The Unofficial Clone Wars Site

MICHAEL STACKPOLE INTERVIEW
(PART 1 of 2)

Best-selling author Michael A. Stackpole was one of the writers of the fan favorite X-Wing series. He also wrote I, Jedi and the New Jedi Order duology, Dark Tide I: Onslaught and Dark Tide II: Ruin. More recently, he penned the a Clone Wars short story for Star Wars Insider entitled "Elusion Illusion" featuring Jedi Knight Aayla Secura.

Stackpole's other credits include novels in the Battletech series and the Realms of Chaos saga. For a full list of his novels and other writings, visit his official site at www.stormwolf.com.

AL: First off, the last time you worked on a Star Wars project, you wrote Dark Tide I: Onslaught and Dark Tide II: Ruin, both in the New Jedi Order, and "Elusion Illusion," a Clone Wars short story. What was it like to return to Star Wars?

MS: It was great fun to come back. I'd not worked in the Clone Wars era, and that was a blast to play in, as it has a different feel. More elegant, certainly, but a bit desperate, too, since the evil is murky and no one is clear who they are fighting for certain. All you know is that the Jedi feel the wheels are coming off the universe, and they're not sure they'll be able to hold it together.

AL: The New Jedi Order and the Clone Wars are both two very different eras. What was it like to go from one to the other?

MS: Actually there was enough lag-time between assignments that I didn't really suffer from having to shift gears. What's great is that the universe is so cohesive that all the stuff I'd learned before still applied. I did have to go back and research more, making sure I was pulling material from the right era. Because I love the universe, the work was a joy and not all that hard.

AL: You were also one of the first authors that went into the New Jedi Order, and now the Clone Wars. What was it like to be one of the first in?

MS: I didn't think about it that way, really. I was just overwhelmed that Lucasfilm and Dark Horse were going to let me play with Aayla. She's an interesting character who is going through a stressful time while still young. There's a lot of strength to her, however, so she's the kind of character I like to write.

AL: Did you choose to use Ylenic and Nejaa as characters, or where you asked to work them in? Similarly, did the same go for Aayla Secura?

MS: It's kind of funny: the first outline I submitted was removed from the Clone Wars because I figured LFL would be a bit touchy about that. They came back and told me to dive right in. I offered the outline of "Elusion Illusion" and brought Nejaa in because of some other material LFL had sent that had him on a list. (He'd made a comment about the situation on Corellia, as I recall.) It seemed a natural story to tell, so I went for it and they gave me the green light.

AL: from the X-Wing Series and I, Jedi, you've really worked on a character, Corran Horn. In the X-Wing series, we learn that he's related to a Jedi Master, and in I, Jedi, we learn all about his family's past, right into the Clone Wars. Two of these characters, Nejaa Halcyon and Ylenic It'kla, were both featured in your story, "Elusion Illusion." Was it easy to return to these characters?

MS: Oh, it was very easy. I'd wanted to play with them very directly for a long time, so this was a dream come true.

AL: Aayla Secura is one of those favorite EU characters that a lot of people seem to like. Was it intimidating to use her? Did you talk to the actor who played her in the movie?

MS: I didn't get to talk to the actor before the story, and saw her in passing at a convention later, but never spoke to her. (What was I going to say? "Hi, I wrote you into a story.") I did read all the comics she'd appeared in and got what I hoped was a good sense of her character. Then, as usual, just started writing and she was pretty easy to work with. Not like trying to do Mara Jade, after all.

AL: In I, Jedi, we see Nejaa get killed and some other little things get mentioned. Are there any plans to write those out?

MS: No plans at the moment, though I would not be resistant to the idea.

AL: A timeline note: When Nejaa was killed, was that during or after the Clone Wars?

MS: In the X-Wing books it says he was killed during. In I, Jedi it says he was killed after. After is accurate, but it's like the war in Iraq. Are the folks being killed after we declare the war is over still dying in the war, or after? I figure Nejaa died so close after the war that the family just found it easier to note he died in the Clone Wars.

AL: Similarly, you're one of the only authors to really mention the Clone Wars in some of your other novels. Did that help with "Elusion Illusion"?

MS: Not particularly, though it did establish characters as existing in that period, which links them to my later work.

AL: How is writing a short story different from a novel? What process do you use when writing a short story? Any advice for aspiring writers?

MS: Well, there's three questions that could take forever. A short story has to be tighter since you have to pack it all into a small space. This means quick characterization is vital, so you establish folks fast and develop them through dialog and action as swiftly as you can. As for advice for aspiring writers, it boils down to this: read critically. See how authors you like do things, figure out how they do it, and see if you can emulate that sort of stuff in your own writing. That's how we all learn, after all. If not for Lester Dent and Edgar Rice Burroughs, I'd be a hideous writer.

AL: Last question for now - are you going to be returning to Star Wars for another novel or short story?

MS: Working in someone else's universe is like going to the Prom: you can't go if you're not invited. Until I get an invite to do more novels or short stories, I'll just find work elsewhere. I love the universe and will make space in my schedule to do thing in it, be they novels, short stories or comics, but I need the invitation first.

Conducted by Andrew Liptak, June 2003.