Enter: Star Wars Blog Club

Grumpy Luke Atop the Ancient Jedi Texts

I remember watching A New Hope as a kid. 

I was too young to have caught the film in theaters. Instead, my uncle would play it for my cousin and me on his new, high-tech projector. This was before the time of VCRs. We'd watch it again and again and again.

My first pop culture love. My first call to adventure. 

I did catch Empire in the theater. My first movie-going experience. Parts of it were a little scary for five year-old me, but parts were also funny, like the green Muppet-like character who reminded me of Grover. And then, three years later after Jedi, Star Wars...ended. 

That was it. A time of Star Wars darkness. 

Then another new hope. Star Wars began again, in a sense, in the early 90’s with the release of Heir to the Empire. This was a big event. Everyone seemed to be excited to read about the further adventures of Luke, Han, and Leia. I wasn't really a reader as a kid, but I read those books. And my love of Star Wars was rekindled. 

Then, eventually, the prequels happened. Then The  Clone Wars animated series. Then Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney. Then the sequels. And so on. 

Star Wars keeps changing in pretty dramatic ways. And each time, the fans moan and gripe in nerd outrage about how much better Star Wars used to be before the current, awful new thing ruined it. But in my opinion, these disgruntled fans too easily dismiss a great thing: we keep getting more Star Wars stories. And just like always, some great, some not so great. Same as it ever was. 

During the dark times, when we weren't getting any Star Wars big screen love, there was the books. The books kept Star Wars alive. Arguably, they are why we  got a prequel trilogy...and everything that followed. Those books inspired my love of story, of books, of reading. Of learning. Of science. Of mythology. Of psychology. Of so many things. If I can say to have a religion, it’s Star Wars. It’s informed and inspired me in a multitude of ways. The Force has been with us as long as I can remember. 

As a kid, I wanted to be Luke, the penultimate hero, and become a Jedi...like my absentee father before me. I loved upstart, coming of age Luke. Everyone did. But admittedly…I now definitely identify with grumpy, Old Man Luke. He's my favorite character once again. 

*grumble* "Go away." *grumble*

On that positive note,  let me take this moment to welcome you to the Star Wars BLOG Club! Cheesy title, I know. But I kinda dig it anyway.

This blog grew out of the Star Wars Book Club on Facebook I started waaayyy back in 2008. Jeez. Time flies. 

So why start a blog now? Good question. And I have no good answer. Writing is my passion, and I'm a Star Wars nerd. It really boils down to that. And after a bit of recent tinkering with my little, ten-year old Facebook book club...a light bulb appeared over my head. I should mix my peanut butter with my chocolate!

It’s actually something I’ve considered on and off for years. And even tinkered with a couple Book Club blogs I never published.  And while I haven’t done a great job up-keeping the Facebook Book Club page, I do have a good deal of people, approaching 3000, who like and follow the page. So I’m essentially using those poor souls as an excuse to write about Star Wars. More broadly, about Star Wars stories, whether in book form or other mediums. 

Story is story, as far as I'm concerned, and I'll be looking at and writing about both the individual stories and the larger metanarrative of both the New Canon and some Legends. Still a LOT of Legends I haven’t read. And I will read ALL THE STAR WARS!! Eventually. But seriously, that's a goal of mine. I want to read every piece of the Star Wars mythos, and this blog will also be about my journey consuming evermore Star Wars stories, as well as commentary and essays about Star Wars in general. 

I'm sure what I write about will evolve as I keep writing, and I hope to have some fun with this as I do. I would be honored if you would join me on this new adventure. Help me to make the blog better. 

A lot of cool Star Wars stories heading our way in 2019. Episode IX! The return of The Clone Wars! A live action series (which may not air in 2019...but we'll see). More books, including another Thrawn novel,  another Claudia Grey book (her work is fantastic), and a Padme novel (finally), among others. Comic books. Animated series. So many Star Wars stories! 

A truly exciting time to be a Star Wars fan! The Force is still with us.

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