Heartfelt Goodbye

My heart goes out to the family, friends, and fellow fans of Carrie Fisher. Her wit and talent will forever be an inspiration. I'm so grateful my daughter had someone so special to call a role model. 

Goodnight, sweet Princess,

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

  

Why I'm a Star Wars Nerd

No one is happier to see all the Star Wars love happening right now than I. I've been a fangirl of a galaxy far far away since 1977 when A NEW HOPE 

(back in the day, we just called it STAR WARS) 

burst into the collective consciousness. I saw the film 21 times in the theater, every time flying my theater seat with red squadron to attack the Death Star.

Here are the top ten reasons this story entered my blood stream:

10. Vehicles: Who doesn’t want a land speeder or an X-Wing?

9. Hyperspace Travel: After commuting in L.A. traffic my whole life…

8. Countless worlds to explore: Itinerary – Hoth…Forest Moon of Endor – I’ll skip Tatooine, not a desert person.

7. Terrifying Villains: Vader (daddy issues-check), Emperor, Wampa Ice Monster, giant worm that digests you for 1,000 years...

6. Merchandise: I’m not going to lie, I’ve spent significant funds since 1977 on memorabilia. Come on! Everyone needs a pewter Star Wars chess set.

5. Complicated love story: Han and Leia

4. C3P0 and R2D2: I’ll take one of each please.

3. Lightsabers: Mine is blue.

2. Enigmatic mentors extraordinaire: Love Yoda, do I. Obi Wan is always good in a pinch. 

1. Luke Skywalker – Luke Skywalker - Luke Skywalker:

When the first movie of the saga released, I was leaving home to go to college. Identifying with Luke’s foray into the real world resonated with me. We came of age together, fighting the dark side and emerging with a renewed sense of self.

From this humble Jedi to all my brethren -

May the Force Be With You.

A Summer of Conferences - Part 2 Comic Con

Any resemblance I may display to Sheldon Cooper on 

BIG BANG THEORY is purely coincidental. 

Comic Con, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways...

Meeting Eddie McClintock from the show 

WAREHOUSE 13. 

Super funny and sweet person. Love the show. 

Best t-shirt EVER!

Hilarious live radio comedy show. Grab their podcasts immediately! Will Wheaton was the guest performer. Extra Bonus - Tahereh Mafi and Ransom Riggs were in the audience. I had a chance to channel my fangirl self and meet them. Both charming and gracious. Isn't it cool when people you admire turn out to be wonderful!

New backpack.

Old friend. 

Daughter becoming Viking.

Panels - Panels - Panels

The wild wit of Shannon Hale moderating a Fairy Tale Remix panel that included Cornelia Funke and Marissa Meyer.

Simon and Schuster Panel that made me commit my entire year's income to buying books. 

(I just happened to win an entire gift bag of middle grade releases - HARDCOVERS - Whoo Hoo)

YA Panel that made me commit next year's income to more books. Yes, that is Margaret Stohl and Scott Westerfeld. Kami Garcia and Tahereh Mafi among other wonderful authors are down the line.

All right everyone - channel you inner BIG BANG THEORY - and beeline it to Comic Con next July. Even if you don't get "official" passes, there are tons of offsite venues, performances, and fun.

I'll be waiting...

And to quote Dr. Sheldon Cooper, 

"I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested."

Y is for YODA

Welcome to Yes, This Will Be On the Test.

Waving to visitors, new followers, and fellow A to Z participants. I’m sending virtual hugs to you all for taking a moment to stop by.

I’ll be sharing my “take-aways.” All those snigglets, golden nuggets, and lessons learned from other creative sources.

Scroll down this link to find other wonderful A to Z participants.

You didn't really think I'd get through the whole A to Z without a Star Wars post, did you?

That Yoda it one of a kind, isn't he? Green, wrinkly, wise and aces with a lightsaber. 

He even brings Christmas cheer. 

The best thing about Yoda are his quotes, even though as a teacher and writer, his syntax makes my teeth hurt. 

Here are a few of my faves.

"Do or do not. There is no try."

"Always pass on what you have learned."

"Remember what you have learned, save you it can."

Luke: I can't believe it.

Yoda: That is why you fail.

TAKE AWAY - When you create a mentor, it's okay if he looks like your cat.

Any other favorite Yoda quotes or moment out there?

H is for HERO JOURNEY

I regret that I never got to take a class from the amazing Joseph Campbell. 

His hero journey is my "go to" structure when I plot a story. 

If you're not familiar with this template - think Luke Skywalker. 

Ordinary chap finds he has a special gift - the force.

Wise mentor, Obi Wan, sends him on a quest - save the princess (really to embrace his Jedi-ness)

Ordeals are faced - Star Wars Episodes 4 through 6 - culminating in a supreme ordeal - Luke defeats Emperor Palpatine and redeems Vader.

Return home - or Ewok Village where the spirits of Luke's past rock out to the "Lub Nub" song. 

Graphics for my fellow chart folks:

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I was delighted to discover the Power of Myths Programs. This is a series of discussions between Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell on a myriad of topics including the hero journey, ritual, and mythology.  

“Mythology to him (Campbell) was the song of the universe, music so deeply embedded in our collective unconscious that we dance to it even when we can’t name the tune.” 

Bill Moyers

"Artists are the myth-makers of today." Joseph Campbell

TAKE AWAY:

Campbell’s mythic journey template continues to be an invaluable tool for creating story structure. 

Joseph Campbell will forever be my Obi Wan Kenobi. 

Who is your Obi Wan?

BONUS TRACK: More Campbell quotes

C is for COMIC CON

Welcome to Yes, This Will Be On the Test.

Waving to visitors, new followers, and fellow A to Z participants. I’m sending virtual hugs to you all for taking a moment to stop by.

I’ll be sharing my “take-aways.” All those snigglets, golden nuggets, and lessons learned from other creative sources.

Yep, I'm a pop culture fangirl.

Star Wars, The Avengers, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Agents of Shield, Once Upon a Time, Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, Girls, Dr. Who, Firefly - Really anything involving Joss Whedon...

I could go on, but you might run screaming from your computer.

Mecca for we pop culture fans is Comic Con. Every July in San Diego, California we come together to revel in fandom bliss.

There are panels, presentations, costumes, and a exhibition cavern that makes you feel like you've died and gone to fandom heaven. I really love that YA lit. panels are a part of the celebration every year. It makes me dance a jig that kid lit. has a niche at Comic Con.

Yes, at my house we had multiple laptops up and running to score tickets for "The Con" - just like the episode of BIG BANG THEORY. 

TAKE AWAY:

Fans rock. Geeking out to favorite stories and characters across mediums is a way of showing the love we feel for the chance authors give us to escape into other worlds, times, places, people. 

Now fess up - what makes you go fanboy or fangirl?

The Backworlds Series by M. Pax

Have I got a treat for you! The second book in M.Pax's THE BACKWORLDS series is here.

Calling all sci-fi fans especially Browncoats (Firefly loyalists, of which I am one) and Star Wars nuts (Guilty as charged). This is a series for you. The main character Craze is from the same delicious mold as Captain Malcolm Reynolds and Han Solo. Need I say more? Indulge in M.Pax's universe.

The sequel to The Backworlds is now available. Craze and his friends continue their adventures in Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge. See what role chocolate plays in the galaxy this time. 

   The interstellar portal opens, bringing in a ship that should no longer exist. A battleship spoiling for a fight, yet the war with Earth ended two generations ago. The vessel drops off a Water-breather, a type of Backworlder thought to be extinct. She claims one of Craze’s friends is a traitor who summoned the enemy to Pardeep Station. A betrayal worse than his father’s, if Craze lives to worry about it. 

Available for all ereaders from:

Amazon / Amazon UK / B&N / Smashwords

iTunes and Kobo will be available shortly.

If you haven’t read The Backworlds yet, it’s available as a free read from many outlets. See HERE for links. [http://mpaxauthor.com/the-backworlds-series/backworlds-the/]

 

Inspiring the words M. Pax writes, Mary spends her summers as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory in stunning Central Oregon where she lives with the husband unit and two loving cats. She write science fiction mostly and has a slight obsession with Jane Austen. Mary blogs at http://www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/

In other news:

FREE FREE FREE

The Kindle version of JOURNEYS OF WONDER, Volume 1, is available for free download until Tuesday, July 24th at midnight from Amazon.

Z is for Zurg, Evil Emperor Zurg

Twenty-Six Days of Creative Inspiration

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, to all the wonderful folks out there in Bloglandia who have visited and followed my humble blog during the A to Z Challenge. I've had a blast meeting so many new friends. You are my inspiration.

And now the baddest baddie in the known universe...

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Evil Emperor Zurg from the Toy Story movies is on a mission to destroy Star Command and conquer the Galaxy.

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Thank goodness, Buzz Lightyear stands between us and evil incarnate.

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Good will prevail.

Is there anyone out there who didn't dream of their toys coming to life? I wished upon countless stars for that to happen. The Toy Story movies granted my wish. 

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Andy's collection of toys found their way into my heart. Now my wish upon a star is to write a story that will find its way into someone's heart the way Toy Story did for me.

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Toy Story made me believe that wishes do come true.

Who is your favorite toy in Toy Story?  

Click on the Blogging From A to Z Challenge logo in the sidebar to access the links to all the superheroes participating in this blog hop.

Y is for Yoda

Twenty-Six Days of Creative Inspiration

In the context of Joseph Campbell's hero journey, the mentor archetype doesn't get better than Yoda, Jedi Master extraordinaire, from Star Wars.

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Luke Skywalker's quest would have fallen kersplat if he'd never met Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back.

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Here are a few Yoda gems to send you on your way:

"Mind what you have learned. Save you it can."

"Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."

"To answer power with power, the Jedi way this is not. In this war, a danger there is, of losing who we are."

"Named must your fear be before banish it you can."

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You've gotta love a Jedi Master who keeps reinventing himself. My students are currently hooked on this book.

What are you favorite Yoda moments?

Click on the Blogging From A to Z Challenge logo in the sidebar to access the links to all the superheroes participating in this blog hop.

S is for Star Wars

Twenty-Six Days of Creative Inspiration

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A long time ago in a galaxy far far way, a boyfriend dragged me to what I thought was a stupid war movie.

After two hours in line and two hours in the theatre, I was helping Luke Skywalker blow up the Death Star with the secret controls in the armrest of the theatre seat.

I am a Star Wars fanatic, and proud of it. There was something magical about Luke leaving home to learn the ways of the force as I was leaving home to learn the ways of college. 

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After thirty-five years my love for the Star Wars universe has never waned, even through Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.

One of the thrills of my life is when I met Mark Hamill last year. He is a gentleman Jedi to be sure.

Star Wars filled me with a sense of wonder that long ago summer of 1977, and the saga still resonates with me today. I've always loved sci-fi, but Star Wars made me want to write sci-fi.

For the record, The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite of all the movies.

Do you feel the force?

Click on the Blogging From A to Z Challenge logo in the sidebar to access the links to all the superheroes participating in this blog hop.