Writing, Star Wars, and writing about Star Wars
Plus: "The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope" manga Kickstarter and BaubleBar's new Star Wars collection.
Now this is a dream career
When I dreamed of my future career in high school and college, I set goals that would put me a step closer to being an award-winning journalist or a page designer. When I got my first newsroom job, I worked tirelessly (and for criminally low pay) to hone my writing and storytelling skills for years to land several front-page stories and become the newspaper’s unofficial TV reporter. When I moved to local TV news, I underwent a trial by fire to become a passionate multiskilled digital journalist with the ability to pivot from crime briefs and election coverage to theme park openings and weekly rocket launches. At both news jobs, I wrote about Star Wars in different capacities — local features ahead of The Force Awakens premiere, and covering the opening of Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World. But never in all my years did I anticipate my career would come to largely revolve around my love and knowledge of the galaxy far, far away.
Writing about Star Wars and being a professional nerd is the subject of this week’s episode of Now This is Lit — a Star Wars literary podcast hosted by my friend Meg. This is the fourth time I’ve been on her podcast, so I feel like a seasoned alum. It’s fun to yap with a fellow writer with a similar career trajectory and goals. On this episode, we chat about where we started, where we’re at now, and where we want to go with our writing — the big goal being writing official Star Wars books. We also talk about the values that make a good Star Wars writer — namely, motivation and passion for the subject. Both of us got into writing about Star Wars because we loved the galaxy so much that we wanted to share our passion and knowledge with others. It definitely wasn’t for the pay, though getting paid to write about Star Wars is pretty sweet. And seeing our bylines in the pages of Star Wars Insider on the shelves of Barnes & Noble will never get old.
Getting to write about Star Wars, and especially for Star Wars, also involves a bit of “shoot your shot” mentality. It’s something I try to instill in my journalism students: Reach out to writers and editors you admire, ask questions, network, and get on experts’ radars. Doing so shows passion and initiative. You never know what shooting your shot will bring.
As the little pink Sticky Note on my desk says: What’s the best that could happen?
Listen to talk more about writing Star Wars on this week’s episode of Now This is Lit:
Star Wars news roundup
The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope manga Kickstarter
Back in April at Star Wars Celebration, it was announced that Dark Horse Comics would publish The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope — The Manga in a two-volume set featuring Hisao Tamaki’s original art from 1997. While the standard retail editions arrive in 2026, Dark Horse also launched (today) its Kickstarter campaign to fund hardcover Collector’s and Masterpiece editions.
Collector’s Edition: Two volumes with original artwork, Japanese captions, and a new English translation in the margins. The Collector’s Edition also has options for a slipcase, an art-forward Tamaki Variant, and a signed edition.
Masterpiece Edition: Two oversized volumes with never-before-seen art, unaltered pages, and a companion English translation volume. The books come in a faux leather slipcase and feature gold foil designs and page edges. This edition also has options for a signed edition and Darth Vader variant.
Add-ons for the Kickstarter include art prints, a triptych folio set, and original drawings by Tamaki. Backers also get digital copies of The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope — The Manga.
Pledges start at $35 for just the digital copy. The Collector’s Edition option starts at $85, and the Masterpiece Edition starts at $200. The estimated delivery date is May 2026.
As of this post, the campaign is fully backed with another month left to go. The campaign ends on Oct. 17, so make your pledges soon.
Find more images and back The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope — The Manga campaign here.
BaubleBar’s new Star Wars collection
This one’s for the girlies — BaubleBar just launched a new collection of Star Wars jewelry. There are earrings, charm bracelets and necklaces, custom name bracelets, bag charms, and pins featuring classic and cute Star Wars characters. Yes, there’s even a Grogu collection with sparkly charms, rings, and bag accessories.
Below are just some of the items in the new collection, but you can shop all of it at BaubleBar.com. Thanks to BaubleBar for sharing the news and images of this new collection. I’m putting all of it on my Christmas list.
