Star Wars - The Future, Clouded It Is...

I was alerted to an article this morning from i09's Beth Elderkin, confirming the news that the first film in the new Star Wars trilogy - after December's "Episode 9: The Rise Of Skywalker" - will be helmed by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff & B.D. Weiss.

screen grab from i09 article by Beth Elderkin (credit i09).

Quoting directly from Disney CEO Bob Iger, who was speaking at a MoffetNathanson Media & Communications summit this week, 

"We did a deal with David Benioff & B.D. Weiss, who are famous for Game of Thrones, and the next movie we release will be theirs," Iger said. "And we're not saying anything more about that." 

Side note - it remains amusing to me that Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy remains pretty much invisible from any Star Wars related announcements - although that is not unsurprising these days.

A few things stand out to me in the reading of Elderkin's article.

I've watched the on-line backlash to the current/final season of Game Of Thrones. Criticisms around the overall tone of the final season, narrative choices and the disjointed nature of the characterizations have abounded, with much of that criticism being directed at Benioff & Weiss.

Walt Disney CEO - Bob Iger.

Iger's quote states that the next film in the Star Wars saga will be Benioff & Weiss' - but that's it. He apparently refused to elaborate on the trilogy, which has a planned release schedule every two years, from 2022. Elderkin's article seems to suggest that Iger has only committed to this pair for the first film in the new trilogy. Does that mean that we can expect Benioff & Weiss to helm/write the first film only, with others taking over for the 2nd and 3rd films? Or will they write the trilogy and hand directing duties over to others? 

("Always in motion, is the future..." Yoda).

Elderkin is, perhaps, being a little coy but I do find merit in her suggestion. I wonder if Iger is watching things unfold really closely, assessing the reaction to the Game Of Thrones final season and preparing contingencies for the Star Wars franchise, as production on the new trilogy ramps up. There feels, to me, a lot of ongoing uncertainty in the Star Wars cinematic IP - particularly in the wake of Rian Johnson's disastrous "The Last Jedi" (2017).  

There are positives to take from this announcement though. 

I am heartened by previous statements from Bob Iger that there will be a three year hiatus between Episode 9 and the new cinematic trilogy - which will be a separate narrative from the Skywalker saga. That will give the writers time to properly flesh out the 3 film cycle - a'la *George Lucas* - and they can avoid the terrible narrative mess of the sequel trilogy. 

We need to remember that Benioff & Weiss are showrunners for Game Of Thrones, tasked with wrangling the source material from George R.R. Martin into a cohesive whole for the medium of television. They can't be expected to take full responsibility for the outcome of the presentation nor the response to it.

Freed from the shackles of that property, and the shackles of the Star Wars/Skywalker legacy, Benioff & Weiss have the potential to put together a compelling trilogy, with a strong, *planned* narrative arc and fresh, new, archetypal characters that reflect the best of Lucas' mythology and the Campbellian influences Lucas drew on to create it. 

What Lucasfilm has to focus on lies outside of the cinematic/filmed universe. I am still hopeful for a clean out at the top of Lucasfilm from CEO Kathleen Kennedy, through to the Story Group and those in the customer engagement space, who have behaved appallingly towards a large body of fans since around 2016. 

Kathleen Kennedy has been an abject failure as CEO, mishandling the hiring and firing of directors of Solo: A Star Wars Story and original Episode 9 helmer, Colin Trevorrow. The resulting financial mismanagement of the Star Wars brand is clear - as illustrated by the critical and financial failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story.

(Empress Palpa...I mean Kathleen Kennedy. image credit WhatCulture.com)

Kennedy has presided over a dysfunctional culture at Lucasfilm - most notably in the Lucasfilm Story Group. Storytelling by committee is a terrible form of storytelling for a cinematic IP. That there was no plan for the narrative arc of the sequel trilogy, disunity between certain creators and identities at Lucasfilm and the tacit endorsement of terrible fan engagement from company representatives like like Pablo Hidalgo, (now fired) Kiri Hart, (now fired) Chuck Wendig, (soon to be fired?) Rian Johnson, Matt Martin and others within Lucasfilm have done as much damage to the Star Wars brand as Kennedy's faulty decision making. The lack of discipline and respect by these individuals towards fans and a lack of any form of social media policy that would reign in the behavior of these individuals on-line is perplexing. 

As a writer myself, I have been routinely exposed to fans and critics alike over the years and the one thing I've learned from that is engagement is a one way street. You can only have positive engagement - even when you'd love to stab critics and trolls eyes out.

Star Wars remains a entertainment brand on life support. I remain unconvinced that Episode 9 will be a success at the box office, though I do still hope that J.J. Abrams has been able to do something with film that will erase much of the damage from "The Last Jedi". It remains to be seen how David Benioff & B.D. Weiss will transition from a property like Game of Thrones, which has earned a reputation for blood drenched violence, gore, murder, graphic rape and sex to the family friendly Star Wars franchise.

Regular readers of my blog will know how passionate I have been about Star Wars since I saw "A New Hope" as a four year old with my Dad back in 1977. Hell - Star Wars was the reason I became a writer and pursued my dream of publication. So I don't say these things lightly.

As for the future of Star Wars, beyond Episode 9 - I'll watch and see from the peripheries, how things develop. Star Wars has been in an enjoyment free fall since "The Last Jedi" and it appears the culture at Lucasfilm shows no signs of abating. I remain terminally ambivalent about the future of the cinematic universe.

DFA.

Dangerous Ideas - The Responsibility of Creation. A Conversation With Ashleigh Oldfield.

Continuing my series of guest posts around "Dangerous Ideas", this week I'd like to turn the blog over to my friend, Melbourne author Ashleigh Oldfield. Fresh off the back of her brand new release "The Lost City", I asked Ashleigh if she would like to explore a particular idea she had been wrestling with recently. Ash came through with the goods - so without further ado, welcome Ashleigh to the stage...

When Dean asked me if I had any thoughts on ’Dangerous Ideas’, I knew exactly what I wanted to write about because there has been a troublesome idea floating around in my head for some time.

Once I have finished writing my young adult dragon novels, The Rachaya Series, I really want to sink my teeth into something completely different. I snuck into a university library and hunted down books on topics that I thought might interest me. I came across a section on Mythology from across the continent of Asia, and what I read absolutely fascinated me. I spent hours in the library, reading feverishly. I began to loosely plot a story around the mythos and history of a couple of the places I was reading about.

Cue the ‘Dangerous Idea’ – the world I was researching was brutal. I don’t write about brutal things. I write about magic and wonder and dragons, but this story would not let me go. 
There are so many themes in my research that I never thought I would tackle in a story – poisons, suicide, torture, dirty tactics in war. It’s not that I want to shy away from such topics – this is straight out of history and is therefore a part of humanity. But am I good enough at my craft to handle these themes? Have my skills as a writer matured to a level where I can write something that resonates with my readers without glorifying or romanticizing atrocities? To leave these events out would be dishonest. And yet there’s definitely a temptation to put this story off, to push it back until I feel my writing skills are an even match for the task. 

Ashleigh Oldfield, author.

There’s also the sense of responsibility with my writing about how stronger themes will affect my younger audience. I am a teacher in my other life, and adults have bought my books for their kids several times over simply because they trust me and my professionalism as a teacher. In fact, I was at the opening of a bookstore last night and an elderly lady bought Fyrebyrne Island for her granddaughter for that very reason.  

If I publish a book with sex and violence, it may well end up in the hands of those I feel a moral obligation to protect – my students and others of their age bracket. I don’t think I could live with myself because I have had a duty of care towards children for a decade and it’s a difficult habit to shake. 

I also worry that a more adult novel from me would not be very well received. I think of J.K. Rowling, whose follow up to her Harry Potter series, A Casual Vacancy, was largely disliked because it was more adult. People expected something different from her; they expected a certain level of safety from her. With the fiction that I currently write, and the profession that I have, I would be in a similar position, so I guess in a way I also have that fear of failure, that no one will like something I have worked so hard to get right, simply because they expect another Rachaya Series out of me. 

The fear of failure is, I think, something all creatives have in one form or another and is just something I will have to learn to live with. Having a story embed itself in my brain has made me even more determined to be the best writer that I can be so that when the time comes, I can do this story justice. I still have research to conduct and other books to finish writing first, but I am working harder than ever before so I can craft this story into a work of art.

Ashleigh Oldfield is a fantasy fiction and children’s writer from Melbourne, Australia. Always having a love for the written word, Ash wrote her first stories by moonlight at the tender age of five, long after her parents thought she had gone to bed. To this very day Ash still prefers to write by the light of the moon long after any sensible person has succumbed to sleep.

When she is not working on her latest piece of fiction, Ash enjoys drinking good coffee, taking her dog for walks on the beach and hanging out with her two cats. This year, Ashleigh kicked off a weekly podcast with her husband Steve De Niese. Called "The Book Stash", the podcast is a great little show about reading and writing in which Ashleigh and Steve talk about the craft and what inspires them in the journey. For new writers with an eye to improving their own method, The Book Stash is a must listen.


Visit Ashleigh Oldfield here.

Connect with Ashleigh Oldfield here. 

Tweet with Ashleigh here. 

Tweet with The Book Stash here.

The Book Stash is on iTunes here.

DFA.

Star Wars In My Ears - A Look At The Sith List Podcast.

There is no doubt that popular culture and popular entertainment has exploded in recent times. The seemingly unending cornucopia of super hero franchises as well as high end television franchises now serve a fan base that was unthinkable in terms of numbers when I was growing up in the 80's. And it wasn't until the popularity of the Internet really kicked off in the early 2000's that fans and fan communities from all over the world could interact with each other. 

I've observed this pattern for pretty much my entire life, having been born into world at a time when Star Wars erupted onto the screen and into the public consciousness in a way that was unprecedented. And, I've derived immense joy - particularly recently - in having found a global community of pop culture fans who appreciate pop culture as much as I do.

The nexus of this interaction has been audio podcasts which have allowed friendships to spring up, discussions to take place and generally good times to be had.

So, this week, I'm continuing my exploration of the podcasts that have filled my ears and have given me a whole lot of satisfaction and joy. I want to share with you a show called The Sith List.

(image credit: Iraj Dowlatshahi.)

The Sith List is a weekly pop culture podcast that covers not only Star Wars - which, of course, is catnip for me - but it explores a broader spectrum of popular culture and engages wide ranging discussions on the likes of Marvel, DC, Lost, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead - just to name a few. 

Hosted by Iraj Dowlatshahi and Carlos Arguello, The Sith List's appeal lies in the team's keen knowledge of a wide variety of pop culture franchises and their passion for the storytelling, characterizations and lore contained therein. They also step out of the in-universe content to explore and discuss behind the scenes aspects of the various franchises, drawing on up-to-the-minute news items from reputable entertainment sources. Their commitment to factual reporting is really admirable in a sea of similarly constructed audio productions who don't strive for that level of accuracy.

The Sith List hosts Carlos Arguello & Iraj Dowlatshahi. (image credit: Iraj Dowlatshahi.)

What I also really like about the podcast is that, for the casual fan - who may not be familiar with a particular franchise - Iraj and Carlos present their show in such a way that you don't necessarily have to be a fan. They make their content accessible and actually invite the listener into a given franchise by giving enough background information that one is encouraged to go out and look further. 

Their discussions, their debates are lively, sometimes passionate but always entertaining. With a roster of guests drawn from within pop culture fandom, you can be guaranteed to be informed as well as entertained by the differing opinions put on show. 

There is also a healthy dose of nostalgia available in The Sith List - one that especially appeals to us 80's kids for whom much of our Saturday mornings are but a distant memory. 

The Sith List brings it all back with affectionate immediacy.

Subscribe to The Sith List on iTunes here. 

Subscribe to The Sith List's generic feed here.

Connect with The Sith List here. 

Tweet The Sith List here. 

DFA.

Born By Fire - Conversations With Ashleigh Galvin.

“Shar ran. Just kept running, unaware of where her feet were taking her. 

She kept shaking her head, trying to erase what she’d heard…she just couldn’t believe it. Memories started to spin in her mind, memories of Greg swinging on her swing when she came home from school. 

Birthdays, Christmases, all lies. Every single day of her life was a lie. Deceit, every word he’d ever said. Tears blinded Shar as she ran deeper into the woods. She was numb to the pain of 

branches pulling her hair, raking across bare her skin. 

The pain from inside blocked everything out.”

from "Birth By Fire's Embrace" by Ashleigh Galvin (SPMG Ltd.)

Continuing my look at rising Australian authors this week, I'm pleased to introduce an exciting young scribe from Queensland - Ashleigh Galvin, whose debut novel "Birth By Fire's Embrace" from Spectacle Publishing Media Group launched across all the major etailers back on May 9th - with a print release scheduled for quarter 2 this year. 

A rich mix of fantasy, action adventure that treads a line between our own modern world and a fantastical realm filled with classical archetypes, "Birth By Fire's Embrace" marks the first in an intended 8 book cycle from Ashleigh under the heading of the Amethyst Series.

The guff on this first entry is thus;

A taut fantasy for all ages, Birth by Fire’s Embrace explores how drastically things can change when the world that lies just beyond our senses begins to surface. Sharrlette Moore is an ordinary young woman on the cusp of academic success, happy and satisfied in her relationship with the best guy in the world and looking forward to all that life has to offer. When all that is familiar vanishes from Sharrlette's life, she begins to look inside and find the strength and courage to carry on in a harsh world, and look towards another world that lies ahead.

The further away modern, popular literature moves from the Twilight series, it seems that the better and more original those literary offerings become. I've made no secret of the fact that I have struggled with the fantasy genre in the past, simply because there has been so much of it and not all of it has been very good. Where the genre does work, however, is in those stories where the author has clearly stepped out of the genre's comfort zone by offering an original element that immediately piques curiosity and promises an tantalizing alternate take. 

And Birth By Fire's Embrace is no exception, proving that there is life in the fantasy genre yet. Ashleigh Galvin brings to the table a dense and nuanced world which she juxtaposes skilfully with a modern real world setting. This kind of world creation, to me, is an appealing and important aspect of this kind of writing. It takes a kind of artistic flair to pull it off well. Galvin's balancing act between the real and the other worldly are visually accessible, keeping you invested in the environments and situations. 

Galvin's characters, lead by the fully realized heroine in Sharrlette rise from the page vividly and with an attention to their individual details that make them convincing. I especially found Sharrlette's arc engrossing. She represents the "every person" really well, allowing us as the reader to access the story through her eyes in such a way that we feel her reactions to what is taking place. Again, because Sharrlette is grounded in our own real world to begin with, this device makes for a much more compelling story.

As a work whose design is to set up a series, this first entry succeeds really well in introducing us to the universe Galvin has created and she has achieved the two important functions such a entry has to satisfy. It offers a contained story that sits on it's own while offering enough tangible threads that will entice the reader to invest in further instalments the eventual series.

Ashleigh Galvin has written an exciting tale that refreshes the genre and offers an accessible journey with classic elements worthy of exploration and contemplation.

Having had the opportunity to take an early glimpse of the novel, one of the things that impressed me about it was the relative youth of Ashleigh herself. She writes in a voice that, to me, seemed so worldly and -  *ahem* - mature, that I knew that I wanted to delve a little further into the voice behind this accomplished work.

I started by asking Ashleigh a little about her herself and where she's at now. Ashleigh has an impressive resume to her credit both in business and modelling, while she also dabbles in digital art.  

A.G. - I live with my fiancée, Michael in a little unit in Brisbane, Australia. While I’d love to be a full time writer, eventually, I currently work at HBM Lawyers as an IT/Admin Assistant. I've been working there for roughly 3 years.  I've been doing Modelling on the side for roughly 4 years. It’s great fun. Particularly the themed shoots. It lets you step away from reality for a little while. I also draw in my free time. Mostly digitally now days. I normally draw Manga style characters. It’s great fun and, if being an author doesn't work out, I’d like to be an illustrator. But I have a lot more practise ahead of me before that.     

DFA - As an author, you've made an impressive splash into that pool. Where did your journey as an author begin and how did it progress?

A.G. - I started writing when I was still in primary school. I was going to write ‘the best novel ever’. It was called ‘The Scar of Athens’ and, needless to say, when I read it now, it’s extremely boring and lacks structure. But it inspired me to continue writing and refining my skills.

DFA - I was really taken by the visual quality of your writing. Where does the inspiration for your vivid story telling come from?

A.G. - My usual reply is daydreaming - (laughs here) - I daydream a lot! I like to call them epic daydreams because I can have one daydream that will last a week or longer. Whenever my mind is idle, I just pick up where the story left off. I get most of my novel ideas this way. 

DFA - You've created a compelling set of characters for the novel. How do you arrive at your characters and what elements do you infuse into them?

A.G. - I don’t actually base most of my characters on people I know. I don’t like to do that because I feel it can make the characters too predictable. I create most of my character from the ground up. Sharrlette is probably the exception. She was based mostly on myself, with a dash of my sister thrown in. My fiancée Michael also provides a lot of inspiration and ideals. He is a Games Designer so we are both very creative. 

DFA - It's clear that the work which has gone into your debut novel has been considerable. With the release of Birth By Fire's Embrace, how do you feel about the achievement and what are your hopes for the future?

A.G. - I'm very proud that I've actually written a book worth publishing. I know very few people get published at my age so I'm happy about that too. I'm very happy with the universe I've created for this series. It’s a great place that I can set many different stories in. It’s just bursting with potential.

As Ashleigh Galvin works towards more stories in the series, expect the Amethyst Series to attract a lot of attention. Her skill as a story teller is considerable and her relative youth affords her a particular edge in the production of future stories that crackle with everything that is great about talented indie authors. 

Purchase "Birth By Fire's Embrace" here (Amazon) and here (B and N).

Connect with Ashleigh here. 

Tweet with Ashleigh here. 

Visit Spectacle Publishing Media Group here. 

The Regenesis Cluster - the stunning new novella from Dean Mayes - out now.