The live chat with author ANN CRISPIN (the Han Solo trilogy) was held on Saturday, March 20th at 8:00pm EST
Organized by The Outer Rim at www.outer-rim.net
Hosted by Echo Station at www.echostation.com
*** AnnCrispin has joined channel #AnnCrispin
<AnnCrispin> Hello.
<Chrono> Hello, Miss Crispin
<Sabrina> Alright everyone, terribly sorry about the delay, but we would like to extend a very warm welcome to Ann Crispin, who has joined us tonight :)
<echo_dave> Greetings Ann!
<JediJaina> Hi Ann thanks for coming!
<AnnCrispin> I think I'm here! <G>
<Chrono> Ann has agreed to stay a little bit later, to make up for the delay in the chat. Thanks very much for joining us, Ann
<JediJaina> Ready Ann?
<AnnCrispin> Hello!
<Chrono> Hello, Miss Crispin, thank you for joining us
<AnnCrispin> Hi, Chrono, thanks for having me here.
<JediJaina> Vykk_Draygo could you please ask her what she thinks about the discrepancy of Hutts giving birth in her novel and in
<JediJaina> the Boba Fett comic books? (BTW, I like her version better)
<JediJaina> oops sorry for the break
<AnnCrispin> Should I answer that?
<JediJaina> if you want :)
<AnnCrispin> Okay, well...I took my material about Hutts being hermaphroditic from the West End Games books...they said Hutts could reproduce at will. So I thought that was a very interesting and alien characteristic, so I decided to develop it in The Hutt Gambit and Rebel Dawn. I wasn't aware of what the Boba Fett comic had said until after Lucasfilm had approved what I wanted to do.
<Sabrina> <Earth2Kim> Will you be writing any more books in the Star Wars universe?
<AnnCrispin> I do not know. The license is now held by Del Rey, and they seem to be hiring mostly "Del Rey authors." I haven't written for Del Rey before... I would be interested, but nobody has asked yet.
<Chrono> <billzeller> does Ann have a website we could visit?
<AnnCrispin> Well...I have one under construction. Tell you what, when it's finished, I'll email the URL to Chrono.
<JediJaina> <Gasgano> If Han Solo's true parentage were revealed in the prequels, wouldnt' it be fitting and ironic if his real father turned out to bve a
<JediJaina> respected jedi knight?
* Chrono feels special. <g>
<AnnCrispin> Yes, I think it would. At one time I kind of wanted to do something akin to that, but LFL was very firm that I could say virtually NOTHING about Han's parents and who they might be.
<Sabrina> <brihana25> i'm curious as to how much of the trilogy she made up on her own, and how much she was given by lucas?
<AnnCrispin> I proposed a plot to LFL, they okayed some of it, turned thumbs down on other parts. I kept proposing stuff, they kept approving things, and eventually I had a complete plot. It took quite a while to get the whole plotline for the trilogy approved. So it's 80% my story, with about 20% additions or changes by LFL. (That's an approximate guess.)
<Chrono> <arc_mcbride> Here's my question: were Muurgh and Mrrov part of Red Hand Squadron when it was wiped out on Toprawa?
<AnnCrispin> Not to my knowledge. They went back to Togoria, I believe. I killed most of my other characters off, but I couldn't bear to kill them. <G>
<JediJaina> i would like to ask ann if she has any advice for people who are writers and would like to get published.
<JediJaina> that is from brihana25
<AnnCrispin> Well, yes, I have a couple of pieces of advice. First of all, WRITE IN YOUR OWN UNIVERSE. I can't stress that enough. Writing Star Wars or Star Trek books won't get you anywhere, except you'll have fun. But you can't sell them. Books written in your own universe can be sold to any one of a number of publishers. Also...be very wary these days...there are many writing scams out there to trap unwary new writers. Ripoff artists pose as literary agents and publishers...they're out to take your money by charging writers exorbitant fees. Don't pay money upfront to agents or publishers. Writers are supposed to be paid for their work. I'd be happy to answer other questions about writing, if that's not enough...
<echo_dave> Was it hard developing a character as rich and full as Bria knowing what her end ultimately had to be?
<AnnCrispin> Well, I got very fond of Bria, but believe me, she was marked for death from Day 1. <G> I loved the idea of creating a Star Wars Rebel character who would be drawn in shades of grey. I loved writing about such an obsessed and driven woman, who nevertheless loved Han Solo as much as she could love anyone.
<Sabrina> <Stephen>Did you have much trouble with Lucasfilm for using Han Solo, since he is such a central character in the Star Wars universe?
<AnnCrispin> No, I was hired to write the Han Solo Trilogy. That's what they wanted from me.
<Chrono> I have always wondered, Miss Crispin, what does the "C" stand for in A.C. Crispin?
<AnnCrispin> Carol.
<JediJaina> <Vykk_Draygo> could you please ask her waht material she had to drop when LFL was approving her trilogy?
<AnnCrispin> I had to drop any mention of how Han received the bloodstripe, any mention of how the Emperor rose to power, and could not write about Han's first meeting with Chewie very much. I also wasn't allowed to write about Han's time in the Academy or the Imp Navy. They also don't allow you to say anything about the Clone Wars. I had really wanted to get Han mixed up with Palpatine and Vader early on, but that was a BIG no-no...which was odd, because apparently, early on, Mr. Lucas had said that would be OK. But he changed his mind, and he's the boss...
<Sabrina> <Earth2Fan> How long did it take to write each novel?
<AnnCrispin> The three books took about 18 months to write. The first was the fastest, and took about 5 months. The second took nearly 7, and the third took a full 7.
<Fish> Wasn't the story of Han getting the bloodstripe covered in Brian Daley's trilogy?
<AnnCrispin> No, it wasn't...there were some hints, but no real story was given.
<echo_dave> What's your take on the recent LFL announcements on the crackdown on piracy, for example, the recent lawsuit filed in regards to the Unauthorized SW Compendium?
<AnnCrispin> Um...I haven't heard anything about that, I'm afraid. Kinda out of the loop these days...
<AnnCrispin> That's too bad...the U SW C gave my books high marks...<G>
<JediJaina> <brihana25> i'd also like to know, since lucasfilms has always been so secretive about han, was it hard to get them to nail down his age?
<AnnCrispin> It wasn't hard at all. The official bio for Han from LFL states that Han was 29 at the start of ANH.
<Sabrina> What sort of work outside of the Star Wars universe have you done?
<AnnCrispin> Oh, lots of things. I have 20 books published.
<AnnCrispin> Some Star Trek, original s.f., original fantasy...Alien Resurrection, V, stuff like that.
<JediJaina> <Vykk_Draygo> As a follow up to this question, what ideas DID she have about those incidents that she wanted to put in? How would, for
<JediJaina> example, Han Solo have earned his bloodstripes?
<AnnCrispin> Oh, I kept the incident. <G> I was planning to have Han earn the bloodstripe for saving those Corellian orphans in Rebel Dawn.
<Sabrina> <brihana25> on the subject of brian daley, did she have to refer to his trilogy often while writing hers?
<AnnCrispin> Absolutely. It was right there beside my keyboard every day.
<JediJaina> <Gasgano> Have you seen the new trailer and what are your impressions?
<AnnCrispin> I saw the first trailer, not yet the second. My impressions were that it looked really neat, but Yoda didn't look like himself...
<JediJaina> Vykk_Draygo> Another question, please? Did LFL also prohibit you from developing Jabba's backstory too much, especially considering his
<JediJaina> appearance in the SW:Ep 1 trailer?
<AnnCrispin> No, they didn't seem to have any problem with what I wanted to say about Jabba, except they cautioned me to keep mention of Zorba the Hutt to a minimum.
<echo_dave> How did working in the Star Wars Universe compare with your other writing efforts, especially other series work like Star Trek?
<AnnCrispin> Star Wars required tremendous amounts of research to preserve continuity. Star Trek is not that much of a stickler for continuity. By comparison, that is. A writer has to literally read an entire shelf of books to write a SW novel.
<Sabrina> Have you considered attending the Denver convention, either as a celebrity guest or as a Star Wars fan?
<AnnCrispin> I haven't been asked. I'd love to go, but <shrug>
<Chrono> What is your typical writing schedule, for instance, hours writing a day, breaks, etc.?
<AnnCrispin> Well, I tend to start out slowly, then go faster and faster, until I'm writing 10 or 12 hours or more per day. I get very caught up in a book once I'm on the homestretch. I hate beginnings, tho.
<JediJaina> <Gasgano> Have you ever shaped any of your charcter's personalites after a real life person you have known?
<AnnCrispin> Ummmm...good question. I think I have, but I have never exactly "copied" a person into a book...except a few here and there who had minor roles. They tended to be folks I was irritated with, and wrote 'em into books and killed 'em off in some nasty manner. <G> Moral: Don't annoy a writer! <G> For example, the bank manager in The Paradise Snare is a real person. <G>
<Sabrina> <Earth2Fan> The second trailer shows two Hutts, any speculations on who the second one might be?
<AnnCrispin> Nope. Hutts can be hard to tell apart for us ignorant humans.
<Chrono> <SWDave> Are you interested with working in the Prequel universe? If so, in what area? Jedi, the Senate?
<AnnCrispin> I'd love to write about Palpatine's rise to power...that subject fascinates me. Also the Clone Wars...not being able to write about it before got my curiosity going.
<JediJaina> <brihana25> i've always been very curious about this. why didn't she use blue max and bollux?
<AnnCrispin> Well Blue Max and Bollux left Han at the end of HS & the Lost Legacy. I didn't see any point in bringing them back in the last part of Rebel Dawn...I already had a whole raft of characters to deal with. Besides, if I'd brought them into Imperial space, I'd have had to destroy them, since they never turned up anywhere else...
<Sabrina> <brihana25> how exactly did lucasfilm approach you about writing for them?
* JediJaina reminds everyone to send Sabrina, Chrono, and JediJaina questions
<AnnCrispin> Well, I had told the SW editor at Bantam that I'd be interested in writing some SW books if they ever had an opening. When the HS Trilogy project came up, they thought of me, so they contacted my agent.
<Chrono> When did you first know that you wanted to be an author?
<AnnCrispin> I think I first considered it back in high school. But I first knew I wanted to get published REAL BAD when I was about 28.
<Sabrina> What sort of things do you do outside of writing? what sort of hobbies, etc do you have?
<AnnCrispin> Oh, I ride horseback, go camping, hiking, sail on my dad's sailboat, read, cook, play with my son's dog...
<AnnCrispin> I love to travel. I go to a lot of conventions...
<Chrono> <Bria> How do you feel about the discrepancies of Rebel Dawn and Soldier of the Empire regarding the DS plans?
<AnnCrispin> Well, my book was sold and plotted first.
<AnnCrispin> I tried to put in some quick fixes into Rebel Dawn, but it wasn't enough...I regret the inconsistencies...but there wasn't much I could do about it...
<JediJaina> <brihana25> do you think it's harder to become published now than it was when you started?
<AnnCrispin> Probably.
<Chrono> <SWDave> In what direction would she take Palpatine's rise? Would you include his Dark Side powers or training?
<AnnCrispin> But people do break in every day!
<AnnCrispin> Oh, yeah! Of course!
<Chrono> <g>
<AnnCrispin> That's all the fun, right???
<Sabrina> <brihana25> for authors who might follow, do you think that there is enough of an opening in your story, and enough gaps in bria's story, for them to have a child?
<AnnCrispin> I don't think so. I was pretty specific that there wasn't enough time for any of that to happen. Only a couple months went by between Han and Bria's reunion and her death.
<JediJaina> <Vykk_Draygo> Any inside jokes in the novels, like Zahn (in VOTF) naming a human servant "Entoo Needaan E-elz" (after Anthony Daniels)
<JediJaina> and having C-3PO call him a "silly little man"?
<AnnCrispin> (Sorry, gang. <G>) Sure, there are tons of in jokes. One of the smugglers in Rebel Dawn was my Echostation editor.
<AnnCrispin> and then there was Jenos Idanian...
<Chrono> Is there any particular author that you simply awe or that has given you inspiration in your writing career?
<AnnCrispin> You all know about Jenos Idanian, right?
<AnnCrispin> Andre Norton.
<Sabrina> yes :)
<Chrono> any particular reason why?
<JediJaina> yep :D
<AnnCrispin> Well, there you have it. Between Jenos and F8GN, there are lots of "in" jokes in those books. Well, I loved her books when I was a kid, and she was the first s.f. writer to feature women in her space adventure stories. It was hard growing up reading s.f. and watching the guys always have all the adventures. And all the fun...the girls, if they were in there at all, just got rescued. :-( I decided that MY books would be different...
<AnnCrispin> <G>
<Chrono> <g>
<Sabrina> <SWDave> Was there any reason that you made Han's "mother" a Wookie? Was it to develop his soft spot for them?
<AnnCrispin> Absolutely.
<Chrono> lol
<JediJaina> <Vykk_Draygo> Actually, I don't know about Jenos... could you explain please?
<AnnCrispin> "Jenos Idanian" is an anagram for "Indiana Jones." It was a hoot having Han, as Jenos, saying "Those treasures belong in a museum!"
<AnnCrispin> LOLOL!
<Sabrina> LOL
<JediJaina> That was a good one!
<AnnCrispin> Writers have to amuse themselves as they write, since they know how it comes out in the end...<G>
<Chrono> Have you been approached by Del Rey, or do you plan to be approached by Del Rey about writing more Star Wars novels?
<AnnCrispin> Nope, haven't heard from Del Rey. It would be nice, but I'm busy with other projects anyhow, so I'm not holding my breath.
<Sabrina> <SWDave> Are you going to be contributing to the Tales from the Rebellion anthology (which is one of the last Bantam SW projects) that's coming out?
<AnnCrispin> (BTW, LFL thought "Jenos Idanian" was a hoot, too...)
<Sabrina> (i can imagine <G>)
<AnnCrispin> No, I haven't been asked...I've love it, but nobody's contacted me.
<JediJaina> <brihana25> what is your opinion on web-published fan fiction?
<AnnCrispin> Ummm...tough question. I write for a living, so the idea of writing for nothing doesn't do much for me. But I recognize that people have fun doing it, so that's okay. But I am very wary of treading on other folks' copyrights or trademarks...which a lot of fanfic does.
<Chrono> Not to pry too much, but does LFL pay well?
* JediJaina reminds everyone to send questions to Chrono, Sabrina, and JediJaina
<AnnCrispin> Well...I've made more off my Star Trek books. Of course they have been out a lot longer. I would say they pay okay, but not stellar.
<Sabrina> What kind of research do you do for any sort of work, be it Star Wars or other?
<AnnCrispin> Whatever amount of research it takes to create the illusion of reality. You have to draw the reader in, make him/her "fall through the hole in the page." That means you have to know your subject matter cold, no matter what it is you're writing about.
<echo_dave> So what current projects are you working on...you mentioned "other projects" up above...what else can we look for from you?
<AnnCrispin> I'm writing an original fantasy trilogy for Avon, called The Exiles of Boq'urain. The first book is called Storms of Destiny. It's a fun world to write in...violent, bloody and grim, but my characters are great people, very interesting and a bit different. No dragons, elves, trolls, orcs or unicorns...but there are sea serpents, revolutionaries, a de-frocked priestess, an evil omnipitent Being who is the Ted Bundy of his kind...a female revolutionary, a prince sold into slavery...a ninja warrior who discovers he's a sorcerer... Revolutions, plague...all kinds of entertaining stuff.
<Chrono> Alright everone. Begin sending in your final questions, so we can let Miss Crispin go back to the rest of her life. <g>
<Sabrina> Ok Im interested :)
<AnnCrispin> Also...I'm doing a proposal for a Star Trek hardcover. And that's it!
<Sabrina> <SWDave> Are you interested in writing/scripting StarWars comics at any time? Would you like to see your novels as comics?
<AnnCrispin> At one time I proposed to Dark Horse comics that they allow me to write "The Chronicles of Red Hand Squadron." They seemed interested...I'd love to do that.
<JediJaina> <Bria> What was the reasoning in having the HS trilogy only released in paperback?
<AnnCrispin> Well, the standalone books are done as hardcovers, the trilogies generally come out as paperbacks. That was the way Bantam did them by the time I was hired. There is a h.c. HS Trilogy omnibus available from The Science Fiction Book Club, tho.
<Sabrina> <SWDave> Would you like to see any of your characters as toys?
<AnnCrispin> Yeah, that would be kewl.
<AnnCrispin> <G>
<JediJaina> <Vykk_Draygo> What did she think about Dave Wolverton's references in "Courtship" about Han's past and how he might possibly be the son
<JediJaina> of a warlord, maybe being royalty, etc.
<AnnCrispin> Well, he sort of took it back at the end of the book...I thought it was too reminiscent of Space Balls, to be honest. <G>
<Sabrina> Hahaha
<JediJaina> <Vykk_Draygo> Also, any chance of seeing her wrtie another Star trek novel in the future? Any long term plansfor that?
<AnnCrispin> Well, I'm finishing up an extensive book proposal for a ST h.c. It's about the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. And why the Cardassians eventually had to clear out. We'll see if Paramount will okay it.
<JediJaina> <brihana25> how heavily did you rely on the tech manuals when you were writing about ships and battles? especially the falcon?
<AnnCrispin> Very heavily. I also relied on my gaming pals, especially Steve Osmanski.
<JediJaina> Lemondrop asks if you are going to see the movie on the first day
<JediJaina> meaning Ep1
<AnnCrispin> Yes, matter of fact, I'm hosting a special showing of the film in Vancouver.
<AnnCrispin> I'm guest of honor at V-Con, and they've arranged a special showing at midnight for the con goers.
<Chrono> cool!
<AnnCrispin> so I won't have to stand in line! (neener neener!) <G>
<Chrono> lol
<Chrono> <Bria> How'd you feel about the Rebellion turning on the smugglars they had hired to help on Ylesia?
<AnnCrispin> I thought it was good that somebody showed that the Rebellion had an underside, and that there can be fanatics on both sides. Made things more realistic.
<Sabrina> <SWDave> Is it true that you put Pablo Hidalgo(former writer for the [dearly departed] SW Adventure Journal) in your book just because he asked?
<AnnCrispin> Well, he gave me quite a bit of help with continuity...so I did it without being asked.
<JediJaina> <Vykk_Draygo> Maybe you could write some Boba Fett comic book stories? You handled his character well, IMO.
<AnnCrispin> Thanks! I'd love to write more about Fett...He's a neat character.
<Chrono> Miss Crispin, what Star Wars fan sites have you visited, or visit frequently?
<AnnCrispin> Well, I go to Jedi Council, and Echostation every so often.
<AnnCrispin> And Meeting Place of the Jedi Council...
<Chrono> www.outer-rim.net <g>
* echo_dave does The Happy Dance <g>
<JediJaina> <Hobbie> I need more info on Vancouver, etc... That's where I live!!
<Chrono> lol
<JediJaina> is there a place he can get info?
<AnnCrispin> Well, come to V-Con! Weekend of May 21st.
<AnnCrispin> I think there is a website...
<Chrono> Alright everyone, thanks for coming. Once Miss Crispin has her website completed, I will post it at the up and coming ORNovels
<AnnCrispin> I'll email Chrono the email address of the contact person.
<Chrono> great Ann
<AnnCrispin> Thanks for inviting me. It's been great fun.
<JediJaina> thank you very much Ann for coming!
<echo_dave> Thanks Ann! Great chat!
<Sabrina> On behalf of all our guests here tonight, and myself of course, a very big thank you to Ann!
<echo_dave> And folks - remember: hit www.outer-rim.net and www.echostation.com ...we appreciate your attendance.
* JediJaina claps for AnnCrispin
<AnnCrispin> May the Force Be With Us All...<bows...>
<Chrono> Good luck with your car, Ann. <g>
<AnnCrispin> Chrono...just loose rivets on the hubcap, I think...
<AnnCrispin> Everyone take care...
<AnnCrispin> Good night!
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