Hi Everyone,

"Who is this guy?" I'm Ryan Kaufman, and I'm a writer for Star Wars Insider, the Clone Wars Adventures comics, and the former Continuity Supervisor for LucasArts. I've known Bonnie for awhile now and I'm jealous of how awesome her blog is, so I decided to start one my ownself.

I wanted to start off by announcing that Karen Traviss (author: Republic Commando series, and Legacy of the Force, as well as her own stellar original wess'har novels) and I have written an article for Star Wars Insider # 84 called "The Guide to the Grand Army." The "GGAR" will reveal some unknown details about the Grand Army-its structure, its numbers, and its heroes. Plus we've thrown some light on the whole Order 66 question, which I know has been a source of controversy and puzzlement for a lot of fans.

Writing this article was like a a dream come true for me. I've become intensely interested in the clones since I worked on Republic Commando for LucasArts, and then with Karen at length on Republic Commando: Hard Contact. RC showed me how wicked cool the clones could be; and then Karen showed me how human they could be. Her novel brought the soldiers into three-dimensions for me, and I've been a clone junkie ever since. Armor, weaponry, background, genetic quirks, language, you name it... I love it.

Now we've been allowed to explore and explain a lot of the units you've seen in ROTS-why they're different and what they do. And with Karen's military background and knowledge, we've attempted to create a clone army that makes sense from a practical standpoint too.

I think you'll really enjoy it, so keep an eye out for Insider # 84.

As I go forward, I'll post more about clones... as well as memories and easter-egg stuff from my time at LucasArts and general stories about working for LFL. And stories about Bonnie, too... oh yes...

(p.s. in the future I'll try to be funnier than this deadly boring post. I swear. I may hire some writers or something.)