A&A The Official Michael Reaves Discussion Thread

I hope it doesn't have Shadow of the Empire's idiosyncratic sentence structure. It was creative, but odd to read.

 

A Pathegorean tripple, we have, no?




I didn'y enjoy SOTE's sentence structure. It made the book harder to read, but I don't think it detracted a lot from the novel. Do you think the grammatical structure took away from SOTE as a whole?

 

If the Medstar Duology were in less capable hands, then i would be worried that it would be boring. After all, it is about doctors. But Shadow Hunter is one of my favorites and SOTE was good too, so i am confident they can handle it.

 

Oh, I'll find out what a Pathegorean tripple is, soon as I find a dictionary or equivalent that knows it . . .

In answer, no, I didn't mind the quixotic sentencing of Shadows of the Empire. The book linked events like the Bothan martyrs, and Wedge in Rogue Squadron mentioning they were at Gall before Endor, which Shadows was faithful to.

Thirteen X-wings vs two Impstars was not realistic, and the Beggar's canyon chase could've been longer; shown us what Luke's really made of. His persona, himself, was spot on for his boyish cockiness he had before E6.

I'm just surprised editors and publishers went for its rather creative written style. Must have been hard to edit.

 

It's considered pathetic when using a math term at the JC, right?


Triangle sum theory, the three coordinates. I was refrensing to the tripple post.

 

Yes, of course. I wasn't thinking of trignometric identities or quadratic equational enigmas either . . .

 

Here's Michael's website: http://www.mindspring.com/~michaelreaves/

Perhaps a mod could put it in the first post?

 

I just finished reading the thread, and have a few things to say ...

First, thanks for the compliments from everyone on Shadow Hunter and the other things I've written. For those who were wondering -- yes, I've worked on Ewoks and Droids, as well as Batman, Gargoyles, Invasion America, ST:TNG, Sliders, Twilight Zone and a bunch more shows. TV is sort of my day job. I've also written novels, short stories (one of which will appear in the Dec. issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine), comics, movies (Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman will be out on DVD this fall) ...

Whew.

The first draft of MedStar 1: Battle Surgeons, a Clone Wars novel written by Steve Perry and myself, has been turned in to Del Rey and Lucasfilm. We're waiting for notes before proceeding with the second book, Healer. Steve and I are happy with it -- it's not a real heavy actioner like SOTE or DM:SH, but we feel it's very much part of the SW universe, and we hope you feel the same.

I'll try to keep you posted as to how things are going on the books. You can also check my website, http://www.mindspring.com/~michaelreaves/, which I try to update periodically. I'm also happy to answer questions, but keep in mind that I'm a full time freelance writer, with a family to support ... if it takes me awhile to respond, that's why.

 

Wow, I didn'r know I was going to kill the entire thread.

Two months without a post after I posted the above. Feel the love in this room ...

Well, for those who may want to know, Steve Perry and I have turned in the 1st draft of MedStar I and are about 15K into the sequel. Seems to be going well so far ...

Michael

http://www.mindspring.com/~michaelreaves/

"Give me an underground laboratory, half a dozen atom-smashers, and a
beautiful girl in a diaphanous veil waiting to be turned into a chimpanzee,
and I care not who writes the nation?s laws."

--S. J. Perelman

 

Ooh. Great quote!

What's the wordcount on the first draft of Volume 1?

Also, how do you and Steve co-write a book? I've heard lots of different methods. Some teams have one author write it, and the next flesh it out, and so forth. Some split up the chapters, each of the writers taking a different POV character through the story. How does it work with you two? What's the process?

Also, I seem to recall hearing your name recently. Do you have an anthology that you edited or contributed to that came out recently?

 

I can't believe I hadn't noticed you stopped by the thread! [face_shocked]

"Welcome to the party, pal!"

 

That's great! Shadow Hunter was truly awesome...can't wait to see how you tackle what seems to be an entirely different genre (or genre within a genre!).

Also...Batman the Animated Series was my favorite cartoon when I was growing up. Do you have any particular favorite episodes that you yourself wrote?

 

Somebody needs to make Mr. Reaves a VIP.

I can't wait for Battle Surgeons! Any details you could drop, perhaps?

 

>>>Wow, I didn'r know I was going to kill the entire thread.

Two months without a post after I posted the above. Feel the love in this room ... <<<

Oh. I didn't notice this thread here. I'll try to visit this thread more often. Maybe you could reveal a juicy tidbit or two. probably not.

In case you didn't know, I am the founder of The Unofficial Clone Wars Site (see signature) and I have talked to Steve in e-mail before. If you ever have questions about things that have happened in the Clone Wars you can visit my site or just ask me.

*extends hand for a freindly handshake*

Welcome to these message boards. Enjoy.

 

>What's the wordcount on the first draft of Volume 1?

About 80K.

>Also, how do you and Steve co-write a book? I've heard lots of different methods. Some teams have one author write it, and the next flesh it out, and so forth. Some split up the chapters, each of the writers taking a different POV character through the story. How does it work with you two? What's the process?<

The way we've done it in the past is that we plot it out together, then one of us does a quick, rough draft (usually Steve) and the other (usually me) does the rewrite. Steve is better at hammering out copy that works as a template, while I don't mind (actually, kind of enjoy) looking up all the myriad SW references, critters, etc., that give the book atmosphere and verisimilutude. On these books it's been more back and forth, each of us doing a chapter and going over each other's work.

>Also, I seem to recall hearing your name recently. Do you have an anthology that you edited or contributed to that came out recently?<

How nice of you to ask. On the racks even as I type, both cyber- and real, of bookstores everywhere is an anthology of original short stories titled "Shadows Over Baker Street", edited by John Pelan and me. The theme is Sherlock Holmes in the universe of H.P. Lovecraft. The book has been authorized by the Conan Doyle Estate, the first one to be so authorized in many years, and features stories by Neil Gaiman, Barbara Hambly, Poppy Z. Brite, Brian Stableford and a whole buncha others. If I were you, I'd rush right out and buy a copy while supplies last.


Michael

http://www.mindspring.com/~michaelreaves/

"Give me an underground laboratory, half a dozen atom-smashers, and a
beautiful girl in a diaphanous veil waiting to be turned into a chimpanzee,
and I care not who writes the nation?s laws."

--S. J. Perelman

 

>That's great! Shadow Hunter was truly awesome...can't wait to see how you tackle what seems to be an entirely different genre (or genre within a genre!).<

Thank you. Neither can I.

>Also...Batman the Animated Series was my favorite cartoon when I was growing up. Do you have any particular favorite episodes that you yourself wrote?<

Again, thanks. I didn't have time to actually write that many complete episodes, because the schedule dictated that most of my work be done as story editor. As a result, a lot of episodes credited to others have many of my words in them. (If you look at the end credits of each episode, you'll see that, out of 85 episodes, my name appears as story editor on over a third of them -- and there were five story editors.) Probably my favorite of the ones I got to write from start to finish was "I Am the Night". I like it because it really focused on Batman; on what made him tick.

And if you're a fan of the show (that's right, it's another shameless plug!), mark October 21st on your calendar. That's when an original Batman animated movie, "Batman: Mystery Of the Batwoman", hits the stores on DVD and VHS. Directed by Curt Geda, and written by yours truly. Enjoy!

Michael

http://www.mindspring.com/~michaelreaves/

"Give me an underground laboratory, half a dozen atom-smashers, and a
beautiful girl in a diaphanous veil waiting to be turned into a chimpanzee,
and I care not who writes the nation?s laws."

-- S.J. Perelman

 

>I can't wait for Battle Surgeons! Any details you could drop, perhaps?<

Well, I can tell you it's about surgeons, and there's a battle in it ...

Sorry, but we're sworn to secrecy. Bound by the Imperial Secrets Act and all that.

Michael

http://www.mindspring.com/~michaelreaves/

"Give me an underground laboratory, half a dozen atom-smashers, and a
beautiful girl in a diaphanous veil waiting to be turned into a chimpanzee,
and I care not who writes the nation?s laws."

-- S.J. Perelman

 

>Maybe you could reveal a juicy tidbit or two. probably not.<

Probably not. They don't take kindly to quislings up at the Ranch. (And who can blame them?)

>In case you didn't know, I am the founder of The Unofficial Clone Wars Site (see signature) and I have talked to Steve in e-mail before. If you ever have questions about things that have happened in the Clone Wars you can visit my site or just ask me.<

Thanks. I can use all the help I can get.

>*extends hand for a freindly handshake*

Welcome to these message boards. Enjoy.<

Much appreciated.

Michael

http://www.mindspring.com/~michaelreaves/

"Give me an underground laboratory, half a dozen atom-smashers, and a
beautiful girl in a diaphanous veil waiting to be turned into a chimpanzee,
and I care not who writes the nation?s laws."

--S. J. Perelman

 

Sorry, but we're sworn to secrecy. Bound by the Imperial Secrets Act and all that.

Well, shucks. I tried.

 

Battle Surgeons doesn't release till June next year. Still a long way off!

Mike, if you don't escape now they'll bombard you with endless questions. Run! Run while you can!

 

Right, I remember hearing about that Sherlock/Lovecraft project. It sounds like one of those bizarre experiments that just might work. I'll be sure to pick up my copy within the week.

About your upcoming duology, are you working with a completely new cast of characters for this one? That is, will we see any familar faces?

~PAd

 

We do know Barriss Offee is in it...

 

Hey Mr. R.

Looking forward to the books, though the names come off as a little silly, to me at any rate.

Any how, I was wondering what kind of music do you like? (in other words what tunes do you shake your booty too?)

 

Hi Mr. Reaves, nice of you to drop by.

As you've mentioned you can't give out any details of Medstar, but I was wondering whether you enjoyed writing about Barriss Offee?
Did you per-chance read Alan Dean Foster's The Approaching Storm to get an insight into her character?

 

>>Mike, if you don't escape now they'll bombard you with endless questions. Run! Run while you can! <<

Too late.

Michael

http://www.mindspring.com/~michaelreaves/

"Give me an underground laboratory, half a dozen atom-smashers, and a
beautiful girl in a diaphanous veil waiting to be turned into a chimpanzee,
and I care not who writes the nation?s laws."

--S. J. Perelman