It was the summer of 1977, and my whole family—like the rest of the country—had Star Wars fever! Here’s my brother and I in our t-shirts, off to see the movie (again), and that Christmas we all got the gift of Star Wars: comic books for me, a lightsaber for my brother, and my mom […]
According to Wookieepedia, I’ve written over 50 Star Wars books. Yes, I’m proud of that, and grateful to numerous editors who continue to hire me, but I’m especially proud of another accomplishment: I’ve donated over 60 pints of blood.
In honor of the upcoming Star Wars Reads Day, a few random reminiscences on some of my own memorable book experiences: Reading Tom Swift Jr. in the back seat while driving across Nebraska in July on a family vacation No AC, no Interstates, just heat and dust and the adventures of a young man with […]
If you don’t know who I am, let me just explain that I am a professional Star Wars nerd. See, I took took several nerdy things – origami, doodling, a love of Star Wars and a painful history of middle school disasters – and put them together to came up with a book, The Strange […]
As some of you know, I’ve been a writer all of my life, emphasis on all. In the summer of my eighth year, I hand printed copies of a flier called the Hobart Street News to try to sell to neighbors on my block in Philadelphia. I charged a nickel, sold two or three to […]
This one’s going to be short, as I’m on little sleep these days. Mornings and weekends, I continue to do the book map of The Making of Return of the Jedi, and am up to the ILM chapters. I’m really trying to use photos as large as I can. I feel that The Making of […]
Folks that attended Celebration VI got their first chance to snatch up Star Wars Insider #136. But for those who missed out, the latest issue is now hitting newsstands and subscriber in-boxes. I helped put together this issue alongside JW Rinzler and Jonathan Wilkins at Titan Magazines, and here are 10 highlights of what you’ll […]
Well, I’m off to NYC next week to work with Abrams on a yet-to-be-announced book. Some fans, or at least one I’ve noticed online, have already guess at its subject, but I’m forbidden to announce it. Still too early, but it’ll be out spring of next year. Also spending a fair amount of time on […]
It’s that time of year again. The summer holidays are over and it’s time for the kids to head back to school. This can be a sad time for kids because their vacation is over, but it should also be an exciting time because they will be learning all new things this year! A great […]
This morning’s Del Rey panel was my very first Star Wars Celebration panel ever, but I wasn’t too nervous since I was up on stage with people much more talented and expressive than me: authors Aaron Allston, Troy Denning, James Luceno, Drew Karpyshyn, and Timothy Zahn; Del Rey Editor-at-Large Shelly Shapiro; and our esteemed moderator, […]
Random House Audio, publisher of the Star Wars audiobooks, has set up a recording studio right on the convention floor for Star Wars Celebration VI this week, inviting fans to come by their booth and record excerpts from Timothy Zahn’s HEIR TO THE EMPIRE. The first day brought a steady stream of readers, with the […]
If you are a fan of Star Wars comics, the panel to be at on Thursday of Star Wars Celebration was the Dark Horse comics panel. The panel featured some of the best talent that Dark Horse has to offer including John Jackson Miller, Jan Duursema, Doug Wheatley, Dave Marshall, and Randy Stradley and was […]
Writers are often asked where we get our ideas. And most of us have some sort of stock reply for that question — a reply that may be snarky and humorous or studied and informative.
If you were around in the ’70s, there’s no way you could not be aware of Star Wars, and in the summer of 1977, I saw A New Hope on the big screen at least sixteen times. I bought the novelization, I bought the comic books, I read the newspaper strips. I was a fan.
It has been five years since I last attended attended a Star Wars Celebration and I am more excited than ever to be making the trip to Orlando this year. With the big event just around the corner, here are some of the places you’ll definitely be able to find me.
Star Wars Celebration VI is approaching, and I’ll be there, doing panels and a number of signings for Dark Horse and Del Rey. I’ve always enjoyed these kinds of appearances immensely. Working in my office at Faraway Farms at the end of a dead-end road in Wisconsin traveled only by deer and other ungulates, I’m […]
A long time ago on a freeway far, far away . . . . I was driving home after teaching some kindergarten students how to make an origami penguin when it occurred to me that a penguin and a B-Wing starfighter are very similar. In my head, I figured out how to rework the penguin […]
In writing these making of Star Wars books, I’ve become more or less adept at interviewing people: actors, heads of department, producers, directors, craftspeople, visual effects supervisors, et al. I’ve had a few people determined not to say a single thing, for fear of offending someone or of letting a secret out of the bag. […]
The easy answer is, look for an awe inspiring composition, a refined color palette, dynamic character poses, and original ideas. But my job in researching the Making of Return of the Jedi was to differentiate between a McQuarrie production illustration and his licensed artwork. Not so easy as it might sound, as they’re all stored […]
Fumiaki Kawahata’s amazing Origami Yoda is a very busy paper Jedi. There is usually a pretty steady stream of people discovering him and then tweeting their friends: “Someone make me one of these!” Or “Hard to fold this looks!” And every once in a while the stream turns into a flood, as happened a few […]
Enjoy this quick cartoon based on a joke a little boy told me at San Diego Comic-Con. He was pretty proud of the pun and told me I should draw it (pushy little guy!). Katie Cook is a cartoonist and writer. She is kind of a big deal… to her cat. You can find her […]
The new Star Wars Insider is out on newsstands this week. As one of the folks who helps determine what’s inside each issue, I figured I’d best be blogging about issue #135. Figuring out where to start was easy – the cover – but I just realized this issue is more than just the videogame […]
Editor’s Note: Even though it has been 35 years since Star Wars was released in theaters, and almost 30 since Return of the Jedi, we remain fascinated with untold stories and unseen assets that take us inside the production of the movies. Few people are more devoted to unearthing and telling these stories than Lucasfilm’s […]
For those who have never heard of the Holocron Star Wars continuity database, it is a database I was hired to create back in January 2000 for Lucas Licensing’s Publishing department.
Editor’s Note: One of the biggest strengths of the Star Wars expanded universe – and something that sets it apart from similar franchises – is the fact that in its 30+ years of existence there’s never been a need for a reboot. Continuity has never become so out-of-whack that writers have been forced throw in […]
At San Diego Comic-Con, I got to host a pair of panels this Star Wars Day that looked ahead into some of the publishing projects for the remainder of 2012 and into 2013. They revealed, among other things, that the chronicles of Vader’s fatherhood will continue, a pop-up acklay is a real showstopper, the classic […]
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