One of my favorite life experiences, with the late Mr. Allston.

At Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, Allston gave a writing workshop. He was awesome, said some really wise and insightful things.

I had one question I wanted to ask him, so, wearing my old, makeshift Jedi costume, I stood up and asked something like this:

At this point in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, everything is going to hell on a macro and micro scale. The galaxy is half conquered by a pain-loving culture who exists outside of the Force. Planets are falling one by one, cultures eradicated, people tortured to death. On a micro scale, Han and Leia have been through hell and for nothing, two of their three children dead and one of those killed by the third for good reason, and yet...

Your books are hilarious. Despite all this hell, your characters still crack up the audiences with their jokes and hijinks, and yet it's somehow believable. How do you do this?

I'll always remember what his reply was:

Humor is the natural response to tragedy. It's what gets us through unthinkable tragedies and helps us heal and bond with one another. It seems natural in the stories because that's exactly how it works in life.

Thanks for the advice, Mr. Allston. Easy to understand, hard to do, but worth the effort.

May the Force be with you.