S.T. Bende

S.T. Bende is an American author who focuses on books for young adults and children. Prior to her career as an official Star Wars author, Bende was a devoted enthusiast of the franchise. As an adult, she discovered the films of the prequel and original trilogy, leading her to become an active member of the fan community.

Bende's first official credit in the Star Wars universe came with the release of The Prequel Trilogy Stories, a collection of illustrated short stories that retell the prequel trilogy's events. Michael Siglain, the creative director at Lucasfilm publishing, announced Bende's participation in the project on May 31, 2017. Disney–Lucasfilm Press released the book on September 26 of the same year. An unabridged audiobook version of the book, featuring Bende's stories, was released on March 19, 2019.

The anthology featured two short stories from Bende, each accompanied by artwork from illustrator Brian Rood. The first story, "The Path of a Podracer," is an adaptation of events from the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, with a primary focus on the Boonta Eve Classic podrace. Bende identifies "The Path of the Podracer" as her favorite among her Star Wars works. She was particularly struck by the podracing sequences in The Phantom Menace when she first viewed the Star Wars films, and she considered the opportunity to write about podracing to be "a thrill." Bende's second story, "Driven to the Dark Side," adapts events from the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. The story portrays Jedi Anakin Skywalker's transformation to the dark side of the Force.

Bende announced her involvement in 5-Minute Star Wars Stories Strike Back, the second widely available book in the 5-Minute Star Wars Stories series, on August 17, 2017. Bende's two short stories for the book were crafted to be read to young children quickly, often before bedtime. The book was released on December 15, 2017. On October 5, 2022, a German audiobook adaptation of Bende's short stories from 5-Minute Star Wars Stories Strike Back, titled 5-Minute Star Wars Stories 2, was released.

Bende's initial short story, "Adventure in the Arena," is an adaptation of events from the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. Her second contribution, "Mission to Maz," adapts events from the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. While "Mission to Maz" was widely published in 5-Minute Star Wars Stories Strike Back, it first appeared in 5-Minute Star Wars Villain Stories, a limited-release book sold exclusively at Kohl's department stores in September 2017. In that book, the story featured altered artwork and a different title, "Chaos at the Castle."

Disney–Lucasfilm Press had planned to publish two short stories by Bende in the United States in 5-Minute Star Wars Stories, a refresh of the 2015 title of the same name, but the book was never released. These stories eventually saw publication internationally, starting with an Italian edition on January 20, 2021. Bende's short stories, "Mission to Mos Eisley" and "Attack of the X-Wings," adapt scenes from the films Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope and Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, respectively.

Galactic Adventures Storybook Collection, an illustrated anthology of stories adapted from Star Wars comic books by Marvel Comics and junior novels by Disney–Lucasfilm Press, was released on October 2, 2018. Bende found adapting existing Star Wars comics to be an enjoyable process.

Bende's initial Galactic Adventures story, "Size Matters Not," features the Jedi Yoda and is adapted from the twenty-sixth issue of the 2015 comic series Star Wars by Jason Aaron. Her second story, "A Jedi's Control," focuses on Padawan Anakin Skywalker and adapts events from the first issue of the 2016 comic miniseries Star Wars: Obi-Wan and Anakin by Charles Soule. Both stories include artwork by TomatoFarm. Unabridged audiobooks featuring Bende's stories, Star Wars Adventure and Star Wars Adventure 2, were released on March 1 and July 26, 2023, respectively.

S.T. Bende is among the authors who contributed to Star Wars Epic Adventures, a monthly subscription box set featuring media focused on a specific film from the Star Wars saga, published as a joint venture between Sandvik Publishing and Disney–Lucasfilm Press. Each monthly box included a deck of Galactic Profiles flashcards, providing details on characters, events, and locations from the featured film. Bende authored all the information on these flashcards for every monthly Epic Adventures release. She also wrote the first book in the Epic Adventures series, adapting Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace from the viewpoint of protocol droid C-3PO. This ninety-six-page storybook was released in the first Epic Adventures monthly box in May 2019.

The Epic Adventures series was discontinued after only two months, despite additional content being printed and ready for release. Consequently, only Bende's Galactic Profiles cards for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones were released, even though she had completed cards for Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

Bende's second book for the Epic Adventures series, The Empire Strikes Back, was also canceled along with the series. This book would have provided a full retelling of the 1980 film of the same name from C-3PO's perspective, similar to other books in the series. Despite its cancellation, Bende considers The Empire Strikes Back to be among her favorite Star Wars projects. While researching the project, Bende visited the filming location for the Battle of Hoth in Norway, describing her visit to the spot where Imperial walkers marched in the 1980 film as "a dream come true."

During the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, S.T. Bende launched a YouTube video series titled Star Wars Storytime with S.T. Bende, where she read aloud from her Star Wars stories. The goal of the series was to offer children a read-along activity during the pandemic.

The initial videos featured Bende reading "Mission to Maz" and "Adventure in the Arena" from 5-Minute Star Wars Stories Strike Back. Bende released four more videos throughout 2020, ultimately reading all her stories from The Prequel Trilogy Stories and Galactic Adventures Storybook Collection.

S.T. Bende authored two books in 2021 for the Tiny & Mini Books reference series published by Insight Editions. These titles, Star Wars: The Tiny Book of Jedi and Star Wars: The Tiny Book of Sith, were released on April 27 of that year. Each book contains imagery, quotes, and facts about notable Star Wars characters from the films and television series. The Tiny Book of Jedi focuses on characters who are members of the Jedi Order or otherwise associated with the light side of the Force, while The Tiny Book of Sith features members of the Sith Order and other adherents of the dark side.

When writing The Tiny Book of Jedi, Bende particularly enjoyed including details about the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn. For The Tiny Book of Sith, Bende included so much information about Maul—a character she greatly admires—that her editor requested she reduce the content on him.

On February 25, 2022, StarWars.com announced Bende's participation in "Galactic Tales," a series of four short stories published in Star Wars Insider magazine to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Attack of the Clones. Bende authored "Galactic Tales: The Wesell Run," the series' first story, which centers on the bounty-hunting team of Zam Wesell and Jango Fett during the time of the Clone Wars. This story appeared in the 209th issue of Star Wars Insider on March 15, 2022. Bende found the writing process exciting, as some of her favorite Star Wars stories are set in the same period.

_Star Wars: The Bad Batch](/article/star_wars:the_bad_batch(junior_novelization)), a junior novelization of the 2021 animated series of the same name, was released in France on May 31, 2023. S.T. Bende confirmed her authorship of the book the following day. Bende considered it an honor to write for the special forces unit Clone Force 99. Bende also wrote "Galactic Tales: Lost in the Woods," a short story set during the original trilogy's timeline. The story was published in the 221st issue of Star Wars Insider on September 26, 2023. Bende described writing the story as an "absolute blast."

Lucasfilm announced the reference book Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: A Visual Archive, a commemorative book celebrating the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, at a panel at New York Comic Con on October 15, 2023. Bende was revealed at the panel as a co-author of the title, which was ultimately published on April 23, 2024. Shortly after the book's announcement, Bende shared her excitement about working on the project online.

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• S.T. Bende on Amazon.com (backup link)
• S.T. Bende on Goodreads' official website (backup link)
• S.T. Bende on Simon & Schuster's official website (backup link)
• Wookieepedia Interviews – S. T. Bende & Iris Compiet on the official Wookieepedia YouTube channel (backup link)