Celebration Anaheim 2015: Star Wars at Del Rey

Star Wars at Del Rey
Sat. April 18| 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM | Behind–The–Scenes Stage
Storytelling is the heart of Star Wars, and Del Rey books has been there since the beginning. Today, Star Wars books stand alongside the films, video games, comics, and animated series as part of the official canon. Join Del Rey Editor Shelly Shapiro, Lucasfilm Sr. Editor Jen Heddle and authors John Jackson Miller, Jim Luceno and Christie Golden for a discussion of the past and future of Star Wars publishing.

Shelly Shapiro and Jennifer Heddle began the presentation by discussing their current slate of books, allowing the author to comment on their titles.


First up was A New Dawn, by John Jackson Miller which takes place shortly before Star Wars: Rebels. John talked a little about the creation of the book in advance of watching the show, and how Hera voice-actress Vanessa Marshall told him how much she loved the characterization of Hera.

Next was James Luceno's Tarkin. Luceno discussed the book's creation and his penchant for working with the "bad guys."


Heddle and Shapiro then discussed a little on Kevin Hearne's Heir to the Jedi and the upcoming Paul S Kemp title Lords of the Sith. Christie Golden talked briefly about Dark Disciple which was based on 8 unproduced episodes of The Clone Wars.


Then came the reveal of the most eagerly anticipated title: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig. Not much was discussed about this title except that it was due with the other Journey to The Force Awakens titles, which all drop on September 4, 2015, and is part of a new trilogy of books.


Coming this October is on of Del Rey's first Star Wars bindups Rise of the Empire, which sees the paperback versions of A New Dawn and Tarkin combined into one paperback book, along with at least two new short stories, produced for this collection.

November sees a tie-in to the Battlefront video game with Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed. This book is not an adaptation of game events, but a new story that takes place in the same time period.


At this point the panel opened up the floor to comments. A gentlemen up front asked if Del Rey was still looking for an author to write The Force Awakens, and offered himself up as a candidate. Heddle and Shapiro conferred briefly with each other and admitted that yes, they were looking, and invited him up on stage. Fans were then amazed to see Alan Dean Foster take the stage, with the announcement that he would be writing the Episode VII novelization! It will release in an eBook format on December 18, 2015 with the release of the film, and a print version of the book would be following shortly in January of 2016.

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