Write what you know:
'STAR WARS' FASCINATION INSPIRES K-STATE LIBRARIAN TO WRITE SHORT STORIES
When you walk into Charlene Simser's office at K-State's Hale Library, it's difficult not to notice that she's a fan of &1xbet online casino ;Star Wars.&1xbet online casino ;
There's the 6-foot-tall cardboard cutout of Darth Vader in the corner; a poster of Yoda, the Jedi master, hangs on the wall behind her desk; a coffee mug that looks like a storm trooper's helmet holds writing implements on her desk; and a number of &1xbet online casino ;Star Wars&1xbet online casino ;-inspired figurines line her bookshelves.
&1xbet online casino ;I was a fan of the movies since I saw the first one in 1977,&1xbet online casino ; said Simser, the head of cataloging and serials for K-State Libraries. &1xbet online casino ;I've always been an action adventure fan, and I love the story of a farm boy exploring the universe.&1xbet online casino ;
But Simser is more than just your run of the mill &1xbet online casino ;Star Wars&1xbet online casino ; fan -- she's a contributor to the vast body of literature that followed the &1xbet online casino ;Star Wars&1xbet online casino ; movies. She's written or co-written nine short stories in all, with another to be published at http://www.StarWars.com in the near future.
For Simser, it all started in the early 1990s. She'd started graduate school, was raising three kids on her own and was settling into a new part-time job. Times were stressful and Simser was looking for a way to relax.
&1xbet online casino ;I needed some escape, so I started writing a 'Star Wars' novel in my spare time, never knowing what I was doing or whether there was any chance that I could ever get published,&1xbet online casino ; she said.
At a friend's suggestion, she sent a letter to a big-name publisher who was putting out &1xbet online casino ;Star Wars&1xbet online casino ;-related fiction at the time, only to learn that they didn't accept unsolicited manuscripts from unknown writers.
Then Simser stumbled upon a bookstore selling materials for a &1xbet online casino ;Star Wars&1xbet online casino ; role-playing game.
&1xbet online casino ;I picked up a book and inside the back cover there was a call for short story submissions,&1xbet online casino ; Simser said. &1xbet online casino ;The company, West End Games, had been authorized to put together a journal that would include short stories with role game playing tie-ins.&1xbet online casino ;
The call for submissions said that the stories couldn't feature any of the series' primary characters -- like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo or Princess Leia -- and that the story line couldn't contradict any of the existing &1xbet online casino ;Star Wars&1xbet online casino ; saga.
&1xbet online casino ;So I took one of the original characters I had developed and wrote a short story about her,&1xbet online casino ; Simser said. &1xbet online casino ;Within a week I had a phone call -- not a letter, but a phone call.&1xbet online casino ;
That first story, &1xbet online casino ;Glimmer of Hope,&1xbet online casino ; was featured in the premier issue of the The Star Wars Adventure Journal, alongside work from an already well-established &1xbet online casino ;Star Wars&1xbet online casino ; novelist.
Much of Simser's work, written under the pen name Charlene Newcomb, is about the trials and tribulations of Alex Winger.
&1xbet online casino ;Alex was a young freedom fighter on her home world. She lost her parents -- well, she hadn't seen her father since she was 5, she thinks he's dead, he's not,&1xbet online casino ; Simser said. &1xbet online casino ;Alex is adopted by an Imperial Governor -- one of the bad guys -- but, at age 15, she starts working with the Rebel underground. The stories are centered on her fight against the Empire on her adopted home world.&1xbet online casino ;
Alex's adopted home world of Garos IV is referenced in novels and other publications about the &1xbet online casino ;Star Wars&1xbet online casino ; universe. Novelist Timothy Zahn was familiar with Simser's Alex character, too, and even asked to incorporate her into one of his works.
&1xbet online casino ;That was an honor,&1xbet online casino ; Simser said. &1xbet online casino ;If he hadn't written those first three novels and reintroduced me to the 'Star Wars' saga, I probably wouldn't have written anything.&1xbet online casino ;
Simser, under her pen name Newcomb, has her own page in Wookieepedia -- an online &1xbet online casino ;Star Wars&1xbet online casino ; encyclopedia put together mostly by fans. She also has been given the rare treat of featuring Luke Skywalker in one of her stories. In &1xbet online casino ;Rendevous With Destiny&1xbet online casino ; Luke recognized Alex's talents and that she, too, was &1xbet online casino ;force sensitive.&1xbet online casino ; Alex's ultimate destiny, Simser said, is to go to Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy to be formally trained.
As for Simser's destiny, her days dabbling in science fiction may be coming to a close with only a couple more stories waiting in the wings about Alex.
But that doesn't mean Simser is done writing. She's been working on a novel -- a modern-day coming-of-age tale -- and is researching a time-travel novel set in the 18th century American colonies.
More on Simser and on her Alex character are available at: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Charlene_Newcomb http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Alexandra_Winger or follow Alex's blog at http://alexwinger.wordpress.com/