Wars universe.
The Star Wars Adventure Journal began to change all that.
Over time, the Journal became a place where qualified writers from all
backgrounds could publish original Star Wars fiction. Every author's
bibliography and fiction samples were scrutinized by West End and
Lucasfilm--only those whose work was approved received invitations to
contribute. Not every submission was accepted. Every article had to
live up to West End's and Lucasfilm's high quality standards. The
Journal was never a fanzine, although some of its authors had
experience writing for such publications. It was a showcase for the
best new Star Wars material available.
At first the Journal didn't emphasize short stories---they shared the
288 pages with game adventures and source material. Such regular
features as "GalaXywide News-Nets," "Smuggler's Log," and "Wanted by
Cracken" introduced new characters, starships, planets, aliens, and
conflicts in the Star Wars universe, and offered ways to use them in
the role-playing game. At the time of their publication in the
Journal, all fiction pieces contained game information and sidebars
offering tips for integrating elements from short stories into the
game.
Subsequent issues unveiled the works of more polished authors and a
rising level of excellence. At Lucasfilm's encouragement--and due to
the increase in the quality of short-story submissions--the number of
fiction articles grew.
The Journal became a source for Star Wars short stories inhabited by
characters other than those familiar to fans of the movies. It was one
of the few places where authors without a novel under their belt could
officially write new Star Wars fiction. A generation of new writers
created their own heroes: CorSec agents, cynical smugglers, rogue Dark
Jedi, Rebel commando teams. Established authors returned to their
favorite characters and created new
ones. Everyone had a chance to roam around the universe they knew and loved.
The Journal created a whole series of Star Wars stories that set off
into unexplored territory. It gave authors a special opportunity to
write for their favorite film setting and expand the scope of the Star
Wars galaxy.
I spent my childhood playing with Star Wars action figures, listening
to the sound tracks, collecting trading cards, and reading novels and
comic books. These kept the characters and myths of the movie alive in
my imagination at a time when household VCRs were still rare.
The Star Wars records--which appealed to my love for music--sparked
images of the film in my mind. The trading cards brought movie scenes
and characters back to life. Comic books developed plots and
characters beyond the end of the film. The action figures helped me
tell my own stories. My interest in Star Wars survived through the
long years of waiting for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the
Jedi.
As I grew older, though, I soon found other pursuits to occupy my
time.
One of those was a strange new hobby called "role-playing games."
Several kids in my neighborhood started playing something called
Dungeons and Dragons. I watched them play once and it didn't seem too
hard. Instead of wondering where I could buy a copy, I created my own
fantasy role-playing game for my friends.
It wasn't particularly ingenious, nor did it capture the complexities
that were to appear in current role-playing games--but it was fun.
Eventually I bought Dungeons and Dragons, the first of many
role-playing games in practically every genre: fantasy, science
fiction, historical. These provided an outlet for my creativity. I
enjoyed running games for friends and creating my own adventures.
The Star Wars films fostered an interest in science fiction and fantasy
literature that followed me into high school. All my spare money was
used to purchase science
Moorcock's Ebic series, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and anything by
Larry Niven. All this reading inspired me to dream up my own
characters, worlds, and technologies, which eventually appeared in my
own (admittedly mediocre) sci-fi stories.
I combined my role-playing-game and science-fiction hobbies by creating
my own simple science-fiction board games, complete with intricate
maps, counters, and cards.
My friends and I played them often, though we didn't think they'd
amount to much in the long term. How often does having fun develop
into a lucrative career?
When I reached college age, I was determined to hone my writing skills
and put them to use penning science-fiction epics of my own.
Throughout my years at Hamilton College, I dabbled in science
fiction--reading a lot of it and writing some of my own (better by
now). I broadened my writing and publishing experience by reporting
and typesetting for the college newspaper. My creative-writing
professors encouraged me to explore other areas, such as poetry and
historical fiction (which eventually became another hobby of mine). I
even tested my organizational skills by coordinating the Hamilton
College Writers Society.
During one summer vacation, I discovered treasure buried in the
science-fiction shelves of the local bookstore: the Star Wars
Role-playing Game. Two of my favorite hobbies--Star Wars and
role-playing--had been merged. I bought the book on the spot.
Over the next few years, my friends and I occasionally explored the
Star Wars role-playing universe during game sessions. We created our
own legendary characters--he-roes like the outlaw Dirk Harkness, and
villains like the mysterious bounty hunter Beylyssa. Through our
imaginations, we explored strange planets, escaped carefully laid
Imperial traps, and blasted stormtroopers at every turn.
For a few nights between semesters, Star Wars lived again in the minds
of our gaming crew.
The Star Wars Role-playing Game was just that: a game, a pleasant
pastime to fill college breaks, a hobby left over from childhood. Most
childhood diversions, however, eventually crumble under the
intimidating weight of the "real world," and with graduation from
college, I was prepared to succumb to the inevitable nine-to-five
drudgery of the workplace. No matter how much I loved Star Wars and
role-playing, they could never provide me with a viable career. Not
that I didn't try, mind you. I sent a few resumes out to game
companies, including West End, but, as is often the case, most
companies required a few years' experience in the industry. I had to
start at one of the lower rungs on the publishing ladder.
As a recently graduated creative-writing major, I was well suited for a
job in journalism: reporting for my hometown weekly newspaper was the
only publishing job I could find. I spent two years reporting on town
meetings, school events, and interesting people in the community.
While this doesn't sound glamorous, I absorbed things every writer and
editor should kn
ow. I learned how to meet deadlines, how to revise my
writing to make it clear and exciting, and how to choose words and
organize paragraphs to express my ideas clearly.
After two years, I was promoted to editor in chief when the previous
editor stepped down. This new job quickly taught me how to be a team
leader. Now I was critiquing reporters' stories, working with them to
produce great articles. I got a crash course in public relations as I
was forced to deal with the innumerable publicity seekers who plague
small newspapers with their personal agendas, political crusades, and
town-government conspiracy theories.
Although I was living at home, I was close to my Star Wars gaming
friends. We continued our fantastic adventures through the Outer Rim
Territories, freeing aliens from despotic slavers, infiltrating secret
Imperial research bases, and escorting undercover Rebel agents on
luxurious starliners.
We soon discovered we were not alone in our passion for Star Wars. A
new novel called Heir to the Empire seemed to herald the dawn of a new
Star Wars age. New comic books also began to appear. As soon as we
heard that another Timothy Zahn Star Wars novel had been published, we
ran to the bookstore. Our gaming crew scanned the new comic-book
releases for Star Wars material.
We were not alone in the universe---Star Wars fans everywhere were
emerging from their slumber.
Change was in the air, and I began to think that if I could find the
right job in the gaming industry, I'd be able to realize my dream of
combining Star Wars, writing, and role-playing games.
With a year's worth of editing experience under my belt, I decided to
try breaking into the gaming industry again. My first choice was West
End for two reasons: the company was only three hours from my home in
Connecticut, and it possessed the license for my favorite film-related
role-playing game.
After I mailed my resume and made a few phone calls, I was invited to
meet West End's senior staffers and managers in their nondescript brown
warehouse/office in rural northeastern Pennsylvania. I walked into the
interview carrying a folder with my resume and a few samples of my
newspaper work. I also brought along a positive attitude and my love
for Star Wars . . . and when I left the office, I was editor of the
Star Wars Adventure Journal.
Since that day four years ago, I've worked with many authors.
Some proved to be up-and-coming writers, others were New York Times
best-selling Star Wars authors. Most suffered through my long,
meticulous critique letters and rambling phone conversations. I hope
some have learned to become better writers through our work.
Many of the new authors could have been viewed as risks. A beginning
writer's work often needs more polishing than a story by an experienced
author, but the end
result is often well worth the effort.
The Journal is proof that these risks have paid off. Those who made it
through the months of writing, waiting, and revision have added their
names to the growing list of published Star Wars authors.
In this anthology, you'll meet some of them.
My first mission in establishing the Journal was to find a New York
Times best-selling author to create a story for the premiere issue.
West End had developed a good rapport with Timothy Zahn, whose novels
were already the inspiration for two game sourcebooks. I contacted
Tim, who turned out to be extremely friendly and willing to help.
At the time, he was not scheduled to write any more Star Wars
novels--this story assignment would be a chance for him to return to
some of his favorite characters.
Though he wanted to develop his archvillain, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Tim
decided to write a background story for Talon Karrde. (Tim would
investigate bits of Thrawn's past in subsequent Journal stories--"Mist
Encounter" in Journal 7 and "Command Decision" in Journal 11.) "First
Contact" revealed some of Talon Karrde's activities before the time
covered by Heir to the Empire, confirming the smuggler's penchant for
cleverly naming his starships along the way. The story is a brilliant
display of Tim's ability to lead readers through a complex and devious
tale packed with surprises.
After "First Contact," Tim contributed to other West End Games Star
Wars products, including the DarkStryder campaign. Although he'd never
worked on role-playing games before, Tim participated in several
charity games where he has portrayed Talon Karrde and Grand Admiral
Thrawn. He proved to be just as devious and scheming in role-playing
games as he is in his fiction.
Convincing Timothy Zahn to write for the Journal was the first
challenge. The next was to encourage other mainstream authors to
contribute. Kathy Tyers was an obvious choice. After The Truce at
Bakura, she had stayed active in Star Wars publishing through the
various
anthologies, just finishing a short story for the then-unpublished Star Wars: Tales of the Bounty Hunters anthology.
She wanted to do more with a character she created for that story:
Tinian I'att.
While "Tinian on Trial" was characteristic Star Wars fare, with its
aliens and stormtroopers, Kathy's fiction treated many deeper emotional
themes involving sacrifice, love, and freedom. Readers were also
treated to a sneak peek at the story to come in Tales of the Bounty
Hunters, which wasn't published until all three Tinian stories appeared
in the Journal.
Michael A. Stackpole also offered the Journal a preview of his upcoming
Star Wars fiction--' 'Missed Chance" appeared six months before Rogue
Squadron went on sale.
Mike's X-Wing books showed that characters other than the main heroes
could support an entire novel. Mike has been combining game worlds and
fiction for many years working in the role-playing-game industry since
it began in the 1970s. Besides writing numerous game adventures, he's
authored several novels based in role-playing settings for the Dark
Conspiracy and BattleTech games. He's a good example of an author with
promise making it in the major leagues of publishing.
While working with mainstream science-fiction writers was exciting,
discovering talented new authors was truly rewarding. They were
struggling to balance career and writing, hammering out short stories
in their spare time.
These people were the Star Wars fans who could be the notable
science-fiction writers of the future.
I first met one of these, Patricia A. Jackson, at Sci-Con, a
science-fiction convention in Virginia Beach, where she was rather
outspoken during a panel discussion on freelance writing, and she later
turned up when I ran a Star Wars role-playing-game adventure. Two
weeks later, a manuscript turned up on my desk: a Star Wars story
patched together from the characters and events of our game. I quickly
learned that role-playing-game adven
tures--though they're fun while you're playing them--do not automatically make good short stories.
But Patty would not be discouraged. Her next story had a solid first
draft, and was revised until it was fit for publication.
It was the first of many fiction submissions. She was particularly
proud of "The Final Exit," a story whose foreboding atmosphere closely
matches the personality of Dark Jedi Adalric Brandi.
Patty has become one of the Journal's regular contributors. We still
see each other at gaming and science-fiction conventions, and the two
of us run a small writers workshop every year at Sci-Con.
Charlene Newcomb had contributed to every Journal when "A Certain Point
of View" appeared. Up to then, all her stories had focused on a
character she created called Alex Winger, the daughter of an Imperial
Governor who was secretly working to free her planet from the Empire.
Before "Point of View," Charlene finished the latest Alex Winger story
and was wondering where to go from there.
To help inspire her, I sent her a copy of a painting that had once
adorned an old Star Wars game adventure. It showed a ship's officer
and several aliens playing a hologame.
I told Charlene to write a story involving this scene so I could
feature the color artwork in the Journal. She went to work and
submitted "A Certain Point of View," in the plot of which she managed
to highlight several elements of the painting. Framed by a large
viewport, the picture reveals a greenish nebula swirling in the
distance: a hazardous section of space called the Maelstrom. One of
the aliens represented in it holds a large goblet--the helmet of an
approaching stormtrooper is reflected in its glassy surface. In her