Paul S. Kemp Q&A Thread (Crosscurrent spoilers)

A little something new for Lit: Paul S. Kemp, the author of Crosscurrent, its upcoming sequel, and an upcoming TOR-related novel, has kindly offered to hold a special question and answer session with us. Thus, this thread. Please feel free to post your questions and Mr. Kemp will answer as best he can.

Though this isn't a strictly formal Q&A, there are a few guidelines:

• Be respectful. As with all other VIPs, please be courteous to Mr. Kemp.


• Stay on topic. This isn't the place to discuss random parts of Crosscurrent or give your tl;dr review of the book. For that we have the Official Crosscurrent Thread and Crosscurrent Review Thread.


• Ask only one or two questions at a time, so that everyone has a chance to get their question in. Follow-ups are allowed after your question has been answered. After the thread plays out, we'll relax this regulation and let it evolve as a normal thread.


• Realize that Kemp may not be able to answer all your questions, for various reasons (time constraints, NDAs, etc.) This is especially true for his upcoming books (don't want to spoil them, after all!) If your question hasn't been answered in a while, you may ask another. But, again, please don't monopolize the thread.

Special thanks to TFN's MandyB for setting this up!

 

Hey Mr. Kemp.

Was there any particlar thing you were listening to/watching while writing the book that inspired you or gave you an idea?

Thanks.

 

From the first call from LucasArts to the publishing, how long did it need to get the book out there on the market?

 

First, a big thanks to Mr. Kemp for participating in this chat.

(1): What is/are your favorite EU book(s)/comic(s)?

(2): What angle do you try to take when dealing with the Force, the Dark Side, and the other more "spiritual" (for lack of a better word) aspects of Star Wars? What kinds of things do you try to emphasize when writing Jedi and Sith characters?

 

Mr Kemp,

How did you adapt yourself to the Star Wars franchise, its characters and its continuity so special?

A small additional question: In the book, Korr mention Valin Horn, is there a master/apprentice relationship between them that you don't have developed?

Thank you for your great job.

 

1) Loved the work you did to create engaging characters way out on the "fringe" of the GFFA, any reason Khedryn Faal had a "lazy" eye? (I had a friend with amblyopia ["wandering eye"], and I was just curious)

2) Can you talk about your cosmology with regard to the Force (specifically a Force where lignan is predisposed toward the dark side and genetic heritage from cloning may/may not influence "sidedness")?

 

First off Mr. Kemp, I wanted to say that Crosscurrent was one of the best EU pieces of material I have read.

1) Is there a possibility of a Thrawn clone? I am thinking of this because it was a Thrawn-era cloning facility, there were many references to Outbound Flight which was destroyed by Thrawn and Mara Jade thought the events of Survivor's Quest may have been orchestred by Thrawn.

2) If you can reveal this, how much connectivity will your The Old Republic novel have with Fatal Allaince? Will there be any character crossovers? Will it have any connectivity with The Old Republic: Threat of Peace?

Thank you and keep up the good novels. Can't wait for the sequal.

P.S. Your novel, Crosscurrent, was the first Star Wars novel I got the day it came out.

 

Caedus,

My wife and I were running through Firefly and BSG on Netflix at the time. Kinda set the mood a bit (especially Firefly re Khedryn and Marr). Honestly though, I get inspiration from just about everywhere.

Paul

 

DarkLord,

A bit over a year, IIRC. And that's a bit longer than it has taken with my non-EU books.

Paul

 

Mr. Kemp! Or... Paul. ... Or P-Dawg? I thought that you made an excellent use of nonhuman characters in Crosscurrent. Regarding Jaden, was the decision yours to officially make him a human --- and if so, did you intentionally tease the fans who were hoping to see him as a Kel Dor by naming a character "Kell Douro"?

It also seems like you did a fantastic job researching preexisting EU lore --- the inclusion of Wyyrlok, Khedryn's backstory as an Outbound Flight survivor, and quite a bit more --- what's your approach to including these kinds of references and backstories? Do you think that they help a standalone novel such as Crosscurrent fit in as a part of the larger universe?

Thanks so much for taking the time to indulge us! Crosscurrent was excellent.

 

Captain,

1. Let me pass on this one, only because by naming one author as a favorite I may seem to be slighting another author.

2. I like to approach it both the Light and Dark Side from the margins, meaning, I enjoy the inner conflict that arises in characters struggling with doubt. In general, I think Dark Side users are much less prone to doubt (which may say something about the Dark Side), while the Light Side users are more prone to it. On the other hand -- on the theory that faith unchallenged by doubt is a weak edifice -- I think those Light Side users who really struggle with doubt and come through it, at long last, with some degree of certainty, are those who serve the Force best. All that said, it's also nice to play around a bit with the notion of the Force as an amoral phenomenon, with "Light" and "Dark" being nothing more than man made conventions.

I tried to get at most of that (to a greater or lesser degree) in Crosscurrent.

 

Jeff,

I'm delighted you enjoyed the novel.

I did get some emails before the Dramatis P. was finalized pleading with me to make Jaden a Kel Dor. So it must have been bumping around my unconscious when I came up with Kell's name. Nice catch. Completely unintentional on my part.

I do absolutely think that nesting the details of the story in little bits of setting lore helps give a standalone novel (or any novel) a firm sense of place in the setting. And establishing that sense of place was very important to me.

 

Max,

I've been living and breathing Star Wars for a long time (the tropes, the vibe) so gearing up for the novel was mostly about hitting the various Essential Guides and other source material. Made for a lot of reading, as you might imagine.

I can't speak to the Korr/Horn relationship at this point. Sorry about that.

Paul

 

JediMaster,

I wanted Khedryn to have a physical deformity (a slight one), just to mark him as a bit of a scruffy dude. I settled on the lazy eye because I was taken with the notion of it symbolizing the way Khedryn's view of things tended to be slightly askew.

Other than what I related in another response regarding the Force, there's not too much more I can say. I will say this, though -- remember that whatever conclusions Jaden drew about the purpose of the facility were Jaden's conclusions only, based on incomplete information. For example, the notion of "sidedness" may not have been much of a concern to the scientists. Jaden is thinking in terms of sidedness, because that's how he tends to think when it comes to Force users, but that may or may not have been a concern of the scientists.

I realize I'm being vague here, and I'm not trying to be evasive. I just want to point out that the novel is told in limited third person. Thoughts and conclusions are those of the POV character. They may or may not be true (or may be only partially true).

Paul

 

Zorkel,

Thanks for picking it up. Much obliged.

1. As I'm sure you might guess, I can't speak to the identity of the station survivors.

2. Little. Mine is a standalone and I haven't read Sean's, so if there's any overlap, it's coincidental. There are some thematic connections to Threat of Peace and the events of my novel are set at right about the same time as the events that happen early on in Threat of Peace.

 

Is there any chance that you could give us the titles to your Crosscurrnt sequel and your TOR novel?

 

Mr. Kemp, your novel seemed to hit upon the 3 different main time periods being explored in SW right now (Old Republic, LOFT/FOTJ, and Legacy). Is there any particular era that you personally find the most interesting?

 

I don't have a question since I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but I just wanted to pop in and thank you for doing this for us! It is a fantastic opportunity for readers to interact with authors.

 

Greetings, Mr. Kemp.

Will the mystery around the construction of Jaden's first lightsaber be unfold?

P.S: Congratulations for your book.

 

Hello, Mr. Kemp

is there any chance that the relations between the Chiss Ascendancy and the Empire of the Hand will be resolved in your sequel?

 

Mr. Kemp,

First off, amazing novel. It was a breath of fresh air for Star Wars. I loved Relin. Great character.

1) I guess I didn't catch it, but I was wondering if you could clear up why the One Sith sent Kell to investigate. Was it because of the Thrawn cloning facility, or because Krayt had a vision of the ancient Sith arriving over the moon?

2) Will Jaden keep the time-traveling Jedi and Sith event to himself, or let Luke know? I guess that doesn't matter really, but I was just curious haha.

 

Neither has a final title yet. I'm still noodling titles for both and then I have to run them by the appropriate folks for approval/modification.

 

You know, I really don't have a favorite. All are rich with storytelling opportunities, and really that's all that's important to me.

 

You bet. You know, interacting with readers is one of things I find really enjoyable about being a writer. It's one of the main reasons for my blog and twitter accounts.

 

Can you be more specific?