How incredibly cool is it to get the opportunity to chat with someone you admire? How even cooler is it when you get the chance to meet someone that you then can say you admire even more? That’s what it was like for us at Visioncon 2016 when we met up for the press junket with Sam Witwer and Christie Golden.
Alicia and I were pretty big fans of Smallville so it was really cool to meet Doomsday in the flesh. Honestly, Sam played the character of Davis Bloom so well, I was really hoping that Clark would have off’d him early in the season but Alicia was rooting for him and Cloe to hook up permanently and get rid of that, not exactly Jimmy Olson, Jimmy Olson. Either way it was cool to meet him.
Moment of honesty and disclosure: Prior to Visioncon, I hadn’t thought much about Sam. I had seen some shares and blurbs about his latest project “Being Human” but that was about it. Getting ready for the interview however I learned some really neat stuff. Not only was Sam a huge Star Wars fan, he was also a Star wars star!
The Force Unleashed Starkiller was cool and all but that was chump change when I heard his other voice over work for The Clone Wars. In that series he provided the voice for Darth Maul and added some very much needed depth to the character.
In chatting with Sam, along with the usual fanboy questions as eluded to above, I also wanted to pick his brain for some insight into the “business”. See, the next Thursday following Visioncon, I was to host a speaking for a group of high school students about video production. I figured this was an excellent opportunity to get something specifically for them that is actually pretty important for us all to realize: It’s not all rainbows and unicorns in the land of showbiz…
In most instances, I seldom ever get “star struck” when doing interviews. Musicians, actors, entertainers from all walks of life, I applaud their success and thank them for their talent. Even then though, I appreciate the stage that the particular celebrity has ascended too but don’t get all caught up in it. Never have.
But then, there was Christie…
Christie Golden is a New York Times Best Selling author that many of you may have heard of or at least know of her works. It would be hard not too considering the sizable mountain of Star Wars, Star Trek, Warcraft and TSR books she has under her belt. Being a writer at heart I must say I am biased in the fact that I hold the folks who put pen to paper in the highest of regards. They are the first and most important line in the magic making process. Christie is most certainly one of those incredible magic makers of the first order ( no Star Wars pun intended).
I was completely amazed at how wonderfully outgoing she was in our conversation. Very open and honest. Christie is one of those pure souls that truly makes the world a better place as she continues to share her talent. Our conversation was wonderfully enlightening and my daughter Kaitlynn quickly gravitated to her warmth and charm. I do believe we are all better for having met her. PLUS she was offering up autographed copies of her latest 
Star Wars novel: Dark Disciple. What a fantastic read. While I have made the decision to no longer do book or movie reviews because my taste and opinions are not something I care to impose on you dear reader I will offer recommendations for good reads and watches and Dark Disciple certainly falls into this category. If you enjoyed the Animated Star Wars Clone Wars, you will most certainly love this book.
Also as part of our chat I was able to pick her brain about the process that led to her success. Once again we find that hard work and dedication is what pays off…
Again I say thank you to both Sam and Christie for taking the time to chat with me. Be sure to connect with both of them via Facebook and Twitter. CLICK HERE and HERE for Sam and HERE and HERE for Christie.
Come back tomorrow for Part 3 of my look back at Vision Con 2016 where I finally “got” and understood cosplayers and their culture.
Now, Go Play!
Jim 03/29/16
Editors Note: Boy has life gotten AWESOME since Visioncon for your old buddy Jimbo! Pardon the delay in getting the rest of the series up but when opportunities arise to play professionally arise one must simply hop all over it. To get the full skinny CLICK HERE. And of course come over and play on FACEBOOK! Dreams do come true!
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