This past Sunday, SWC author Richard C. White and I attended the tenth anniversary celebration of the Brooklyn Book Festival, which has become the place to go to in New York if you’re a book lover. So how’d it turn out for me and Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts? Well, if you head over to the SWC blog right now, you can check out my Brooklyn Book Festival 2015 report and read all about it!
Thanks for stopping by the StarWarp Concepts booth today, and for your interest in my Goth adventuress, Pandora Zwieback. If you’re here because you spoke with me, then click on the cover you see to the right and download the Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 digital comic that I showed you. 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.
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback is the young adult, dark-urban-fantasy novel series that I write. It’s the story of 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 “Annie” Mazarin, in the first critically acclaimed novel, Blood Feud, 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 Pan can learn more about what she can do, she 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.
“Blood Feud is 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
“One of those fabulous books that manages to straddle the young adult/adult fiction divide, catering equally for teens and more, ahem, ‘mature’ readers alike with a light touch that makes it a joy to read.”—Kell Smurthwaite, BCF Book Reviews
Pan’s debut adventure continues in the second novel, Blood Reign, in which she and Annie face challenges from not just vampires but legions of monsters led by a fallen angel—who happens to be one of Annie’s ex-lovers! Blood Feud ended on such a shocking cliffhanger that Blood Reign picks up right where the previous novel left off and hits the ground running, in a story filled with danger, high-speed car chases, vampire hit squads, and a generous helping of romance—all while Pan tries to make sense of her increasingly weird life. Pan fans (I call them “Panatics”) can’t seem to get enough of StarWarp Concepts’ resident Goth girl, so feel free to join their growing ranks—we love adding new members to Zwieback Nation.
“If you thought the first book, Blood Feud, was high powered, you’ll love this book! To paraphrase movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn’s quote: Blood Reign starts with an earthquake and builds to a climax…. This was one fun read!”—Dwight Jon Zimmerman, New York Times bestselling author of Lincoln’s Last Days
“If Blood Feud, the first volume, took some deliberate pacing steps to build Pandora’s character, this volume eschews that as it thunders along at breakneck speed, barely pausing for breath at any given time (and, I must say, the volume was devoured at speed as well)… I thoroughly enjoyed this volume.”—Andrew Boylan, Taliesin Meets the Vampires
Along with Blood Feud and Blood Reign, on sale right now is The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1. A spinoff from the novel series, this 56-page, full-color comic special—with cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella)—finds the teenaged Goth adventuress battling vampires and a jealous, man-stealing siren. It features three original stories of what I’ve termed the “Paniverse”—tales that take place within the fictional universe of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback:
Blood Feud, Blood Reign, and The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual are available in print and digital formats. Pandora Zwieback #0 is a digital exclusive. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages. And then start celebrating!
(A special shout-out to teen readers and Pandora Zwieback fans who are budding authors, but who may think their work isn’t all that good and worth continuing: Check out this post from May 27, 2014, where I talk about my first published work—a science-fiction story I wrote when I was 16. Take a look at that and tell me you can’t do better! 😀 )
Speaking of short stories, there’s “Pandora Zwieback and the Bloggy Thing,” in which Pan is asked by a horror site to write a guest post for their blog, to promote her book series (yes, in this instance she’s aware that I write books based on her adventures). I originally wrote it as a real-life guest post for a site called Writing Belle, and Panatics enjoyed the meta aspect of it.
Give the site a look-over—we’ve got plenty of free stuff you can download, and a gallery called “The 13 Days of Pan-demonium”: 13 unique drawings of Pan and Annie by a host of talented artists. And when you’re done, don’t forget to Like Pan’s Facebook page, so you can keep up-to-date with all the latest news.
And please keep in mind that Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, is not just a YA fiction house. It also publishes illustrated classics (including J. Sheridan’s Le Fanu’s vampire romance Carmilla and Edgar Rice Burroughs’s A Princess of Mars); graphic novels for superhero fans and adult horror aficionados; digital and print comic books; and artist sketchbooks. Give them a visit and check out all they have to offer.
With the 2015 Brooklyn Book Festival being held this Sunday, and with StarWarp Concepts as one of its exhibitors, I thought the timing couldn’t be better to remind book lovers just what The Saga of Pandora Zwieback is about. And what better way to accomplish that goal than to run the guest post/short promotional story that I originally wrote for the online magazine Writing Belle, back in May? If you missed it the first time around, allow me to introduce you to:
“Pandora Zwieback and the Bloggy Thing”
A Gothy Tale of Self-Promotion by Steven A. Roman
“A guest post? I don’t know how to write one of those things!”
Pandora Zwieback crossed her arms and sat back as she stared in frustration at her laptop’s screen, as though the computer would have any better luck in coming up with the words that eluded her, but the machine only stared blankly back at her. It was so frustrating. Stupid computer.
Pan sighed. When Omaima Ramiya, the managing editor of the Society of Classic Monsters website, had first contacted her, she’d thought the woman really wanted to talk to her dad, David, who owned Renfield’s House of Horrors and Mystical Antiquities—after all, Renfield’s was the only horror-themed museum in the New York borough of Queens; wouldn’t it make sense to interview its director? He would’ve known what to write about. But no, Ms. Ramiya was more interested in learning about the teenaged Goth with the supernatural gift that allowed her to see through the human disguises worn by the creatures of the night that really existed in the world. Although initially shocked that anyone outside her parents and immediate circle of friends was even aware she possessed “monstervision” (as Pan called it), it all became clear when Ms. Ramiya explained that it was their mutual friend Annie who’d put her in touch, Annie suggesting that SoCM’s visitors might be interested in learning about her adventurous young friend.
Annie: otherwise known as Sebastienne Mazarin. An immortal, shape-shifting monster hunter who’d spent the last four hundred years protecting the world from the vampires, werewolves, and whatevers that stalked the shadows in search of human prey. Annie was currently acting as Pan’s mentor, helping the girl in trying to understand the strange powers she possessed.
Standing behind Pan, Sheena McCarthy leaned over to rest her chin on the top of her best friend’s head, and peered at the blank screen. “Y’know, if you’re waitin’ for that thing to write it for you, you’re gonna be waitin’ a looong time, Zee.”
Pan hmmf’d. “Well, it’s not like I can think of anything to say, Sheen. I mean, how do you tell the whole world that before Annie came along, I’d spent the last ten years being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic because I’ve been seeing monsters since I was six—and I don’t even know why I started seeing them in the first place? Or that Annie was the one who proved to me and my parents that I’d never had a mental illness to begin with, that this weird monstervision is some kinda superpower I’ve been gifted with for whatever reason—”
“Not to mention that other power, the one that lets you heal faster from wounds and stuff, like a gothy Wolverine from the X-Men.”
“Yeah, I don’t know where that’s coming from, either.” It was a pretty cool power, though—not only did it help her recover quickly from some of the scrapes she found herself in, but she could also use it to fix other people’s injuries. So, less like Wolverine and more like a walking first-aid kit. But it sure did come in handy—some of the damage she’d taken from monsters she’d faced could have turned out downright lethal without that healing factor.
“So just write all that stuff down,” Sheena said. “I don’t see what’s the big deal. I thought you were supposed to be the big Renaissance woman: writer, artist, monster fighter”—she flashed a wicked little smile and wrapped her arms around Pan’s shoulders—“loooverrr…or at least that’s what I’m figurin’, what with you makin’ googly eyes at your boyfriend Javier all the time.” A tiny grunt of annoyance slid past her lips as she released her friend, before taking a seat on the corner of Pan’s bed. “Still don’t think it’s right, you datin’ a Yankees fan when you’re a die-hard Mets fan like me, but I guess I’ll just have to learn to live with that unholy alliance.” She sighed dramatically.
Pan frowned at Sheen’s reflection in the monitor. “Quiet, you. And yes, you will have to learn to live with it. Now shut up and help me write this thing.”
Sheen thought it over for a few seconds. “Okay, how about this? ‘My name is Pandora Zwieback. I’m a sixteen-year-old Goth chick with the power to see every monster and ghoul out to raise a little hell in my New York City hometown. But with the help of an immortal monster hunter named Annie, I’m gonna protect the city and the world from the forces of darkness…and maybe even have some fun doing it! This is…The Saga of Pandora Zwieback!’ Whattaya think?”
Pan made a gagging sound and rolled her eyes. “That is awful. It sounds like some kinda lame-ass TV show introduction.”
Sheen grinned. “I totally cribbed the style off’a The Flash and iZombie.”
Pan shrugged. “I’ll take it.” She scooted her chair up to her desk and started typing. “Should I work in that there’s a Saga of Pandora Zwieback young adult novel series about me, published by StarWarp Concepts? The one written by the guy who did those X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy and Final Destination novels?”
“What, that Steven A. Roman dude? Oh, hells, yes! I mean, you’re supposed to be gettin’ royalties from those things, aren’t you? ’Cause it’s your life he’s writin’ about.” Pan nodded. “So yeah, then do a little pimpin’ and let folks know there’re two books out already: Blood Feud and Blood Reign, and they’re about you and me and Annie and Javi and your mom and dad gettin’ pulled into that crazy vampire war, with all those clans from around the world that were lookin’ for some kinda secret weapon that would help ’em take over the world.”
“Uh-huh. Only it turned out the ‘secret weapon’ was really the skeleton of a fallen angel named Zaqiel who’d tried to wipe out humanity, like, a couple hundred years ago. And the one who’d stopped him back then was Annie. But eventually his skeleton wound up at my dad’s museum, where all the vampires showed up to fight over it.” Pan swallowed nervously. “And then things went…really bad…”
She shook her head to dispel the disturbing memories. “Should I put in that critics have been going crazy over the books?” That had surprised her even more than a publishing company making an offer to tell her story, that there were people who weren’t just interested in reading about her, but that their online reviews of both Blood Feud and Blood Reign had been so enthusiastic and full of praise. It was kind of embarrassing, in a way—especially when she’d learned that StarWarp Concepts had christened these readers “Panatics” (ugh)—but she had to admit the ego boost was pretty sweet. No one had ever considered her a role model before; hell, she’d never considered herself a role model before. It was a…nice feeling.
“Rave reviews?” Sheen replied. “Sure. Throw it all in. Give ’em the hard sell, like my dad would say. Be totally shameless.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Pan said with a grin. Now that Sheen had given her a starting point, even if she had sort of swiped it from TV shows, and they’d talked it out, the writing was becoming a little easier. She still felt odd talking about herself this way, though. Pan chuckled. “Me, writing a guest post about a book series that’s about me. I don’t think you can get any more meta than that.”
“You could, if you were in a movie, writin’ a short story about how you were writin’ a guest post about a book series that’s about you. That would be, like, totally mind-blowin’.”
Not as mind-blowing as hunting monsters alongside her friends and an immortal shape-shifter, Pan thought with a smile. And her adventures were only beginning…
Written by Steven A. Roman and published by StarWarp Concepts, Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 and Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 are currently available for order from online and brick-and-mortar bookstores, and in e-book formats from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Scribd, and Oyster Books. For more information, as well as sample chapters and sales links, please visit www.starwarpconcepts.com.
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback™ and © 1998, 2015 Steven A. Roman and Uriel Caton. “Pandora Zwieback and the Bloggy Thing” © 2015 Steven A. Roman.
Because even teenage goth-chick monster hunters can be hard core. And because it’s never too late to jump on a meme. 😀
Mark your calendars, Panatics, because on October 2, 2015, Steven A. Roman (that’s me), author of the popular dark-urban-fantasy series The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, will be appearing live on the radio show Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction! Host Dr. Howard Margolin and I will be discussing all things Zwieback, and probably cover a few other topics, as well (hey, we’ve got a half-hour to fill). Be sure to tune in!
Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction—currently celebrating its 32nd anniversary—is broadcast live on Fridays at 11:30 p.m. ET on WUSB, 90.1 FM, the radio station of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. For more information, plus an extensive archive of past episodes, head to the Destinies website.
Unfamiliar with The Saga of Pandora Zwieback? Well, then allow me to fill you in:
Pandora Zwieback is 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 an immortal, shape-shifting mopnster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” 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. You’ll find Pan and Annie battling evil in the following titles:
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0: A free, downloadable comic that serves as an introduction to Pan and Annie—with an 8-page story written by me and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia—as well as Pan’s first novel, Blood Feud (via a pair of preview chapters).
Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1: This critically acclaimed novel is the beginning of Pan’s story, explaining how she, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans 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. It’s a character-driven action-fest that leads immediately into the second novel:
Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2: Pan and Annie face even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover!
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1: A spinoff from the novel series, this 56-page, full-color comic special finds the teenaged Goth adventuress battling vampires and a jealous, man-stealing siren. It features stories by me and Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up), art by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0), comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), and Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), and cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella).
Blood Feud, Blood Reign, and the Pan Annual are available in print and digital formats. Pandora Zwieback #0 is a digital exclusive. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages and chapters.
The 2015 Brooklyn Book Festival is being held on Sunday, September 20, and StarWarp Concepts (and me, of course) will be there!
Booth 310 will our home for the day; as always, just look for the Pandora Zwieback banner. As you can see on the map, we’ll be in a new location at the south end of the plaza (we were closer to the north end, the past two years), but getting moved around by showrunners is to be expected when a successful convention expands—they have to make room for new exhibitors, after all. And BBF has been nothing if not successful.
Manning the booth will be SWC head Steven A. Roman (hey, that’s me!), author of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback. And joining me will be bestselling fantasy author Richard C. White (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil), who’ll be promoting his own StarWarp Concepts projects: the supernatural-superheroes graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings; the pirate-fantasy digital comic The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special; and his upcoming release, the fantasy writers’ reference book, Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination.
On sale will be the Saga of Pandora Zwieback novels Blood Feud and Blood Reign; the comics The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 and Lorelei Presents: House Macabre; the illustrated classics A Princess of Mars and Carmilla; the graphic novels Lorelei: Sects and the City and Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings; and the Official Pandora Zwieback T-shirt. (While supplies last, of course.) I’ll even be dragging some of my non-SWC works out of storage, so if you’ve ever wanted to purchase copies of my X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy novels, my young adult superhero graphic novel Sunn, or the anthology Best New Zombie Tales, Vol. 2, then here’s the place to find them! (Also while supplies last, BTW.)
The Brooklyn Book Festival is open on Sunday, September 20, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and is located at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, 209 Joralemon Street. For more information, including travel directions, head over to the festival website.
The online promotional tour for StarWarp Concepts and its latest young adult, dark-urban-fantasy novel, Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2, continues at the site Interviews with Writers, where site co-owner Deborah Carney interviews author Steven A. Roman (that’s me), SWC’s chief bottle washer and the genius (or is that madman?) behind the Pandora Zwieback novels. We cover topics like what inspires me to write, my decision to publish the Pan books, and a few others you might find of interest. Head over to Interviews with Writers and check it out!
And in case you hadn’t heard the news, over at my Goodreads author page I’ve activated the “Ask the Author” function. So if you’re a Goodreads member and you’ve got a question about The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Lorelei: Sects and the City, or any of the other projects I’ve written over the years, head over there now and ask away!
The Collingswood Book Festival returns for its lucky 13th anniversary this October, to fill the streets of this quaint New Jersey town with book lovers, and StarWarp Concepts will be making its debut appearance there! Booth #24 will be our home for the day; as always, look for the distinctive Pandora Zwieback banner.
Unfamiliar with the Collingswood Book Festival? Well, to quote the festival’s site:
The 13th Annual Collingswood Book Festival makes a triumphant return as bibliophiles converge in this historic South Jersey town to celebrate everything about the written word. The Collingswood Book Festival is a big literary event that exudes small-town, friendly ambience. Festival-goers will have an opportunity to stroll more than six blocks of Haddon Avenue filled with nationally recognized authors/speakers for adults and children, as well as booksellers, storytellers, poetry readings, workshops, exhibitors and performance stages. All events are free.
Collingswood Book Festival takes place—rain or shine—on Saturday, October 3, 2015, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, including travel directions, visit the CBF website.
Hope to see you there!
Today is the sixth International Read Comics in Public Day. Started in 2010 by Brian Heater and Sarah Morean, it’s an annual appreciation of comic books and graphic novels, demonstrated by folks not afraid to celebrate their reading choices by taking them out in public. For some reason, though, Heater and Morean seem to have abandoned their literacy campaign—the RCiP Facebook page hasn’t been updated since 2012—but it’s such a nifty idea that Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, thought it was high time this event was revived…especially since they have a couple of Pandora Zwieback comics you could be reading today!
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0: A free, downloadable comic that serves as an introduction to the adventures of Pandora Zwieback and her monster-hunting mentor, Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, with an 8-page story written by me and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia, and a preview of Pan’s first novel, Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1. Pan is 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 Annie 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.
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1: A spinoff from the novel series, this 56-page, full-color comic special—with cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella)—finds the teenaged Goth adventuress battling vampires and a jealous, man-stealing siren. It features three original stories of what I’ve termed the “Paniverse”—tales that take place within the fictional universe of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback.
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual is available in print and digital formats. Pandora Zwieback #0 is a digital exclusive. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages. And then get out there and start reading them in public
The 10th Anniversary Brooklyn Book Festival is less than a month away, and StarWarp Concepts will be there! We’ve just received our location notice for this hugely popular literary celebration, and booth 310 will be our home for the day; as always, just look for the distinctive Pandora Zwieback banner. And scheduled to join me this year is bestselling fantasy author Richard C. White, who’s the author of two SWC titles: the pirate-fantasy digital comic The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special; and Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings, a general readers’ graphic novel about a group of supernatural-superheroes-for-hire taking on their first case.
The Brooklyn Book Festival takes place on September 20, 2015, and is located at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, 209 Joralemon Street. For more information, including travel directions and lists of the exhibitors and authors who’ll be appearing, head over to the festival website.