To be clear, this is not a review (or a rant) about Attack of the Clones. Although I can rant about it for quite some time, but I’ll spare you that. No, this is a lesson and a reminder about being a writer, and particularly a writer of trilogies.

First, let me say that Book Three of the Paper Dreams Chronicles is still coming along, and I’m extremely happy with how it’s going. I’m getting so close, I promise.

But as I get closer and closer to finishing this trilogy, I find myself thinking back to book two, and I can’t help but have a tiny bit of sympathy for George Lucas and the mess that was Attack of the Clones. You see, when I walked out of the theatre from seeing said film, I was emotionally wrecked, and not in a good way. I’ve loved Star Wars literally all my life, so it hits like a personal punch when they get it wrong.

And they got that one wrong.

I have a vivid memory of discussing it with my friend and fellow Star Wars geek (and now my cover designer, btw!) Leslie. See, along with the rest of the world, we knew IV intimately. And we knew the gap that had to be bridged—characters and plot lines and relationships and worlds that needed to be introduced to lead us to the gloriousness that is A New Hope.

And walking out of the theatre after seeing II, we knew that the gap was too big. Movie Two had not done its job properly to get us successfully in place so that III could come along and also be successful to get us in place for IV. You see the problem here? It’s a relay, and II dropped the baton for the whole team.

Now, please don’t take this to mean that I’m seeing the same problem with my own book two. I’m so proud of A Time Forgotten, and I love where it takes us in the overall story and the relationships therein. However, I think can now sympathize more with the weak link that is Attack of the Clones for the simple reason that I, too, have no magic ball. There are small (and admittedly some bigger) pieces that I wish I had thought to remind us of in book two, to help book three juuuuust a bit.

Nothing to fret over, it’ll all come clean in the wash, and I think those who have followed the series will be very satisfied with the ending. These little things are author-y things, and I wish I had foreseen them better. And I can now evoke some sympathy for Mr. Lucas.

Not enough to make me like Attack of the Clones, but a little.

This was maybe a little too much information, especially in the pre-pre-launch time for book three. But hey, it’s truth, and writing is hard.

I’m SUPER excited to share Book Three with you all, and I’m so proud of how it’s turning out! I will recommend a re-read of one and two first, but don’t worry… I’ll give you fair warning when we get closer.