May the Fourth Be With You, Toronto!

May the Fourth Be With You to all those who celebrate.

Every time this date rolls around, I wish a friend of mine a happy birthday. Usually that same morning, I wonder how the whole Star Wars thing started for George Lucas.

Was there a shred of inspiration that caught him by the throat and didn’t let go?

If so, I can relate.

Summertime view of the Queen's Park walkway that runs south from the main legislature building toward College Avenue, which is framed my MaRS Discovery District on the left and the Toronto Hydro building on the right. The sky is full of light clouds, and reflects off the mirrored walls of the office buildings. — I can’t tell you when I took this photo of Toronto’s University Avenue (aka Hospital Row). I was definitely working at MaRS at the time (2015? 2016?). But I do know exactly what and who I pictured in the air above those buildings.

Was it more like a slow unfolding? In interviews, Lucas’ official original story for Star Wars sites a collaboration with a friend and a desire to write an upbeat, inspiring space opera for teenage boys.

I believe that story. But I also know how easily the raw writing experience gets written over with editing and marketing narratives.

I still remember how mine happened, but after seven years, the details are blurrier than they used to be.

That’s why it’s so important to find story totems that connect you to the mood of a piece. And this trailer for the eighth Star Wars movie has been one I returned to time and again.

A lot of people hated The Last Jedi. The film has its flaws, but I enjoyed it. YMMV.

May the Fourth Be With You: Core Inspiration

As my publication date for Chaos Calling got closer and the project moved from manuscript preparation and into production, I found myself listening to that first 30-second clip of Rey speaking over and over.

I’ve carried this story inside me for a long, long time. The jobs I had and the person I was at the start of this journey do sometimes feel like they took place in a galaxy far, far away.

But the hour approaches. And this novel is finally waking to its life as a public document outside my control.

A balcony on the south tower of MaRS Discovery District, located in downtown Toronto. Looking south toward the lake, the CN Tower looms in the background. The blue sky is wide and dotted with scattered clouds. — Watch this space.

TikTok, however, is all about the remix. So here’s my homage to The Last Jedi and a few of the many Toronto locations in my book.

@emwilliamscanada A long long time ago, I dreamt about putting these Toronto locations into a fantasy action novel. #fantasybooks #maythe4th #maythe4thbewithyou #fantasyauthortok #indieauthor #indieauthorsoftiktok #newbooks #selfpublishedauthor ♬ original sound – E. M. Williams

It’s been a long road, but we’re only four weeks way now. If you’re a Kindle reader, you can pre-order your copy of Chaos Calling as an ebook on Amazon now.

And to all the fantasy fans out there: May the Fourth Be With You.

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May the Fourth Be With You, Toronto!

May the Fourth Be With You: Core Inspiration