| HEADMASTER OF THE ACADEMY: Fan's
Questions to |
 |
[Ed. Note: this interview originally was E-published
in 1995, since which Mr. Anderson has contributed even
more to the Star Wars universe. ECHO
will be running a brand new interview with KJA in issue 2
- and a brief preview of that conversation will be run at
the end of this article!]
Few people outside of George Lucas have had as much to do with the direction of Star Wars in the post-movie age than writer Kevin J. Anderson. He has co-plotted "The Dark Lords of the Sith" comic with Tom Veitch, co-authored the "Young Jedi Knights" with his wife, writer Rebecca Moesta, edited two Star Wars anthology "Tales" novels, and singly authored the Jedi Academy Trilogy, "The Sith War" comic series, and Darksaber, the most recent Star Wars hardcover release. Plus he's managed to write an X-Files novel and work on, believe it or not, other non-Star Wars projects! Yet as busy as he is, Kevin found time before leaving out of town yet again to answer some questions from online Star Wars fans. Here's the best of the best, with his replies:
? Are you working with George Lucas to try and prevent obvious discrepancies from being written into the scripts he's working on?
KJA: No. All of us authors are told to steer clear of certain portions of SW history to keep the road open for George and his sequels, but they are playing very close about what they will and won't be doing in it.
? Are you planning on continuing the "Sith War" saga?
KJA: Yes, I'll be doing a new ten-issue series, THE SITH GOLDEN AGE and THE FALL OF THE SITH EMPIRE, set a thousand years prior to Dark Lords and Sith War. I've already delivered the first script. Dario Carrasco will again be the artist.
? What was the most difficult aspect of writing Darksaber?
KJA: Getting it done on time! <G> Actually, I was trying to make the romance between Luke and Callista into a real gut-wrencher. We know, of course, from later books that Luke is not with Callista in the future, so I wanted to find some way to resolve the relationship (without using the cheap way out of just killing her off).
? Are there any new Star Wars projects for you or Rebecca in the future?
KJA: Rebecca is writing the second trilogy of JR. JEDI KNIGHTS books, and she and I will be working together on all eleven YOUNG JEDI KNIGHTS books (just finishing up #6 this week). Also, next year Reb and I have the JABBA'S PALACE pop-up book, again with McQuarrie art. (I hope everyone's seen the CANTINA pop-up book.)
? Rebecca, will the "Young Jedi Knights" series be a continuing saga, or will we see new storylines and characters introduced?
RM Yes, to both questions. The story has the same core of four characters, but they will meet new friends and new enemies, just to keep the story moving. The first six books form a continuous story arc, and so will the second set of five.
?: How much research did you have to perform in order to understand the characters and hardware in the SW universe when you first started writing stories?
KJA: A LOT of research -- as you know, the fans really care about the details, so we have to get it all right. I've got shelves full of scripts, handbooks, sketches, notes, and game handbooks. All of which are well-thumbed.
? Why so many superweapons? It seems there's
always a Sun Crusher, 
a Galaxy Gun, or another Death Star
around the corner.
KJA: What, you expect everybody to just FORGET about the Death Star, once it's been constructed? As an analogy, the atomic bomb didn't go away after we dropped the first one. Next we have to worry about how to keep *everyone* from getting their own bomb (that's what DARKSABER is about). Also, note that the second word in the title is Star *WARS* -- it's tough to have much of a war without weapons.
? In Heirs to the Force Qorl escapes in a TIE Fighter with hyperdrive added. Yet TIE Fighters do not come equipped with Navicomputers. Also, being marooned on Yavin IV for over 20 years, Qorl would most likely travel to the seat of the government that he knew, Coruscant. Now assuming that hyperdrive jump didn't kill him [which it should have] how did he live through Coruscant space [see Assault at Selonia for NRI agent's entrance into space]? How did he survive his jump [without navicomputer] and how did Brakkis find him?
KJA: We can't
tell all the secrets! The jump into hyperspace should not
have killed him, since Jaina installed the hyperdrive and
all its appropriate modifications. Remember, Jacen and
Jaina spent the evening with him, telling him how the
galaxy had changed, so he knew to head toward the core
systems if he had any hope of finding the Imperial
survivors. Once there, he encountered a regular patrol,
and from there he was taken to the representatives of the
Second Imperium.
? Rebecca, what's it like to write with Kevin? What books are you planning to write with him in the future?
RM He loves to write and spends every free minute doing it -- it's tough keeping up with him. As for collaborative projects in the future...well, we've got to finish up this batch first!
? Why were Luke and Han were with the Sandpeople in Darksaber?
KJA: I thought that was explained well enough in the first two chapters. They were trying to slip close enough to Jabba's palace, undetected, so nobody would know that the Hutts' infiltrations were suspected.
? As you may have noticed, the character of Wedge Antilles has gotten quite a following in the SW world. Assuming that you'll be writing more books, where do you plan to take his relationship with Qwi Xux?
KJA: That one's not on my docket. I hope some other authors continue the relationship, though. It's nice to have a nice mushy romance.
? When
working on the "Illustrated Star Wars
Universe", did Ralph McQuarrie get his imagery from
your writing, or were you inspired by his beautiful
artwork?
KJA: Both -- we met together and brainstormed each planet, had a lot of fun coming up with wild ideas and making them tie together. This book took us three years to complete, and I think all the effort shows!
KJA PREVIEW
[Ed. Note: And now, as promised, a sneak peek at our upcoming interview with KJA, courtest of ECHO staffer Dave Phillips.]
ES: What's it like being the de facto "premiere" Star Wars author, in that you've written more books than anyone else in our favorite universe?
KJA: I'm honored that Lucasfilm and the fans continue to like my work so much that I keep being given the opportunity to do more and more. It's a big universe, with vast possibilities, and plenty of room for numerous authors. I get a real thrill to be working on projects as diverse as the McQuarrie Illustrated Star Wars Universe (you're not a real SW fan if you don't own a copy of that one!) and the numerous novels, and the "Young Jedi Knights" series (I didn't ever think I could maintain enough interest to write eleven volumes with the same batch of characters), and the cool historical comics, even the high-tech pop- up books!
ES: How seriously do you take fan critique of your writing?
KJA: I get an enormous amount of fan mail, both online and through the mailbox. I read it all and I answer it all personally. It's an exhausting process, but I think the fans deserve it, since they're the ones that kept Star Wars alive all these years. I go to a lot of conventions, do a lot of booksignings, try to make myself accessible to the fans. So far the statistics run about one negative letter for every hundred positive ones. I do listen to the comments about what fans like and what they don't like, and I am always working to develop and fine-tune my writing. I personally think there was a big improvement from the "Jedi Academy" books (which were written under outrageously tight deadlines and no fan input) and Darksaber. Much of that came from dealing with some of the comments I received in the intervening time.
ES: What's your opinion of the on-line Star Wars fan community?
KJA: I've been on CompuServe, Prodigy, and RASSM occasionally in the past, more regularly on GEnie and FIDOnet, and quite a lot on AOL. I've been cutting down my interactive time because of my writing deadlines and because of the overwhelming amount of direct mail I get. I find the discussions engaging and I have received a great many good contacts via the online community, despite the sometimes hilarious hurricane of rumors.
As in anything, there are a few genuinely rude jerks who have occasionally fouled the waters for everybody. I have been the target of some horrendously offensive personal insults, but these people (despite their numerous postings under various screen name identities) are such a tiny fraction of the readers that they are not at all representative of the real fan community. Much of the furor seems to have died down recently, and I am glad to have received such overwhelming support from the overall readership. I guess the "surly bunch" has gone off to amuse themselves by pulling the wings off of flies, or some other socially redeeming activity...
( Dave Phillips delivers the rest of his KJA interview in ECHO STATION v2 no. 2, available mid-February.)
