May 4th, 2026
Happy Star Wars Day!
I have a million photos from a galaxy far, far away to choose from but I want to share this selfie from one of my favorite ever Star Wars experiences with my favorite ever Jedi (then not-a-Jedi, spoiler).
Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano, was at Twin Cities Con in 2023. When you table at cons (which I do; I’m a super famous and successful author in case anyone forgot!), it’s difficult to leave your booth for any reason, which includes meeting your favorite celebrities. In this case, I decided to check out Ashley’s table at the end of the day on Friday (after the floor closed) to see if she was still there.
She was! Yay! But she was all packed up and ready to go. Boo!
Shoot, I said. I told her I had been hoping to catch her before she left, but I would try again later in the weekend.
What’s one more? she said, and invited me behind her table where we took a dozen fun selfies like this one.
Artists and actors and writers and musicians owe us exactly nothing; they create magic that makes our lives better and deserve to live their own on their own terms. I’ve had good and bad experiences and have told those stories and at the end of the day, they’re all people.
But when you do meet someone who lives up to their character and is a wonderful person to boot, it is an experience that enriches the fantastical worlds we obsess over as fans.
I am repeatedly on the record as saying there is no such thing as bad Star Wars, and I stand by that statement. I think there is a spectrum of storytelling here that ranges from enjoyable and fun to deeply meaningful and life-changing, but it is all good in my correct opinion.
Now go watch the Maul finale so we can talk about it. I went from not particularly caring that this was a series to straight up sobbing during an episode last week. For Darth Maul! What the heck! I love Star Wars!
The Den 