My First Article for Star Wars Insider!
Hello there!
Star Wars Insider #226 releases soon and I am so happy to announce that I’ll be in it! It still seems surreal that my name and little bio (taken from this newsletter’s subscribe page!) will be beside names I’ve known and looked up to for years in the contributor section, in a glossy magazine that I’ve been subscribed to for years. Never mind the fact that my first piece of paid, traditionally published writing will be about a universe that’s been part of my personal mythos for as long as I can remember. I try and remember how lucky I am every day.
I can get a little emotional thinking about if you’d have told the little me playing with toys that I’d get to write about those characters someday. Or if you’d have come to the twelve year old self-publishing his first novella, or the eighteen year old leaving school with no real backup plan except for writing, just stubborn faith/naiveté. I feel like I’ve written this for those versions of me, and for all the other kids out there who retreat to fantasy, whose medicine is escapism.
As you can tell, writing for something officially Star Wars means a lot, and I’m so grateful for everyone that’s supported me along the way - whether family buying me those first Lego sets to proofreading my writing, my friends that listen to my impassioned speeches about the latest show, to teachers, tutors and mentors, the writing friends I’ve made along the way, both in-person and online, and all the wonderful professional writers that have freely shared their advice and given me the time of day, that inspired my journey in so many ways.
My biggest thanks of course go to the people who directly made this article possible. Star Wars Insider editor Chris Cooper has acted as such a mentor over many emails since I met him at Celebration last year. He took a chance on me, a 21-year-old with no credits beyond my own self-publishing and love of the franchise, and he took the time to guide me into the world of freelance writing. There was always a part of me that was hoping of course, but I would’ve been happy just to know my pitches had been sent to Lucasfilm. Then I got the email that I’d be writing one! Even though I’ve written it, that still hasn’t sunk in!
Some of you may be wondering what the article is about, or who the other people who directly made the article possible are. Readers of my newsletter will know that ancient art, and the patterns and mythology behind it, is another great passion of mine, and a constant inspiration for my fiction writing. World of Paleoanthropology is the place to go to get your news on all things ancient hominin, and the site is managed by Seth Chagi, who keenly put me in contact with Dr George Nash, a research fellow at the Department of Anthropology, University of Bristol, UK, and a very knowledgeable and kind man.
When I hopped on a call with George to talk about the article I wanted to do, he happily showed off his shelves of original 80s Star Wars action figures, and he just provided the perfect quotes to the draft of the article I already had, to give it that extra authenticity and oomph. The promise of expert quotes made the pitch possible. So a big thank you to George for not only backing up my wild connections between ancient art and Star Wars, but for providing quotes like:
“Lucas drew upon the imagery of the ancients.”
Okay, I’ve skirted the issue enough. Here’s the official description of the article that went up on some press sites recently:
• ART WARS
Insider casts a critical eye over the meanings behind galactic artforms, from temple paintings to Twi’lek Kalikori.
I probably shouldn’t say too much about it, apart from what you’ve already guessed, that this article, my first piece of properly published writing (that’s mind-blowingly going to be sold around the world) combines two of my biggest interests!
It was a privilege to put into words the special connections between ancient art from around the world, and art in Star Wars, and see that really it’s all the same sort of stories, beliefs and techniques, that have persevered through every catastrophe in human history. It gave me an excuse to write about such spiritual things like common beliefs across cultures, and the more spiritual parts of Star Wars relating to art and caves, of which there are quite a few!
As well as the aforementioned parent proofreading, I owe a big thank you to fellow contributor (and legend in the Star Wars non-fiction world) Amy Richau, not just for that teaser photo of her early American subscriber copy, but for taking a look at the article before it went off to Chris. She was so welcoming to me, someone barely a part of the Star Wars non-fiction family.
Speaking of that photo - I still can’t believe my name is next to Mortis gods, or rather, a magical painting of them (if you know, you know). Special really is the word of the day. Thank you to David Colderly, the graphic designer of the magazine!
For those of you reading this wondering how to ‘break in’ to this world of Star Wars writing, it’s really a game of patience, hard work and luck. Everybody’s route and background is different. Obviously I was so fortunate to be in the right place at the right time and have the means to meet the magazine’s editor in person, but others have approached online I’m sure.
The best advice that big Star Wars authors have given me, and that rings true for Insider too, is to have a body of work behind you, some backlog of writing that shows that you can do this. I was lucky to have ten years of work, that younger me put in, for when I met Chris Cooper. Even then, I had to work on three sample articles - so definitely have some ready if you’re not already a blogger or reporter of some form writing about Star Wars. Then dust off your lucky charms.
And of course the joy I felt at working on the article for Insider just propelled me further to continue sharing my passions, hopefully finding people that’ll be interested in both facets - this modern franchise and the most ancient of motifs.
That’s why I started A Long Time Ago…, where every other Sunday I work through my shelves of Star Wars books - explaining a little about each tale and its place and connections in the timeline - and showcase a different rock art site from around the world, focussing on those that have directly inspired my own fiction. If this is the first post of mine you’re reading, here’s a link to the archive. I’d love if you checked out those past editions, and subscribed to receive each new one directly to your inbox, plus monthly roundups of what I’ve been up to as a writer just taking my first steps into a wider world.
And now that bit for new folks is out of the way, subscribers both old and new may be wondering where’s the best place to pick up copies of Star Wars Insider (if you’re not subscribed already!), and when my issue will be out.
If you’re in the US or Canada, the magazine will be out on newsstands by June 25th! (Barnes & Noble is one place I know sells Insider.) And sadly for us in the UK (and the rest of Europe I think) it’ll be July 18th before you may catch a glimpse of a copy in your local WHSmith or a Forbidden Planet if there’s one local. Your best bet for anywhere in the world is here, on Titan Publishing’s comics and magazine site.
Once again, thank you so much to everyone who has helped me in any way to be in the position to write this newsletter, to write this too-good-to-be-true article. I am so grateful.
Also thanks to Meg Dowell, a fellow Insider contributor whose post about her first article inspired this one! Check out that post here, and while you’re there subscribe to Meg’s Now this is Lit literary Star Wars newsletter/blog and podcast!
Like Meg said in her post, writing for Star Wars Insider is something I’d do again (and I have…). But that’s a story for another day… sooner rather than later, I’m happy to report.
Cheers for reading this bonus edition of my newsletter. More of these may be coming if I have something special to announce. This felt like something definitely worth celebrating, though, so thank you for putting up with that. It’s a bit of news that I’ve been sitting on since early this year. I do hope you’ll check out the magazine, for all the amazing articles that are in every issue, but especially, if you pick it up for mine, that would mean the world. I’m very proud of how it turned out.
May the Force be with you,
Harvey
P.S. This was the Star Wars Visions short that first sparked this idea for an article…
