Hey.
I'm still alive, but buried in work. And play. And generally happy about it, which is a switch.
Tip for the aspiring writer: write things that make your [gender-appropriate portions of anatomy] hard, and fuck the rest. Don't try to be like somebody else. Tell it your way, and be as honest as you can with exactly why it warms your shorts, both with yourself and in the tale itself.
Remember: not all honest writing is good, but all good writing is honest.
And post your own version of the Frameshift Oath somewhere you can see it, so you never forget.
[The Frameshift Oath, for those of you who don't hang at the forums I hang at, runs like this:
I Swear by the Power of All Dark Gods that I Will Write Every Fucking Word Balls-Out for Glory.]
Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor is my attempt to get the EU back to its pre-Zahn roots -- specifically, to evoke memories of my all-time favorite Star Wars books, Brian Daley's Han Solo novels. Sure, it'll be violent and somewhat broody and all (it's the Popeye Thing: I yam what I yam) but generally it's gonna be -- in the words of My Favorite Writer -- a pop-top can of 100% pure Grade-A whipass.
Sorry I never got back with the Siren Call of Moral Clarity thing . . . but I realized (though I do have things to say on this particular lust, as I suffer from it myself) that fundamentally, moral clarity bores the shit out of me.
This is the weblog of bestselling author Matthew Woodring Stover. WARNING: use of this product may result in intestinal upset, mental disturbance, sudden mood swings, dental caries and occasional anal leakage. Management denies responsibility for any and all injury.
If you're gonna play Poke the Bear, you better keep in mind the bear doesn't give a shit it's just a game.
About Me
- MWS
- firmly believes that if you don't already know who he is, you're wasting your time hanging around here. Go buy a book or something.
21 comments:
And here I thought SW was going downhill without redemption...too bad you didn't start Legacy. It might've actually been worth reading.
I'd also be interested to know where you would have taken the Legacy series. I don't suppose you have any intention of trying to write the whole Jacen force journey thing? On a secondary note, I just finally got a hold of Blade of Tyshalle, and it was amazing. You have quickly risen to the level of Heinlein in my opinion.
Does it show much that this is the first time I've ever done this?
-Alex (Erro)
Keep going Matt, we're rooting for you!
This is awesome news Matt. Look forward to seeing the book in about a year!
note to self ... get around to reading those old things :p
yeah, I know, damn younguns :p
Off topic, I just wanted to say I love your writing, and I just made HEROES DIE my staff pick (I work at a Borders). Someone's bought one already!
So yeah, there's my 'go me, go Stover' moment.
Shit!
I should pay more attention... especially to oaths I am intending to follow... I've been writing with my balls out... literally... much to the distress of my girlfriend and family.
The Thornes think that Matt Stover is some author-guru-cult-leader, who encourages his disciples to sit at the laptop with the 'mouse out of the house'.
jT
Have I mentioned lately that you are a very, very bad man?
Dude...
If you let me put:
"You are a very, very bad man" - Matthew Woodring Stover
On my next book... I will tattoo 'Read Stover' on my balls!
And I swear to follow the code for said book!
jT
Just when I thought nothing could make me more excited for this book, I come here and find out just what you're trying to do.
Bring on February 2008. :)
Oh you'd be surprised who gets to see my spuds!
B'sides... it wouldn't be for the publicity... it'd be for the glory!
This thread is moving in some deeply disturbing directions.
Hey,
An attempt to get the EU back to its pre Zahn roots? That sounds like a worthy cause, so best of luck with that. I thought it was getting a bit tiresome and unrealistic that every new character that appeared was an inheritor of an age old, secret, hidden elite warrior tradition. I guess nobody just had to make a living cleaning the toilets or refuelling speeder bikes or anything. I also read Splinter of the Mind's Eye twice.
Best regards
Gavin
I'll just say a brief Hell Yeah!
Congrats on the new deal, Matt. I never got around to reading the Han Solo books, but I may give them a try in the next year if I get the time. I'm finally getting my wife to finish Blade, as she feels like she can get past a certain part now (let it never be said that you can't evoke an emotional response).
I must say it's a pleasure to find your presence online. I happened to stumble upon it via the Omnitient and All-Knowing Google after practically wetting myself with glee at the news that you would be writing another book for the Star Wars Universe.
I own and have read all of the Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, and those you have done are far and away my favorites. The death of Ganner Rhysode is the excerpt I force people to read when they question my love of the Expanded Universe, and Shatterpoint is the first book I lend people when they wish to start on the Expanded Universe path. In fact, I have Windu's quote "It is in the darkest night that the light we are shines brightest" tattooed on my left thigh.
You're a credit to both the Star Wars Universe and to literature itself.
Hey Matt. I have read over 90 Star Wars as of right now, and yours are in my top 10 favs. Shatterpoint is probably the best one, I'd say. It was different than most of the others books, and that made it awesome. I can't wait to read this next one.
~Mr. Jones
Just had some questions about writing.
If you get the notion my email is sintruli at gmail dotcom.
I agree with Geoff. Out of the 60 EU novels I have read, yours are by far the best! I wish you would have written the Legacy series, alone, all by yourself. To take it a step further I wish you had written the whole EU! I don't want to bash Zahn but I was stoked when I read your comment about getting back to the Pre-Zahn roots! You kill it Matt! Can't wait for Shadows Of Mindor!
So this is why all of the Zahn characters get killed off...
I just read Shadows of Mindor, and I noticed something. The way of the dark that Cronal follows is the exact polar opposite of the potentium belief. Potentium denies the existence of the Dark Side and says that all things work towards the greater good, the Way of the Dark denies the existence of the Light side and says all things work towards destruction.
I know this comment is kinda late, but whatever. Shadows of Mindor, to me, is something of a companion piece to Dark Empire; here, Luke learns that fear gives the dark side power, so he stops fearing it; in Empire, he oversteps, and learns the hard way that it doesn't necessarily have to be his fear for the dark side to be powerful.
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