Zahn, Perry & SW
Tuesday night I went to Powells Books for their 30th anniversary Star Wars celebration. The 501st Cloud City Garrison was there, and besides their imposing regalia (stormtroopers, TIE pilot and Boba Fett), they were impressive for standing in costume, helmets and all, for the entire two-plus hours-- and for their gentleness with the children. The panel consisted of local authors Steve Perry and Timothy Zahn, plus Dark Horse Comics editor Jeremy Barlow and Star Wars comic artist Dustin Weaver. Some good questions from the audience (SRO, around 150 people) produced entertaining discussions.
What's it like to meet celebrities? Hoping you don't say something stupid, but ending up gushing, "I love your work!" Which of them has met Lucas? Only Zahn, who said he was squeezed in for 5 minutes between Lucas's appointments when he was at Skywalker Ranch. Lucas talked the entire 5 minutes about the 7 elements that absolutely had to be in movies and how some directors didn't include all of them. (Hmm, would "characterization" be one of those elements, George??) Perry met Leonard Nimoy right after Nimoy published his second autobiography, "I Am Spock". Perry asked him who his ghost writer was, and Nimoy couldn't remember the name. You can't remember the name of the person who wrote your autobiography? Perry asked, sending Nimoy into gales of laughter.
Someone asked what many of us have been wondering: will the EU ever lighten up? All 4 panelists acknowledged that they had concerns about the dark direction the EU has taken for so long. Barlow said that last year Dark Horse scrapped its upcoming storylines in favor of future lighter fare, primarily KotOR. In fact, KotOR and "filling in" back stories (Lando was the popular choice) were all the panelists offered as a remedy to the dark EU. Nothing was mentioned about future EU stories, maybe as a result of a prohibition by LucasFilms. (Reference was made to a microchip implanted in their brains that would explode if they revealed any secrets.)
Perry's next SW book, due in October, is titled "Death Star", about the people populating the DS (ala the famous "Clerks" movie scene). He said there would be some comic relief characters, but it's like "Titanic"... you already know how it ends. He also said there would be quite a bit of Vader in it, because he can get into Vader's head and loves being there.
Your favorite character? The panel was unanimous: Vader. (Poor Lukey, nobody loves him but his daddy.)
What would you have changed in the trilogy? Either eliminate Jar-Jar or have him grow as a character. Film the trilogy in chronological order. Interestingly, Barlow singled out the additional information about Mandalorians as what he would have eliminated. (He didn't mention Traviss's novels, but that's obviously what he meant.) He grew up thinking Boba Fett was special because he was the only surviving Mandalorian, and the new books took away that uniqueness.
Perry told that long ago he asked LucasFilms for a map of all the SW planets and they told him no such thing existed. Later, a fan sent him a list of planets, descriptions, locations, etc., and Perry told the fan to send that to LF. The fan did, and LF bought it from him. Why didn't we think of that...?
Do you write or read fanfic? No, they're prohibited from reading it. However, Perry admitted that after ANH was released, he wrote (under a pseudonym) a SW rip-off titled "Star Warriors". It was published nearly 3 decades ago, so be on the lookout for a copy! (Don't confuse with it newer "Star Warriors" publications.)
After 90 minutes of Q&A, there was a costume contest with some adorable kiddie costumes and autograph opportunities. I took photos, but I guess I can't post them with a free LJ account.
What's it like to meet celebrities? Hoping you don't say something stupid, but ending up gushing, "I love your work!" Which of them has met Lucas? Only Zahn, who said he was squeezed in for 5 minutes between Lucas's appointments when he was at Skywalker Ranch. Lucas talked the entire 5 minutes about the 7 elements that absolutely had to be in movies and how some directors didn't include all of them. (Hmm, would "characterization" be one of those elements, George??) Perry met Leonard Nimoy right after Nimoy published his second autobiography, "I Am Spock". Perry asked him who his ghost writer was, and Nimoy couldn't remember the name. You can't remember the name of the person who wrote your autobiography? Perry asked, sending Nimoy into gales of laughter.
Someone asked what many of us have been wondering: will the EU ever lighten up? All 4 panelists acknowledged that they had concerns about the dark direction the EU has taken for so long. Barlow said that last year Dark Horse scrapped its upcoming storylines in favor of future lighter fare, primarily KotOR. In fact, KotOR and "filling in" back stories (Lando was the popular choice) were all the panelists offered as a remedy to the dark EU. Nothing was mentioned about future EU stories, maybe as a result of a prohibition by LucasFilms. (Reference was made to a microchip implanted in their brains that would explode if they revealed any secrets.)
Perry's next SW book, due in October, is titled "Death Star", about the people populating the DS (ala the famous "Clerks" movie scene). He said there would be some comic relief characters, but it's like "Titanic"... you already know how it ends. He also said there would be quite a bit of Vader in it, because he can get into Vader's head and loves being there.
Your favorite character? The panel was unanimous: Vader. (Poor Lukey, nobody loves him but his daddy.)
What would you have changed in the trilogy? Either eliminate Jar-Jar or have him grow as a character. Film the trilogy in chronological order. Interestingly, Barlow singled out the additional information about Mandalorians as what he would have eliminated. (He didn't mention Traviss's novels, but that's obviously what he meant.) He grew up thinking Boba Fett was special because he was the only surviving Mandalorian, and the new books took away that uniqueness.
Perry told that long ago he asked LucasFilms for a map of all the SW planets and they told him no such thing existed. Later, a fan sent him a list of planets, descriptions, locations, etc., and Perry told the fan to send that to LF. The fan did, and LF bought it from him. Why didn't we think of that...?
Do you write or read fanfic? No, they're prohibited from reading it. However, Perry admitted that after ANH was released, he wrote (under a pseudonym) a SW rip-off titled "Star Warriors". It was published nearly 3 decades ago, so be on the lookout for a copy! (Don't confuse with it newer "Star Warriors" publications.)
After 90 minutes of Q&A, there was a costume contest with some adorable kiddie costumes and autograph opportunities. I took photos, but I guess I can't post them with a free LJ account.