THE CLONE WARS: STORIES OF LIGHT AND DARK is out today!

Today is the book birthday for THE CLONE WARS: STORIES OF LIGHT AND DARK, and I'm extremely excited to be part of this anthology and a part of Star Wars! I fell in love with Star Wars a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away), and it's been a major influence on all of my books.

Very thrilled to be in this anthology with Lou Anders, Tom Angleberger, Preeti Chhibber, E. Anne Convery, Zoraida Cordova, Jason Fry, Yoon Ha Lee, Rebecca Roanhorse, Anne Ursu, and Greg Van Eekhout, edited by Jen Heddle!

Each story is a retelling of a Clone Wars episode from a different character's point-of-view.

My story ("Almost a Jedi") centers on Ahsoka Tano, as seen through the eyes of Jedi youngling Katooni. I loved seeing the Star Wars universe through the eyes of a girl who desperately wants her first lightsaber -- because I was once a little girl who wanted a real lightsaber.

I was too young to see the first Star Wars movie in a movie theater, but my parents taped it off TV. Our warped recording alternated between black-and-white and color every few scenes, but I didn't care. I watched that VHS tape over and over until it failed.

Years later, I remember going to the movies with my husband purely to see the trailer to the long-awaited Episode I. Pretty sure I cried from over-excitement when the Lucasfilm logo appeared. I know I cried during Episode VII when that lightsaber landed in Rey's hand.

Star Wars shaped my sense of what Story is -- Story-with-a-capital-S. You can see its influence in all of my books. I'm always trying to capture that same sense of adventure, humor, and hope in my own writing.

So I am enormously thrilled to have had the chance to retell an episode of the very awesome Clone Wars series. Thank you to Jen Heddle, Disney Lucasfilm, and Star Wars for the extraordinarily fun writing experience!