A Long Time Ago... with Christie of Snips & Co.
Hello there.
And welcome back to A Long Time Ago… the series where I ask guests to share their favourite Star Wars story and historical site. This started as a tie-in to my first piece of traditionally published writing, the article ART WARS for Star Wars Insider #226. The whole archive of my exploration of fourteen ancient art sites and every Star Wars story on my shelves can be found here.
This marks the triumphant Return (of the Jedi) of this newsletter. We’re not back to the fortnightly schedule, but the hiatus is over! Last newsletter was Marc Guggenheim on May 4th! I would call this Season 2, but it’s more like a series of comics one-shots coming your way… whenever!
Today, I hand over to Christie!
She became a Star Wars fan on December 31st, 2015. In 2020 she started her small business, Snips & Co., where she makes embroidered canvases, stickers, bookmarks and more. Over the years she has fallen in love with reading, and in 2021 started her bookstagram, Admiral Reads, where she mainly posts about her love for Star Wars books.
Christie’s Linktree.
In A Galaxy Far, Far Away…
When I was 11 my parents wanted to start showing me all the classic films, like The Breakfast Club. It was finally time to start Star Wars, but they saw the trailer for The Force Awakens. They asked if I wanted to start with the classics, A New Hope, or go to the movies to see the new one and if I like it, we will watch the rest. Even today, I will never pass up an opportunity to go to the movie theatre. So I walked into that theatre not knowing that my life was going to change after seeing Episode 7. I fell in love with Rey and Finn and remember begging my parents to go to Walmart the next day to pick up all the dvds for the originals and prequels. Over the years I rewatched the movies several times, went to the opening showing of the spin-offs and the rest of the sequels.
I have always been a theme park fan. I LOVE them. So in February 2020, I went to Disney World to see the newly opened Galaxy’s Edge for the first time. After I came home I picked up “Black Spire” by Delilah Dawson to get the backstory. Before COVID, I always enjoyed reading, but I wouldn’t actively read. Suddenly, the world shut down and I had so much time. I started my own business where I made Star Wars embroidered canvases. I also had time to read. My first Star Wars book was "Black Spire" and I adored every page - I personally think it was the best place for me to start since it combined my love of Star Wars and theme parks.
As soon as I finished I remember making an order on Barnes & Noble for 5 more Star Wars books, not knowing it was the start of an obsession! In this order was Thrawn. I was so confused because I was watching Rebels for the first time during this time period and I found him cool, but that was it. Every website ranked Thrawn as one of the best novels and I couldn’t understand why, until I finally picked the book up. The Thrawn books are by far my favorite Star Wars books and some of the best overall Star Wars media. Ar’alani is a character I relate to so much and I have fallen in love with her, Thrawn, and Eli Vanto. "Chaos Rising" is my favorite book of all time and I will always recommend these books to everyone.
I started Snips & Co. in June of 2020 and in January 2021 I started Admiral Reads. Both of these pages have allowed me to make such great friendships and find a community of people who enjoy the same thing as me, something I struggle to do in my personal life. Recently, I have started my Youtube Channel, Snips Adventure, as a place to share everything I love!
In Westminster, London, United Kingdom…
For my historical site I am going with Elizabeth Tower, or better known as Big Ben. Even though the general public cannot enter the building and all you can do is look at it, I still love it. Not only is it gorgeous, but it represents so much to me. In 2024, I decided to leave everything I knew and go study abroad in London for 4 months. As someone who is extremely close to my family, this decision shocked everyone. But my love for traveling and the need to do something independent drove this decision. To me Big Ben is so much more than a pretty building, it is the place I see when I think about the best few months of my life. I fell in love with London, and England as a whole (Bath being my favorite city I visited). I was going to pick one of the classic Greek monuments, as I am part Greek, but to me Big Ben might take the spot of my favorite landmark.
Thank you so much Christie!
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Cheers,
Harvey