spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

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spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by D Pope »

http://www.echostation.com/echo2/2-kja.htm
< This interview is spread over three pages
so i'm going to copy it over three posts.>


THE PEN IS MIGHTIER
THAN THE SABER
Author Kevin J. Anderson swears his
days of the Death Star are over!

Interview by Dave Phillips



[Ed. Note: For those who have not yet read
Darksaber by Kevin J. Anderson, be forewarned
that the following interview "spoils" some of
the secrets of the book. KJA wouldn't want
it that way.]

Kevin J. Anderson is perhaps the de facto
"premiere" Star Wars author, in that he's
written more books than anyone else in our
favorite universe. This is not a position he
takes lightly; he's frequently stated that he's
honored that Lucasfilm continues to offer the
opportunity to do more work for them.

Author KJA
Less enlightened fans have accused KJA of
becoming a sort of Star Wars Overlord,
controlling all that goes on in the written SW
universe - but that is simply not true. Lucasfilm
has requested him on the works he's authored,
and there have certainly been many writers
tapped to create the next chapter in the
continuing adventures of that galaxy far, far away.



KJA: 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...



TALES OF THE DARKSABER

KJA's Darksaber, Part 2 of the Callista Trilogy


ES: How did Darksaber come to dovetail so
neatly with Children of the Jedi (COTJ)? Was
this planned from the beginning, or were you
and Barbara working on projects independently
and just sort of noticed it occurring?


KJA: Many of the Star Wars authors keep in
regular and constant contact with each other
to discuss ongoing storylines. I had known
Barb very well for some time -- in fact I had
twisted her arm to get her to do a story for
my "Cantina" anthology. From that story, the
Star Wars editor at Bantam said, "Hey, I didn't
know Barbara Hambly liked Star Wars!" and
they offered her the book contract. I had
planned Darksaber as a sort of bridge between
COTJ and The Hand of Thrawn (which had gone
in a completely different direction), and I worked
to resolve many of the issues that would have
to be put in place to set up for Tim Zahn's book.
Barb and I brainstormed many of the plot details
for Darksaber. (In fact, her original name for the
"Eye of Palpatine" was "Night Hammer" --
I thought the name was just too cool, so I used
it as Daala's super-star destroyer in Darksaber.)




ES: You did something else with your writing
that shook many fans to their core - in Darksaber
you killed off a character [albeit, a relatively
minor one] from what has previously been
"hallowed ground" -- the initial trilogy of movies.
What led to this decision?


KJA: The Star Wars novels have always been a
living, growing saga. Things change in them from
book to book; the characters age and learn.
Tim Zahn established that in Heir to the Empire,
when Han and Leia are married and have kids.

However, by the time of Darksaber I believed
that some of the fans were getting a bit too
complacent and I wanted to do something to
rattle them. When you pick up a Star Wars novel
you should be a little nervous, always wondering
what's going to happen next, not a nice comfy
little series where the book always ends in the
same place where it began (unlike some other
series I could mention < g >).

I had always thought (General) Crix Madine was
a fascinating character from his brief background
as described in West End Games material. I proposed
using him as an important character in Darksaber,
and that I wanted to kill him off as a dramatic high
point at the climax. At first the Lucasfilm people
squawked, but I explained to them what I wanted
to do and why. I then had to explain the scene
directly to George, showing how I intended to use
Madine as a Nathan Hale sort of martyr hero. George
liked what I suggested, and gave me explicit
permission to do so.

From now on, I hope the fans are always a little
uncertain as to what they're going to get when
they pick up a SW novel.




ES: The wampa that Luke encountered in the
The Empire Strikes Back makes a dramatic
appearance in Darksaber. What brought that
into your plotline?


KJA: That was sort of a surprise to me even
as I wrote it. Those chapters in Darksaber
were meant to be reminiscent of one of my
favorite SF movies, Aliens, in the relentless
attack-attack-attack of the monsters, while
our heroes are trapped with ever-diminishing
options. I had watched the Hoth scenes over
and over and over again, but when I was
writing that scene it struck me that TESB had
made such a clear point that Luke had NOT
killed the wampa, merely lopped its arm off...
Well, everybody knows that in a movie universe,
unless you see the monster actually die on
camera, he's gonna come back sooner or later.



OF DARKSABERS AND DEATH STARS



ES: Many fans criticize your novels since they
are seen as "going to the Death Star well"
once to often, in that every novel seems to
have a new superweapon being lugged out to
be thwarted by Our Heroes. Was this something
that you did intentionally or did LFL have a
guiding hand in the plotlines?


KJA: You asked me above whether I listened to
comments from the fans...and I do. But some
of the fans who make this particular objection
just haven't thought their own ideas through.
It doesn't make sense.

Look, the Empire dumped an enormous amount
of resources into designing and building the
Death Star- a superweapon which worked,
incidentally (ask any former inhabitant of Alderaan)
- and these fans expect the Empire to FORGET
ABOUT IT just because the thing has a relatively
trivial design flaw that can be fixed by placing a
screen on top of a little exhaust port? Excuse me?

In an exactly analogous situation, the U.S. spent
a huge portion of its wartime budget on the
Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. . .
but after successfully dropping one on Hiroshima,
did they just ignore the weapon from that point
on, forever? Wipe their hands of the whole thing,
been there done that? "Duh, I guess we don't
have to worry about nuclear weapons anymore,
no sir, nyuk nyuk nyuk." That's really naive from
a military and social standpoint.

I've worked in the nuclear weapons design industry
for thirteen years, and that scenario just isn't the
case. Before embarking on such a project, the
Empire would build a prototype of the main weapon,
they would have plans to build others... Darksaber,
where the Hutts get hold of the plans, is a metaphor
for nuclear proliferation in our society. What happens
when any bully, any Saddam Hussein or Khadaffy can
get his hands on the design of a superweapon?
That's a story worth telling. Just because it has a
Death Star in it doesn't mean that the novel is
about the Death Star.

However, all that said, I raise my right hand and
hereby swear: I will never concoct another
superweapon, never fire another Death Star
superlaser, etc. (I did manage to get through all
eleven volumes of "Young Jedi Knights" with nary
a Death Star in sight, and all eleven issues of
Golden Age of the Sith and Fall of the Sith Empire.)
I can find other territory to develop.



...
When a brand knew urinal puck showed up in the bathroom of my studio, I knew what I had to do.
-AToE
D Pope
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Re: spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by D Pope »

http://www.echostation.com/echo2/2-kja2.htm

page 2

THE SOURCE AND BEYOND

ES: Of all the things we've seen in the original
trilogy of films and the numerous books that
are now in the timeline taking place after them,
who is your favorite character anywhere in
that timeline, and why?


KJA: Very difficult to choose. I think I've grown
the most fond of my "Young Jedi Knights"
characters, having spent so much time with
them and since we created them ourselves.
Tenel Ka is probably my favorite, a no-nonsense
girl from two separate cultures, who has learned
to live with her handicap and won't hear of
taking the easy way out.

I also like Kyp Durron from my "Jedi Academy"
books, because I think it's very fascinating to
show how the dark side is a slippery slope, that
the easiest way to evil doings is through good
intentions. Kyp falls to the dark side, but he's
only trying to do the right thing.




ES: Do you have a favorite scene from the movies?

KJA: I was trying to think of a pithy answer,
selecting out my single favorite scene, but
I can't. The Star Wars films aren't just a cool
scene here and there, but they work so well
in totality. I can say that I'm not real fond of
the Ewoks, and I do really like the snowbound
battle on Hoth, but I can't narrow it down
much more than that.




ES: LFL mounted a great multimedia campaign
behind Shadows of the Empire, including the
book, the CD soundtrack, the cards, the video
game, and the comics. Is this something that
you'd like to see happen to one of your works
someday, or do you think it's better doing
stand-alone work that doesn't have peripheral
distractions from your efforts?


KJA: That sort of blitz puts an awful lot of
pressure on any one work, and I think Steve
Perry had a more difficult job than most of us
writers, because he had to coordinate with so
many different people. Imagine rewriting a
scene because a toy company wants to add
a plastic helmet accessory on one of their
action figures?

Anyway, I do believe there will be another
"Big Big Project" coming from Lucasfilm
eventually, and I hope I can be part of it.
You've got to keep doing new and exciting
things to keep the energy high among all
these books.




THE HISTORY AND THE FUTURE



ES: Does it surprise you that Bantam books
was initially extremely reluctant to get behind
books set in the Star Wars universe, especially
since they thought it would be an enormously
bad idea for Tim Zahn's novels to be hardcover?


KJA: It doesn't surprise me in the least; after
all, Star Wars was turned down by various
studios before George Lucas finally sold it to
Fox. Anytime you try to do something new and
exciting, there will be blindfolded people trying
to call the shots.




ES: What current projects are you
and Rebecca working on?


KJA: We just delivered "Young Jedi Knights #9,"
Delusions of Grandeur. We get on a plane
tonight at 11:20 p.m. for the World Fantasy
Convention, and land at 5:30 a.m. in Chicago.
We'll have all night to brainstorm book #10!

Rebecca also has her three "Jr. Jedi Knights"
novels, which come out sometime next spring.
For myself, I have the new comic series,
"Golden Age of the Sith," plus another high-
tech action thriller with Doug Beason, Fallout
(about a militia group infiltrating the Nevada
Nuclear Test Site), which comes out in paperback
this March. And of course there's Ignition.




ES: Which is?

KJA: ...A high-tech thriller... the story of a
grounded astronaut battling terrorists at the
Kennedy Space Center...sort of a Die Hard
meets Apollo 13. [Ed. Note: The hardcover
novel is already available at bookstores.]
It's co-written with Doug Beason, and all
the action and technical details are as
accurate as can be. I was able to go on a
VIP tour of the Kennedy Space Center and
Johnson Space Center; I went up on the
launchpad with the shuttle mounted on the
gantry, I went inside the Vehicle Assembly
Building, on the floor of the Launch Control
Center, inside the Orbiter Processing Facility
where technicians spend weeks mounting
new heat tiles on the shuttle. I even got to
kick the tires of Endeavor!

As soon as Doug and I delivered this book to
our agent, it went down to Hollywood and sold
outright to Universal Studios for a high six-figure
advance (this is not an "option" boys and girls,
but an outright sale), and of course from that
we were able to get a lot of excitement going
among New York publishers, which landed us
another six-figure book deal. We've since sold
Ignition to the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany,
Japan, Greece, Israel, and Poland. It's our
biggest blockbuster yet, and
we're very proud of it.




ES: Your wife Rebecca is also quite a Star Wars
author in her own rights, Do you two ever argue
about who gets to write what part of a given
storyline amongst yourselves?


KJA: Oh, never. Of course not! Right, honey?
Anyway, Rebecca and I brainstormed the overall
story arc (of "Young Jedi Knights") -- six books
for the first series, five books for the second
series -- and then we develop each individual
book in detail.

First in the "Young Jedi" Series
Each volume in the "Young Jedi" series has
between 20 and 22 chapters, and we outline
the story to fit within that parameter. We each
know our own specialties, and so most of the
chapters fall easily into either my camp or
Rebecca's camp...and then we split the others.
Rebecca's nine-year-old son Jonathan has
gotten pretty good at figuring out who wrote
which chapter as we read the manuscripts
aloud to him (he's our test audience). Rebecca
and I both rewrite each other's chapters anyway,
so it's a joint effort all the way through
.



ES: Do you feel there's a large difference in
writing the "Young Jedi Knights" books and writing
the novels for the older crowd?


KJA: Not fundamentally, other than the obvious
difference of having the books be shorter and the
main characters younger. When Lucasfilm asked
us to develop this series, I made it very clear to
them that I didn't have any interest in doing
insipid kiddie books. I remember as a kid being
offended by Young Adult books that treated their
readers as idiots. In particular, I recall a Hardy Boys
mystery where Frank & Joe are racing to find a
huge bomb that had been placed in the Empire
State Building. "Gee, Frank, if that whole building
blows up, somebody might get hurt!" Even at
eight years old I gave a resounding DUH! I told
the Lucasfilm people that I wanted the "Young
Jedi" series to be real Star Wars adventures,
with the characters getting themselves in real
danger, with real consequences at stake. Our
major success here is in what we did to Tenel
Ka in Lightsabers, which I think is our most
powerful book in the series so far.

Also, I had already received a great outpouring
of fan mail from readers under 12 years old, people
who had greatly enjoyed my adult "Jedi Academy"
series. I think young readers are smarter than
some people give them credit for, and I saw no
reason to "dumb down" the "Young Jedi" series.



...
When a brand knew urinal puck showed up in the bathroom of my studio, I knew what I had to do.
-AToE
D Pope
Archivist
Posts: 476
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:16 pm

Re: spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by D Pope »

http://www.echostation.com/echo2/2-kja3.htm

page 3

BOUNTY-FUL WRITING


ES: Will we see the name Kevin J. Anderson
on any more Star Wars novels after Tales
of the Bounty Hunters?


KJA: Well, I've got five more volumes of "Young
Jedi Knights" still waiting to be published! With
a new one of those books due every three
months, plus my monthly comic series Golden
Age of the Sith and Fall of the Sith Empire, I'm
keeping pretty busy...and that doesn't count my
X-Files work, or my original novels, both solo and
with Doug Beason. My... novel with Doug, Ignition,
has been purchased outright by Universal Studios,
and you just may see that as a major summer
blockbuster film in 1998 (but it's Hollywood, so
don't hold your breath). I'm also writing the long-
term project, The Star Wars Chronology, which
summarizes all of the SW stories to date...
which is a massive undertaking.

At the moment, I don't have any other adult SW
novels in the works...but I expect the series to
be around for a long time. I think Darksaber was
a powerful novel, and I wouldn't want to attempt
to just write another one off the cuff. I'd want to
be confident I could top myself...
or else what's the point?




ES: How did working on a compilation differ from
working on your own novels? Is it less fulfilling?


KJA: Trying to put together an anthology of
interconnected stories from dozens of different
authors is a giant administrative nightmare. While
I came up with the ideas and many of the storylines,
as well as the connecting tissue to hold the
anthologies together, editing is really a lot of busy
work instead of creative work. I spent a lot of time
on the phone, cajoling other authors, reminding them
of deadlines, asking them for rewrites, massaging
away any contradictions I managed to spot. Frankly,
it was more work than writing an original novel, and
I got to keep only a fraction of the payment.

However, I do think I've come up with some books
I can be very proud of. Tales from the Mos Eisley
Cantina and Tales from Jabba's Palace almost instantly
became the best-selling science fiction anthologies
of all time, a record that's not going to be easy to
beat by a long shot.

I also used my editing experience to put together
another remarkable anthology, one that's very
close to my heart: War of the Worlds: Global
Dispatches, which tells the story of H.G. Wells'
Martian invasion at the turn of the century from
various interesting literary and historical
perspective; i.e., Jules Verne writing about the
Martians in Paris, Jack London about the Martians
in the Yukon, Mark Twain about the Martians on
the Mississippi. The book came out in hardcover
from Bantam a few months ago, and received a
great deal of critical attention. However, from
now on, I'll probably concentrate my efforts on
novels rather then editing more anthologies.




ES: If you could go back and change any one
thing in one of your Star Wars novels what
would it be?


KJA: I always try to get better with my writing,
with each book I complete. Sometimes I may
be working on pacing, or suspense, or
characterization. Since I started Jedi Search,
I have written another million and a half words
and so I hope I have managed to polish my writing,
fine-tune my prose style a little. Practice makes
perfect, you know.


The "Jedi Academy" Trilogy

I am very pleased with the stories I told in the
"Jedi Academy" trilogy, but I had to write them
very quickly and didn't have time to do a lot of
editing. My own quality assurance editor in my
head wishes I could have given one more polish
to the manuscripts. . .but five years from now
I'll probably be saying the same things about the
work I'm doing today. That doesn't many any of
this work is bad -- it means that I continue to
learn my craft and improve at what I love to do.




A HOLOCRON OF INFO



ES: Since you've walked on both sides of the
writer's street - your books have been in both
initial hardcover and paperback releases - which
do you think is the best medium for publication?


KJA: It depends on what kind of book you have.
For instance, if you want to get a lot of review
attention or be considered for major awards,
you're almost required to have hardcover
publication. If you want to reach the largest
number of people right away, then paperback is
the way to go. Tim Zahn's trilogy came out in
hardcover, and each volume was published about
a year apart. My "Jedi Academy" trilogy, though,
was all published in six months. You can't ask
readers to buy three hardcovers in half a year -
their wallets won't stand for it - but I also didn't
want to ask them to wait three years to get the
whole story.

Of course, all of that is completely out of the
author's hands. The publishers decide and then
they make up their reasons.
We just write the books.




ES: I've picked up a couple of other books with
your name on them from the X-Files. How did
writing for this highly popular show compare with
writing Star Wars novels?


KJA: X-Files is a completely different type of
fiction from Star Wars. While Star Wars is primarily
optimistic, full of color and action, space battles
and weird aliens and sense of wonder, the X-Files
is much more atmospheric, oppressive, creepy.
But, since I also have quite a background in writing
horror fiction (my first novel was nominated for the
Bram Stoker award), I fit right in with it.

I was also a big fan of the show, too. I have chosen
to write in the Star Wars and X-Files universe,
because I think each one is terrific, but I would not
want to work on a property that I didn't already enjoy
thoroughly. It's too much work.




ES: What's the best thing that being affiliated
with Star Wars has brought to you? The worst?


KJA: The best part has been seeing another entire
generation get caught up in reading. That was
something I had not anticipated, or even thought
about. The best single event occurred at one of
my book signings when a proud mother introduced
me to her nine-year-old son. The boy was dyslexic,
had a learning disability, and had been unable to
read. His teachers had put him in special education
classes and were at their wits' end. But then one
day, for some reason, this kid decided he wanted
to read my "Jedi Academy" books. So he taught
himself to read so he could read my books. The
first books he ever read were my three 300-page
adult novels, and now he's a voracious reader
and doing great in school.
What can be better than that?

The worst and most surprising part has been
the sheer malice dumped on me by some
so-called "fans" who have personally insulted
and threatened me, my family, and my parents
because they didn't like my books. By now I've
certainly published enough SW novels that if a
reader doesn't like my stuff, they know it and
can just avoid anything with my name on it. I
certainly never expected everyone to like
everything I write. But there's a small group
of blowhards who keep buying every single one
of my books, rip it to shreds and flame about
how much they hate it... then wait for the
next one to come out so they can do the same
all over again. That's not criticism; that's just
plain maliciousness. My favorite nasty letter said
"I haven't read any of your books, but my friend
hates them and he knows what he's talking about.
So take it from me -- YOU SUCK!" If that's any
indication of the intelligence of these people, I'm
surprised they can even figure out the keyboard
enough to log on.




CROSS-AUTHOR CONTINUITY



ES: How much contact have you had with
other Star Wars authors? As a whole, how
have you found them to work with?


KJA: We're all on the same team, and by now
that team is growing larger and larger. From
the beginning, the Star Wars novels did
something different, in that we try to tie them
all together, making a network of cross-
connections rather than making each piece
standalone, ignoring everything that's gone
before. Before I even started plotting the "Jedi
Academy" books, I picked up the phone and
called Tim Zahn to ask what ingredients he
was going to leave me (at the time Dark Force
Rising hadn't even come out). I wanted to set
my trilogy a year or so after his. When I
learned that Tom Veitch's Dark Empire story
took place between Tim's trilogy and mine, I
worked with Tom to make everything tie together.

A real turning point happened, I think, when I
took the job of editing the Cantina anthology,
which forced me to call all the other SW authors
and get them to work together, call each other,
and write short stories that overlapped. The
thing all SW authors have in common, I think, is
a real love for the films and they want to do the
best they can.
They know they've got big shoes to fill.




ES: Where did the idea for the soul of a Dark
Jedi being trapped in the Massassi temples on
Yavin 4 ever come from?


KJA: We saw in the films that Obi-Wan and
Yoda's spirits could flit around and still dabble
in the events of the Rebellion. I got to
wondering what would happen with the spirit of a
dark Jedi who still wanted to cause trouble.

In my original proposal for the "Jedi Academy"
trilogy, I had suggested that Exar Kun could be
the spirit of a long-dead dark Jedi or a Dark Lord
of the Sith that had fallen centuries ago. George
Lucas said he wanted me to use a Dark Lord of
the Sith. I found that very exciting for about ten
seconds, until I realized I didn't know anything
about the Dark Lords of the Sith. In order to
learn more, Tom Veitch (who was interested
in the same information for his comics) and I
put together a questionnaire where George could
give us some insights into how we should develop
the background. Based on George's answers, we
put together the history. You can read many of
the details in my comic series with Tom, Dark
Lords of the Sith, plus my own six issues of
"The Sith War" and "The Golden Age of the Sith."




ES: How does Lucasfilm stack up against the
other publishing houses you've dealt with? Are
they more demanding than others? Were there
more rewrites and edits they wanted done than
usual?
How helpful were they when you had questions?


KJA: Lucasfilm has been extremely supportive
and helpful -- when they go over a manuscript
or an outline, they are not draconian and stomp
on anything creative. They seem to understand
that the way to get really good stories is to
give the authors room to move; they pick true
professionals, and so they know to trust their
instincts. Sometimes they disallow certain things,
or they catch contradictions in other projects
in the works, but rather than saying NO, Lucasfilm
usually tries to brainstorm a new solution. They
are genuinely interested in keeping the quality up
and they want to keep the mistakes that slip
through to a minimum.

Of course they are more demanding than an
editor working on an original solo project of mine,
because they have a lot of backdrop to hold my
story up against; but given the constraints of
working in a proprietary universe, they make it
as easy and as creatively satisfying as they can.




ES: When not writing, what do you most enjoy doing?

KJA: Uh....I'm never not writing....
OK, OK, I love to go hiking, I love seeing movies,
I love reading, I love good microbrew beer.
Sometimes I sleep...




ES: "How" do you write? Is there a special
place you go to, or a certain song you listen
to, to get into the "creative mode" so to speak?


KJA: I can write anywhere, anytime, using a
typewriter, word processor, crayon on brown
paper, but my favorite method is with a
microcassette recorder. I go out hiking for
the day, climbing mountains, walk along the
rugged coastline, explore Death Valley, and
dictate my chapter as I go. I see myself as
a storyteller, one of those tribal guys who
told of adventures around the blazing campfire.
I go for a long walk, get away from the
distractions of people, get inspired with
spectacular scenery...
and let my stories pour out.


...
When a brand knew urinal puck showed up in the bathroom of my studio, I knew what I had to do.
-AToE
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Re: spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by SandRider »

what a loverly example of the self-absorbed, self-delusional, money-grubbing,
tone-deaf, socially inept hacktard that is The Keith ....
When you pick up a Star Wars novel
you should be a little nervous, always wondering
what's going to happen next, not a nice comfy
little series where the book always ends in the
same place where it began (unlike some other
series I could mention < g >).
but ... isn't that exactly what occurred in the later McDune products ?

However, all that said, I raise my right hand and
hereby swear: I will never concoct another
superweapon, never fire another Death Star
superlaser, etc.
but ... isn't that exactly what occurred in the later McDune products ?


and I started to quote all the self-promoting references to money & such,
but there were just too many .... so I settled on this gem :
The worst and most surprising part has been
the sheer malice dumped on me by some
so-called "fans" who have personally insulted
and threatened me, my family, and my parents
because they didn't like my books. By now I've
certainly published enough SW novels that if a
reader doesn't like my stuff, they know it and
can just avoid anything with my name on it. I
certainly never expected everyone to like
everything I write.

But there's a small group
of blowhards who keep buying every single one
of my books, rip it to shreds and flame about
how much they hate it... then wait for the
next one to come out so they can do the same
all over again. That's not criticism; that's just
plain maliciousness. My favorite nasty letter said
"I haven't read any of your books, but my friend
hates them and he knows what he's talking about.
So take it from me -- YOU SUCK!"

If that's any
indication of the intelligence of these people, I'm
surprised they can even figure out the keyboard
enough to log on.
and then, he went on to create the McDune, and fuck me if the exact
same thing happened again, from a completely different set of "fans" ....
lotek
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Re: spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by lotek »

But there's a small group
of blowhards who keep buying every single one
of my books, rip it to shreds and flame about
how much they hate it... then wait for the
next one to come out so they can do the same
all over again. That's not criticism; that's just
plain maliciousness. My favorite nasty letter said
"I haven't read any of your books, but my friend
hates them and he knows what he's talking about.
So take it from me -- YOU SUCK!"

If that's any
indication of the intelligence of these people, I'm
surprised they can even figure out the keyboard
enough to log on.
Should I call my mum to tell her I'm famous ? Or maybe I don't blow hard enought yet...
Wanker...

Image
. A self-important egomaniac who likes to toot his own horn, like those assholes who put bumper stickers on their cars that say "PROUD PARENTS OF AN HONOR STUDENT AT (blah blah blah) HIGH SCHOOL"
sounds familiar ?

What a tool, he can't even try to be nasty without tripping over his pudgy feet.

Also, he has a family ? Hutts not included.

EDIT TO ADD
If that's any
indication of the intelligence of these people, I'm
surprised they can even figure out the keyboard
enough to log on.
coming from Mr Interwebzclueless that's quite rich.
In short, the Jihad is over. It ended just as SandRider predicted it would, not with a bang or even a whimper, by simple attrition.
- D. Pope
Serkanner
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Re: spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by Serkanner »

About Darksaber:

"Nevertheless, fans in TheForce.net consider it it to be one of the worst Star Wars novels ever, giving it a 5.97 average rating."

source: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darksaber_%28novel%29
D Pope
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Re: spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by D Pope »

SandRider wrote:and then, he went on to create the McDune, and fuck me if the exact
same thing happened again, from a completely different set of "fans" ....
You've found the real chewy bit there. It's worth noticing that an Orthodox
Herbertarian will need to remind himself that steve is talking about Star Wars fans.

Fuck me indeed.
In the words of Kent Hovind, "That'll preach!"
When a brand knew urinal puck showed up in the bathroom of my studio, I knew what I had to do.
-AToE
lotek
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Re: spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by lotek »

D Pope wrote:
SandRider wrote:and then, he went on to create the McDune, and fuck me if the exact
same thing happened again, from a completely different set of "fans" ....
You've found the real chewy bit there. It's worth noticing that an Orthodox
Herbertarian will need to remind himself that steve is talking about Star Wars fans.

Fuck me indeed.
In the words of Kent Hovind, "That'll preach!"

damn that pride !
I always forget we were not the first to see his true nature :)
In short, the Jihad is over. It ended just as SandRider predicted it would, not with a bang or even a whimper, by simple attrition.
- D. Pope
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Hunchback Jack
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Re: spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by Hunchback Jack »

SandRider wrote:what a loverly example of the self-absorbed, self-delusional, money-grubbing,
tone-deaf, socially inept hacktard that is The Keith ....
Isn't it, though? It hits all the main points: the shameless plugs for his own books, the rabid (but clearly in the minority) fans, the fact that *his own* Star Wars characters are his favourite. Just unbelievable.

Speaking of fans, from earlier in the interview:
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...
Right, it's always just a "tiny fraction" of the fan base, isn't it Keith?

Kevin J. Anderson: in denial since 1997.

HBJ
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Nekhrun
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Re: spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by Nekhrun »

It's been awhile since I've seen that. Echostation was one of my very first message boards. I used to write any of the book or comic reviews the regular writers didn't want to. It's where I first developed my hatred of KJA.
D Pope wrote: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 wonder what he would say if confronted with this now. He hasn't "fine-tuned" anything in 15 years.
D Pope wrote: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...[/i]
:cry: He still uses this and it makes him look more and more ridiculous. He's got to have more haters than fans at this point. He's such a prick the way he insults people while acting like he just stays above it all. I'll guarantee that more "socially redeeming activities" are performed by his haters on any given day than he's managed in his entire life.
D Pope wrote:KJA: Many of the Star Wars authors keep in
regular and constant contact with each other
to discuss ongoing storylines. I had known
Barb very well for some time -- in fact I had
twisted her arm to get her to do a story for
my "Cantina" anthology. From that story, the
Star Wars editor at Bantam said, "Hey, I didn't
know Barbara Hambly liked Star Wars!" and
they offered her the book contract.

Yeah! KJA taking credit for someone else's success!
D Pope
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Re: spring 1997, BIG SW interview, kja, Pen Mightier than Sabre

Post by D Pope »

KJA: Trying to put together an anthology of
interconnected stories from dozens of different
authors is a giant administrative nightmare. While
I came up with the ideas and many of the storylines,
as well as the connecting tissue to hold the
anthologies together
, editing is really a lot of busy
work instead of creative work. I spent a lot of time
on the phone, cajoling other authors, reminding them
of deadlines, asking them for rewrites, massaging
away any contradictions I managed to spot.
Frankly,
it was more work than writing an original novel, and
I got to keep only a fraction of the payment.

However, I do think I've come up with some books
I can be very proud of. Tales from the Mos Eisley
Cantina and Tales from Jabba's Palace almost instantly
became the best-selling science fiction anthologies
of all time, a record that's not going to be easy to
beat by a long shot.

Nekhrun wrote:Yeah! KJA taking credit for someone else's success!
First, the best-selling science fiction anthologies of all time? ok...not worth looking up.

Second, From this you wouldn't think there were any other authors untill he whines about having to talk to them.

Third, if these books had any commertial success, it had very little to do with 14evins 'efforts.'
When a brand knew urinal puck showed up in the bathroom of my studio, I knew what I had to do.
-AToE
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