Category Archives: Events
Books That Bite Back
An addendum of sorts to the previous post, for those of you who don’t think I work enough around here. 😀 Among all the goings-on at the StarWarp Concepts offices during the holiday break, I forgot to mention an interview I did that was conducted by Michele Lee of the young adult book site Reading Bites:
“Any creature of the night that sparkles in sunlight isn’t a vampire—it’s somebody who got covered in glitter at an all-night rave and stumbled outside in the morning!”
You can find that and all the other potentially controversial comments I make by reading the entire interview here.
New Year, New Excitement
Happy Belated New Year’s wishes to one and all! Yet even with the holiday season come and gone, there’s never any rest for the wicked over here at Zwieback Central, where stuff was continuing to happen while you were away. Let’s review what you might have missed, shall we?
E-books
A reminder from the end of last year: Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is available for your e-reader—and for the incredibly reasonable price of just $3.99! If you’ve been holding off from buying the print edition, or know someone who might be interested in giving Pan’s literary debut a read, then here’s where you’ll find it:
Amazon.com: Available at the Kindle Store.
Barnes & Noble: Available at the Nook Book Store.
DriveThru Fiction: PDF edition available at the StarWarp Concepts store.
Smashwords: Apple iPad-, Kindle-, Kobo-, Nook-, Palm-, and Sony Reader–compatible files available at the StarWarp Concepts store.
Critical Acclaim
Posted just a few days before Christmas, there was yet another positive review of Blood Feud, this time courtesy of Melissa Voelker at HorrorNews.net:
“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.”
Read the entire review by clicking on the logo above.
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0—our free, downloadable comic that you’ll find in the sidebar—has been updated! No more references to past selling dates, and now it has the actual text from Blood Feud for the comic’s sample chapters. If you know anyone who might be interested in Pan’s adventures, then please spread the word and have them download this special introduction to the book series.
And as for some non-Pan-related updates…
The SWC 2012 Catalog
Over at the StarWarp Concepts site, you’ll find the final version of The ’Warp’s publishing list for the entire year, now available for download. Go read it—the company’s not all about Pan, y’know! And wait until you see what’s listed among the SWC offerings for this year’s Free Comic Book Day celebration in May!
What, Another Site?
I’ve now got my own Author Page at Amazon.com! As some of you folks know, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback is just my latest project; the Author Page is where you’ll find a list of all the other books I’ve written or contributed to, and what’s still available for completists who can’t get enough of my exceptional writing. 😉 Zombies, superheroes, Doctor Who, Final Destination—is there nothing cool that I haven’t written?
Were we busy over the holidays, or what? And we’re just getting started!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a sequel to Blood Feud to get back to writing… 😉
They Wanna Put Me in the Movies…
So you thought all the coverage of the 2011 New York Comic Con had been exhausted, did you? Not true—and there’s videographic evidence to prove it!
The Web site Invest Comics has posted the third and final installment of their video tour of the con—just click on the logo above to view the sights and sounds of the East Coast’s version of Thunderdome. I come in at the 11:35 mark and hype Pan’s adventures for about a minute, but you should definitely watch the rest of the video (along with parts 1 and 2) to check out the other small-press publishers who were exhibiting, and to get the full NYCC 2011 experience.
Now if only I didn’t hate the sound of my own voice…
Happy Halloween!
Yes, when I’m not figuring out ways to make Pan’s difficult life even more difficult, I occasionally do some cartooning. Why, I even have my own DeviantArt page! Feel free to check it out.
Have a safe and happy All Hallows’ Eve—and, uh, maybe you oughtta unwrap that candy before you eat it, don’cha think?
New York Comic Con News
Hey, Pan-atics, looking for news on all the Pan-related doings that happened at this year’s NYCC? Then head on over to the StarWarp Concepts blog, where I’m posting my two-part report on the show.
Mistaken identities! Aztec serial killers! E-books! Small-press comics! An overuse of exclamation marks! Go check it out.
Cry Havoc!
New York Comic Con 2011—being held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center here in New York City—is this week, October 13–16. I’ll be manning the StarWarp Concepts location: BOOTH 2539 in the Small Press Publishers Area.
Helping me out at the booth (as he did last year) will be my good friend Richard C. White—bestselling author of the fantasy novel Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, Book 1: Paths of Evil and the e-book Star Trek: Echoes of Coventry.
We’re located in Level 3, Hall 3A, near Artists Alley—and against the wall of the construction area that’s slowly been moving across the building since last year. Those of you who attended the 2010 show may remember that the construction site breaks the show’s main exhibition hall into two parts: the larger, more mainstream exhibitors on one side, the smaller publishers on the other. So please don’t forget that we’re on the other side of that wall!
Here’s a map so it’ll be easier to find us:
On sale will be:
• Copies of BLOOD FEUD: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, Book 1, CARMILLA, and THE BOB LARKIN SKETCHBOOK
• 11″ x 17″ full-color prints of Bob Larkin’s cover art for Blood Feud. It’s a limited-edition print, though, so be sure to pick up one while supplies last.
• THE OFFICIAL PANDORA ZWIEBACK T-SHIRT! Now you can dress like our favorite Goth girl, and proudly show off your monster-hunting skills while wearing the same T that Pan models on the cover of Blood Feud. The shirt makes its debut at NYCC; after the con, it’ll be available exclusively through the StarWarp Concepts webstore.
I’ll also be handing out free print copies of the Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 promotional comic book and Pandora Zwieback bookmarks—while supplies last, of course. (And that comic supply is getting pretty thin.)
And wait until you see the one-of-a-kind, not-for-sale Pan Zwieback leather jacket that we’ll have on display—painted by Bob, who’ll be on hand Saturday to sign the sketchbook and prints, as well as copies of his much-sought-after art book, The Savage Art of Bob Larkin.
You’ll find it all at booth 2539—just look for the Pandora Zwieback and StarWarp Concepts banners. So spread the word:
Of course, that depends on whether I can still get Hell a ticket this close to the show…
Happy Banned Books Week!
Ever read Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? How about To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, or Brave New World by Aldous Huxley? Well, now’s your chance to catch up on your reading and strike a blow for free expression!
To quote the Banned Books Week Web site:
During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events.
The 2011 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 24 through October 1.
Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,000 books have been challenged since 1982.
Contemporary Young Adult entries include Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy (sex and violence), Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian (sex education and violence—and sex!), Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series (more sex and violence!), and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books (’cause they endorse the occult, don’cha know).
Gee, that’s some fairly prestigious company you’ve got there. Maybe I need to get on that list… 😉
For more information, just click on the poster.
Magical Mice Love Zwieback, Too!
So, just when I think we’re overdue for another positive review of Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1—’cause really, how could there be any other kind? ;-)—along comes my buddy, author J. D. Calderon, to step up to the plate!
Over at The Oswald Chronicles, J. D.—writer/creator of that webcomic, as well as author of the fantasy novels The Stone Egg, Dream Weavers: The Trinity Saga, and Dofon: An Imperfect Mantle—reviews Blood Feud in episode 7 of his podcast, Talking to the Scribe.
Click the Oswald logo above to visit the site, and then give the podcast a listen. And don’t forget to check out the Oswald webcomic, of course!
We Are Looking for the Brooklyn Queens
Spread the word: The Brooklyn Book Festival is being held this Sunday, September 18th, at Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza—and StarWarp Concepts will be in attendance!
BOOTH # 115 is where you’ll find me hawking all the Starwarp Concepts titles, accompanied by my buddy J. D. Calderon, author of the fantasy webcomics The Oswald Chronicles and Tall Tails. (J.D.’s just there to hang out, but that shouldn’t stop you from checking out his site.) It’ll be a good time for you to purchase copies of Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1, Carmilla, and The Bob Larkin Sketchbook in case you’ve had any trouble tracking them down.
Swing by and pick up a free copy of the Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 comic book (print version) and Pan bookmarks—while supplies last, of course.
BOOTH #115 is located right in front of the Columbus Statue Garden, in the shadow of the Kings County Courthouse—and steps away from the Borough Hall subway entrance. You couldn’t ask for a more convenient location. Hope to see you there!