Here at Style Live we try our best to inform you of the best places to do the best things. Dancing at D.C. Live, concerts at 9:30 club, food at B. Smith's. We've got those areas pretty much covered. But what if all you want to do is go somewhere to read a good book? We haven't really covered that yet. So instead of wasting our precious time we'll leave all the work up to you. Tell us the best places in and around D.C. to settle down with a good book. Don't worry, we'll give you all the credit.

Your responses will be updated at 2pm EDT every weekday until September 30. In the meantime check out what others have suggested during one session Book World critic Michael Dirda's weekly online discussion.

Kevin J. Anderson: Welcome everybody, and thanks for coming to the chat. I’ll try to type as fast as I can to answer questions on my STAR WARS work, or the new DUNE projects, or X-FILES, or FANTASTIC VOYAGE...or my original novels. We should have enough to talk about!

Tijunani, Cuba: Are you worried about the possibly of the myth story-arc of the Star Wars seris being disrupted?

Kevin J. Anderson: George Lucas had his overall stories mapped out from the very beginning, and he has held tight to the prequel trilogy. Only when he decided that he probably wasn’t going to be making the final three movies after all did he open up the universe to allow other writers, like me, to tell stories set there. If he ever does make the three final movies, though, naturally he’ll tell his own vision.

Buffalo, NY: Kevin, have you been contacted by Lucasfilm at all regarding doing books for the upcoming New Jedi Order story arc? If so, can you tell us anything about it? As far as I'm concerned, you're right up there with Zahn and Stackpole, and it'd be a pity if you didn't do a book or three.

Kevin J. Anderson: Thanks for the compliment. We’ve got nothing in the works for the New Jedi Order storyline. We did talk with Lucasfilm a long time ago, brainstorming with them about the advisability of telling a big overall story arc, which is what they’re doing. But I’ve got some major projects in the works right now -- with DUNE prequels and a new FANTASTIC VOYAGE novel -- that it’s more than I can (sensibly) handle. I’m delighted to be in a position to NOT need to look for work!

Fairfax, Virginia: Mr. Anderson,

What is your reaction to the comment made by George Lucas, shortly before The Phantom Meanace premiered, that he does not consider any of the Star Wars Novels to be legitimate to the Star Wars universe?

Kevin J. Anderson: We talked about this before we even began working on the books. *His* vision is the only one that really counts, but he has authorized us to tell stories in his universe and until he makes movies to contradict them, this will be our gift to the fans.

Washington,DC: Has Lucas at all ever indicated that he would do the final trilogy episodes 7-9, and if so, did he ever indicate that he would use your ideas?

Kevin J. Anderson: I think I answered that earlier -- it doesn't appear that he has plans right now, but we'll have to wait and see, after these first three films are made.

Washington, DC: What do you think of Terry Brooks's novelization of "The Phantom Menace"?

Kevin J. Anderson: I haven't read it yet (book deadlines!) -- but Terry is a great friend of ours and he called us up when Lucasfilm offered him the job. We are very excited and I think he is a great choice to do the book.

Iowa City: Hi, I'm a huge young fan of your young jedi book with Luke and the the Acadmy. Are you and you wife going to be writing any more of the books?

Kevin J. Anderson: We finished up all 14 volumes in the series -- and that was quite a job, writing a new and complete novel *every three months* for 42 months, without a break and without missing a deadline. The story arc is over now, and we hope the Young Jedi will graduate to their own adult adventures in some of the new novels.

Arlington, Va.: Kevin, in the films, why does Obi-Wan and Yoda disappear when they die but Darth Vader and Qui-Gon Jinn don't?

Kevin J. Anderson: Actually, according to Lucasfilm, Darth *did* -- if you watch carefully, after he dies you never see him again, just Luke's anguished face.

As to Qui-Gonn...you're gonna have to ask Lucasfilm about that one...

Laurel, Md.: Kevin, I don't know if you can answers these, but, is Lord Sidious actually Sen. Palpatine? I know it's the same actor, and Palpatine does become the Emperor. Since there are only two Siths -one mentor, one accomplice-, I was trying to figure out if Palpatine would be the accomplice next, followed by Anakin, or if Sidious-Palpatine would go right to Anakin. Thanks.

Kevin J. Anderson: I really need to make clear that I don't know what the plans are for the next two films -- I'm not being coy...I really don't know. It seems clear to me that Sidious and Palpatine are the same, and we know Palpatine becomes Emperor. Beyond that, we'll just have to wait.

Washington, DC: Obviously you do a lot of thinking when it comes to SW. Is the world Lucas brought us in Phantom Menace the world you imagined?

Kevin J. Anderson: Yes and no -- as it should be. I love the whole look of the new universe, especially the Senate and Coruscant (much of which was influenced by my art book with Ralph McQuarrie, THE ILLUSTRATED SW UNIVERSE). It captured the grandeur we expected, but also threw in a lot of surprises.

Clifton, NJ: I am a huge fan of the Dune series and am surprised to hear of your new project. When working with characters who are well-known and loved by fans, how do you approach the creation of a new story? Do you try to match the original author's vision or style or do like to make your own interpretations?

Thanks and good luck!

Kevin J. Anderson: DUNE was always my favorite SF novel, and I am really thrilled to be working with Frank Herbert's son Brian (also an accomplished writer), from Frank Herbert's original notes. We have thousands of pages of original notes, and a lot of inspiration. We aren't trying to copy Frank's writing style, but we are trying to make a real "DUNE" novel. the first book, HOUSE ATREIDES, comes out in Oct. and we are finishing up the second, HOUSE HARKONNEN, now. So far, all of our test readers have been very pleased.

Washington, DC: In your opinion, should Scully and Mulder get together?

Kevin J. Anderson: Wow, the questions are coming from all sides! No, I don't think Scully & Mulder should get together -- if you look at previous TV shows, every time the main characters actually get together, the sexual tension goes away and the show dies. I'd like to see XF keep going for a while longer yet.

Arlington, VA: The very nature of the sci-fi genre is future-forward. I am confused that Lucas should want to invest time -and money- in Episodes 1-3 thereby going against that nature. I hope I haven't confused you. I guess what I'm asking is why commit yourself to parts 1-3 and not 4-6, or 12-15?

Kevin J. Anderson: I've done a lot of thinking on that, since I'm doing the three DUNE prequels. When you have a canvas as vast as the SW universe, or the DUNE universe, there is so much to be told about how the characters came to be and where the situations came from. The challenge is to tell an interesting story that is innovative and surprising -- to an audience who already knows how the story turns out! Sometimes, doing prequels gives some freedoms that "the further adventures of..." doesn't allow.

Arlington, VA: Can you describe the difference between furthering the works of an established author and creating your own works? Is one harder than the other?

Kevin J. Anderson: I've written a dozen of my own novels, as well as numerous works in STAR WARS, DUNE, X-FILES...they are both satisfying in different ways. I have all the freedom in the world with my original stuff, but I also have to create *everything* from scratch. With DUNE or SW, etc., there's a momentum going because the readers are already interested and want to know more. It's a great honor and a tough job -- and if I don't do it right, the readers won't be satisfied. You have to deliver what you advertize.

Washington, D.C.: As a fan of Star Wars in general, would you say that the film version of Phantom Menace has lived up to the gigantic expectations? Do you have any comment on the common criticism that it is too focused on special effects or geared too much at kids?

Kevin J. Anderson: I have watched the film 3 times now and it gets better every time. The first time it was impossible to see past expectations to the actual movie. When you have so much hype (as well as three incredible movies that everybody has watched for years and years), people are all expecting different things. Yes, there were a lot of great special effects, yes there were parts geared toward the kiddies... but there was a lot more, too. That lightsaber battle in the end was one of the best sequences in film history!

Houston, TX: Mr. Anderson,
I am a big fan of your work on the Jedi Acedemy Trilogy. I enjoyed your insight and ideas regarding the nature of "The Force". I would like to aks you how you felt about George Lucas's introduction of the Midi-Chlorians in TPM and if you had any ideas for future novels in the SW universe.

Kevin J. Anderson: Thanks. I spent a lot of time developing Jedi training and learning the Force for all the books, much of which was based on input and memos from George. I, personally, am somewhat disappointed to learn that the Force is caused by "germs" and the only way to use it is to be infected. I hope there is more mystique and development in the forthcoming films.

Lock Haven, Pennsylvania: Mr. Anderson,

My questions refers to a book which was compiled by Dr. Willis McNelly, the DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA. I was wondering why the decision was made by you and Brian Herbert to basically ignore one of the more entertaining -and interesting- books related to the Dune Chronicles when it adds so much to the Dune Universe?
I am especially confused in light of the fact that it seems the DE had Frank Herbert's approval -the phrase "I give this encyclopedia my delighted approval..." appears in the forward written by Frank Herbert that is present in the book.-

Kevin J. Anderson: We made the decision not to use the Dune Encyclopedia because almost none of the material in it came from Frank Herbert, and it contradicts many of his original notes. If you read the introduction, Frank never really accepted the material within, dismissing some of the work as from "questionable sources" and "I hold my own counsel on some of the issues." I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I hope you will enjoy our own explorations based on the "main source," Frank himself.

Washington, DC: Knowing everything you know about the mystical force. Ever think of publishing a Self-help book about living by the ways of the force? I guess my question is "can you teach someone to be a jedi?"

Kevin J. Anderson: We talked about this with Lucasfilm, and they were considering it, but George was concerned that some "overzealous" fans might take it too much to heart and try to form a religion around his fiction. He wanted to avoid that.

Ridgewood, NJ: Hi Kevin, you mentioned a DUNE prequel - when is it coming out, what is your role in that project?

Kevin J. Anderson: I don't know how much is in the bio in front of this chat -- Brian Herbert and I are writing a prequel trilogy to DUNE, which Bantam Books will publish. It tells the story of the Planetologist Kynes being assigned to Arrakis, how Crown Prince Shaddam killed his father to become Emperor, the love story of Duke Leto and Lady Jessica, and their first battles with the Baron Harkonnen. Frank had talked about doing DUNE novels with his son Brian, and he left many notes behind for us to follow. HOUSE ATREIDES comes out in October.

Chicago, IL: Kevin, rumor has it that a contingent of people from the Echo Station website have photos of you doing a certain popular dance in a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Any truth to that rumor? Dave's being tight about it and won't share any of the pictures if they exist, and we're dying to know! Did you REALLY YMCA?

Kevin J. Anderson: The most difficult part of Jedi training is that one must pass a terrible ordeal, to become strong. In my case, the terrible ordeal was to perform karaoke with a bunch of Star Wars fans in Oklahoma. YMCA is very close to the dark side of the Force, but I did not allow myself to be tempted!

The Pentagon: Kevin-

Just wanted to say thanks for keeping me up way too late reading way too many nights. Keep up the good work.

Kevin J. Anderson: Good to hear it...since I stay up way too late too many nights *writing* the books! Right now I am writing the first draft of a new FANTASTIC VOYAGE, based on the 1960s movie...but this time we don't shrink people down to explore a human body...we send them inside a UFO alien. Some very cool possibilities.

College Park, MD: What's the biggest difference in the level of fan expectations between X-F books and SW books?

Kevin J. Anderson: They all expect something that is just like their favorite show or movie. It is very demanding, and they keep me doing my best work. One of the difficulties with the X-Files is that the show is still on and the background (and the conspiracy) keeps changing. By the time I write a book and it goes through all the production phases before it's released, sometimes the new episodes have contradicted what I've written! Star Wars has such a huge wealth of background material, sometimes it's tough to keep all the details straight. But that's my responsibility.

Alexandria: Do you ever read the comments about your books on Amazon.com? It seems like some people write pages of criticism about the novels, and some of it could be good advice ...

Kevin J. Anderson: I get thousands of fan letters and also a lot of comments on e-mail. Unfortunately, by the time criticism can come in on one book, I'm already five books later down the line. Even more unfortunately, there is a small but vocal group on some e-mail services that has taken it as their mission in life to viciously *trash* Star Wars novels -- when you see comments like "I hated all 10 books in this series! These books suck!" it makes you wonder why the person bothered to keep reading if he hated them so much? Some people just have axes to grind. The truth is I get about 200 positive fan letters for every 1 negative, so I think I'm reaching the target I'm aiming for.

Germantown, MD: You answered the question 'Why did Obi Wan and Yoda disappear after their deaths but not Darth Vader'? by saying Darth does as after he dies you never see him again only Lukes anguished face. But don't you see Darth Vader's body on the funeral pyre that Luke sets afire?

Kevin J. Anderson: No, you just see his armor and his uniform. You never see the actual body.

Georgetown: Mr. Anderson:

Having read many "continuation" novels whether Star Wars or X-Files or even original authors in their own series, occasionally I have noticed that over time some authors seem to lose their vision. The longer the series the further away the later books are from the charm or logic of the first books. Is that a concern of yours? Would you consider ending a project, at a point where perhaps it had been taken as far as it should go?

Kevin J. Anderson: A very good observation -- and, yes, we did come to that point. After 14 novels in the YOUNG JEDI KNIGHTS series, my wife and I decided we could not keep going with the quality we wanted to do. Oh, we could have cranked out a few generic adventures...but that would water down the whole series. It's a very difficult balance point to keep being original and creating something new and fresh...and yet delivering the same *sort* of story that people expect from, say, STAR WARS. Right now, with the DUNE prequels, I feel that this is very engrossing and expanding my abilities as a writer, with a huge amount of possibilities. I expect we can do more of those in the future.

Arlington, VA: How much did the personalities conveyed by various Star Wars actors influence your writing? In other words, did you write with the original SW films in mind?

Kevin J. Anderson: Very much so. I write using a hand-held tape recorder while out hiking, and I certainly hear the actors in my hear when I'm dictating dialog. I can hear the voices of Anthony Daniels or Harrison Ford or Mark Hamill. They made the characters come to life, and I try to make the characters live on, as if those actors are reading my dialog for me.

Houston, TX: As someone who aspires to be a published writer of fiction, I spend a lot of my free time reading works from my mentors, Kevin J. Anderson, J.R.R. Tolkein among others -no need for a list here- and writing as soon as I have an idea. Do you have any more 20-20 hindsight you can pass on to me-us-?

Kevin J. Anderson: Persistence, persistence, persistence. I often give a talk at libraries, "How to be an overnight success in 20 years or less." I always knew I wanted to be a writer, and I submitted my first short story when I was a freshman in high school; I had 80 rejection slips before I had anything published. I now have about 800 rejection slips, and a trophy in my office that says "The writer with no future" because I could produce more rejections by weight than any other writer at a conference. But I never gave up, and eventually I broke through. Most people quit before they have a chance to make their mark. Good luck!

Washington, DC: Are your original novels SF as well?

Kevin J. Anderson: I have written mainly science fiction, but a lot of them are high-tech thrillers (sort of a cross between Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton). I write these with Doug Beason, and we've got several titles available. In fact, for all my books and background, you can check out our web page at www.wordfire.com.

Even with all the media work I do, I always try to write at least one original novel a year, though these don't sell as well as Star Wars or X-Files or Dune -- one of them will catch on, sooner or later.

Washington, DC: Who would you cast for the major parts in your SW novels.

Kevin J. Anderson: Well, the original actors of course! Actually, I don't think of actors/actresses when I write. I try to create the characters from my imagination...

Washington DC: I'm a big fan of your Star Wars novels. As an author of definite repute, and simultaneously someone of intimate knowledge of what Lucas would intend with his ideas, if he had extended them past the original trilogy, do you find it off-putting that so many people are reading so much hidden commentary into the Phantom Menace, especially into the character of Jar Jar Binks?

Kevin J. Anderson: (I question whether I have any *intimate knowledge* of George Lucas's imagination...)

People will always read commentary into things, and most of it points up their *own* problems! Everyone should take from the movies what's in their hearts. Otherwise, just enjoy the films and use your own imagination.

Kevin J. Anderson: It looks like our hour is up, folks. Thanks for all your questions, and your enthusiasm. Whether it's Star Wars, or X-Files, or DUNE, or any of my original novels, keep reading -- I appreciate all your kind words.

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