Chatting With Star Wars Canonista Abel G. Peña

By Mario A. Escamilla

Originally published in Spanish at www.korpil.net, in this interview fan-favorite Star Wars author Abel G. Peña, popular for his intimate knowledge of the Star Wars Universe and his aggressive display of continuity, talks about his past, present, and future projects, his thoughts on the last Star Wars film Revenge of the Sith, Gungan sacrifices, and how to make the ultimate fanboy dream come true: becoming a published Star Wars writer.

Mario A. Escamilla (Galactic NewsStack): Abel G. Peña, Star Wars Fanboy and continuity expert, thanks for offering this interview for the Galactic NewsStack bulletin.

Abel G. Peña: Absolutely Mario, my pleasure.

GNS: Before starting, I would like to congratulate you for your recent translation "Droids and the Force", which can be found in the Star Wars Insider #81 online supplement. By the way I must have missed the Life section on the Coruscant Times with the Tinian I'att and Daye Azur-Jamin wedding photos!

AGP: Thanks! That was a very fun piece to write, especially from Tam Azur-Jamin’s perspective, given that his father was a Jedi cyborg. I’d written it several years ago for some other Star Wars publications, but problems kept arising in getting it published. It was nice to finally give the quirky piece a home.

GNS: Let's begin, tell us a little about yourself.

AGP: Sure. I reside here in Southern California, where I was born and raised, though for a time, I also lived in Italy. As my name suggests, I’m of Hispanic descent, with my folks both being originally from Mexico. Thankfully, I’ve been able to retain my Spanish, and picked up reasonable Italian along the way. I have degrees in literature and philosophy from the University of California, Irvine, enjoy traveling a great deal, and have a small obsession with epistemology. My favorite books are Dante’s Divine Comedy, Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo, and the works of Jorge Luis Borges, and my favorite movies are Pulp Fiction, The Godfather I and II, and Mulholland Drive. Taken together, these things tend to inform my writing.

GNS: How did you become a Star Wars fan?

AGP: Boy, that happened a long time ago. I think my folks sat me down to watch A New Hope on VHS when I was very young, and that was the beginning of the end. I immediately felt a particular resonance with the film, resulting in an irrational love that continues to this day. There was a long drought there in the years following the discovery of Nintendo and video games, which were a pretty new thing back then. Ironically, it was news of the game Super Star Wars for the 16-bit Super Nintendo that rekindled some very strong emotions inside of me in 1992, and brought me back to Star Wars. From there, it was a short leap to buying the fifteen-year anniversary release of the Star Wars trilogy on VHS and a paperback copy of Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire. I’ve never looked back.

GNS: Tell us about the Star Wars Fanboy Association, is it true that induction rites demand a Gungan sacrifice?

AGP: Nothing so grave. You just need to dress up as an Ewok in public. Oh wait, that was just me. C’mon, I was a kid, it was Halloween, and Return of the Jedi had just come out in theaters that year! Let the record show that I remain an unrepentant Ewok lover.

There is a nice article that explains the origins of the Star Wars Fanboy Association here, but basically the SWFA is a group of some of the coolest, most knowledgeable Star Wars fans around. They don’t actually sacrifice Gungans, as neat an idea as that is, but they do tend to dissect Star Wars topics endlessly, be they about the films themselves or any of the spin-off material, including the comics, books, action figures, and video games. Sometimes the members make time to put together an update for the SWFA website at www.myuselessknowledge.com/swfa, where they show off their impressive collective knowledge of all things relating to a galaxy far, far away.

GNS: What can you tell us about your Mandalorian history article? Why will it be so interesting to fans?

AGP: The “History of the Mandalorians” piece which appeared in Star Wars Insider #80 is basically a blowout on everything Mandalorian that’s ever been mentioned in any Star Wars source in the last twenty-five years. That alone is probably a reason to check it out. But the article also has several new elements, going into the origins of the Mandalorians, their evolution over the millennia, and at long last ironing out their speculated involvement in the Clone Wars. The biggest aspect of the article is probably the revelation of Boba Fett’s having a daughter. Her life and complex relationship with her father are covered in detail.

GNS: Which one of your articles is your favorite? And why?

AGP: I’m inclined to say the Mandalorian article, just because I worked so hard on the piece in such a short time, and really got to shine with a subject that is very dear to many Star Wars fans. Nonetheless, my first Star Wars commission, “The Emperor’s Pawns,” continues to have special significance for me. I like Jeng Droga. It’s my opinion, though, that the best is yet to come.

GNS: Do you plan to write other kinds of material, like reference books or fiction?

AGP: A Star Wars reference book would definitely be very nice, though fiction is the goal. I would be very happy to write a short story about the Emperor’s relationship with his Grand Vizier or Boba Fett’s early days after Episode III. Likewise, writing a comic featuring Darth Vader’s pupil Lumiya would also be very satisfying. I’m currently talking to some people who have the power to make some of these things happen and will meet with more at Star Wars Celebration III, so we’ll see what the future brings as regards those desires.

In the meantime, folks should count on me continuing to write Star Wars pieces in the intense fashion with which they have come to be familiar. The next big project I have coming up is a series of rpg and minis articles written with author Jason Fry for the Wizards of the Coast website based on the popular Dark Forces video games and novellas starring Kyle Katarn. The project promises to give the answers to many of the questions fans have long had about the Dark Forces saga, so keep your eyes peeled.

GNS: What other projects outside Star Wars do you have in mind?

AGP: I don’t usually write about fantasy or science fiction outside of my Star Wars writing. I’m currently working on a story about my time in Italy for a travel writing publication, and putting the final touches on some short stories and creative non-fiction to see if some small presses are interested in publishing them. Little by little, I’m working up the courage to plunge into a novel.

GNS: What do you expect from Episode III?

AGP: Well, after that March trailer, I just about short-circuited! I’m very excited about Revenge of the Sith, and just about as excited to read Matthew Stover’s novelization of the film. I’m a big fan of his work.

I expect to see something very, very tragic in Episode III. The build-up has all been there in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, and has just been slowly simmering. People talk about the Empire Strikes Back being like the middle act of a three-act play, but Revenge is essentially playing that pivotal role for the entire Star Wars saga. This is it, folks. To quote Samuel L. Jackson, hold on to your butts.

GNS: ¿Has visitado México reciéntemente? ;) [Have you visited Mexico recently?]

AGP: ¡Sí señor! [Yes sir!] In fact, I was just about to make a trip out to Mexico next week, but it’ll have to be postponed for a few months. I was down in Morelia, Michoacan a little over a year ago visiting my great-grandmother. Of course, Baja California is only a short drive from SoCal, so I make a trip there every now and then.

GNS: And now, a bunch of questions from Mexican fans:

Andres Abrego from Mexico City asks: What degree of freedom does Lucasfilm give you to write your stories? Are there any guidelines to follow?

AGP: Quite a bit of freedom, actually. I tend to propose the topic, and if my editor thinks the idea rocks, he passes it on to Lucasfilm for approval, and if LFL says yes, then it’s on. Really, most of the restrictions are actually self-imposed, as I try to stay within the lines of continuity that sometimes even Lucasfilm isn’t aware of, since the source is so obscure. The recent “Droids and the Force” article is a good example of this, as I tried to pull together a number of scattered sources – many of them out of print or never prevalent to begin with, such as Raymond Velasco’s first edition of the Guide to the Star Wars Universe and Star Wars Missions: The Monsters of Dweem – to try to pound out a unifying theme.

I’m a perfectionist to a degree, and that translates into my Star Wars work as proposals for all-inclusive projects, like the Mandalorian article, the Droids and the Force essay, or “Who’s Who: Imperial Grand Admirals,” which I wrote with Dan Wallace. Just about everyone likes comprehensive articles, from the casual Star Wars fan who likes to learn all the established lore associated with his or her favorite characters, to the compulsive fan, who gets a good deal of satisfaction from seeing a slew of references that make the Star Wars universe feel like one huge, cohesive story. And finally, and in a sense most importantly, Lucasfilm likes comprehensive articles, so they’re usually a go. The pressure can be pretty high at times; there were a lot of high expectations riding on the “History of the Mandalorians” piece, especially as regarded the Mandos involvement in the Clone Wars, since a multitude of fans have been fantasizing about that for nothing short of a quarter century! But if you do a good job, the reward in gratitude from fans and in personal satisfaction can be immense, as it was for that particular project.

The guidelines I follow for my Star War work are mostly my own: aim to push the envelope in my writing while respecting the work of other authors—substitute the word “author” for “people” and that’s basically my philosophy of life, too. The keys to making these rules work in conjunction are healthy doses of both creativity and persistence. About all that Lucasfilm asks of the authors it commissions is that he or she writes a good story. About all I want is to tell a unique one, and avoid rehashing an idea that’s already been seen, unintentionally or otherwise.

GNS: Luis Chavez from Colima. How many of your articles were rejected before your first Star Wars published material? Was it difficult to get an article published? What are Lucasfilm demands for a fan to publish an article?

AGP: I would say that I was rejected…twice, maybe three times, insofar as specific Star Wars pitches are concerned, before I got my first real break, which was for Star Wars Gamer in 2001 while under the tenure of Jeff Quick. But that doesn’t take into account all those heartbreaking times you hear discouraging comments from people you know, or words like, “You need to be previously published!” over and over and over again. Or all the times after I got published in a Star Wars magazine and spent countless hours putting together stories and articles that never saw the light of day because the magazine went belly-up (Gamer), changed editors (Insider), or simply dropped all their Star Wars content (Dungeon/Polyhedron). I had also been rejected from many non-Star Wars publications in general before anyone gave me a shot at anything. I remember one pleasant editor took the time to return my manuscript to tell me about my work, “This says nothing to me.” Thanks for the helpful tip! Seriously, only one reminder gets you through all these hard times: rejection is hard, but regret is hell.

Lucasfilm’s demands for a fan to publish an article are generally, you guessed it, that said fan be previously published before he or she goes approaching anyone in an official LFL capacity with that simply marvelous idea.

GNS: Jonás also asks: What are the appropriate ways to submit fan fiction to Lucasfilm?

AGP: There’s really no appropriate way, and unsolicited manuscripts to any of LFL’s licensees are generally discouraged. “What do I do then?” you ask. Get published. Once you’re published, then you can query about writing for a Lucasfilm publication. To get published, get in the habit of writing and submitting manuscripts to places that can and will accept them (i.e. not a Lucasfilm publication).

Is it a lot of work? Certainly. And here is where a person must ask him or herself a defining question: is all this effort worth it? If the answer is no, then congratulations, you’re one step closer toward finding what that thing is in life that you utterly love to do…and obviously writing Star Wars ain’t it. If the answer is yes, then buckle down and get to work. Continuously practice your writing, read as if book-burners were running rampant throughout the land, and get published anywhere. Anywhere. Find a publication or website you like, and politely ask if you can write for them. If you’re in school, write for your school paper. If you’re out of school, write for your local paper. Intern for a magazine or newspaper you respect. Buy or check out books and magazines from your local library about writing and how to get published, how to query, and how to pitch a proposal. Don’t look back. And don’t give up.

Lucasfilm basically has to make a decision to trust a writer, and your writing credits, above all else, serve as the proof that you can be trusted to tell a decent story. As I said, Lucasfilm just wants to put out good stories. Prove that you can write well by getting published. Create your opportunities by being persistent, and when the opportunity comes, give it your very best shot. Any other method is pure luck, and I have no idea how that works.

GNS: Paco Montaño from León congratulates you for achieving a fan's dream: to collaborate in an official way with Lucasfilm. He also asks how was your work taken in account to be published in such different media? And what personal recommendations would you make to aspiring fans who like to write and investigate the Star Wars universe?

AGP: Paco, thanks for the kinds words. I’ve been published in a number of places that run Star Wars material, from the Official Star Wars Website to Star Wars Insider to Star Wars Fact Files in the UK. The key is basically a variation on the previous theme I just ranted about, which should also answer your second question: once you publish somewhere, the doors begin to open. Once I published in Star Wars Gamer and I approached the editors of other publications running Star Wars material, those editors began to say, “Ah…here’s a dude who obviously knows how to write Star Wars. His writing credits prove it. Why don’t we give him a shot?” They give me my shot, and in return I write the best piece of writing I possibly can. To reiterate: write, submit, get rejected/get published, and repeat. And repeat. And repeat.

GNS: Jorge Ramírez from Monterrey has several questions:

AGP: I’ll do my best to answer.

GNS: Will we see the Millennium Falcon in Episode III?

AGP: I don’t know, but even if I did know, I unfortunately couldn’t tell ya.

GNS: Where was R2-D2 built?

AGP: My understanding is that Artoo is an R2 astromech droid, and was built in one of Industrial Automaton’s factories. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.

GNS: Why did Jango Fett die such a lousy death? He deserved better.

AGP: Maybe. There does seem to be an obvious similarity between Jango’s “lousy” death and the opinion many fans have of the way Boba “died” in Return of the Jedi. Coincidence? I say Jango and Boba got what they deserved.

GNS: What's Anakin name?

AGP: Hmm…perhaps you refer to the fact that Anakin Skywalker was referred to as “Tan Skywalker” in the early Russ Manning newspaper comic strips of the late 70s. Pablo Hidalgo and I tried to reference that continuity error obliquely, in the “Emperor’s Pawns” article for Gamer #5. Because Maarek Stele, one of the characters in the article, was strangely referred to as “Tan Stele” on the back flap of the Official TIE Fighter Strategy Guide, we stated in the Gamer article that Tan was a title or rank, similar to Baron (as in Baron Soontir Fel) given to starfighter aces. By extension, then, Anakin Skywalker probably earned the rank of Tan at some point, possibly during the Clone Wars.

GNS: Why was there a training remote aboard the Millennium Falcon? Does it indicate that it belonged to Jedi Knights?

AGP: I think Han probably just had a training remote lying around. It’s certainly possible the Falcon once belonged to the Jedi, but probably not. We’ll find out soon enough.

GNS: How old is the Millennium Falcon, anyway?

AGP: Probably not too old. Check out Christopher West’s excellent “Secrets of the Falcon” article written for Dungeon/Polyhedron #103/162, available I believe through either shopstarwars.com or www.paizo.com.

GNS: Reporting from Kuatchuca, Hidalgo.

Kerk Korpil

Return to the main page