Dragon*Con Live Coverage

September 5, 2011 at 9:00 am | Posted in Events | Leave a comment
Tags: dragon*con

For live coverage of Dracon*Con 2011, please check out our Twitter feed for Lane Winree’s on the spot updates and pictures as well as Lane’s personal Twitter account. We’ll try to post some of the highlights here. Enjoy!

Day 3:

Mythology, Philosophy, & Truth of Star Wars panel with Timothy Zahn and Gary Kurtz

Kurtz: We never intended for much of the backstories to be filled.
Kurtz: It’s important for the audience to believe in character redemption in stories.
Moderator: Star Wars works because it doesn’t stay dark, the hero is ultimately successful. Many modern sci-fi tales fail at this.
Nancipants: (Chewie) just stands around and gets ordered around. And then a moon falls on him.
Zahn’s response: You’ve been talking to Peter Mayhew again, haven’t you?

For fans of Battle Star Galactica, Her Universe has some very cool new items in the works. -Lane

Carrie Fisher Honestly panel

Carrie Fisher at the Honestly panel.

Here is Lane’s run down on the Carrie Fisher panel.

So far the panel’s covered the topic of male enhancement, had six curses, and another topic that can’t be discussed on Twitter.
They asked Carrie to caption the pictures in her new book.
Right now Carrie is heckling a fan in the front row.
Carrie: George invented a whole world… We’re all drawn here today because of his imagination.
I think it’s fair to say that this panel is the best thing ever. -Lane
“Boba Fett could see all the way to Florida.” Supply your own context.
First F-bomb! Who has the time?
Foul stench line dropped. Audience goes wild.
Audience member: you’re my role model.
Carrie’s response: I’m so sorry.
Carrie (On getting the role of Princess Leia): It was awesome being the only girl on an all boy toy.
Carrie (On favorite Star Wars film memory): all of Empire Strikes Back. It was great to do a movie you knew was going to be a hit.
The Carrie Fisher panel was hilarious. Up next is the Star Wars Expanded Universe author panel Ask the Authors.

Ask the Authors

Ask the Authors panel.

Ask the Authors panel featuring Timothy Zahn, Aaron Allston, Michael Stackpole, Kevin J. Anderson and his wife Rebecca Moesta.

First author in is Aaron Allston.
Allston explaining how the 9/3 model works. Starts with LFL, but it’s extremely convoluted.
To reiterate a common point, Kevin J. Anderson says the decision to kill Chewie came from Lucasfilm Ltd.
Tales of the Jedi is a series Kevin J. Anderson is still very proud of.
Favorite movie character for Aaron Allston and Michael Stackpole is a tie between Wedge Antilles and Han Solo in large part for their lack of Force ability.
Just confirmed by Aaron Allston that Face Loran will be in X-Wing: Mercy Kill.
Zahn says it was easier to write in the 90s because of fewer timeline constraints.
Allston (On character ages and physical ability): in Legacy of the Force we decided 60 is the new 40.
Allston & Stackpole (On learning to write starfightet combat): Lots of research with WWII pilots and stories.
Who would you be?
Anderson: Kyp Durron.
Allston: Face Loran.
Stackpole: Tycho Celchu.
Zahn: Talon Karrde.
Favorite Star Wars Expanded Universe and non-Star Wars books…
Anderson: Saga of Seven Sons and Lightsabers.
Allston: Starfighters of Adumar and the upcoming book Growing up Dead.
Stackpole: I, Jedi and At the Queen’s Command.
Zahn: Outbound Flight/Survivor’s Quest and Icarus Hunt.
Plans to fill in holes in the timeline: Zahn says there’s not much space. Stackpole says LFL and Del Ray is responsible.
Zahn: I’m not convinced you have to kill characters off. They can be put on a bus.
Allston: I have no desire to kill the Big Three.
Favorite scenes…
Zahn: The action scene at the end of Choices of One.
Anderson: The failure of Tenel Ka to save Jacen because she lost her arm.
Allston: The death of Ton Phanan.
Stackpole: It’s a tie between Corran making his lightsaber and the death of Elegos.
Allston (On fun with Wes Janson): had a hell of a lot of fun with him. He was a hootenanny to write.
What ship would you fly?
Allston: An X-Wing.
Stackpole: The Errant Venture. Ever seen Booster fly it?

Day 2:

Timothy Zahn at the Heir to the Empire panel.

Heir to the Empire panel with Timothy Zahn

Lucasfilm was feeling their way through the early days of the Star Wars Expanded Universe just like the authors.
“Heir to the Empire survived the prequel films remarkably well.” –Zahn
Zahn didn’t have input over the Thrawn back story in LucasArts’ TIE Fighter game.
“Thrawn had to die because the New Republic would be doomed otherwise.” –Zahn
“Mara has had some…out of character experiences.” –Zahn
Tim’s favorite book: Outbound Flight.
Tim gushed about Wedge Antilles and the Rogues. Expressed that he wants to borrow a Wraith for a future book.
At this point Tim has 5-10 years of additional Star Wars work ahead of him. Next book slated for November 2013.
Biggest thing Lucasfilm didn’t let him do was make C’Baoth an evil Obi-Wan Kenobi clone.
The gears began turning for post Return of the Jedi Star Wars Expanded Universe novels in 1988.
Offer to write Heir to the Empire came “Utterly out of the blue.” Zahn had been with Bantam for only six weeks and almost signed with TOR earlier.
“The whole essence of Star Wars is loyalty, friendship, and love.” –Zahn
Tim also named dropped Pink Five, a Star Wars fan film written and directed by Trey Stokes and starring Amy Earhart as Stacey “Pink Five.” It parodies the starfighter battle at Yavin.

Day 1:

Aaron Allston and Michael Stackpole (podium) leading the writing workshop.

New York Times Bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole presents the Rules of Writing in the first of a 14 seminar workshop presented by himself and New York Times bestselling author Aaron Allston. The seminars cover everything from the very basics and writing in a franchise universe, up through plotting and characterization, and even covers presenting your manuscript and strategies for success in the age of digital publishing. [src]