Q: Tell us about the other main characters in Shadow Hunter, and what brings them together.

MR: The other main characters are Lorn Pavan, a small-time grifter and scam artist, his droid I-5YQ ("I-Five" for short), who's more Lorn's partner than his property, and Darsha Assant, a Padawan on a solo assignment that's part of her final testing for Jedi Knight status. They become imbroiled in Maul's hunt for Hath Monchar, a Neimoidian who's trying to sell the information that the Trade Federation is working with Darth Sidious, to the highest bidder. Because they've had contact with Monchar and thus might be privy to his knowledge of the Siths' return, Maul feels it necessary to hunt them down as well as the Neimoidian. Obi-Wan Kenobi also has a supporting role in the story.

Q: The friendship between Lorn and the droid I-Five was something I hadn't seen in a Star Wars novel before. It reminded me of Chewie and Han's relationship at times.

MR: It's all part of trying to create new and memorable characters. As I said earlier, working in an already-established milieu can be a mixed blessing. I didn't want I-Five to be a character clone of C-3PO. It seemed much more interesting to make his and Lorn's relationship one of equals instead of master and slave. Also, by having a touch of acerbity ongoing between them, I could get a few lighter moments into an otherwise fairly grim story. I-Five turned out to be one of my favorite characters in the book.

Q: Would I be wrong to say that you've got a touch of the dark Side yourself? Is that something writers need?

MR: As earlier noted, I do have a penchant for telling stories that are somewhat dark. I don't know that it qualifies me to claim Sith status. Stephen King once said that if you showed him and Louis L'Amor a swamp, L'Amor would probably use it as a springboard to write a story about range rustling or prospecting, whereas King would most likely come up with something unpleasant living at the bottom of the swamp. I guess I'm also more the swamp monster type. I don't know if I'd say a bit of morbidity is something all writers need -- if you're writing Hallmark greeting cards, for example, then I could see it being a liability.

Q: One thing that kept occurring to me as I watched The Phantom Menace and read Shadow Hunter and the other bridge novel, Rogue Planet, is that the Jedi have become somewhat complacent. Darth Sidious has planned well for their downfall, of course, but in a sense aren't the Jedi themselves responsible for, or at least complicit in, that downfall?

MR: Yeah, I think the saga's heading that way. I can't say for sure, since I don't know what George Lucas has planned for Eps II and III. But that's the way I'd take it.

Q: Will you be writing any more Star Wars novels?

MR: Who knows? The people at the Ranch and at Del Rey seem pleased with what I've done so far, but we haven't discussed any further projects. I had a good time writing this one, so I'm certainly not adverse to doing more.

Q: What other projects are you working on now?

MR: My latest novel, Hell On Earth, will be out in May '01 from Del Rey. A local publisher, Babbage Press, is doing a collection of my short stories. I'm in the process of storyediting and producing an animated series for BKN Studios (BKN's The Lost Continent). And there are various other projects that, for one reason or another, I can't talk about just yet. All in all, it looks like the first year of the new century will be a pretty good one for me.

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