Tag Archives: Rogue One

Impatience And Loss Beyond The Stars

Posted on by
13

IMG_0225When I was eight years old, my mother took my brother and I to see the new Star Wars movie. We were both immediately hooked. My brother had the toys; the light sabre, the Millennium Falcon, the X-Wing Fighter, the figurines. I know he wishes he still had them now. I loved the stories – the fantasy, the faraway galaxies, the struggle between light and dark and all the complicated relationships that went along with it. I might have had a crush on Luke Skywalker, too. And I thought Princess Leia was the luckiest princess in all the galaxies, despite all that she went through.

When the sequels were announced, my brother and I devoured every snippet of information, our impatience at the wait between films boundless. This was before the Internet, before pirate footage and leaked set shots, before we had access to fan fiction and groups and tabloids. We were kids, and, while our dad worked with computers from the earliest days, our lives were still far removed from dashing deeds in distant galaxies. When episode VI was announced it was originally called Revenge of the Jedi instead of Return of the Jedi – it was changed after Lucas decided that Jedi did not take revenge, as it was against their code of honour. If only we’d managed to get one of the early promo pieces featuring the original name – they’re worth a fortune today, apparently. What we did collect was bubblegum cards, spending all our pocket money and trading until we each had a complete set of Return of the Jedi cards. I still have my set today.

This Boxing Day just past my brother and I went to see Rogue One together, almost forty years after we saw Star Wars. And just a day later, the original kick-ass princess left us all, gone to a place beyond the stars. 2016 has seen the passing of so many great names and, in its final moments, does not seem to want to go quietly, stealing not just one but three names from my youth: George Michael, Richard Adams and Carrie Fisher.

May they all find peace, in the fields beyond.

This is my response, a day late, to both the 30 Day writing challenge prompt: Impatience, and the lamented passing of Carrie Fisher, George Michael and Richard Adams.

If you enjoyed this post, you can find me on Twitter @AuthorHelenJ,  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Plus my latest book release, A Thousand Rooms, is now available on Amazon.

A Friday Update

Posted on by
28
IMG_1731

Spring is coming! (now that I’ve said that it will snow, right?)

The first week of school holidays is almost over – too bad the gorgeous girl and I have spent much of it housebound, struck down again by the bug that just won’t go away. However, modern medicine and good old-fashioned rest seem to be doing the trick, as we are both feeling better and actually ventured out today, for brunch and a movie with one of her schoolfriends and his mother. (We saw Zootropolis, which was actually really well done.)

I’ve also been writing. Silver and Black is flying along (so far), the story taking an intriguing shape, and I’m toying with the idea of serialising it on my blog once it’s ready to go. There are a couple of reasons for this: one is that the idea came to me via a series of blog challenges, so perhaps this is the right venue in which to share it, and two, I don’t usually write vampire stories, so it will be interesting to see what sort of feedback it gets.

I’m also looking at joining the Authors Lending and Copyright Society, a not-for-profit organisation based in the UK, run for and by writers. The ALCS is, in their own words, ‘dedicated to protecting and promoting authors’ rights’ and one of the ways they do so is by collecting secondary use royalties. These types of royalties can be levied when someone photocopies or digitally reproduces your work, or whenever your books are borrowed from a library. However, I will do a little more research before signing on, and will dedicate a blog post to exploring it more in depth.

Today I read this excellent interview with Hugh Howey via The Story Reading Ape. Hugh is an independent author extraordinaire and, I think I might love him a little. He’s such a passionate advocate for independent publishing, and has so much to say about the current state of the industry – it is well worth a read.

I’ve also been watching the latest Star Wars trailer, for Rogue One. I’ve been a Star Wars fangirl since the very beginning, ever since I was taken to see the first film in the cinema. This newest episode looks fantastic, and I have it down as one of my must-see movies for this year.

Next week the gorgeous girl and I have a few things planned, so hopefully we’ll both be back to full health and ready to go. I’ll still be writing away in Camp NaNo as and when I can, plus looking ahead to marketing and promotional opportunities for Oak and Mist. Hills and Valleys, the third Ambeth book, is now in the final editing stage, so I’m hoping to be able to publish by the end of this month – watch this space for cover reveals and more info.

Wishing you all a good weekend!