Thanks for stopping by, and for your interest in the adventures of Goth monster-hunter-in-training Pandora Zwieback.

[run Pan comic cover alongside next paragraph; link to PDF]

If you’re here because you spoke with me at the StarWarp Concepts table, then go ahead and download the Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 e-comic that I showed you; just click on the cover you see to the left and save it as a PDF. Not only is it an introduction to Pan and her world, hosted by Pan herself, but it contains two sample chapters from her first novel, Blood Feud. Give it a read.

If you like what you’ve read in the comic, hit the Buy the Book Button at the top of the sidebar to purchase a copy of Blood Feud. It’ll take you to all the major book-buying links—both print and e-book. And the e-book edition—available for the Kindle and the Nook, as well as from the Apple iBookstore, Kobo, Diesel, and others—is just $3.99!

Blood Feud is the critically acclaimed first novel in the series, which stars a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets a shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne Mazarin that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. But before Annie can explain further, Pan and her parents are drawn into a conflict between warring vampire clans that are searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father.

Here’s what some reviewers had to say about Pan’s debut:

“Far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels released in the last few years…. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.”—Melissa Voelker, HorrorNews.net

“Blood Feud is a roller-coaster read; the action never lets up. Author Steven A. Roman has an incredible gift for running lateral plotlines that intersect with a glorious crash…. Highly recommended for ages 15 and up for complexity of plot, and violence.”—Sheila Shedd, Monster Librarian

“A big-style cinematic vampire and monster hunter shoot-’em-up with a very human kid caught in the crossfire. Like any outsider teen, Pandora has her troubles, and can get two fisted when she needs to, but her relationship with her parents and close friends makes the story gold.”—Elizabeth Watasin, Goodreads

“There’s enough action and cerebral humor to entertain an adult while employing fast-paced and engaging characters spouting edgy, almost-inappropriate dialogue aimed at keeping a firm grip on the hormone-addled attention span. Buy it, read it, then pass it along to your neighbors’ teenaged daughter. It’s a win-win all round.”—Sue Granquist, Black Gate Magazine

Then be sure to head over to the StarWarp Concepts site, home of Pan’s publisher. From a redheaded succubus battling a cult of Elder Gods worshipers to classic tales by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and The Brothers Grimm, The ’Warp works hard to live up its reputation as “a small press publisher that presents itself with nothing but professionalism” (that’s what Severe Magazine said about us).

And don’t forget to Like the Pandora Zwieback page on Facebook, so you can keep up-to-date with all the Pan-related news; that link’s also in the sidebar.

Enjoy the rest of the convention!

You might not ever get rich
But lemme tell you it’s better than diggin’ a ditch
—Rose Royce, “Car Wash”

Hi. I’m Steve Roman. You may remember me from such novels as X-Men: The Chaos Engine and Final Destination: Dead Man’s Hand. You may also know me as (no great secret) the publisher of StarWarp Concepts, and the author of its young adult, dark-urban-fantasy novel series The Saga of Pandora Zwieback. You know—the guy whose latest Pan novel, Blood Reign, is the one you’re eagerly waiting to read. (And that’s no lie—I’ve heard and read your responses to Blood Feud. Thanks for the encouragement!)

Unfortunately, I have some bad news to pass along regarding the planned June release of Blood Reign…

Now, I consider myself to be a pretty talented writer. Unfortunately, I don’t make a living from writing, and StarWarp Concepts doesn’t make anywhere close to the sort of money I’d like it to. That means I have to have a real job to pay the bills, just like everybody else. And the more expenses that SWC racks up—paying artist and designers for their work, paying for publishing costs, paying for exhibition space at conventions (plus travel and shipping expenses), etc.—the more work I have to take on to pay the bills.

That work for the past five years has been as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader for a number of book publishers here in New York. And, all modesty aside, I’m very good at my job—and very much in demand. (It helps that I developed my skills for this career by having been a fiction editor for 10+ years.) Here, for example, was part of my workload this past April:

That’s five assignments right there: two proofreading jobs and three manuscripts to copyedit. (Oh, and yes, that’s a Dalek alarm clock in the middle of the pile—yay, Doctor Who!)

Here are May’s seven assignments:

Three books to proofread, two manuscript copyedits, and two manga proofreads. (I freelance for Yen Press—if you read series like Pandora Hearts, Bunny Drop, Soul Eater, Black Butler, or The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I’m the guy checking the spelling and punctuation.) As for June, well, there were those two emergency copyediting jobs that were due at the start of the month…

I usually average around ten assignments a month—which makes 120 jobs in a year. Holiday seasons and summers are especially crazy—freelancers and editors go on vacation, page proofs arrive late from the typesetter, etc.—which means companies will offer increased rates for those of us not on vacation to meet publishing deadlines that can’t be moved. And I really can’t say no to short-term pay increases when I have people and my own bills to pay.

Believe me when I tell you
It gets a little rough
Work a little harder
But it never is enough
Lot of friends say
I’m a total loss
All I want is a couple days off
—Huey Lewis and the News, “Couple Days Off”

So, why am I telling you all this? Well, so that you’ll know why Blood Reign is running late. It was scheduled to come out in June 2012; in all likelihood, it will now be released in October, in time for this year’s New York Comic Con. And the Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 is now being shifted to summer 2013, so I’ll have more time to write that comic book script, as well as the first-ever Pan short story I’ve got planned for a backup tale.

All these delays and rescheduling of books kill me. They really do. Because I pride myself on StarWarp Concepts’ reputation as “a small press company that presents itself with nothing but professionalism” (thanks, Severe Magazine), and it’s not very professional to delay the company’s major release when readers are counting on it. But like I said, I’ve gotta pay StarWarp’s bills (plus my own) somehow, and until Pan’s series becomes a bestseller or StarWarp generates some serious sales figures so it can carry its own weight, I have to spend time that could be dedicated to writing on freelance assignments.

I deeply apologize for the delay, and hope you understand my position. And I hope you’ll stick around to find out where Pan’s adventures are headed—they might not always be on time, but they’ll always be fun.  😉