Zahn's Take on the 'real' Mara Jade

Sorry, I know I'm putting up two threads in a row here, but I was suffering withdrawal of being away in the mountains snowboarding for a week.

Anyway, I was wondering if Zahn had ever mentioned what he thought of Shannon Baska, the woman who posed as Mara Jade for the card series. While she wasn't exactly as I had pictured her, (I liked the picture on Vision of the Future better) Shannon was almost dead on.

 

Actually, Shannon and Tim get along real well. They were at Gencon last year and I asked the same thing. TZ said that he really though that she properly portrayed the character.

 

Take a look at Tf.n's interview.

TFN: What do you think of the new actress for Mara Jade on the Star Wars card?




TZ: I'll be meeting her next month, at the Texas Sci-Fi expo. I envision a lot of pictures with the two of us: a "Mara Jade and her creator" kind of thing. My first look is not probably quite who I would have chosen. On the other hand, a lot of my vision of Mara is her attitude, her bearing. If this woman can do that, then it will be just fine. That's one of the reasons I want to meet her, to see if she can do a Mara. Aside from the red-gold hair and the green eyes, I didn't have an awful lot of visual. I don't visualize characters physically so much as I do their minds and their attitudes and how they speak and how they do things, the more internal stuff. So I didn't go into this with an image of Mara. I've been looking since then for someone when they were going to put her on the cover. They tend not to ask the authors for art advice. Most editors and publishers learn through the years that it's not a good idea, because authors are never satisfied, then the authors are mad.

 

Shannon seems like a sweet lady. She is very pretty.

I don't like at all how the character has been potrayed the last two books. She seems to have de-evovled to before HTTE, even. At the end of VotF, she was showing compassion and more maturity. Now it's anger and coldness. She was never that cold, in TTT, rather more hurt and confused.

 

There's actually a nice "decipher pic" somewhere out there with Baksa (sp?), Zahn & Stackpole all together in their Mara, Karrde, and Horn disguises. Oh what a nice pic that would be to have!!!

 

I had a post-traumatic shock after seeing that picture.

 

Can someone get a scan up somewhere?

 

That's the best I could find :

[image=http://www.idcnet.com/~ivanova/Corran/maracorrantalon.jpg]

 

I thought he was involved in the casting process for that role anyway?

Baska is an Ok jade, but doesn't really have the fire in her eyes that she should.

She and Mike Stackpole are good friends, however, so I have to accept her.

 

Corran covorting with known criminals... right....

 

She and Mike Stackpole are good friends, however, so I have to accept her.

What does that have to do with anything? She doesn't like like Mara Jade.

 

He must be under cover.

 

No offense, but Mike Stackpole looks nothing like I think corran horn should.

 

Personally, I've always liked Shannon. I never really had any problem accepting her as Mara.

=insert shameless plug=

By the way, if anyone is interested in pics of Shannon, check of jadecrusades.com They have a ton of pics!

(Mazz, if you see this, I'm practicing!)