paulskemp ([info]paulskemp) wrote,
2009-01-27 22:18:00
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Getting to know you, getting to know all about you

Loving the intros in the comments here. I appreciate the brave souls who bared a little bit of themselves for all to see. You all are an interesting bunch -- kung-fu practitioners, economists, teachers, wives of geeks :-). You name it. Not too late to fly your own freak flag. Let it out, people.

Meanwhile, I'm writing Crosscurrent at the moment. Just put the following to digital paper. Still rough, maybe a bit overwrought in one place, but captures the mood I want it to capture:

He sped around the planet, outpacing its spin, chasing the day, until he saw the system’s star crest the horizon line.

“Put us in geosynchronous, R-6,” he said, and the droid complied.

Jaden stared out and down the cockpit’s window as the planet rotated into day. Light filled his cockpit, washed over the planet's surface by increments, unveiling a quilt of clouds floating over the red, orange, and tan of vast deserts, the blue smear of an ocean, the spine of a mountain range that ran the length of the main continent. To Jaden, it was like watching the slow reveal of a masterful work of art, a sculpture of earth and water, wondrous in its lonely, whirling trek through the emptiness of space. He always tried to see a starcrest from orbit before setting foot on a planet. He wasn’t sure why – maybe he wanted to see every world in its best light before putting down on its surface.

Unbidden, he recalled a starcrest over Corellia that he’d seen from a viewport aboard Centerpoint Station as he and his strike force had moved through the metal maze of its corridors.

He dismissed the memory quickly, pained by the realization that his actions on Centerpoint had polluted even this, one of the small pleasures he had long enjoyed.


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  • 15 comments

[info]turbotroll

January 27 2009, 20:51:14 UTC 3 years ago

Nice. Space panoramas always give me goosebumps for some reason. The sheer sense of scale, or maybe just the beauty and grandeur of it all, I dunno. But well-written.

[info]paulskemp

January 28 2009, 15:19:13 UTC 3 years ago

I'm the same way with those "the camera pulls back" kind of scenes. Dig 'em.

[info]leaf_inthe_wind

January 27 2009, 23:25:57 UTC 3 years ago

Wow. And this is your first foray into the Star Wars universe? If the entire book is anything like that snippet, I'd say you're off to a damn good start. Can't wait to read it!

[info]paulskemp

January 28 2009, 15:19:52 UTC 3 years ago

Glad you enjoyed, Leaf. I feel pretty comfortable in the SW EU. It's really a blast.

[info]kurioc

January 28 2009, 03:32:54 UTC 3 years ago

Good images already saying something about Jaden, tip o' the cap to you sir.
Have you read any of the early novels, like Splinter of the Mind's Eye?

[info]paulskemp

January 28 2009, 15:20:36 UTC 3 years ago

I think I might have read Splinter way back in fourth or fifth grade. I have read some of the recent novels, of course.

[info]nick_girdner

January 28 2009, 14:39:55 UTC 3 years ago

Damn, I could actually see the spinning planet bisected in light and dark and part of the system it was in.

[info]paulskemp

January 28 2009, 15:20:47 UTC 3 years ago

Glad to hear that, Nick.

[info]mythusmage

January 28 2009, 16:08:31 UTC 3 years ago

I can see somebody saying, sotto voce, "We could simply fall into geo-synchroneous, but he's gotta get this close."

[info]mythusmage

January 28 2009, 16:09:56 UTC 3 years ago

Make that, "the droid saying, sotto voce..."

[info]davedeburgh

January 30 2009, 10:07:36 UTC 3 years ago

Very nice, Paul, you've got the panorama's down pat, and I think it's something that has been missing from EU novels lately - it's great to have such beautiful passages back! Don't know if you can answer this, but Jaden in Centerpoint - Vong-era or Caedus-era?

[info]paulskemp

January 30 2009, 13:42:44 UTC 3 years ago

DAve,

Caedus era (Jaden is name-dropped in "Fury," if memory serves, as one of the Jedi involved in assault on Centerpoint).

And welcome to the blog!

[info]davedeburgh

January 30 2009, 13:51:30 UTC 3 years ago

Duh! Damn, was thinking about Jacen and Ben hitting Centerpoint in Betrayal. :-) (Sorry Aaron) That's going to be pretty cool - I'm glad you were able to use a non-main character; the EU should be a showcase for how big the galaxy is and how interesting everyone in it is,hopefully your book will set off a trend! :-)

Thanks for the welcome, Paul. :-) David Anthony Durham spoke highly of you when you met in Calgary, and I was just too late to ask him to tell you 'Welcome to the EU!' I'm a SFF blogger and will definitely review Crosscurrent! :-)

[info]vampyrik1

March 25 2009, 08:20:53 UTC 3 years ago

being as big of a fan of your writing and that of the three that wrote the Legacy of the Force novels, i cant begin to explain how exultant this makes me feel. After picking up the first book of the Erevis Cale trilogy I have all but sworn off Salvatore =/ It is quite awesome that one of my most favored writer's and genres/series' come together. Thank you, I just need to know when it comes out and I will have it pre-ordered. :D

[info]paulskemp

March 25 2009, 19:26:35 UTC 3 years ago

That's great to hear. Thanks, Vam.
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