Author Profile: JabaFatboy

Character Name : JabaFatboy

Real Name : James Lindley

Age : 46

Gender : Male

Location: Illinois

Day Job: Industrial Sales

Q 1 : What made you start Blogging
Bill /Yoda 's family have been friends of mine for about 15 years. Recently his mom asked me if I had seen any of his work. After reading for a couple of weeks I thought that I would give it a shot myself. It seems like alot of fun and it's a good outlet for comedy and to show my funny side.

Q 2 : Why This Character
I figured that someone out there probably had the Jabba character, yet that was one I could find humor in being. Therefore I decided to be one of his nephews, and the "Fatboy" part is a nickname given to me by father-in-law.

Q 3 : Where do I get Ideas
Mainly from real life. Sometimes I play off of other peoples ideas, taking a portion of those ideas and going in a different direction. I also get ideas by reading the news. Its amazing the funny or serious things that you can find in print to put a humorous slant.

Q 4 : Any Blogging Tips
Don't be afraid to ask for help. A lot of smart people out there that are willing to help.
Don't be afraid to have fun. So what if a story flops? That's how we get better. Figure out what went wrong and build from there. Learn to laugh at yourself. If you don't see yourself as humorous, no one else will.

Q 5 : Where do I get pictures
I use Google Search, Netscape search, and various others. I try entering search words in different ways. I also look for unique search words to use. Also, I go to the end of the search list or middle of the list to start. Often I can find different things that way. I just downloaded GIMP. I will be trying to learn that program.

Q 6 : What was the last book my character read
He's a Hutt, so anything longer than the sunday funnies is too much time!
Oh wait, he did read Gungan Eggs and Spam to Shortlegs!

Q 7 : What is last book I read
Tess Gerritsen : Body Double. I am very much into who-dun-its .

Q 8 : Other Hobbies & Interests
Golf is probably # 1 . I will golf 2 times a week in warm weather.
Motorcycles are also among my interests. My wife and I have traveled to many American states as well as Canada via motorcycle.
Wood working is another one of my interests. I have a wood working shop in the back of my store and I build toys, jewelry boxes, candle holders, and furniture.

Q 9 : Other Blogs I have or work on
Starwars Crossword. I enjoy making crossword puzzles, and I thought it would be an easy way to direct others to my other site.

Author Profile: Lt Cmndr Oneida

Character Name: Lt Cmndr Onedia (Jardena to friends and family)

"Real" Name: Claire

Age: 26

Gender: F

Global Location: Fort Collins, CO, USA

Day Job: Masters Student

Q1: What made you decide to start a blog like this?
I found the unplugged group through the Capitan Typho blog. I was trying to find if anyone had actually given him a first name. I really liked all the stories people had and the blogs that were part of the SW:Unplugged group. I wanted a chance to give my character a lighter side, and to explore her past some.

Q2: Why did you choose your particular character?
Because I had created her, it was an easy jump. Jardena (who is Cpt. Oneida in the future) was developed for a Star Wars Role playing game I am part of, and this was a wonderful chance to make her a little more rounded. She is a former handmaiden. I figured that this would be plausible because there are two handmaidens in Episode 1 who come out of no where, and are not named. It gives me a good amount of wiggle room to create who she is. It also lets me explain, if only to myself, why she is the way she is. I'm in deep trouble if she gets killed off in the game :)

Q3: Where do you get ideas?
Real life, books, television, other people's blogs, organic chemistry lab. There can be an idea found pretty much anywhere, it just requires me to be paying attention to appreciate it.

Q4: Any blogging tips and tricks?
I love spell check, and have actually started writing my posts in a Word program, then pasting them into this program. But I still find most of my mistakes when I proof read the entry after it's been posted. I also like pictures, and am working on understanding photoshop.

Q5: Where do you find pictures for use on your blog?
Google, yahoo, and msn. Then I'll amend them some so they fit my need. Fortunately for me, the woman I use for Jardena's likeness is highly photographed.

Q6: What's the last book your character read?
Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson. It was handed out to all the officers and non-clone NCOs as required reading. Jardena secretly hopes it means she'll be asked to retire because she's being replaced by a clone.

Q7: What's the last book you read?
Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss
1776, David McCullough (still working on this one, good, but not a quick read)
SW:Shatterpoint, Matthew Stover
Dressing a Galaxy Trisha Biggar

Q8: Other hobbies/interests?
I like to sew, and I mainly make/sew/create costumes. I have only done one Star Wars outfit so far, the black 'let's just be friends, ignore the message my slinky black dress is sending you' outfit. I wore it when the second movie came out. I didn't know it would be the 'let's just be friends' dress. I also do historical outfits. I have a fabric addiction. And I dance, I used to be a competitive Irish Dancer, and I've learned lots more styles of dance. I've only recently started writing again. I also do a little bit of metal working.

Q9: Other blogs you work on?
I have another blog that deals with Jardena's life after the fall of the Republic. It is written as a diary, and from her perspective entirely. The entries are write ups of what happened in our gaming sessions. It started as a way to keep track of what we'd been up to, but now I use it for recording and character development. Unfortunately, I didn't start writing it when the game began, so I have a big gap that I've been trying to fill slowly in the middle of the story. I might do an Eowyn blog, still pondering that one.

Author Profile: Obi-Wan

Character Name: Obi-Wan Kenobi
"Real" Name: Yuqing Wang
Age: 15
Gender: F
Global Location: Michigan, USA
Day Job: None


Q1: What made you decide to start a blog like this?
I'm a big Star Wars geek, and when Revenge of the Sith came out, I bumped into blogs like the Darthside and Master Yoda's Blog. I loved the universe here and decided I wanted to be part of it.

Q2: Why did you choose your particular character?
Blogger Obi-Wan isn't the same as the one in the movies. Here, he's like an overgrown child - that is, he's dumb, rude, immature, and is obsessed with cheetos. All that was established before I started this blog, and I thought it'd be tons of fun to write someone like this, especially since part of me is like this in real life.

Q3: Where do you get ideas?
Usually from normal things around me: life, TV, news, books, etc. Sometimes I take two crazy ideas out of my head, and put them together in a "what if?" question.

Q4: Any blogging tips and tricks?
Type up your post offline and have it saved before you publish, in case anything unexpected occurs. And looking at a blank white screen isn't always the best place to get ideas. It makes your head hurt.

Q5: Where do you find pictures for use on your blog?
Mostly on Google or on Star-Wars-related sites. I use MS Paint and Kodak Easyshare to alter some of them, though, not well.

Q6: What's the last book your character read?
Ree... ding?
He's not much of a reader. Let's leave it at that. ^_^

Q7: What's the last book you read?
The Regulators & The Shining, by Stephen King
Favorite Authors: Stephen King

Q8: Other hobbies/interests?
Drawing, sketching, writing short-stories, and reading. And also treehugging, philosophy and cheetos.

Q9: Other blogs you work on?
Arf Arf Arf - Where I post up whatever
Churchill Philosophy - Philosophy club

Author Profile: General Grievous

Character Name: General Grievous
"Real" Name: Johnathan G
Age: 16
Gender: M
Global Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Day Job: Student, looking for one

Q1: What made you decide to start a blog like this?
My friends Chris and Nick (Jar Jar and Dooku) had started their own Star Wars blogs so I thought that I would do the same.

Q2: Why did you choose your particular character?
When in one of my lessons at school, shortly after the release of Episode 3, I was talking to a friend and I said that it would be cool to wield multiple lightsabers, and spin them around. He drew a picture of Grievous and said that he did what I was thinking about. After seeing Episode 3 he became my favourite character.

Q3: Where do you get ideas?
I really have no idea about where I get them, they just come to me.

Q4: Any blogging tips and tricks?
Follow a story, or multiple stories, and keep to it.

Q5: Where do you find pictures for use on your blog?
Google image search and then edit them in Photoshop.

Q6: What's the last book your character read?
How to Wield a Lightsaber: for Proffesionals

Q7: What's the last book you read?
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.
Favorite Authors: JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling, Jonathan Stroud, John Marsden, Anthony Horowitz.

Q8: Other hobbies/interests?
Film making with my friends Nick and Chris, drawing, reading, online gaming.

Q9: Other blogs you work on?

Special Forces: Rage

(another Star Wars character)

Author Profile: Padmé Amidala

Character Name: Padmé Amidala
"Real" Name: Shannon Entin
Age: 36
Gender: F
Global Location: Northwest New Jersey, USA
Day Job: Homeschooling Mom

Bio:
Shannon founded FitnessLink, an online fitness information magazine, in 1995 and served as writer, editor, publisher, and web designer. With her writing talent and her husband’s marketing genius, the site grew to become one of the most popular fitness sites on the web. In late 2000, she sold FitnessLink to a web content portal. Shannon also co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Health and Fitness (Macmillan, 1999) and contributed numerous feature articles in newspapers and fitness magazines.

Shannon is now focusing on homeschooling her children, while writing and blogging fanatically in her “free time.” Read Shannon’s full profile here.

Q1: What made you decide to start a blog like this?
The seed was planted after reading the creative genius of "The Darth Side" blog, when I became intrigued by the challenges of fiction writing and character development. I decided that creating a Star Wars character blog would be a fun way to keep my writing skills sharp and to marry three of my greatest loves – Star Wars, writing, and the web.

Q2: Why did you choose your particular character?
I see so much more in Padmé than is portrayed in the movies. I was also very disappointed in how her character was handled in Episode III. I’m looking forward to fleshing out her character and providing the story line she truly deserves.

Q3: Where do get ideas?
From the movies. From other blogs. From my everyday life. There's a lot of me in Padmé.

Q4: Any blogging tips and tricks?

• Post regularly.
• Compose in a word processing program to check spelling and grammar.
• Edit your blog template. There are tons of free “linkware” templates out there that can make your blog look more exciting and professional.
• If you’re blogging as a character, have a plan. Do some character development and outline your story line.

Q5: Where do you find pictures for use on your blog?
Google Images and Padmé fan sites.

Q6: What's the last book your character read?
”Life Makeovers” by Cheryl Richardson. Pads is big on self improvement.

Q7: What's the last book you read?
I’m reading Star Wars expanded universe books with my son. We’re now reading “Jedi Apprentice #11: The Deadly Hunter” by Jude Watson.

Q8: Other hobbies/interests?
I enjoy scrapbooking, blogging, and skiing.

Q9: Other blogs you work on?
PHAT Mommy

Author Profile: Master Yoda

Character Name: Master Yoda
"Real" Name: Bill Johnson
Age: 31
Gender: M
Global Location: Orlando, FL, USA
Day Job: Database Reports Specialist

Bio:
On a whim, Bill started Master Yoda's Blog on April 17, 2005. In the first five months, the blog had attracted over 70,000 hits and continues to get hundreds of hits daily. As of this writing, Yahoo lists over 11,000 web pages with links to the blog. Posting every day since May 12, 2005, Bill wrote his 100th post for the blog on August 7, 2005.

Bill has aspirations beyond writing as the Little Green One. He recently completed a short story titled The Funeral which he plans to submit to various publishers. A self-proclaimed "doodler", he would also like eventually to become a children's book author and illustrator.

For everything you never wanted to know about Bill and was too uninterested to ask, check out this post.

Q1: What made you decide to start a blog like this?
My wife! We are both fans of the Incredible Hulk's Blog. After reading it one day, she said, "You should do something like that, but with Yoda." I had originally intended to write a couple of paragraphs two or three times a week, but it kind of exploded.

Q2: Why did you choose your particular character?
See above.

Q3: Where do you get ideas?
You have a flashlight? I'll show you. Seriously, I believe strongly in character development. Know your characters well enough so that you can close your eyes and imagine them interracting with each other.
I also get ideas from pictures that I find and manipulate or that people send me.

Q4: Any blogging tips and tricks?
Posting every day isn't for everyone, but you should post regularly and often if you want to receive a significant amount of traffic.

Q5: Where do you find pictures for use on your blog?
The Magic Picture Fairy... or maybe Google and Yahoo. Sometimes someone will send me a picture they've manipulated. If I use it, I'll always credit that person, including posting a link to their blog or website if they have one. In fact, if I use any image that has been manipulated by someone other than myself, the person who manipulated it will be credited somewhere in the post.

Q6: What's the last book your character read?
Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business by Dolly Parton. He's read it over 250 times.

Q7: What's the last book you read?
That's Not In My American History Book by Thomas Ayres
Lies Across America by James L. Loewen (More history. It's a follow-up book to Lies My Teacher Told Me, one of my favorites. If you're an American who hasn't read Lies My Teacher Told Me, you really should.)
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (Now can someone please explain it to me?)
Favorite Authors: Ray Bradbury, Jules Verne

Q8: Other hobbies/interests?
Hobbies? Interests? What are those? Oh yes, those are things people with a life have. Actually, my interests include writing, history, and movies, lots of movies. When my circumstances permitted me to enjoy the outdoors more, I used to mountain bike and fish.

Q9: Other blogs you work on?
Bill Johnson's Blog
Bill Johnson's Fiction

Author Profile: Captain Typho

Character Name: Captain Typho
"Real" Name: Michelle P.
Age: 39
Gender: F
Global Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA
Day Job: Internet specialist at a financial institution. Former Army Reserve journalist.

Q1: What made you decide to start a blog like this?
I was a big fan of "The Darth Side" and I was sorry when it ended. I was re-reading the blog in July and I found a link to Master Yoda's blog through the comments. I was impressed by the idea of a group of linked Star Wars journals, so I decided to create my own.

Q2: Why did you choose your particular character?
I chose Captain Typho because he's a familiar face from Episodes II and III, though he doesn't get to say much. His background hasn't been fully mapped out, so I have a lot of room to play with. The best thing about Typho is that because of the nature of his job as Padme's chief of security, he logically would have contact with many other characters -- Anakin, Obi-Wan, Palpatine, 3PO, Yoda, Jar-Jar, and Padme, of course -- so he can have opinions about them and interact with them in the blogsphere even though they don't pay much attention to him on screen.

Having said that, if I had jumped in sooner I'd have chosen a character with a more pivotal role, but all the good ones were already taken.

Q3: Where do you get ideas?
I get ideas from current events, the Dark Horse Star Wars Tales comics, the Star Wars Galaxies online game, the Clone Wars cartoons and the Star Wars Episodes I-III Visual Dictionaries. I “riff” off of other people’s blogs sometimes too.

Q4: Any blogging tips and tricks?

1. Using an RSS reader (AKA news aggregator) is the best way to keep up with the blogs in this large Star Wars blogging community.


2. For better or worse, people judge you online by your writing. Check your spelling, grammar and punctuation before you publish your posts. If you screw up, go back and edit until you get it right. God knows, I probably messed up somewhere in this post. ;)
   
   
3. Try hosting your images on Flickr. Flickr allows you to post your images with associated text directly to your blog and it adds a caption.
   

Q5: Where do you find pictures for use on your blog?
Google images, the Star Wars Episodes I-III Visual Dictionaries and screen captures from DVDs.

Q6: What's the last book your character read?
Typho isn’t much of a reader. He keeps up with current events and sports via Holonet. He likes thrillers like Silence of the Hutts and action/war movies like Full Metal Jedi.

Q7: What's the last book you read?
Making a Movie in Premiere Elements.

Q8: Other hobbies/interests?
I dabble in Poser and Painter. I create Flash animations and I use Acid Pro to make the background music.

Q9: Other blogs you work on?
The Lion’s Domain.

Author Profile: Palpatine

Character Name: Palpatine/Sidious
'Real' Name: Chris H.
Age: 37
Gender: M
Global Location: Orlando, FL, USA
Day Job: Customer Support Manager

Q1: What made you decide to start a blog like this?
Originally I was inspired when I stumbled across ‘The Darth Side’. I was truly entertained by the concept of what is going on in the Star Wars universe where George Lucas was not pointing his camera at the time. I later found Master Yoda and others that were doing the same, so I decided to jump in.

Q2: Why did you choose your particular character?
Palpatine/Sidious is probably one of the major characters that dominates everything that happens in all of the movies, and yet he had mostly a bit part until Episode III came along. I always wanted to know what his back story was, and since no one else had taken on that character in a blog yet, I figured it would be a good choice.

Q3: Where do get ideas?
Other blogs, life experiences, TV, movies, books, you name it.

Q4: Any blogging tips and tricks?
I like to compose my posts off-line in Word, then post them. It helps me to organize the story a little better, and read and edit before I post. I have made the mistake of posting something, then reading it and finding a mistake.

Q5: Where do you find pictures for use on your blog?
Google Images and Clipart.com.

Q6: What's the last book your character read?
The Dark side for Dummies. He also likes the Harry Potter books and gets inspired by Lord Voldemort.

Q7: What's the last book you read?
Timeline by Michael Crichton.

Q8: Other hobbies/interests?
Computers, video editing, auto racing in almost all forms.

Q9: Other blogs you work on?
None at the moment, but that may change.