The Celebration Anaheim schedule is here!

celebration-anaheimThe Celebration Anaheim schedule went up today, and man is it packed! There’s even a Tribute to Aaron Allston scheduled for Saturday… You bet I’ll be at that! Sorry, Rebels.

Here are a few of my picks:

Thursday: Not much for me, aside from the obligatory J.J. Abrams and Producer Kathleen Kennedy event, which will be simulcast in multiple rooms. But you should totally play the Bounty Hunt. Hint hint.

Friday: Star Wars Journalism and One Big Story: Working Within the Star Wars Canon.

Saturday: Full of Sith, Star Wars Comes Home to Marvel, and Star Wars at Del Rey.

Sunday: Tosche Station Radio, From a Certain Point of View (with our own James!) Novelizing Star Wars, What Princess Leia Means to Me and of course the Closing Ceremony.

There are also some worrying panels that are yet to be announced, though… They could very well be The Force Awakens or Rogue One-related.

That’s just what I really want to see, though: How about you?

DragonCon’s Star Wars activities will include Aloha for Aaron Allston Day

Dragon Con is coming up Labor Day Weekend. Once again, the center of Star Wars activity will be the Star Wars at Dragon Con track. On Sunday, August 31st, the track is asking fans to wear Aloha shirts in honor of one of Aaron Allston‘s favorite wardrobe features.

That same day at 5:30pm in Hyatt International North, there will be a tribute panel to Aaron and A. C. Crispin, who lost her battle with cancer since the last Dragon Con.

Other fun Star Wars activities coming up this year include:

  • Last Party on Alderaan – Party like it’s the end of the world at what is arguably Dragon Con’s best club dance.
  • Suits, Sinatra and Star Wars Mixer – A new event that will give you the excuse to wear your best Star Wars fabric suit or Rat Pack fashion and meet fellow fans.
  • The Empire Striketh Back Table Read – A “dramatic,” or at the very least amusing, table read of Ian Doescher’s next installment in his Shakespeare’s Star Wars series.
  • An Hour with Sam Witwer – Our own Bryan Young interviews actor Sam Witwer about his love of Star Wars and his roles as Starkiller and Darth Maul on The Clone Wars.

Coming back will be the Podraces for the kids. And, as always, lots of discussion about the movies, collectibles and books.

For the most up-to-date happenings, be sure to download the Dragon Con app.

SDCC: Remembering Aaron Allston with #AlohaAaron

Del Rey crew at SDCC remembers Aaron

The Del Rey crew at San Diego Comic-Con is remembering Aaron Allston today with Hawaiian shirts and giveaways of Legacy of the Force: Betrayal. Share your own Aaron memories by using the hashtag #AlohaAaron.

Going back a tad, James posted his pictures from Friday, including a look at the hard-boiled egg shaper from Kotobukiya and the Del Rey panel.

For news purposes today, we have Marvel’s Cup O’ Joe panel this afternoon (2:45 PDT/5:45 EDT) and of course the big movie panels in Hall H.

Although there was apparently some kind of rumor going around the con that Star Wars would make a Hall H appearance today, that is all kinds of unlikely as there is no Lucasfilm or Disney movie panel outside of Marvel Studios. The only Star Wars news we are likely to get today will be about comic books, not films.

#‎AlohaAaron: Remembering Aaron Allston at, during SDCC

Aaron and Tim Zahn goof around at JadeCon 2002 in Las Vegas.
Aaron and Tim Zahn goof around at JadeCon 2002 in Las Vegas.
Del Rey is spearheading a tribute to author Aaron Allston, who passed away earlier this year, on Saturday, July 26, at San Diego Comic-Con. The Del Rey staff will be sporting Aloha/Hawaiian shirts and encouraging fans to do the same. (If you don’t have anything tropical-themed, tie-die is also a valid option.) They’ll also be giving away copies of Aaron’s novels throughout the day. If you’re not at SDCC, you can still dress up in something sufficiently bright, and Del Rey is encouraging fans to use the hashtag ‪#‎AlohaAaron‬ on social media.

DragonCon will be memorializing Aaron this year as well – stay tuned for details.

Mike Stackpole remembers Aaron Allston

Aaron, Mike and Jennifer, GenCon 2005.
Aaron, Mike and Jennifer, GenCon 2005.
There have been many memorials to Aaron Allston since our last roundup, but today brings one from one of the people who knew him best, Mike Stackpole:

I want you to know that all of you knew Aaron, the real Aaron. Those of us who were lucky enough and honored to log more hours in his company didn’t know him better, we just knew him more. Aaron was the man you meet in his books. He was the man you saw on panels. He was the man who would listen and smile, and listen more.

I fully admit that I’ve lost track of things in the midst of our server issues, but you can read more from Janine Spendlove, Eleven-Thirty Eight, and sithwitch plus an episode of Tosche Station.

Fandom, colleagues remember Aaron Allston

Aaron There’s been a huge outpouring of grief, affection and memories after last night’s horrible news.

Particularly touching is this long remembrance from Ron at Silence in the Library Publishing of Aaron as a mentor. Bryan at Big Shiny Robot, another SitL author, also remembers him in that vein.

In our own corner of fandom, he’s remembered by Brian and Nanci at Tosche Station, Tricia at Fangirl, Peter at Lightsaber Rattling, Mike at Eleven-ThirtyEight, Aaron of Star Wars Bookworms, Mark of Jedi News, Eric at TFN, Andrew Liptak, and EUCantina. There are also brief but touching writeups (and lots of comments) from the 501st and Rebel Legions.

On the professional end, we have words from Del Rey’s Shelly Shapiro, Lucasfilm’s Jen Heddle and Leland Chee and fellow authors Tim Zahn, Troy Denning, Christie Golden, Martha Wells, Helen Keier and many, many more. (You can see some of them in the Twitter list below.)

Aaron also made headlines on mainstream SF/F sites like Tor, Suvudu, Locus and SF Signal.

And finally, there’s been a ton of talk about Aaron on Twitter:


I recommend everyone watch a really horrible movie and/or make a lot of puns this weekend in Aaron’s honor.