Callista Fans!!! (v.7 something or other...)

Ok, I dont'w ant to be a huge critic, but I feel sick rereading Darksaber.
When I read it in March, it was okay enough. But now, paying attention to writing styles, it just ... makes me sick. All the repetitive "although he could no longer sense Callista through the Force," phrases are so, so horribly old. And KJA portrays Luke to be this lovesick puppy, not a Jedi who is powerful but still just as human as the next person, and very much in love.
*grimace*
I cannot reread this one. I just cannot do it. SO I'm jumping to PoT, as much as I hate the ending of that book, not cuz of Hambly's writing, but because of what she was told to do with Callista and Luke.

Luke and Callie forever, with no lovesick puppies and no out-of-character messed-up portrayals of who they truly are.

Hey guys,

pm me about that story; I have an idea about that storyline I think you'll dig!

In addition to that, I'm also planning on reposting our original Callista Trilogy (Forever Home, Maternal Instincts, and Shadowlight) here with some minor tweakings and revisions. And jedi2187leia, I just sent you a PM.

And I agree with KJA's writing style. Although I enjoy him more than other people do, some of his stuff is really repetitive. The ones that stand out the most in my mind are the constant references to Jacen's and Jaina's "brandy-brown eyes" (one or two references is fine, but after a dozen of them...come on! Come up with something different), and the phrase "It felt as if a [insert giant animal] had stepped on his/her chest." Those drove me crazy when I was reading the YJK series.

And I won't even go into how he butchered Callista's character in Darksaber. "Assassination" doesn't even cover it.

Just fired a pm back to you, Geith.

And yes, to say that KJA's treatment of Callista was horrible is like saying the Atlantic Ocean is a little wet. I wish that Lucasfilm wouldn't have ended their love story so abruptly, but don't forget how Planet of Twilight ended for Admiral Daala: she followed her own road, and ended up with her soul mate eventualy.

And I sent you another PM, jedi2187leia.

And strangely enough, Planet of Twilight was the only book where I could actually tolerate Daala's character. Gee, I wonder why?

I loved the way that Hambly treated Daala: an officer and a lady. One who has admitted defeat and instead of following the typical Imperial Warlord suicide route, she resigned her fate to save the officers and families of those loyal to the Old Order to a safe haven.

For Callista and Luke, it may not have been the ending we wanted, but it was better than most.

I agree. In fact, the more I read Planet of Twilight, the more I like it. When I first read it, I thought the plot was really bizarre. But now I really enjoy it. It's still kinda weird with Dzym/Beldorion/Taselda/the drochs, but it's a good kind of weird.

And the Luke/Callista goodbye scene was very well done (and it was really understated, too, which I liked; it was basically Callista and Luke waving goodbye and exchanging brief thoughts to each other).

Please understand.

I understand.

Just...wow. Hambly was able to convey more emotion through four little words than KJA can do in an entire trilogy of novels, IMO.

Oh absolutely, re PoT. When I first read it, I loved it, but each time Ir ead it, like with CotJ, I keep finding new things.
While I didn't like the ending with Luke and Callista, I loved how Hambly handled it. Luke was sad, grieving, but he wasn't this desperate person KJA portrayed.
Yeah, I agree, to some extent I like KJA's writing, but I do not think his portrayals of some characters were accurate, and some of his descriptions were way, way too repetive.
They should hire me as a critic and editer of books. I love critiquing sentence structure, grammar, etc.

And i'm sad, cuz I wish I had some idea for you guys with the fic, but I don't.
If I could just a good plot...

Ditto, about Daala. I really liked her in PoT. She was human. I almost wish someone would do a vignet about how her life went after that reunion. It was so beautiful.

pm me, LostJedi26; I'd be happy to brainstrorm with you!

If you're interested, I can PM you some of the stuff we'll be doing in Falls the Shadow.

Really? For real? *dances* Thanks both of you guys!
Jedi2187Leia, I'll send you what I wrote, several months back, so you can look over my writing style. It's mostly just a review of what happened in CotJ, PoT, etc, but it'll give you an idea. Well... both of you... Maybe... *thinking* instead of just putting it up here, which was my thought, I"ll PM both of you with it, so you can see my style.
And I would loooooooove ideas, and to see what you guys are doing with Shadowlight and all. I'm reading that one now, for the first time--just finished the second one...Maternal Instincts?
My problem is the weakness with politics, and action/fighting scenes, but I think I can handle just about anything else, except you might want to add space battles to that, since I don't have the knowledge of visual things to really give a real sense of what's going on.
I'll PM you guys. Ideas have been swirling around in my brain, but I can't seem to grasp any of them, and when I try, they just look lame or not appealing.

Thanks for the pm, LostJedi26. I'll take a gander at it later in the week, once I get Darth Work and Darth Deadline out of my way.

Wow, the Callista lovers' thread is still going strong!

L+C forever and a day!

Hey guys!!!

Steve, thanks so much for the idea--Geith told me about it and I think it's brilliant!

I'm going boating in Tampa with some friends tomorrow, so I'm hoping I may be able to get some writing done on the boat. Plus I've got an overnight parade rehearsal on Tuesday night, I imagine I'll have lots of downtime then too.

You're quite welcome, my dear. And don't forget to thank Barbara Hambly for that as well

Don't forget your sunscreen tomorrow.

Oooh, Tampa. I miss FL! I lived there for all of 17 months or so, not too far from Tampa at all, and it was home in a way no other place had ever been, or is even now.

It's no problem, jedi2187, just get to it when you can.

Active thread is a very good thing!

Cara, I hope you get some writing done. That wiill be cool! And I echo the reminder for sunscreen. Especially this time of year in FL.

Shadowlight is ! Hope is in the garbage masher... I won't give anything away just in case not all of you have read it... whoa, speaking of grammar problems. This is fun reading though.

I have a hearing test tomorrow, and I"m a bit nervous cuz I've had some drainage that might just be my ear healing, might be something else. I"m hoping it's all okay... Trying not to worry too much.

Off to read some more!

We got our fingers crossed for you, LJ!

Aaaah, that scene makes me sooo sad. But it is very well done. Hambly is very good at engaging my emotions; I wish she could have writen more about Luke and Callista. *sigh*

Luke and Callista forever.

I can't wait for 2007 to roll around; Barbara Hambly will be stopping by St. Louis for a sci-fi con, and I can't wait to tell her in person what a wonderful character she created with Callista!

Jedi2187, you live in St. Louis? Me too! Where will she be in 2007? That would be awesome if I could meet her...
Oh wow!

Yes, she has a gift with words, a real gift with descriptions, and staying true to the characters and with their speech patterns.
That scene in PoT made me cry so hard. But she handled it with dignity, and I respect her for it.

I live outside of St.Louis, but I work in Creve Couer. She'll be at the convention center in Collinsville in October, '07. It'd be awesome to see you there!

Oh, I would so love to meet Barbara Hambly. Have you guys read any of her other stuff? Her Dragonsbane series is quite good.

Unfortunately, no writing done at the lake, I was to busy pwning all the guys on the raft. And not that sunscreen helped much, but I'll definitely look good tomorrow! Anyway, still got the overnight rehearsal tomorrow, so maybe I'll get some done then. I do have some idea for the last few scenes of FTS.

Good luck on your hearing test, LJ!

Woohoo! Go Cara! Show them who's boss.

Good luck with your hearing test, LJ. I hope everything turns out okay.

And just to let everyone know, I've updated Mer Girl.

What did you update in Mer Girl? Curious.

No hearing test today. I had drainage, and I wanted/needed the doc to see the ear, to tell me how bad it was. It isn't bad, but because my eustation tube doesn't work on my left ear, no matter how much they treat the symptom - hole in the eardrum, cyst, etc etc - this has been a chronic, and exhausting, problem. I am hoping that someday soon the bit of drainage stops, and that they don't need to go into opporate anymore... *sigh*

Ok enough depressing stuff about me. Just keep thinking/praying/whatever that things settle soon. this is old.

Mergirl has been updated once more--what was Callista's decision? Find out here.

I'll be praying for you, LJ, and hope that everything works out.

And Cara, just to let you know, I got your screenplay via email. I haven't had a chance to look at it due to work, but I will this weekend. I promise!

And to make this post slightly on-topic:

Luke/Callista Forever!