Tales From The Empire

by Peter Schweighofer

  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

  fiction novels in the local bookstore. I read

  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.
r />   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