7 Questions with. . . Ryder Windham

1. You've written over 60 books about Star Wars. How do you keep all the details straight?
It helps that I've been tracking details for such a long time. I've been working on Star Wars projects since 1993, when I was editing Droids at Dark Horse Comics. I also have a constantly growing library of Star Wars comics, novels, and reference books. It's relatively easy to keep track of a character's exploits, but it's sometimes hard to remember what that character knows or doesn't know about other characters and situations at specific moments in the Star Wars timeline. Whenever I have questions about some obscure detail or possible inconsistency, Leland Chee, who's in charge of monitoring and maintaining Star Wars continuity at Lucasfilm, is always super helpful.

2. You're one of the authors of the forthcoming Star Wars Year by Year. Which period of time did you focus on? Did you learn anything new?
I wrote the first sections, from George Lucas's early inspirations and ideas for Star Wars up through 1983 and the release of Return of the Jedi. Although I knew Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin) and Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) had co-starred in a number of movies, I didn't realize how many Star Wars actors had appeared in films and TV shows together prior to 1977. For example, Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader) were in The Comedians (1967), and Harrison Ford (Han Solo) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) were in the same episode of the Burt Reynolds TV series "Dan August" in 1971. Who knew?! Not I.

3. What's your favorite character in the Star Wars universe?  
Does the Millennium Falcon count as a character? I want so much to fly the Falcon, it's shameful. If you asked me which characters I most identify with, that would be the Jawas. I'm a habitual scavenger.

4. Will you be at Star Wars Celebration this year?
 Yes! I'll be signing Star Wars: Year by Year with fellow authors Dan Wallace, Pablo Hidalgo, and Gus Lopez, and Star Wars Blueprints: Rebel Edition with artists Chris Reiff and Chris Trevas. I'll also be signing Star Wars: The Clone WarsSecret Missions #2: Curse of the Black Hole Pirates. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of friends.

5. Yoda vs. a velociraptor. Who wins?
Yoda rides the velociraptor all the way home.

6. What's the last book you read?
Ire-readone of my favorite novels, Derby Dugan's Depression Funnies by Tom De Haven. It's brilliant.

7. What are you working on now?  
I just finished the manuscript for Star Wars: Adventures in Hyperspace #3 for Scholastic, and now I'm writing the outlines for the third and fourth books in The Clone WarsSecret Missions series for Grosset & Dunlap. Fingers crossed, I'll be busy with more Star Wars books after that.

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