Though the third day of DragonCon started off with a few misses, the day ended well with some interesting panels that made the long drive worthwhile.

• The “Star Wars Celebrity Hour” panel featured Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Kiran Shah (Ewok), and Matthew Wood (Voice of Grievous). Shah also starred in Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal.
• Joined Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Paul Dini as they talked about Lost stories and shared tales about the creative process in “Lost: Stories from the Story Room”.
• In “How Not to Get Published”, Bruce Gehweiler, Gary Hayes, Phil Nutman, Teri Nutman, and James Moore took a seriously lighthearted look at mistakes beginners make when working towards their first publication. Though the panel focused primarily on fiction writing, the topic covered echoed many of my own experiences while working on technical publications.
• The returning Webcomics panel brought with it Jennie Breeden, Bill Holbrook, Erin Lindsey, John P. Lotshaw, and Kara Knepton. New this year, the Webcomics panel presented the “Uncle Fred Awards”, in honor of Fred Lasswell, creator of “Snuffy Smith” and an early web comic pioneer.
• Ningage-ryu, a Japanese martial arts style with its roots in the early 1300’s, continues to live. Grandmaster Musashi used sword, walking stick, and his empty hands to do some amazing things.
• Obsidian Entertainment provided an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming sequel to one of the best-selling role-playing games of all time in this “Neverwinter Nights 2 Preview” panel. Chris Avellone, Shane DeFreest, and Josh Sawyer, walked fans through every aspect of the game’s progress.