Luke Skywalker Is No Jedi. Why Should He Be?

For years (YEARS, I TELL YOU!), I bought into the idea that Luke Skywalker is a Jedi. Like his father was. After all, that's the name of that movie, right? And he said as much, to any one who would listen.

And now there's a fresh movie coming out, and Luke has been ALL OVER the ad campaign. It's been all about how Luke is Jedi-ing up the galaxy! I mean, whoa! All that Luke Jedi stuff has been impossible to miss. My children have been Happy Mealing Jedi Luke toys for weeks!

No.

Of course not. 

Luke has been notably absent. So, like any good fanboy, I've been wondering about this, and--like any good fanboy--have come up with my own headcanon. I have changed my mind about Luke's post Jedi career. 

I don't know what J.J. Abrams has up his sleeve concerning what Luke has been up to since the end of Return of the Jedi, but I'm pretty sure that my speculation lines up with his plan just this far: Luke Skywalker is not now, and never has been, a Jedi.

The Jedi who returned in that movie is Darth Vader, who was redeemed, and reclaimed his Jedi standing.

I think Luke claiming the Jedi mantle was youthful exuberance related to being special, I mean really, really special, getting some amazing training, hanging with those powerful old men Ben and Yoda, and being swept along in some seriously difficult and exciting times. But, once things calmed down a bit, he had some time to think about things and realized that, no, he is not a Jedi.

Why would he want to be? The Jedi have a boatload to answer for. The Skywalker family has large and legitimate reason to not want to be a part of that particular club. On a less personal note, the Jedi pretty much misread things for decades in the lead up to the Clone Wars. Not just the politics, which is a problem, but understandable. I mean, honestly, politics? But the Jedi Order misread what was going on with The Force. That's their thing, man. And, in misreading that, they managed to end the very civilization they existed to safeguard.

So Luke is going to stand up and say, "Hey! Those people who reacted badly to every challenge put to them for years, and then almost all died--except for two of them who hid out for twenty years and one who was the right fist of the tyrant? Remember them? I'm the new one!"

No.

Luke is going to stop running around telling people he's a Jedi. Again, I can't guess what Abrams is going to say Luke has been up to. But if it were up to me, Luke has been going around the galaxy incognito. Sometimes taking on hard missions of cleaning up lingering Imperial problems. Sometimes Lone Rangering it (or Man With No Naming it) for people and small communities in need. Finding Force sensitive people or families, and providing a nudge. What kind of nudge? I hope the kind that makes for more do-gooders.

But not more Jedi.

Additionally, Luke--as a formal matter--cannot be Jedi. There hasn't been a Jedi Order in decades. There's no academy. There's no padawan/master regimen. There's no Jedi Council to bestow the title. You can meaningfully be The Lone Ranger if there are other Rangers who are part of a structure--you're defining your mission in relation to a structure that exists outside of you. If there are no other Rangers, you're just a vigilante. You can't be a Lone Jedi if there are no other Jedi. Without a Jedi Order, there's no meaningful mission for a Force sensitive to undertake as a Jedi. Without the Jedi Order, you're just someone with an ancient weapon and a hokey religion repping civilization in a frayed world. Which is a heroic mission, just ask Hercules, but does not make you a Jedi.

Arguably, the proper name for "Lone Jedi" is "Sith." No, not really. The Sith fought against the Jedi and the Jedi against the Sith, but they didn't really define themselves against the other so much as get in each other's way while working at cross-purposes. It was really sort of a farce. 

But back to Luke. Not a Jedi. Never was. Wouldn't want to be, and could never be in any event. But a civilizing Force? That's something Luke Skywalker could be.

Bewitched Magical World-building

Bewitched--that show about a witch (Samantha), her mortal husband (Darrin), and the hijinks they endure navigating her family and his career--has been a staple of syndicated programming my entire life. I have never really thought of it as much beyond light entertainment, seasoned with a scornful eye on bigotry.

Last week, I saw about five minutes of an episode, basically one scene. It was enough, however, to make me think this show old enough to straddle the transition from black & white to color TV had some serious world-building chops.

The gist of the episode was what to do about Samantha and Darrin's daughter (Tabitha), a late toddler at the time, and her education. Three of Samantha's aunts, and her mother, have gotten together and decided that Tabitha would attend a prestigious witch school run by one of the aunts. Samantha and Darrin don't like it, one of the aunts join them, and they call on Samatha's father to intervene. Which he does.

There are seven active participants in this scene, plus a cameo by Tabitha as she is magically summoned into the arms of her grandmother and magically returned to her room by her grandfather. There is also a pair of brief cut-aways as Samantha's father briefly sends the meddling witches to the top of Mt. Everest for a moment to think about what they've done. At the end, Tabitha will go to mortal school, the meddling witches go back to where ever they live most of their lives, and Samantha's father departs in flamboyant style with the good aunt.

Simple scene, but chock full of world-building.

• Samantha and her mother have a complex relationship, made more so by her marriage to Darrin
• There is a network of witch schools, implied by the existence of one, and the need (perceived by some) to decide which one Tabitha will attend
• Tabitha is special, being the first of her generation (leading to the unasked questions: how many witch children are there, and how does witch school work?)
• Witches can cast spells affecting the actions of others, but not always their wills (the meddling witches cast a spell which keep Samantha, Darrin, and the good aunt from walking, and another which makes their talk sound like bird jabber)
• Witches cannot undo the spell effects of other witches, so Samantha's father has to prevail upon the meddling witches to change their minds, and to undo their spells
• Samantha's mother and father do not get along (are they divorced? were they ever married? are these meaningful categories? doesn't matter--what matters is that they have history and it is an independent dynamic 
• Indeed, Samantha's father has pre-existing relationships with each of the witches in the scene, and they are not all the same--history matters in this scene

What this scene demonstrates that a few rules, and a bit of character history, allow even a silly mid-century sit-com was able to build a world with interesting characters, compelling problems, and resolutions to problems unique to the story being told.

Not bad for a show which also managed to be funny, and to give viewers fun performances from its actors.

I'm Thankful for Lots of Things

It's a good day for pausing, for looking around, and being quietly grateful for things. Things, conditions, actions. Oneself. Others.

It's a good day to share those items of gratitude, too. For taking a step out of our mundane lives. Maybe connecting this with that.

I'm grateful my mundane life supports my Phil Strobe habit. That the people, jobs, technology, and education I've been given, earned, and lucked into have teamed up to allow me to do something in my life that I enjoy deeply.

It's a pretty self-directed thing to be feel grateful for. I'm grateful for you, my readers like a handful of marbles. I'm grateful that you have leisure enough to give me some of your time. Life is a tough game. Lots of people have it astronomically tougher than I have. I suspect many of my readers have it tougher than I have it, and that many put in long days or nights helping people who have it tougher still. I'm grateful you feel my work is a good, useful, diversion. 

Still sounds pretty self-serving, I think. But gratitude is a pretty self-directed feeling. It gives you a moment to place yourself in conscious relation with the world around you. Gratitude is a challenging feeling, being about the self, but also demanding engagement with the rest of the world with a silent look asking if you're right with things. Like a Aunt whose love for you often takes the form of a silent look.

Be grateful for those Aunts.

As you know, Phil Strobe is a pen name, and in my mundane life--aside for the undeniable and enviable glamor of being a self-published author of 2 very short e-books--I'm just this guy, you know?

Among my day-to-day characteristics is my job at a bookstore, recently acquired. Much of my working life has been working the retail book biz, so this new job is a pretty good fit for my skills and temperament. In the popular imagination, working in a bookstore is often like this:

Which is to say, somewhat romantic in an old-timey way, surrounded by the thoughts and tales of our shared humanity in a cozy space amid people with similar passion for various traditions in human expression. But that there's a sense that maybe bookstores are a refined taste, and one where maybe there aren't very many people every second. And to a degree popular imagination is accurate.

But, of course, there's more to it. Bookstores are businesses, so some percentage of what sells might not me the most elevated thoughts for the ages. Which is OK, but not very romantic.

There's another aspect, too. Much of my actual job is ordering books. And that's an office droney sort of job, if you let it be. Much like any other job can be. A lot of my actual retail book biz experience is ordering books, so this, too is a good fit for my experience and temperament. So, while I get my fair share of the romance of the bookseller lifestyle, I also get my fair share of cardboard boxes covered in the grit of transcontinental OTR transit, phone calls to vendors and their phone trees and hold music, and urgent requests for books suitable for tomorrow's event. All of which is romantic in its own Water Mitty way, but not in the soul-branded-by-communion-with-Great-Minds sort of way.

On May 2nd, my place of employ, a small independent bookstore in a small town, will celebrate Independent Bookstore day. This year we'll also be celebrating the new owners of the store. The store has now had 3 owners in the last 40 or so years. The new owners are a group of local people who came together to keep the local bookstore open. 

Odds are pretty good that there's an independent bookstore somewhere near you, too. Why not take a moment, stop in, and buy a book? If you don't need it, give it to someone who does. Maybe a child you know, or a teacher at the nearby highschool. If you have a faith community, someone there will certainly know someone who needs a book. Give it away. You'll be doing someone a solid, you will be supporting your neighbors and your town in one of the best ways possible, and I think it will make you feel a little bit better about a lot of things. Share a story about your favorite bookstore in the comments.

So that's a pretty heady end to a post about something I do when I'm not writing. As a reward for making it to the end, here's a video about stars for your weekend viewing.



Huelux from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

Seth Glier & RJ Cowdery Did It Up Right

On Saturday night, my wife and I saw Seth Glier perform at the local listening room. He and his gang of two other musicians, Joe Nerney on sax and Marc Seedorf on bass, brought down the house. 

The style ranged from contemporary takes on 1980's popular jazz-inflected styles to old-timey and street corner a cappella songs. 

The crowd in the room, about 120 of us, fell in love instantly with the trio in their black suits and skinny ties. Seth's uses his voice to great effect, ranging from pure tenor to clean falsetto in the same musical phrase. 

As one might expect, the song with the single greatest audience response is the one he called his "cheapest song," called "It's a Bitch When You Find Your Couch on Craigslist (And You Didn't List It)." It's a break-up song.

RJ Cowdery, singer-songwriter was a great opening act. She gave us strong lyrics, clear and powerfully musical voice, and was well-supported on the solid foundation of her guitar.

Give them a look-see below, and go out to enjoy a show if they're near you some time.

Seth Glier's info!

RJ Cowdery's info!

Hummingbird in the yard.

It's pretty slow-moving. 

Why The Wedding of the Princess-King and Other Stories?

So. My second collection is out, and doing nicely, thank you all very much. I'd love it if everyone in the world would go over to Smashwords and download a copy. Or even if "everyone in the world" turned out to be about as many people as you'd find a rural town in mid-Michigan.

 Now I'm going to share a few thoughts about it with you.

First. I'm in love with the cover. Simon Brom did a great job translating my vague notions and hopes into a vivid cover which, I think, fairly represents the actual contents.

Second. I'm satisfied with the actual contents. I feel like I stretched and grew in the writing. I wanted three full-sized short stories in this collection. As it turns out, a "full-sized short story" isn't a uniform unit of measurement.

Second, sub-head One: "The Wedding of the Princess-King" got its start as flash fiction effort to answer the question, "what would people who live in a fairy tale world tell in place of the fairy tales we tell about them?"

Second, sub-head Two: "Take the Moon at Full, Now She's Changed" was always intended to be a downer of a story where defeat was never really a possibility, but success wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Second, sub-head Three: "Earthfall" came about because another story wasn't coming together the way I wanted it to, and I wanted the final story in the collection to be light-hearted, and airy in both the narrative modes and plot. Of the three, this one is the story I had the most fun bringing together.

Third: Let's talk about availability. Smashwords, obviously. It is also, as of this writing, available at the Kobo store, the Nook store, and the Apple store. Kindle soon. I promise.

Fourth: Let's talk about pricing. At Smashwords, the price is whatever you want it to be! Free! Ninety-nine cents, if you like! More than that! A LOT more than that! If you like! At the other stores, it's $0.99, that's ninety-nine pennies. That's like all the cents you'd collect on a really productive walk across the parking lot at your favorite grocery store. Why? I'm experimenting here. How do the tools I have available to me work, and how do they work together? We're in this together, dear reader, you and I. So let me know. Take a moment to review the book, here or at the retailer where you got the book. Let me know how you feel about pricing, what you feel is fair and why. Seriously. Let's talk.

Excerpt: Earthfall

My new collection, The Wedding of the Princess-King and Other Stories, will be available for download later today!

Here's an except from the third and final story in the collection, "Earthfall," about a royal tax collector who gets in over his head outside a mountaintop hamlet.

“Wake up, Thief!” Astrid was kicking his shoulder.

Breakfast was eggs, bacon, fried tomatoes, a mixed fruit platter, flaky pastries, and coffee with sugar refined by secret southling processes to the whiteness of the noonday sky. Astrid kicked Roger harder, and he woke up to a bowl of jerky and a mug of fermented yak’s milk. “Look, Thief. Closely.” She was pointing at the Being’s breastplate. It was pierced; the hole was jagged, and big around as Spider’s stone hut.

“That’s a big, big hole.”

“It’s a big, big Celestial Being. Look closer.” She pointed again, but since she was still pointing, it just looked like a wave of irritation moved from her shoulder, down her arm, and out her finger, then the wave, now visibly moving through the morning mist, washed up several stories, and disappeared through the gaping wound.

“Hey…” Roger leaned forward. “That crest. It looks… I mean the hole rips across it… I can’t be sure.”

“You’re sure.”

I hope you've enjoyed these excerpts. You'll be able to get the e-book soon!

Exceprt: Take the Moon at Full, Now She's Changed

My new collection, The Wedding of the Princess-King and Other Stories, will be available for download very soon! I'm eager to get it into your e-readers and desktops. 

While we wait, here's an excerpt from the second of the three stories in the collection!

“But the problem with the plan…" Carl watched Samantha deck two cards, and draw two. He could tell she was looking to fill a straight. The problem with the plan wasn't so much the sheer improbability of convincing the world that the Moon posed a serious threat to humanity and, therefore, had to be pushed into a higher orbit. The real problem was keeping the world's enthusiasm for the project in check. People love to be afraid, but they also love being involved.

Carl shook his head to clear his mind. It was easy to spend too much time running over past successes, allowing the past to wear paths in his mind, paths that could easily turn into ruts. He had to keep moving forward. Focus on the future. The plan was set, and it would work if he stayed focused for one more day. Plenty of time after that for prideful tale telling, when he returned to his grandfather and the Twilight Kingdom.

The full collection will be available very soon from Smashwords and other e-book retailers!

Exceprt: The Wedding of the Princess-King

Here's a brief excerpt from the title story in my new collection, due out in just a few days!

She burst from an alley, panting in an empty courtyard, facing a gate of the walled city, a gate sized for a wagon, she leaned upon it, forced it open, and saw a vision of sanctuary, a field with forest beyond. She ran. Running now on open ground, the king’s charger came fast on the princess who, falling, became an oak, mighty, now towering above the pastureland.

The king and his steed leapt upon the oak, and as an eight-legged bear, made for the crown. Licking his chops, the bear-king bellowed, and bit at acorns, ready to make a meal of the princess-oak, who shook in the winds and, changing again, blew into the forest on swarming locust wings, and leaving the bear unsupported, tumbling to the ground. The bear, unstoppable, ran through the ancient forest, eight paws tearing at the trail of leafless limbs and fern stems scoured to stubbled ground by the cloud of princess-locust.

As with my previous collection, "The World is Bigger than an Ell," this collection will be available through Smashwords, and your favorite e-book retailers. The file is with Smashwords now, grinding through the review and distribution process. 

Coming Soon!: The Wedding of the Princess King

I am very excited to announce that my next collection of shorts is nearly complete. I am in the final edits, and expect to release the collection in the next few weeks!

Here's the cover, by Simon Brom.

This collection will contain three works. 

• "The Wedding of the Princess King," a fairy tale.
• "Take the Moon at Full, Now She's Changed," a near-future science fiction story of the dark past.
• "Earthfall," a light fantasy about tax collection.

I'll have more details as we get closer to the release date, including some excepts. In the meanwhile, why not take a moment and revisit "The World is Bigger than an Ell," and maybe even share it with someone?

Edit: Here are a couple of more pages for Simon. http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/simonbrom/
http://www.warowl.com/

Sales report: The World is Bigger than an Ell

Thank you!

According to Smashwords, The World is Bigger than an Ell e-book has been downloaded more than 100 times! I am very grateful for the support. If you enjoyed it, please consider sharing the link with others. Share the love.

Here's the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/487672

On a related note, the Kindle store has sold some copies, so a special thanks to Kindle store shoppers. Due to a quirk in Amazon's pricing policies, I have not yet been able to get them to drop the price from 99¢ to free. Please feel free to use Amazon's price match reporting tool. Here's the link for the e-book: http://www.amazon.com/The-World-Bigger-than-Ell-ebook/dp/B00Q913YPC

On the other hand, I have now received a payment for my work! Check it out:

That's right, gang, seventy cents! I don't expect to make an announcement about future earnings, but I'm pretty excited about this.

And it's all thanks to you, my readers. 

Thank you very much for you support. There's more coming soon, and I'll have a formal announcement about that in a day or two.