Updates from Longlivetheclones:

July 2020

Star Wars has become an escape from the pandemic. This is good and healthy, as Star Wars has always been an escape to a galaxy far, far away. It is a place where our imaginations can run wild and we can lose immerse ourselves in other worlds. We don't have cable TV, so I have not binge-watched anything over the past four months. But, I read and I write and I think about Star Wars.

I'm continuing to volunteer daily working on getting PPE out those who need it. With the supply chain catching up for hospitals, the past month has been focused on getting face shields out to senior living facilities, family/homeless shelters and low-income clinics. I volunteer through a large non-profit focused on the pandemic. When I hear about "the numbers spiking," at least I know I'm doing something about it.

Special shout-out again to my writing partner, Suffering Soldier, who has been invaluable for bouncing ideas, contributing to story outlines and mercilessly cutting text which bogs down the story.

May 2020

Kudos to Lucasfilm for the Mandalore arc. When I remember the final season, this is what I will remember. The animation, writing and music have all been stunning. This is not only some of the best content we've ever seen in the Clone Wars but some of the best content we've ever seen in Star Wars.

If Lucasfilm can produce animated episodes of this amazing quality in a four-part arc, maybe it is time to produce something along the lines of Clone Wars- the lost missions? There are so many stories left to tell.

April 2020

Hello. I took a short (unintentional) hiatus from writing due to the pandemic. It has been difficult to concentrate during a pandemic. (Oooh, shiny object!) I wish I had the amazing presence of mind to shut it all off and write amazing prose anyway. This is not the case. I've been distracted and I worry a lot. I live in California, but the rest of my family lives in New York. My parents are in their late 80s, and my Dad has a serious pre-existing medical condition. But, I found a way to channel my worry into positive energy. A week after the lockdown here in California, I started 3D printing face shields for medical providers. Working together with my son, we've printed and delivered over 500 face shields for front line responders in New York and California. I'm also leading two volunteer chapters who are delivering medical supplies, as well as a "print hub" of 501st folks with 3D printers. This story is always on my mind, but my focus is on the pandemic. When this crisis is over, I'll be back. Stay safe everyone. Miss you all.

February 2020

Clone Wars is back!

November 2019

All earlier chapters of "Rex II" are being revised to work in a plot twist known as "the Echo arc." I will be making some minor changes to "Whatever Happened to Captain Rex?" to accommodate this arc, as well, but these minor changes will be explained in the Rex II narrative either through dialogue, a flashback, or some other means to make it very clear. Whenever I revise a chapter, I always put: "Revision Notes" on the note. Feel free to ping me with questions on any of these changes. Many of them are minor tweaks, but there are plot reasons for all of them.

July 2019

I am back and writing again. A huge thank you to everyone who wrote in to say how much they love the Rex stories and asked me to continue. I will be continuing (with Rex II only.) These events will tie in with Ando, but I made a mistake previously when I tried to write two epic sagas simultaneously. Both stories had great potential but when my health took a turn for the worse, the stories were the unfortunate victim. A huge thank you to all of you who prodded me to finish this story.

When does the story take place?

Everything in the story occurs during the same time period as the TV show "The Clone Wars."

Does the story follow the same canon as "Clone Wars"?

No. I started this story ten years ago with a plan in mind for the main characters. The most obvious difference between "The Clone Wars" and my Rex saga is some characters who are dead in the TV show may still be alive in this story.

A note about Whatever Happened to Captain Rex

The story it tells is a deeply personal one. I wrote this story after my brother died from cancer and I couldn't face people anymore. Writing was my way of escaping from reality. At first, I wasn't planning on sharing the story with anyone. But, then I discovered FFN and decided to post a few chapters. The reaction I received was overwhelming and inspired me to post more chapters. The characters in this story are my story, but I also draw inspiration from them. These characters have helped me through some hard times. Even now, as I write in the dark before work, I love these characters and how they motivate me to keep going.

- LLTC.

About the author:

I live in a small city in northern California. I've been married for twenty years and have a teenage son who amazes every day with his view of the world.

I'm working more with writing partners these days, so it helps a great deal to have folks checking my work. Always very grateful for their assistance. Less odd errors creeping into the narrative.

I work part-time at an elementary school, or at least that was my life before the pandemic. Now, my life is volunteering using my 3-D printing skills. But, in the old world where I used to go work every day, I was responsible for inspiring kids to pursue careers in STEM fields, (Science Technology Engineering Math.) I had a Star Wars-themed lab and we had a lot of fun there. Not sure that life is coming back. I'm an optimist, but I think things have changed. The lab is still there, but it feels like that was a job I held another lifetime ago. It's OK. I've adapted to the changes, and I'm happy again. "Life is what you make of it." I plan on moving with the times and not getting stuck in the past.

I have an auto-immune disease. This is where your body attacks itself. Think of it as a clone control chip, except your immune system attack it's own tissues. Anyhoo, this does some odd stuff when you are a writer. My strength is often sapped. Sometimes, I will leave out words in a sentence or use a word twice like my brain is on a strange loop. But, I can also write convincingly about pain and the toll it takes on the human body.

Outside of writing and work, I am a longtime member of the 501st Legion costuming group. I use the knowledge gained from crafting my own armor to write the armor scenes in Rex II. (I hadn't started building armor during the early stages of writing Rex I, so the armor vocabulary in there is based off of Wookipedia.)

Stay safe my friends.

-Longlivetheclones