Telling War Stories: An Interview with Shelly Shapiro

Over the last year, Luke Skywalker and the Jedi Knights have suffered a string of setbacks at the hands of alien invaders known as the Yuuzhan Vong. What lies ahead for the New Republic and its greatest heroes?

I can't tell you that!

As I'm sure you know, there are rumors among fans concerning the death of another major character. Can you comment on this?

Sorry. My only comment can be that this is a war. People die in wars. That's the way it is.

If you had to point to one thing in The New Jedi Order series that you're most proud of so far, what would it be, and why?

I don't think I can pick one thing. I'm pleased by the fact that most of the authors seem to have truly enjoyed the experience of working on the series. I'm pleased that, for the most part, fan response has been so positive.

As I understand it, the whole arc of The New Jed Order was planned out from the start. Does this mean you already know how it's going to end? And are there plans for whatever comes next?

We know in a very general way how the series is going to end. But from the start we planned this to be an organic, ever mutating storyline, always open to new direction based on what evolves along the way. So the ending is nowhere near carved in stone yet.

Is Del Rey the first publisher to bring out bridge novels -- such as Greg Bear's Rogue Planet -- set before and/or between filmed episodes of Star Wars? Do you plan to continue this as new movies are released? What about bridge novels for the original three movies?

Scholastic has been doing "bridge" novels, as well. I think that one of the wonderful things about the new movies is that there is so much story material to be mined from them -- and from the new insights they provide to the overall Star Wars galaxy. So yes, we do plan to continue this as the new movies are released. As for the original three movies: at the moment that has to be on the back burner. There's only so much we can do at any one time! There have already been "bridge" novels to Episodes IV, V, and VI, remember: both the Han Solo adventures and the Lando books take place before A New Hope; Splinter of the Mind's Eye takes place between IV and V; Shadows of the Empire takes place between V and VI. Obviously there are lots more stories to be told from that era, and hopefully, sometime in the future, we'll get the chance to tell those stories, too.

How is editing Star Wars novels different from editing other science fiction?

In the end, the goal of editing any book, Star Wars or not, is to help each book be the best it can be. That said, there are some differences. One is the sheer number of cooks stirring each pot. Ordinarily, editing is between the author and me. With a Star Wars book, an extra level is added: Sue Rostoni, editor extraordinaire at Lucas Licensing, and her army of continuity cops -- for whom I'm extremely grateful!

Which leads to the other difference: continuity. With each Star Wars novel, I work with the author to make sure that he or she is hitting the plot points we all agreed on in advance, that character development is following our plans, that nothing contradicts anything that occurred in previous books. This is an issue with non-Star Wars fiction only when an author is writing a series -- and then it is the author who has responsibility for his or her own continuity (though when I spot errors, I point them out, of course).

What advice do you have for readers who harbor the ambition of writing and publishing their own Star Wars novel one day?

Write your own stories first. Learn the craft of character development, plot development, and worldbuilding using your own imagination.

How has the publishing industry, and the place of the science fiction and fantasy genres in it, changed in the course of your career? What changes do you see in the future?

In the course of my career, I've seen the numbers for average bestsellers go way down, and the lines blur between so called "mainstream" fiction and science fiction and fantasy. The latter, I believe, is ultimately a good thing, since in the end it means more readers are reading science fiction and fantasy. However, I'm not sure it bodes well for the science fiction and fantasy that are not sufficiently accessible to the average reader; it might ghettoize those books even more.

Also, it remains to be seen how the Internet will affect publishing. It is certainly changing the concept of "browsing" in a bookstore. The likelihood is that, as e-books and print-on-demand begin to proliferate, there will be more titles "published" than ever, most of them in smaller and smaller numbers. The challenge will be to match the book with the reader.

What does it take to make a good editor? Do you have any advice for young readers who may be thinking of a career in publishing?

For one thing, it takes a flexible ego. An editor needs to understand and accept that the work he or she does on a book will always remain invisible, in the background -- your pleasure comes from an end-result you are pleased with, not from fame and/or fortune. You need to be able to view each book differently, to help it achieve its own individual potential in accordance with the author's vision, not necessarily your own. You need to be enough of a people person that you can dole out criticism without making the author feel attacked, or put down. You need to love reading, and love books. You need to accept that publishing is unlikely to make you rich. And you need to have basic office skills and good organization, since you will likely start at the assistant level, which is largely secretarial.

Do you have a favorite -- or least favorite -- Star Wars character?

Not really. I do have a few characters I like less than others, but I won't name them, since I don't want readers drawing any conclusions from my preferences: I have not purposely kept any characters out of or limited their story involvement in The New Jedi Order just because I don't like them!

A favorite character in the past was always Han Solo (of course!), but now I'd have to add Qui-Gon Jinn: I think he's a really interesting character whose background and connection to the Force and to the rest of the Jedi would be really fascinating to explore more.