relationship to Obi-Wan? Well, thank you, first of all. I guess I started thinking about how it would be good for the story to have a love interest pretty early on (to add to the angst factor—mmm . . . angst), and I “auditioned” a lot of different character types for the role. Classic female Star Wars types seemed off, partly because I think a Mara Jade or Bria Tharen-type would annoy the hell out of Obi-Wan, and partly because the relationship has to develop over such a short period of time. The whole story takes place in about 10 days to 2 weeks. I’ve read believable stories in which Obi-Wan falls for a very strong female Jedi, the type who rivals him in the dry sarcasm department and can blast a hole through a credit-piece at 200 yards. Think James Bond dating Lara Croft . . . only as members of an ascetic religion. No, wait, don’t think about that. James Bond as a monk is weird. Anyway, that dynamic seemed wrong for such a compressed time period. I figured that if Obi-Wan fell for Jedi Master Lara Croft, it would be a professional friendship which turned into a personal friendship which turned into something more. We’re talking 10-20 years, here. (Actually, someone could get a lot of mileage out of an “I love you” “I know” scene set just before Obi-Wan boards his ship bound for Tattooine.) So I scrapped everything I knew about Star Wars women and looked at some of the source material Lucas drew from when creating the GFFA. Since Lucas has said he was originally thinking of World Wars I and II when he dreamed up the idea of the Clone Wars, the 40’s seemed a logical era to start from. There used to be a particular kind of romantic relationship that showed up in A-picture adventure/war-films during that time. I’m thinking particularly of “Casablanca” and “The African Queen.” These movies sort of replicated the “buddy film” dynamic of two people becoming close during a short period of shared intense danger, so I thought it would work with the time constraints. The trope usually involved having the apparently mismatched romantic leads prove themselves to each other in the first reel, and then the rest of the film showed ways that they complemented and needed each other. Often one was the dreamer and one was the pragmatist, or one was the idealist and one was the person who wanted revived faith in ideals. It was often fun to watch the shift in the balance of power from one person calling the shots, to a tables-turning sequence, to interdependency, and then sometimes back again. (“Romancing the Stone” is a modern descendent of the genre.) I really liked the idea of Obi-Wan getting to play some combination of Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy, stuck in the middle of a war at the GFFA equivalent of the ends of the earth, and finding himself responsible for some “dame” who seems completely helpless at first, but who turns out to be a lot more than he expected. I wanted Katherine Hepburn’s poise and class, but without her queenly imperiousness. Han may like a chick he can strike sparks off of, but I don’t think Obi-Wan would. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d find interpersonal conflict exciting or appealing. So I needed someone who wouldn’t be bulldozed by his somewhat less-than-accommodating personality, but who also wouldn’t instigate undue conflict. I came up with this odd combination of Katherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, and Ally McBeal. Matreya Leilani, a.k.a. Lady Bedegraine, is a damsel in distress who’s quite capable of rescuing herself, running into Obi-Wan, and then collapsing in his arms and considering him her hero, thus confusing the hell out of him. This is, in fact, the first thing she does when she appears in the story. As it turns out, she was probably better off while she was still “in distress,” but she’s an understanding type with a self-denying nature, so she’s completely refused to notice. He notices the difference, and feels dreadful that he hasn’t been of more useful, but she feels quite happily rescued, and who’s going to tell her she’s wrong? Matreya’s a battlefield med tech, so she’s used to dealing with Jedi in their times of need, which is very handy for Obi-Wan. The way I see it, Jedi have their own, stylized way of relating to people, which pretty much ensures that they can only have deep, “family-type” relationships with other Jedi. Matreya can fake “cultural Jedi,” however, which means he can get some real reassurance and relief from her. So she thinks of him as her strong Jedi protector defending her from a dangerous galaxy, and he feels safe letting her see his inner Padawan learner—never mind that he didn’t rescue her, and she’s not actually a Jedi. They also probably both think that the balance of power lies with the other one, but both being servant-types at heart, they’re happier that way. Occasionally, two (or more) delusions can equal a truth. The relationship’s been fun to write. 12. Rather than join with some established EU theories, you created your own background story for Obi-Wan. What was your reasoning behind doing this? Well, my background for Obi-Wan is older than the EU, so I win. I started coming up with a Clone Wars-era history for Obi-Wan back when I was in high school, after I discovered that I no longer had any new stories to tell about Han, Luke, and Leia. (It took eleven years, but it finally happened.) Much of the original background I came up with for Obi-Wan had to be scrapped after the prequels came out, since back when I was in high school, Star Wars fans all thought that Obi-Wan was trained by Yoda, that “Clone Wars” referred to two wars that were nearly identical to each other, and that Uncle Owen was Obi-Wan’s brother. Why did you lie to us George? Why?! I retained some of the backstory though, such as Obi-Wan spending his few years with his family (hey, who knew Jedi took in apprentices practically at birth?), and beginning his adventures with a jolt, after he loses his parents in an attack that destroyed his city. I was originally thinking about the London Blitz, and how that created so many orphans who were farmed out anywhere there was room. That was my explanation for how Obi-Wan and Owen have different accents and different last names. I figured they must have been separated early on and reunited much later. The original version of his youth vas very dark—I was drawing on material like “Empire of the Sun” and “The Saint.” I figured Yoda had discovered Obi-Wan as a seriously messed-up young teenager, and managed to straighten him out. Hey, it kind of worked with the “reckless” thing. In the current version, Obi-Wan’s city gets blown up by people who are basically terrorists, and then he spends the rest of his childhood with the Jedi. The end. He lucked out, really. FWIW, I wrote the city-exploding part back in 1999, well before 9/11. I might do it differently now, out of respect for a very real event. I kept the basics of my backstory for him because I’d considered it a part of his character for almost ten years before TPM came out. The JA books just seemed wrong, and I also didn’t like them very much. If I didn’t use their storyline, I wouldn’t have to read them. I also have to put in a plug for [ b]DarthIshtar’s[ /b] “Wayward Beings” here, since she borrowed one of my OC’s from Obi-Wan’s non-EU background. (Not his “original” background, because mine came first, dammit!) So if you want to see references to his rescue from the ruined city of Ixaca and how he met Qui-Gon, you can go there. There’s also a story called “A Cruel Mercy” on my website that describes those events. Not the best work I ever did, honestly, but what can you do? Nobody bats 1000. 13. All right, let’s hear it- who’s your favorite character to write? Ooh, tough question. I’ll punt and say that I like writing any character who’s acting against type. Those tend to be the most emotionally and dramatically powerful moments. They’re character-defining in a way, since they show us where the limits of a character’s “normal” world are, and how he handles himself when he’s outside of them. My favorite Anakin scene involves him making a very difficult choice while he’s on a bridge that’s getting ready to collapse. He wants to run and help Obi-Wan, who’s stuck in the middle of it, but he knows that it’s his duty to follow his Master’s orders, and help a group of refugees to safety. What he does then is an abrupt departure from his behavior in the rest of the story up to that point, and I think it really underscores the strength of character that lies beneath his usual goofy, whiny attitude. Instead of acting like an impulsive idiot, Anakin chooses to go completely against his natural instincts, because he believes it’s the right thing to do. In what may be my favorite Obi-Wan scene, circumstances have brought him to a very, very difficult emotional place. He finds himself in a situation similar to the one Anakin’s in all the time—a point where Jedi discipline can no longer help him, and he needs to turn to something outside himself for help. He needs Mom, basically, only for him, “Mom” is the Force and the Jedi Order. We’ve already seen what Anakin—who’s not a very good Jedi—does in that situation. When Obi-Wan reaches his breaking point, we get to see what a good Jedi does when he’s down about as far as he can go. The scene shows a different side of the Jedi Order than we usually see in the prequels, a side that’s very patient and nurturing—although as a means to an end, of course. The goal is to do whatever it takes to get a Jedi back on his feet and back to work. It also contradicts the idea that Obi-Wan’s an insensitive creep who’s mean to Anakin because he doesn’t fall all over him every time he’s upset. He hasn’t been asking Anakin to do the impossible when he tells him to use the Force to get back into a calm, balanced state. Obi-Wan can do it when he’s a wreck, and he has been doing it since he was a very little boy—younger than Anakin was when he joined the Jedi Order. That support is something he takes a lot of comfort in, and he doesn’t really understand why Anakin can’t or won’t do the same. He thinks the kid’s basically hitting himself over the head with a hammer. 14. Spirit Warriors is a mix of action, drama, comedy, angst, romance… you name it. How do you find a balance? Well, that question’s a little difficult to answer. On the one hand, the different story elements seem to work together pretty well because they “grew” there. I didn’t decide as I was starting to plan the story that it needed X, Y, and Z. If you’re asking more about how I keep it all straight, I have an outline I work from, and I read over earlier parts to make sure the continuity doesn’t disintegrate. As for knowing when to switch from one scene element to another, that’s kind of a gut instinct thing. When you listen to music, you have a vague expectation about what you’re going to hear next. Certain chord progressions just kind of go together, and as you listen you “know” it’s time for a major chord or a minor one, or that it’s time for the tempo to speed up or slow down. It’s the same with knowing when to end one scene element and begin another one. Somebody could probably analyze a hundred novels and see common patterns in the way stories work, but it’s not an exact science. 15. Finally, do you have any future fanfic projects planned? Sure . . . very, very short ones. I don’t want to do anything but single page one-shots until I die. Actually, I do have some ideas for things I could do, but no rabid, screaming plot bunnies are attacking me at the moment, thank God. I’m sure Revenge of the Sith will change all of that, however. A pity, really, since I think I’ll be done with Spirit Warriors just a bit before the film comes out. No rest for the wicked. --- Thank you very much Ophelia for taking the time to respond to the questions so thoughtfully Interested? Spirit Warriors of Angharad Future Imperfect -----signature----- 6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation My short films: http://www.youtube.com/solojones1138
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solojones Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 1/4/05 12:51pm Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with Ophelia (12/15)
	ophelia, I want to thank you very much for taking the time to answer the interview questions so thoughtfully. As you know, though, I'm incapable of leaving thought-provoking commentary untouched, so I have... a few words in response I did dress up as George Lucas for Halloween once, though. Nobody knew who I was. They all thought I was a bum. Is it sad that I think this is a really funny idea for a Halloween costume? I actually suggested to my friends who are going to RotS in costume with me that one of them should go as GL. I have lots of old flannel. You know those hippie chicks who used to put carnations down the barrels of soldiers’ guns during the Vietnam War? My mother was one of those. Well gee, now I know who to blame My mom wondered if I couldn’t find a better hobby, like sewing or something. “Don’t worry,” my dad said, “she’ll grow out of it.” How delightfully prophetic. It’s like when people say “I’ll be right back” in horror films, right before being chopped to bits. Brutal murder, SW obsession, it’s pretty much the same. Nobody understood my art. The fools!! Well, I look back now on the Star Wars colouring book my friends and I made when we were 8, and I have no idea what it means. And I’m a SW nerd. And I drew them. Khan showed that cheeseball science fantasy writing didn’t have to be hack work. Douglas Adams and Berke Breathed--creator of the “Bloom County” comic strip—both had a lot of influence on the way I write humor. Wow, you know, I can really see those influences in your writing, though. Graceful sci-fi/mythology combined with impeccable British humour. That’s really what makes the GFFA go round, I think. At least the vision I have of the GFFA. the films of Akira Kurosawa I have only seen Rashomon and Seven Samurai so far, but I’m hunting down others. I just love them. I wish more SW fans had studied some of GL’s influences. Partly because they’re great in and of themselves, but also because it helps you understand the nature and idea of SW better. For fic writers, I think it can lend a really authentic and cool feel to their SW stories. The basic idea behind Spirit Warriors is very old—I came up with parts of it in high school. It’s been dogging me ever since. Wow. That’s what I can perseverance. Maybe that’s why it’s one of the themes of SWoA itself Your fic was this heavy and long seven Christmases ago, Ebenezer solojones!! Ah! Ghosty old men are scary … unless played by Alec Guinness, of course. Now and again I’ve tucked in things on request, or as in-jokes, such as a small part of an earlier (scrapped) draft from 2002, or an anagrammatically-altered version of a reader’s JC handle. Geez, your readers are pretty demanding .You are a very kind person to acquiesce to such requests. Bad readers. Bad. cough I’ve had several people say that the between-posts dialogues are as interesting as the fic itself, which I choose to consider a high compliment of the dialogues, and not . . . you know. Think of it as a director’s commentary. And you know, only really good films get the money to record commentaries. So you’ve got your inside story comments from George Lucas, your tedious comments about technical things that interest about 3 people from Ben Burtt, and great anecdotes from Carrie Fisher. Somehow, it all works. I’ve always loved the Japanese arts. The style is so clean; everything unessential has been cut away, leaving this really provocative negative space that invites curiosity. Definitely. Just think about Japanese music. They don’t use harmonies. A single melody with rhythmic accompaniment is all that’s needed. It’s different from what we’re used to, and maybe that’s one of the reasons it can be so intriguing. Sometimes simple is really beautiful. “Negative space” is exactly the artistic concept to pinpoint there. Great point! “Twighlight of the gods” can definitely be seen in Star Wars. It’s one of the intriguing things about the PT, to me. Jedi are extremely powerful and knowledgeable, yet the simplest things can beat them. How do you beat a droideka, after all? It’s really hard. When it’s man to man, that’s different. But in an age of technological advancements…. I guess those are to Jedi what guns were to Samurai. Or rather, it’s sad and fascinating and hilarious—which is why I stole it. But, while some things in Nidawi are taken from the film (i.e. the burial mounds and poles), you’ve created a lot of cultural things all your own. You’ve taken the idea of world colliding, but you’ve had to make the world yourself. You’ve also shaped the world of the Jedi beyond what we see in the films. And then you have Matreya, so you really have three worlds colliding. That’s pretty complex and I’m sure it takes a lot of work. Put people in a situation that is about as bad as any situation could ever get, and watch what it brings out in them. It does reveal true character, for good or bad. And it is evil. Very evil. But incredible interesting. So you kind of do extremely low budget animatics and storyboards? Well, that’s actually a really good idea. I’m not good at action myself so I just kind of… write simplistically Re: Future Imperfect I decided that the prequel trilogy worked very well for that, since we all know the ending to that already. Very true. It has really been woven into the whole thing. John Williams has had an interesting time with this himself. He calls scoring for the prequels “composing backwards”. FWIW, he says the Episode III score is the most difficult composing project he’s done. I think, knowing JW, that it will pay off grandly in the end. The dramatic irony is great, though. Because if we’re writing canon PT, as many of us do, we’re all really writing something where we know the ending anyway. But being able to take that a step further made for a really awesome story, I felt. Back to Obi-Wan, Anakin, and their haphazard adventures. There’s natural dramatic tension, I think, in pretty much any kind of father/son relationship. That’s heavily what SW is built around anyway. But with Obi-Wan and Anakin, there’s an extra level of tension. Several extra levels, actually. You’re right, it can be tempting to let them just kill each other. We authors just have to remember to wait and let RotS do that for us the main one is between Anakin and Obi-Wan. It’s star-crossed parent-child-type love. You don’t see that every day. No, you definitely don’t. That’s one of those tensions that’s hinted at in the films, but has yet to be truly explored to a great deal because of the insanely complicated plot necessities of the PT. I blame Palpatine. But it’s one of the things that makes stories like SWoA so gratifying as a reader; you get to experience the depths of those things we only see the surface of in the films. And yeah, their relationship is most certainly a complicated and unusual one. I think it has enough complications that almost anyone can relate to at least one of the parent/child difficulties there. I think a Mara Jade or Bria Tharen-type would annoy the hell out of Obi-Wan Yeah. I don’t think he’s a chauvinist, but I don’t see him as the type who would fall in love with superwoman. I mean, a large part of his personality is his desire to be of use and protecting and a servant to everyone else. Besides that, his ego needs to feel like the protector part of the time Think James Bond dating Lara Croft . . . only as members of an ascetic religion. No, wait, don’t think about that. James Bond as a monk is weird. ... from Bogie and Bergman to…this. …I definitely think you made the right choice of character in the end. Han may like a chick he can strike sparks off of, but I don’t think Obi-Wan would. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d find interpersonal conflict exciting or appealing. No, not really. He loves poking fun at Anakin, but partly for the real purpose of reminding the boy of some important things and putting him in his place a little. That backfires, I think. But as far as a romantic situation goes, no, I can’t see Obi-Wan intentionally tormenting someone. That seems much too blatantly flirtacious for him. I came up with this odd combination of Katherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, and Ally McBeal. I’ve never seen Ally McBeal, but the Hepburns Good choices. I honestly do love Matreya. She’s such a unique character. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone like her in a fic thusfar. But in context, her character makes perfect sense. Matreya Leilani, a.k.a. Lady Bedegraine, is a damsel in distress who’s quite capable of rescuing herself, running into Obi-Wan, and then collapsing in his arms and considering him her hero, thus confusing the hell out of him. Oh how I just love confused!Obi-Wan, though. He really doesn’t know what’s hit him some of the time. Definitely the case here. never mind that he didn’t* rescue her, and she’s not actually a Jedi.* That’s one of the really fun things about it, though. They’ve both created these images of one another and, because of all the restrictions and impediments to them actually being in love (like that pesky impeding war), they kind of interact through these shadow puppets of themselves, never really touching. At the same time, there’s a bit of truth played out through shadow puppetry… but I feel like Plato has crawled into my keyboard, so I’m stopping now I figured Yoda had discovered Obi-Wan as a seriously messed-up young teenager, and managed to straighten him out. Hey, it kind of worked with the “reckless” thing. Yeah… that maybe goes beyond ‘reckless’ and into ‘deranged’, though. But that would certainly add an interesting layer to things. I’d be interested to here a kind of summary of your original backstory sometime. I never had a backstory for him. I did have one for Boba Fett, though, in which he was Han Solo’s biological brother. And I didn’t even watch any soap operas as a kid! The JA books just seemed wrong,* and I also didn’t like them very much. If I didn’t use their storyline, I wouldn’t have to read them.* I don’t think they’re terrible, but even though I didn’t have a preconceived backstory, I agree with you that they just don’t feel right. I’m not sure what feels exactly right sometimes. I’ve had some ideas about Pre-PT Obi-Wan but it’s all very muddled. One of my goals is to write some Before the Saga Obi-Wan stories. One of my goals is also to learn to fly without any type of machinery (I’ve thrown myself at the ground repeatedly, but have yet to miss). I also have to put in a plug for [ b]DarthIshtar’s[ /b] “Wayward Beings” here, since she borrowed one of my OC’s from Obi-Wan’s non-EU background. (Not his “original” background, because mine came first, dammit!) So if you want to see references to his rescue from the ruined city of Ixaca and how he met Qui-Gon, you can go there. Really? I didn’t know about either this or your little backstory one. Why don’t you tell me these things? Why doesn’t Ish tell me these things? Geez I’ll punt and say that I like writing any character who’s acting against type. puts on Queen/David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” Yeaaaah, that’s the ticket You’ve brought up some great examples of how you’ve used this idea in SWoA. They’re some of my favourite bits of the story, as well. I’m interested to see how Obi-Wan’s situation plays out to the full, though. Really interested. I think that’s the bone of my finger I’m down to gnawing on. Fourth distal metacarpal if I’m not mistaken. That support is something he takes a lot of comfort in, and he doesn’t really understand why Anakin can’t or won’t do the same. He thinks the kid’s basically hitting himself over the head with a hammer. Definitely. At the same time, Anakin can’t understand why Obi-Wan doesn’t want to take comfort in things like love and family. He has a very strong connection to the Force, so it’s easy to see why this all frustrates Obi-Wan… basically, I think it’s easy to see how they’re both right and both wrong in some ways. Finding that balance is the most important thing in writing this relationship well, I believe. I know it’s something I’ve struggled with myself. Somebody could probably analyze a hundred novels and see common patterns in the way stories work, but it’s not an exact science. No, it’s certainly not. In the end, it’s an art, and definitely requires something that can’t be taught. You, my friend, most certainly have that special something I look forward to more of SWoA, as much more as is needed. Really. I’m in no rush to see it finished. Yeah, so that might not be how you feel or what you want to hear. But just keep at it. It’s sustaining me on great SW stories until RotS. Then we can all go plot bunny crazy together. It’ll be fun. -sj loves kevin spacey -----signature----- 6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation My short films: http://www.youtube.com/solojones1138
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CodeName_Targeter Registered: Nov '03	Date Posted: 1/26/05 9:19am Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with Ophelia (12/15)
	Upping this so I'll be able to find it, I'm posting the next interview in a minute. :Targeter: -----signature----- XWFC: Wraith Leader and Senator - Starfighter Draft Winner Ravenclaw ftw! Doppleganger of Suzuki_Akira and Vod'ika to Valin_Halcyon
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CodeName_Targeter Registered: Nov '03	Date Posted: 1/26/05 9:31am Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with Ophelia (12/15)
	The author of both humor and angst, she is known for her series In the Shadow of the Chosen. She has captured Obi-Wan perfectly many a time. So here she is, ladies and gentlemen, solojones 1) Well, solojones, how does it feel to be my first victim, errr- interviewee? Oh I’m assured that you’ll do fine. And besides, if you don’t, I have the power to fire you, so it’s all good. I do feel a little weird being interviewed now that I’m organizing the thread, but I’ve been on the list for about a year now, so I don’t feel that bad 2) Alright, so my boss tells me that I’m supposed to actually ask some real questions here, so could you share some background information about yourself? Yes I could. Was that not the answer you were looking for? Oh, fine. Well right now I’m 17 years old and a senior in high school in the middle of the Midwest. It’s not terribly exciting, but sometimes that’s refreshing considering how neurotic I am without outside stimulation. I mean imagine if I lived in Vegas or something. I’d have to count all the lights and replace any burnt out bulbs. I’m just a pretty intense person, although sometimes in RL I can actually be pretty quiet. I just start talking when something of interest is brought up, though. Then, as people who know me here will tell you, I ramble on forever. This usually results in epic fanfic replies. It’s a new genre I’m thinking of creating. I have a really pronounced sense of humor, it’s just very dry so that doesn’t always transfer online. Or it’s just plain random, which only scares people…Oh, and just because so many people on the JC do get confused about this, I am a girl 3) When did you first become a Star Wars fan? I don’t even know. I can’t remember when it was, because I don’t remember not being a Star Wars fan. I think it, along with Indiana Jones and Back to the Future, has always been a staple of my family’s movie watching. So I was brainwashed from a very young age. I had a Star Wars club in 3rd grade where I pretended to be Obi-Wan’s grandson… yes, I know this is confusing on many levels. I was a tomboy, what can I say. The next year I was Boba Fett, whom I was convinced was Han Solo’s brother, Jeremy. Don’t question it. 4) How did you get into the fan fiction aspect of Star Wars? Sometime in the summer of 2000 I really started using the internet a lot. So naturally I used it to look up my great love, Star Wars. I don’t remember whether I found TF.n or fanfiction first. I just know that soon I was plugged into several great Star Wars sites and loving every minute of it. I started reading a lot of fics and it wasn’t long before I wrote one myself. I have always loved writing and had many stories already. So it seemed natural to mix those two passions and write my own stuff. My first few stories all focused on Han and Leia, with some Luke. I didn’t really become a PT fan until AotC. Then I started getting more interested in Star Wars as Anakin’s story. When I was a kid I thought all the Dagobah scenes were boring, what with all the babbling about Luke and the Force Well, you grow up, you think more deeply. And since I’ve always been an Obi-Wan fan, I’ve fallen into writing him and Anakin quite a lot. 5) Are there any authors, real life or fanficcers, who have influenced your writing style or things that have influenced your writing? I really don’t know what my writing style is. I’m sure I could sit down and analyze it, because that’s what I do in English class all the time. (It’s a sickness, really.) The only things really marked about my style as it were are the characters, I think. I tend to focus a whole lot on characterization. Which, therefore, means that I have a lot more trouble with plot. I like to write a lot of introspection and scenes of character interaction, but it’s taken a lot more work to string together actual stories. And those tend to be varied, because I read a variety of books and watch a variety of films. Someone who loves both Kill Bill and Casablanca is bound to have weird stories. But I like to think that they stay true to the spirit of the Star Wars films. Some people love the EU, and that’s fine, it just never appealed to me. I’m kind of apathetic towards it, but I’m completely passionate about the films. So I literally watch parts of them over and over to try to get canon characters and features of the universe right, to recreate that sense of them. To me, that’s what writing Star Wars fics is all about- recreating and expanding what GL has made. It gives me a greater love of the films and I want to share that. 6) Okay, let’s move on to your fics, since this is an author interview. In your vignette You Wouldn’t Take my Hand, that you got archived, you explore Obi-Wan’s emotions as Anakin slips to the dark side. Where did you get the inspiration for this beautiful little piece? Was it difficult to capture Obi-Wan’s thoughts? Well I’m flattered you think it’s ‘beautiful’. There have been some kind of mixed reactions to that one, I think, mostly because of misinterpretation. When I wrote this, I really wanted to write about the strong connection between not only fathers and sons but comrades. I think that combination makes the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin a really deep one, which of course is part of what makes Anakin’s fall such a tragedy. As to the inspiration for that, actually, I wrote the whole thing at about 1 in the morning when I couldn’t sleep I don’t know where these ideas come from. I just had this image in my mind of Anakin slipping over the edge into a lava pit and Obi-Wan being unable to save him. The various kind of flashbacks attached with that just came kind of naturally as I wrote. Since it’s a vignette, I took liberties with the voice. I’m pretty sure Obi-Wan’s not that poetic But what I wanted to capture more than his thoughts were his emotions. He keeps those pretty well bottled up, being the internalizing dolt that he is. So I think this is more a look at his heart than his mind. 7) You also seem to be a proficient humor writer. Where do ideas for pieces such as Jedi don’t like Jedi drive their Sleek, Sexy, Starfighters Drunk, come from? It’s very odd… I feel like I’m always writing either very intense drama (read: angst) or I’m writing humor. I’m not as serious as I might sometimes seem, I just have a really weird sense of humor. That particular story came about as a kind of challenge from my friend Terr_Mys to write three short humor stories three nights in a row. I’m pretty sure that one was finished around 3 in the morning, and it probably shows. However, I’m actually pretty proud of it. It’s quite quirky and slightly random. I just took the often used joke of Obi-Wan being an alcoholic and thought, “Well, maybe this has something to do with why he was really sent to Tatooine for all those years.” And it definitely has the best title of any story I’ve written. 8) How was it to write those two stories for the story swap challenge? What was your reaction when you saw how your story was finished and when you had to finish someone else’s? This was a really great challenge, and though I was cramped for time, I’m so glad I participated. I have to tell you, I was a bit nervous both about who would get my story and whose I would get. For my part, I had tried to do something completely different and fun by starting a little story about Lando. Since no one writes about Lando, I wasn’t sure how that was going to end. But Lusa-Thul captured Lando perfectly, I thought, and I was really happy. And I had a great time finishing Ob-Ewan’s story by writing a little humor at Obi-Wan’s expense. I wasn’t sure how she was going to react to where I took that one because I didn’t know where she had intended it to go. But thankfully she liked it so that was good. I really think I ended up with two good stories I couldn’t have written just on my own. 9) As many know, your series In the Shadow of the Chosen is the labor and love of your life. Could you tell us what the basic storyline is? Ah, that it is- the labor, the love, and on occasion, the bane. I love every second of creating it but the actual process of putting it on paper can be really stressful. It’s like Douglas Adams said- “I hate writing. I love having written.” Basically, over a year ago I started tossing around some ideas about what transpired between some of the films. Namely, what transpired with Obi-Wan, since he is my favorite character. And as I began to really watch more closely, I started to see all the nuances and changes both Sir Alec and Ewan have put into the character. He’s extremely flawed in the PT and rather mischievous in the OT. There’s a lot more to it than that, of course, but that’s many pages of observation notes So I set out to write this story as a way of expanding the character to bridge the gaps of what we don’t see. I didn’t really want to add depth to him so much as I just wanted to try to figure out what was already there. So this series covers TPM to ROTJ, blue ghosty period and all. I’ve found that there’s quite a lot of room for deleted scenes or just entirely deleted years, especially between TPM and AOTC. And I’ve had in my mind from the beginning that this should be about Obi-Wan in relation to Anakin and Luke. Each of the stories in the first half of the series starts with the words “Anakin Skywalker” and in the second half it will be “Luke Skywalker.” Because ultimately Obi-Wan’s role is as their teacher and family, for good or for bad. Each story could be read by itself, but you would miss the progression of themes and characteristics throughout the series. 10) Could you explain that quote you have at the beginning from The Big Kahuna? Hey, I’m glad someone noticed that! I love that movie and especially that quote. I think it fits well with my purpose for SotC. In that scene, this smart, ambitious, hard-working young man doesn’t understand why this older man says he doesn’t have any character. After all, he’s a well intentioned guy. The older man says you only obtain character by making mistakes, so the young man assumes this means he’s not made any mistakes. The quote I have up is a lovely little light chastisement from the older man in response. I’ll just go ahead and copy it here so anyone has any idea what I’m talking about: I'm saying you've already done plenty of things to regret, you just don't know what they are. It's when you discover them, when you see the folly in something you've done, and you wish that you had it do over, but you know you can't, because it's too late. So you pick that thing up, and carry it with you to remind you that life goes on, the world will spin without you, you really don't matter in the end. Then you will gain character, because honesty will reach out from inside and tattoo itself across your face. I absolutely loved this little speech because, to me, it related really well to what Obi-Wan goes through in the SW saga. He has some whopping flaws as a young man. Even though he’s really well intentioned, he makes some big mistakes. But he goes on, the galaxy goes on, and he’s able to endure. It’s only then that he really reaches that kind of estimable character and real ‘light sideness’ he has in the OT. And moreover, I think this quote really relates to age and experience in general. Most themes in Star Wars relate well to anyone. This is one of them. It’s certainly something that keeps me humbled, on the occasions where I remember what I’m writing about and stop being such a dolt. 11) Who was your favorite character to write in the series? Why? You know, I’ve really liked writing everyone in the series. I just love characters. Of course Obi-Wan is fun because I’m convinced he lives in my head and writes his own wry little thoughts himself. (Some of my readers think it’s actually that I have him tied up in my basement… I take the fifth.) I relate really well to his personality and outlook so I like writing him. To be all philosophical, writing his flaws really helps me to see my own. But the most fun characters to write have been Palpatine and Filch. Palps is just deliciously evil, there’s no getting around it. In the current episode, he’s completely toying with the Jedi and Obi-Wan in particular but they don’t even notice. And then also in this episode this little orphan named Filch emerged from somewhere within the recesses of my mind. I don’t really like kids, so he’s kind of a mix of the things I don’t like about mischievous little kids and my reluctant confession that they can be fun once in a while. Especially when they’re annoying Obi-Wan. But in the end, the best thing about Filch is that he’s just a kid and he feels a lot of the fears most kids do. 12) You seem to write mainly in the Saga. Have you ever thought of branching out and exploring other eras? Actually, I have. Of course, there’s danger here because I feel like those loyal to Before and Beyond the Saga are really committed to the books. I’ve had this Before the Saga story with Obi-Wan I’ve wanted to write for a while, but it wouldn’t contain any JA characters or familiar things. I’ve read some JA but I don’t want to use it. So we’ll see how that goes. But as for Beyond… I don’t know, for me, the saga feels complete at the end of RotJ I guess. I don’t want to do anything to angstify the happy image at the end I guess. I mean, why ruin a good Teddy Bear Picnic? 13) So what encouraged you to write your two crossoverfics? Youth and stupidity? Well, while I did start writing those at about 13, I have to admit, I’m quite fond of both Earth 1937 and Earth 1939. Really, I just wanted a chance to write Indiana Jones as well as Star Wars, and this seemed like a good idea at the time. I think the revision of the first story is cleaning up some problems. Now I’m fully aware that there’s a stigma to crossovers, and I know it can be true a lot of the time. But I tried my very best to make all the characters three dimensional and pertinent. I wanted to use them all in a story, not just use the situation as a gag. Then in the second story I decided to throw in some Star Wars time traveling so I could put some different tensions in. They’ve been a lot of fun to write and I’m not ashamed to say I’ve written them by any means. The basic concepts might seem much different to people who read my current stuff, but really, the focus on character interactions is still there. 14) Do you have any tips for other fanfic writers? Hmmm…. I could probably say a lot of things, as I’m obviously quite verbose. Instead I’ll just stick to the biggest thing I’ve learned about writing probably and that is, if you put the effort into it, you will always get better. I’ve seen it in others and I’ve experienced it myself. Things I wrote 6 months ago seem terrible and in need of a lot of revision now. So you may feel like you’re no good now or like you’ll never be able to write the way you want to, but keep at it. Just being able to write something quickly and churn out a story isn’t always the best thing. If you really want to get better, as we all can (I know I certainly can), you have to put the effort into it. You get out what you put in. 15) And finally, what are your plans for the future, writing-wise, that is? I have a ridiculous amount of plot bunnies I’m convinced I’m going to write. But of course there’s SotC first and foremost, and that’s kind of time consuming. However, I do have a little side project going on right now… a kind of short chapter story that’s at 8,000 words right now. I don’t want to give anything away, but it’s a PT era humor story. I plan on finishing it before I post it, so right now it’s just a kind of side project. After that, I would really like to work on the PT Obi-Wan story I mentioned earlier and, in a change for me, an Anakin centered PT AU (pretty extreme AU). There’s just never enough time for all these things! Interested? Jedi don’t let Jedi Fly Their Sleek, Sexy Starfighters Drunk In the Shadow of the Chosen You Wouldn’t take My Hand Earth1937 Story swap with Ob-Ewan Story swap with Lusa-Thul :Targeter: -----signature----- XWFC: Wraith Leader and Senator - Starfighter Draft Winner Ravenclaw ftw! Doppleganger of Suzuki_Akira and Vod'ika to Valin_Halcyon
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flowerbee Registered: Apr '04	Date Posted: 1/27/05 11:10am Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with solojones (1/26)
	I'm so glad this is picking up again. I really enjoyed it.
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Miana Kenobi Title: Pacific RSA & NSWFF Mod On Limited Time Registered: Apr '00	Date Posted: 1/27/05 11:41am Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with solojones (1/26)
	OMG I remember the Indy story! I don't remember if I ever replied, but I so remember reading that! Glad to see this thing lives again. Nice job, ladies. -----signature----- President of San Diego FanForce He tini nga whetu e ngaro I te kapua iti. Dyslexics of the world, UNTIE!
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Terr_Mys Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 1/27/05 2:49pm Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with solojones (1/26)
	We all know that the best part of Earth1939 is Obi/Han. Great interview, guys. What sj failed to mention, however, is that that "best title evar" of hers was actually my idea. I should start demanding royalties. But...consider this a recommendation to anyone who hasn't read her stuff (especially SotC) that they should do so immediately. PS: What happened to TST? -----signature----- Many Bothans died to bring us this information... http://verseau.wordpress.com/ http://flickr.com/photos/verseau/collections/ All Hail Cliegg's Blue Leg!
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solojones Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 1/27/05 2:56pm Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with solojones (1/26)
	We're trying to keep up with it, flowerbee, because it is interesting and fun for everyone Miana, I don't recall if you replied, but it's nice that you remember the story I still need to finish rewriting that one. The problem is that the ending had to be completely redone and I haven't had time Greg, I am not paying you royalties on the grounds that I'm letting you come to the SW extravaganza of the century in May. Besides, we all know we both stole the 'Sleek Sexy Starfighter' thing from that one AotC spoof. Oh, but I really do need to clean up and repost Earth 1939 to the new saga board (new, right ). There really isn't anything more fun that writing Obi-Wan and Han together. It's far too amusing. -sj loves kevin spacey -----signature----- 6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation My short films: http://www.youtube.com/solojones1138
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DarthIshtar Title: Former CR Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 2/3/05 10:37pm Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with solojones (1/26)
	Upping this. I don't know who's next, but in a couple of weeks, you'll be seeing the very fascinating interview I had today with ViariSkywalker. I can't wait to get the final product up here. You'll love her. -----signature----- "I feel like a more down-to-earth Pink 5 when I'm writing Leah. Same attitude, less lip gloss." ~Me on how to get in the right mindset for Twilight fanfic.
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solojones Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 2/3/05 11:17pm Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with solojones (1/26)
	The next interview is with Shaindl. That will be up around Valentine's Day We're having some nice success with interviewers being enthusiastic about their work and getting interviews done so far. Sorry about that lag between the first interview and this one, though. That was my fault, I wasn't paying close enough attention. -sj loves kevin spacey -----signature----- 6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation My short films: http://www.youtube.com/solojones1138
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DarthIshtar Title: Former CR Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 2/4/05 10:02am Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Interview with solojones (1/26)
	Lol, no worries. -----signature----- "I feel like a more down-to-earth Pink 5 when I'm writing Leah. Same attitude, less lip gloss." ~Me on how to get in the right mindset for Twilight fanfic.
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CodeName_Targeter Registered: Nov '03	Date Posted: 2/4/05 11:51am Subject: RE: Interviews with Authors Version 3.0 - Complete past interview archive added! (2/4)
	Yes, sj, that was rather bad of you, letting there be a lag between interviews. And I'm working on the questions for my second interviewee now. ~Jenn -----signature----- XWFC: Wraith Leader and Senator - Starfighter Draft Winner Ravenclaw ftw! Doppleganger of Suzuki_Akira and Vod'ika to Valin_Halcyon
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