John Marco Launches Blog

Posted on April 16, 2007

Bestselling fantasy author John Marco has launched a new blog called The Black City, which is the name of the capital of the Empire of Nar in his marvelous Tyrants & Kings fantasy series which began with The Jackal of Nar. John recently reminisced about his fondness for Star Wars.

This morning when I was driving home a real blast from the past come on. Does anyone remember Meco's theme from Star Wars? It was kind of a disco inspired riff on the John Williams music from the original movie. I loved that song as a kid. I was ten years old when Star Wars came out and I was mesmerized by it. It almost seems cliche to say that now, because so many people say that Star Wars influenced them, but honestly it's the truth. My walls were covered with Star Wars pictures, I had the albums (yes, vinyl), the comics, the toys, the books--you get the idea. So when I heard that song on the radio today it took me back. I was actually going to switch it off because it's so cheesy, but something stilled my hand. By the time it was over I had a great big grin on my face.
Psychologists talk about a "sensitive period" in which children are open to grasping concepts like language, where they are more apt to learn then other times. I wonder if there's a sensitive period for creativity. Maybe mine came when I was ten, sitting in that theater with my father watching Darth Vader appear for the very first time. I saw Star Wars thirteen times, but as I got old my adoration for it naturally faded. By the time Empire came out I only saw it three times, and when Jedi came out I was a senior in High School and--amazingly--didn't bother seeing it at all. Kind of sad how things change. I've seen Jedi since, of course, and I liked it, but nothing will ever measure up to being ten years old. It's just not possible.

Ah, yes, Meco's disco Star Wars theme. We remember it well. It's sort of a cross between John Williams' music and the theme from Charlie's Angels. But the Star Wars tune we remember best is the one they played in the Mos Eisley Cantina scene when Luke and Obi Wan are looking for a way off Tatooine. Because that tune has literally been stuck in our heads -- off and on -- for like twenty years. We can't believe that a) they still play that on the radio somewhere and b) that because John mentioned it, it's now stuck in our heads again.

In any event, we're looking forward to reading John's next novel, which he's working on now. In the meantime, you can enter his free book giveway to win a copy of a cool new fanatasy anthology, Army of the Fantastic (DAW). John edited the anthology about fantastical armies, which has stories by John, Tanya Huff, Alan Dean Foster, and Tim Waggoner and many other top fantasy writers.

You can read an interview with John here. And you can hear Meco's disco Star Wars and the Cantina Song (and have it stuck in your head for the next twenty years) by visited The Best of Meco listing on Amazon.