A&A The Official Karen Miller Discussion Thread

I am up to page 168 in "Wild Space" and I'm LOVING IT! Ms. Miller's style is exceptional, I love the way she cuts away to the thoughts of the characters. I'll post more after I read the whole thing.

 

Die Jedi, die Jedi, die Jedi, die.

Yes, I love how she portrayed Obi-Wan in a really human light, while, at the same time, showing his extraordinary amount of inner strength as a Jedi Master.

 

Just wanted to pop in and say great job on your first Star Wars novel, Karen. I really enjoyed both the characterizations of Obi-Wan and Bail in the book.

 

Thank you very much! I've just completed the first draft of the next one, and will be reworking that once I've done the final draft of my next mainstream fantasy novel. I had so much fun working out stuff between Obi-Wan and Bail -- and I've had fun playing with that some more in CW4. And while I can't do spoilers, as such, I can tease you with this much -- there's a great deal of Obi-Wan and Anakin in CW4, which will continue on into CW5. It's been very very interesting to juggle those two friendships, because they've arisen out of such completely different circumstances. And with Obi-Wan as the common thread -- I've had to do a lot of fun thinking.

Thanks for being so supportive. It means a great deal to me.

 

I loved the Anakin/Padme interaction in Wild Space, that alone made you my new favorite SW author. And thank you so much for making Padme strong. I saw so much of Leia in her, and that's a good thing.

Loved Wild Space and looking forward to CW4 and 5. Looking forward to more Anakin/Obi-Wan.

 

Exactly my thoughts! I just finished the book this morning, and I'm in awe of the characterizations!

There's another one? You've just made my day, Karen. More Obi-Wan! You can probably guess that I love Obi-Wan, and while I suffered his every ache and pain and hallucination in "Wild Space" my admiration of him also grew tenfold (didn't think that was possible). To me he'll always be the greatest Jedi ever, possibly because his human side comes out so frequently... and yet he perseveres like a Jedi should. He's the epitome of a Jedi Knight, and your book just makes him more so.

 

Well done, Ms. Miller! Excellent work on Wild Space. I sweated through every page...It was so tense! Congratulations on an awesome novel.

 

Many thanks! There are so many fun relationships to play with in the prequel era, I think. And Padme is strong -- she has to be. I love her. And I've been having a lot of fun with Anakin/Obi-Wan in the next book. Plus looking forward to its follow up -- in fact, I'm having so much fun writing these stories it's probably illegal. *g*

 

Thank you so much for all your kind words. Hugely appreciated.

 

Thank you! For me, that's the whole point. A hero who can't be hurt, who doesn't feel fear or pain or can't ever be in danger, that kind of hero isn't interesting to me. It's when a hero is down, but refuses to stay down, that my emotions are engaged. No matter what awful things life threw at Obi-Wan, he never gave up. And that makes him a great hero to me.

 

There's another one? You've just made my day, Karen. More Obi-Wan! You can probably guess that I love Obi-Wan, and while I suffered his every ache and pain and hallucination in "Wild Space" my admiration of him also grew tenfold (didn't think that was possible). To me he'll always be the greatest Jedi ever, possibly because his human side comes out so frequently... and yet he perseveres like a Jedi should. He's the epitome of a Jedi Knight, and your book just makes him more so.



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I'm trying to edit stuff down in the quotey bits, but I have no idea if it'll work! Thanks so much. Yup, I'm doing 2 more. CW4/5 is in fact one big story split into 2 volumes. I've just finishsed drafting the first part and will get back to it once I finish another project. So there's more Obi-Wan, and a lot more of Obi-Wan and Anakin and how their friendship has developed. It's a lot of fun to write. I'm really enjoying myself - but knowing that you guys are enjoying my stuff means a daunting task is made much easier. So thank you.

 

Thank you! Yes, I wanted to make the point that Breha wasn't just at home pining, she was working hard. As for the whole action vs character thing - I must confess, I'm always going to be attracted to character first. But that's not to say you can't make action stuff about character too, and that's what I've been working hard at in the next book. As for your last point, I don't know if she still has handmaidens as a Senator. She had a body double, but that was security issue, I think.

 

And again, thank you so very much. Seriously, you guys rock. And you give me such heart as I tackle the next installment!

 

I have yet to read Wild Space, Karen, but I very much liked the Godspeaker trilogy. Hekat was an interesting character to watch, particularly with Vortka and Zandakar's devotion to her.

The sword fights were great!

And I am just wondering, was Rhian pregnant at the end of Hammer of God? You gave no indication but the toys sent by Dexterity were sort of suggestive.

 

I'm sure that this sort of writing can get really daunting at times...

But your love of the genre really shows in your work!

I was kind of surprised that you delved so much into Bail Organa's character. He's someone that we know, based on the films and what limited EU material we have on him, is morally strong and very capable. But we never get to see his personality really delved into. You showed us what makes him tick, what makes him happy, what makes him angry, what keeps him going. And that also put Leia's upbringing into a different light. She's got a lot of her foster father in her, too.

Any particular reason you choose to explore Bail's character?

 

Years? Shame on you...

 

All writing gets daunting sometimes. It's a crazy, crazy gig. *g*

Well, one reason I wanted to play with Bail is because he's been such a mystery. I wanted to unravel that mystery. I wanted to explore the untold story of his relationship with the Jedi between AOTC and ROTS. And of course we had that tantalising hint in ANH. There was a lot of scope for me to add something to the tapesty, so I ran with it.

 

Thank you!!! I really love Hekat, even though she's one totally insane person. *g*

Hmm. Was Rhian pregnant? Well, if she wasn't, she would soon be ... maybe Dex was dropping hints? *g*

 

Thanks!

 

I loved Wild Space and thought that, for not having an "external villain" as it were, it was still a very exciting book. What I love most, though, is that my wife actually read it! I'm (obviously) a huge SW EU fan and I'm forever telling my wife about all the new books and she's politely interested, but it wasn't until I told her about some of the great things in Wild Space that she actually sat down and read it all the way through. She loved it and has already told me that she'll be reading all of your Clone Wars books. And, Bail is one of her new favorite characters now, ha.