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Friday, 27 July 2012

Everybody's got their Jar Jar Binks

If I had three wishes, I'd spend the first one going back and expunging this ghastly little critter from The Court of Hidden Faces. It's not that I don't like leprechauns - quite the reverse. Two of my grandparents were Irish, and I grew up on tales of the Little People. But never in my wildest dreams did I visualize them as squeaky, mule-eared dwarf clones of Shirley MacLaine in begorrah boots. And what in the name of Ebron is a leprechaun doing in Uttaku anyway? If you want the truth, I suspect it involved a tight deadline, a bottle of Jameson's, and me and Jamie giving in to a plea from a very young relative. (Crowdsourcing is one thing, but don't ever give in to kidsourcing.)

Luckily I don't need to waste a wish. I'm currently typesetting Fabled Lands book 5 for re-release in paperback, so I had a long hard think about little Lorna and - oops, whaddya know; she didn't make the cut.   'Tis only a stepmother would blame me.
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21 comments:

  1. cafaristeir27 July 2012 at 20:34

    If you want to see the human Jar Jar Binks (an unknown French actor), look at the 10th picture from above : http://www.nanarland.com/Chroniques/Main.php?id_film=samourais

    Olivier

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    1. Dave Morris27 July 2012 at 23:26

      You need to edit the Wiki entry in that case, Oliver. They say JJB was voiced by Ahmed Best, born and bred in New York City.

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  2. Andy Bartlett27 July 2012 at 23:06

    Some people re-edit their work to remove their Jar Jars. Others seem determined to revisit past classics to ensure that their Jar Jar is everywhere.

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    1. Dave Morris27 July 2012 at 23:24

      Well, Doc, I have of course revisited - indeed, remodelled - a past classic recently. But I can assure you that Lorna the leprechaun did not show her face in 18th century Geneva!

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  3. Drake28 July 2012 at 00:34

    Dave, as you are removing things from the books, I was wondering whether you are considering adding anything? I really loved the castle in book 5 and it would be great to see anything added to that. Perhaps some further linkage to books 7 and 8 to take into account things you are planning for those books? Keep up the good work!

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  4. JoeCrystal28 July 2012 at 01:04

    Indeed, the castle was quite nice element. I always thought it need expansion. :)

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  5. Paul Gresty28 July 2012 at 05:51

    I suppose it's too late to edit out that damn prophet of doom in book 2? Removing my resurrection deals like that, that guy always messes up my dragon-hunting expeditions.

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  6. JoeCrystal28 July 2012 at 12:30

    :D But Paul, that is part of the fun! Unexpected surprise, peasant and unpleasant.

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  7. Anonymous28 July 2012 at 18:34

    "greetings my green filled gallant". I quite liked her. Would she be more at home in Golnir? Would be a shame to waste the art work. What about giving out bad advice in the Forest of the Forsaken?

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    1. Dave Morris28 July 2012 at 18:48

      Actually, when I say I've cut her out, I just meant the picture. It would be too much of a headache to edit out all of her sections! And I did kind of like her dialogue, though all that alliteration is more Anglo-Saxon than Celtic. (Wasn't it "green-gilled"? Jamie will know, he wrote that one.)

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    2. Anonymous28 July 2012 at 19:24

      Of course it was - you would hope that people would prof tead before posting. I agree, great dialogue; great books.
      So, fancy elaborating on you comments earlier in the week regarding books 7+? I know you said quite a lot then but I've been waiting since primary school, more than fifteen years. You get less for robbing the baronesses treasury!

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  8. Steve28 July 2012 at 19:59

    Dear Dave,
    Great news. I'll definitely continue supporting your work by buying the paperback edition, hoping it will facilitate the release of the final books.
    Talking about your work, i just read the review of Frankenstein by (the funny?!) Mrs. Giggles. For those interested, here's the link - spoilers inside : http://www.mrsgiggles.com/gamebooks/morris_frankenstein.html

    All the best,
    Steve

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    1. Dave Morris29 July 2012 at 11:14

      Interesting review, Steve; thanks for pointing it out. The Mrs Giggles reviews are always insightful - though I must correct one misconception: Victor will never veto a suggestion by the reader just to keep the story on track. The story does unfold very much as in the original novel (barring some significant deviations that are possible) but I would never present the reader with a worthless option. If Victor vetoes something, it's because the reader hasn't earned enough of his trust - which means that any option he vetoes *could* have been accepted if they did things differently earlier.

      I realize that for everybody in the world that doesn't have an iPad, this is a completely irrelevant discussion. I am getting epub3 and Kindle versions of Frankenstein coded and those should be out in the autumn. I'm hopeful that more gamebook fans will take a look, as it does show that gamebooks can deliver a lot more than "blow the head off the zombie".

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  9. Jiminy28 July 2012 at 23:03

    So... springtime Falcons, Dragons and Virtual-watsits. Do I win a prize?

    Also looking forward to completing the FL 1-6 collection before crimbo (minus poor little Krankie).

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    1. Dave Morris29 July 2012 at 11:18

      Six books in the spring, Jiminy, so not all of those in one go. But they're coming. And in that slate of six at least one will be an all-new title - possibly (regardless of my comment above) featuring some zombie decapitation action. Yippee ki-yay.

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  10. Jiminy29 July 2012 at 13:12

    Yes, I guess the six would be a choice selection, and it's great to hear that your classics and a new book are "go". What with the groundswell of past and future titles from yourself and others such as Mr. Livingstone, we really do seem to be experiencing a gamebook renaissance.

    Regarding the mainstream villain of this decade - zombies - they've come a long way in the last twenty years. All goes to show that you can't keep a good zombie down!

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    1. Dave Morris30 July 2012 at 14:51

      Well... I like The Walking Dead. But I preferred it when it was called Survivors ;-)

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  11. Jamie Thomson31 July 2012 at 09:17

    Dave always hated Lorna the Leprechaun. Though in actual fact, she is based on a friend, who ended up being nicknamed Lorna the Leprechaun, (by me, can't remember why) so I put her in a book. Sent Russ a picture, so it does actually look like her a bit. Well, without the ears of course! That's why she doesn't really fit into the mythos quite - shouldn't really be any actual leprechauns in the fabled lands!

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    1. Dave Morris31 July 2012 at 09:35

      She was a real person? I feel guilty now. Mind you, it was mainly the picture I hated - I didn't cut her paras out or anything!

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  12. Calydon26 February 2017 at 17:39

    Speaking of JJB, remind me again how fans reacted to Lucas' retconning of beloved childhood classics? Oh dear...

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