The Forcewritings: A Short History
21 steps to an acclaimed fanfiction series
  1. 1. Sara Miller emails Alexandra Pope just after Christmas in 1999 after reading her "Star Wars Memoir" on a website and realizing that another 14-year-old girl was into science fiction. Amazement can produce strange and wondrous results.
  2. 2. Alex emails her back; a correspondence begins. Sara sends Alex her first novel, "Secrets Echo of the Past", and from that point on is known to Alex as 'Tara'.
  3. 3. Alex leaves on a Mexican cruise - can't get the novel off her mind. On the first night at sea, there is a windstorm, and everyone gets violently ill. Alex is suddenly inspired to write a prequel novel for "Secrets". It's amazing what champagne can do.
  4. 4. Alex devises the character Lilandra Ilkhaine after some random kids ask her if she's twenty-one. Never underestimate thepower of an alter-ego, says Alex, who was proposed to twice on the cruise, and offered alcohol by numerous parties.
  5. 5. Alex writes "In The Hands of the Empire" in two months, the prequel to "Secrets". The scene where Lilandra Ilkhaine gets violently ill aboard a cruise ship? You guessed it - the product of that first night at sea, where Alex recounts stepping over the bodies of very green children who have passed out on the promenade deck.
  6. 6. "Empire" is approved by Tara; plans are put in the works for a sequel after some discussion about the futures of thecharacters.
  7. 7. Alex sends "Empire" to her friend around the block, Kerry-Ann Wall. Kerry, inspired by the character Kerryna Occot, who was inspired by her post-Episode-One desires to portray Emperor Palpatine's daughter, decides to write Kerryna's story. Thus, "The Legend of Darthina Occot" is born.
  8. 8. By the spring, Alex is well on her way in writing the "Empire" sequel, "By the Whill of the Force". Sara and her school friend, Alexandra Looney, are planning to write a sequel for "Secrets", to fill in the five-year gap Alex left in the plot.
  9. 9. "By the Whill of the Force" is completed by summer. Everyone loves the triple-marriage idea. Alex loves Cace - modelled him after ninth-grade crush, with devastating conclusion. Cace becomes metaphor for any current crush experienced by Alex - until Nathan comes along (keep reading. . . )
  10. 10. Tara emails Alex, informs her of an idea she and Al concieved in English class for a dancing bet between the characters. Two months later, Alex writes "You Bet I Can Dance" in two evenings. It's a smash hit.
  11. 11. Tara begins work on "Rites of Passage". Can already sense she's going to be in it for the long haul. Skywalker twins concieved in series of emails. Alex feels it's time for the relationships in the stories to progress.
  12. 12. Alex begins work on "Forceful Depression, Elite Intrigue". By this time, word has gotten around her school that she writes Star Wars fanfiction; some think it's cool, some think it's freaky. Most have caught on to the character craze, and demand to be immortalized in a story. One of these is Alex's cousin, sci fi fanatic Catherine Theriault. "FDEI" to have the largest cast of characters of any of Alex's novel.
  13. 13. By fall, FDEI is finished, and Artemis Orenda has entered the series. Catherine tries her hand at writing; the four Artemis & Maverick Adventure Shorts are completed.
  14. 14. Tara and Alex have a deep conversation one day about death (this is actually during production of FDEI, when Alex was experiencing writer's block as to how to end the bloody thing). Conversation turns to Forcewritings. Alex, infatuated with Mark Hamill, is dared by Tara to write a story in which her beloved Luke Skywalker is killed. Kerry believes this to be a sacrilege; nevertheless, Alex writes the story, and initiates her fixation with Tanya Skywalker being an evil psycho. "Walk the Sky: The Tale of the Nightbird" is accepted by Tara with much sadness, and it is time for her to fulfill her half of the dare.
  15. 15. Tara writes "Release of a Generation", the moving death of Tara Jaksbin, her beloved character.
  16. 16. Production grinds to a halt.
  17. 17. Alex, bored one night, looks through her Star Wars encyclopedia (her great honking 60$ birthday gift that has every existing piece of SW factual knowledge in it), and stumbles across the entry for "Otherspace". Writes madly inspired email to Tara. Tara's response: "You're crazy, but go for it!"
  18. Kerry's response: "Cool!"
  19. Catherine's response: "Seek professional help, Lex."
  20. 18. Alex begins writing "Otherspace": fourteen years after Luke's death. Main characters are Palie Lendene, the adolescent daughter of Lil and Cace, and Nathan Skywalker, Luke's adult son. Nathan becomes Alex's new hero as plot progresses and she herself takes on Palie's characteristics. Bye-bye Cace, and Luke is LONG gone.
  21. 19. Almost a year later, Alex looks back at all the stories in this really cheap dissection - edits all her previous novels, compares them to Otherspace. . . decidedly, her writing has improved in two years.
  22. 20. Alex goes to visit Catherine in August 2001; "Small Wonder" is concieved, a large-cast, humourous story devised solely with the purpose of corrupting Lilandra, allegedly the "biggest Mary-Sue this world has ever seen". Characters put in some incriminating positions. Nice break from the melancholy of Otherspace.
  23. 21. Current status of things: Tara still working on "Rites of Passage"; Alex working on "Small Wonder", and debating whether or not to adapt "Otherspace" to the real world and give publishing a shot; Catherine updating all her sketches of the characters, making them seem even more real; Kerry working the poetry and songwriting circuit. Hmmm....FW The Musical?
  24. THE STORY CONTINUES. . .
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