Interview: Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on The Last Jedi and Shadow Games

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, co-author of Shadow Games and Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force, was a featured guest at Conjecture/ConChord in San Diego this past weekend for her work on writing filk songs, but she had time to give me the scoop on her upcoming Star Wars novel with Michael Reaves, The Last Jedi, as well as shares about writing Dash Rendar in Shadow Games, and characterizing droids like I-Five and Leebo. She also discusses how the short story “And Leebo Makes Three…” came about, and her other upcoming works.

I was a little disappointed that the programming staff for the joint convention (ConChord is a Southern California filking con, for which Bohnhoff and her husband were toastmasters, while Conjecture is a San Diego sci-fi/fantasy lit con) didn’t get their ducks in a row to have Bohnhoff on any Star Wars panels, such as readings for Star Wars Reads Day, or joining the discussion with Patricia Wrede, David Brin, and myself. Still it was a treat to have a chance to sit down with Bohnhoff about the writing process and baseball. Smaller cons are great places to actually meet and talk to the featured guests.

The Last Jedi, by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, comes out on February 26, 2013 in paperback.

Out this week: Shadow Games, CEIII #2

Tuesday brings our final Star Wars novel of the year, Shadow Games by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. Here’s a mini-excerpt for the Dash Rendar fans.

Comic fans will have two books to look for on WednesdayCrimson Empire III: Empire Lost #2 and Dark Times: Out Of The Wilderness #3.

Our next major release will be James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis on January 10. This one also has a recent mini-excerpt.

EUbits: Richardson on CEIII, inside The Complete Vader

Crimson Empire III. With Empire Lost #1 in stores, Dark Horse founder and co-writer Mike Richardson talks to Comic Book Resources about getting the Star Wars license and getting re-acquainted with Kir Kanos and crew.

The Complete Vader. Undecided on whether to get the book or not? Take a peek at some of the contents courtesy of Wired. For those who already have it, the Star Wars Books Facebook page is hosting a chat with authors Ryder Windham and Pete Vilmur on Tuesday.

Nonfiction. Also coming on Tuesday is the release of Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Innovation, a nice coffee-table book for the effect nerds.

Video. Author J.W. Rinzler & Art Director Leslie Dilley talk about the massive Blueprints book at NYCC.

Excerpts. A tiny bit of The Old Republic: Revan, and a bigger one for Shadow Games.

Poll At Suvudu, Eric Geller asks which Star Wars books you’d like to see adapted for the screen. Alas, there’s not option for ‘none of them.’

EUbits: Darth Plagueis retreats to January

Street date shuffle. The release of James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis has been pushed back from December 27 (read: still after Christmas) to January 10. No big; our ever-present Star Wars book release schedule has been updated.

Hintage. Lucasfilm editor J. W. Rinzler hints at future projects with DK on Twitter.

Excerpts. Fans longing for the return of Diet Han (just one calorie!) will love the latest Shadow Games mini-excerpt.

New York ComicCon. Del Rey will have Drew Karpyshyn and Bonnie Burton at their Star Wars booth. NYCC runs Oct. 13 – 16.

Interviews. Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog interviews Paul S. Kemp, while the official blog talks to Carlos Garzón about Star Wars Art: Comics.

EUbits: Shadow Games mini-excerpts, looking at recent SW comics, and a real Crystal Star?

While a lot of talk this week has been focusing on the changes coming in the Star Wars Blu-ray release, there’s also been some news and chatter in the world of the Expanded Universe:

Shadow Games: Del Rey has posted two mini-excerpts from Shadow Games on the Star Wars Books account on Facebook. The novel, by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, comes out at the end of November.

Mini-excerpt #1 (from last week):

“Confidence,” Dash retorted, annoyed at being pulled out of his pleasant reverie. “The Outrider is twice the ship the Falcon is.” As far as he was concerned Solo’s boat was a scow compared with Dash’s heavily modified YT-2400.

Mini-excerpt #2:

“Then where am I supposed to come by these steely-eyed, laser-toting…characters?”

A smile curved Kendara Farlion’s lips and her teeth showed, white and even in her face. “I never thought I’d say this, but there are advantages to being from Mos Eisley. I know exactly where to look for that kind of character.”

Comics:

Favorite Scenes: Del Rey asked fans on Facebook to identify favorite scenes from the novels. A lot of deaths pop in: Anakin Solo, Ganner, Chewbacca (I guess fans have mellowed a bit on that) and Thrawn, as well as scenes from the X-Wing (both comedic and action scenes), Republic Commando, and Darth Bane series. Did not see any mentions of Waru or the Black Fleet Crisis, and that makes me sad.

Fact mirrors Star Wars fiction: Discovered: A real life “Crystal Star” (well, a crystallizing former star) – Formerly a white dwarf star, this planet is believed to be turning into one giant diamond. At 4,000 light-years away, it’ll take a while for this rock to be a girl’s best friend. Also, did not see any mentions of Waru, and that makes me sad again.

EUbits: A quick peek inside Shadow Games

Two smugglers walk into a bar… Today on the official forums, editor Sue Rostoni shared a brief excerpt from the proof of Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff’s Shadow Games. Black-barred for the paranoid spoilerphobics:

“In case you haven’t noticed, Captain, there are Imperials all over the place. It would be in our customer’s interests to be discreet.”

The Wookiee said something, to which Han replied, “Of course I’m discreet. I’m always discreet.” To Dash he said, “What’d you have in mind?”

The proof, for those of you keeping track, is 338 pages. Shadow Games will be out in paperback in the fall.

Interview. Lightsaber Rattling talks to Paul Kemp about his just-released Old Republic tie-in, Deceived.

Blurbs. In other Kemp-related news, there’s a summary out there now for his September paperback, Riptide. (via)

Comics. The Crimson Empire story that will be in Dark Horse Presents #1 will feature Kir Kanos in a standalone tale that will both recap some of the earlier CE and set things up for CEIII, according to Randy Stradley.

First look. The next in the Lost Tribe of the Sith series, ‘Pantheon,’ will hit July 18th.

EUbits: Allie talks Qui-Gon comic, Del Rey to reissue novelization, Shadow Hunter for TPM 3-D

Comics. Writer Scott Allie talks about the Qui-Gon Jinn comic Jedi: The Dark Side with CBR. He reveals that the series will take place 20 years prior to The Phantom Menace, that the focus of Dark Side will be a personal story, and talks a bit about Xanatos. Yoda, Mace Windu and even Dooku will make appearances in the mini-series.

Releases. Del Rey will be reissuing The Phantom Menace novelization and Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter next year to tie-into the first 3-D release. Both books will feature new original short stories for the occasion.

Events. Authors John Jackson Miller and Paul S. Kemp and Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss will talk about Star Wars books at a panel at Chicago’s C2E2. The schedule isn’t up yet, but the panel will be Friday, March 18. (Question: Is C2E2 worth a vacation day and a 4-hour drive in the days of social media? I’ll have to think about it.)

History lesson. Tor.com’s Emily Asher-Perrin takes a slightly snarky (yay!) look back at the evolution of Star Wars galaxy maps. In retrospect, that first one was probably the only reason at all to be excited about Vector Prime. I must admit I do still like the old-timey calligraphy look it has.

The blogside. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff reveals that one of the locations for Shadow Games (née Holostar) is Bannistar Station.

Kids. The folks behind The Strange Case of Origami Yoda will be back with Darth Paper Strikes Back in the fall.

Street date shuffle: Realigning the novels for 2011/2012

We got a number of schedule updates from Sue Rostoni today. There were a few notable delays – Riptide, Shadow Games and (sigh) Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse have all been pushed back a few months. There were also a number of additions: Drew Karpyshyn’s contribution to The Old Republic tie-ins set for October. Looking forward into 2012, Luceno’s Plagueis novel is up for January, and Allston’s new Wraith book for July.

We also got what is perhaps our first conformation that John Jackson Miller’s Lost Tribe of the Sith is set for print. Head on over to our book schedule for all the details.