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:
- “Song of the Siren,” written by me and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0) involves Pan and her boyfriend, Javi, attending one of his family’s picnics in Central Park, and running into an ex-girlfriend of Javi’s. An awkward situation, to be sure, made even worse by the realization that with her monstervision, Pan can see the girl is really a siren: a creature from Greek mythology that can hypnotize men with its voice!
- “After Hours” is by writer Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up) and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld)
- “Shopping Maul” is a short story written by me, with title-page art by Elizabeth Watasin (writer/artist of Charm School). Pan, Javi, and their friends stop by a Queens mall to do a bit of window-shopping—only to find themselves caught in the middle of a fight between Gothic Lolita vampires and Pan’s monster-hunting mentor, Annie!
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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!
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!
For Mr. Peabody, I wrote the script, drew the storyboards, and directed the in-studio segments from the control room—but then I had to go and complicate things by wanting to shoot at other locations: an office for a scene involving computers, and a couple scenes in which characters walked down city streets. And that involved lugging around video-recording equipment like the Sony setup you see here (courtesy of Wikipedia); that’s right, it had a separate tape deck—and worse, the tapes were Betamax, the small, boxy precursor to VHS that became obsolete as soon as VHS was accepted as the standard format for videotapes. Schlepping around a camera, a tape deck, and a tripod was a major pain in the butt—especially because my weekend shoots meant no one from the class was available to help out—but, y’know, that’s how we did things back in the days of the dinosaurs. (You kids, with your cell-phone cameras and tiny recorders and the like—you’ve got it easy!) But what did I care—I was too wired on coffee and lack of sleep to be slowed down by things like hauling equipment. Nothing was gonna stop me!
Lucy Deakins, who played Amanda, is best remembered for her role in the 1986 cult film The Boy Who Could Fly, but she also appeared—according to her Internet Movie DataBase page—in the comedy The Great Outdoors (starring John Candy and Dan Aykroyd), the movies Cheetah and There Goes My Baby, an ABC Afterschool Special in which she sued a boy for standing her up on a date, and a couple of episodes of Law & Order. She left the acting profession in 2002 and became an attorney (well, that involves a bit of acting, too, doesn’t it?). Lucy also made a terrific Amanda Waters, too.
Michael J. Harney (seen here in a recent picture) played Amanda’s father. You recognize him, don’t you? He’s one of those famous “I know you, you’re that guy whose name I can’t remember” character actors you’ve seen in dozens of movies and television episodes. Michael’s sort of made a career of playing law-enforcement types over the decades, mostly as detectives in shows like Law & Order, NYPD Blue, and Without a Trace; he also played Xander’s father in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Two of his most recent high-profile appearances have been as a supporting character on the first season of HBO’s megapopular series True Detective (starring Matthew McConaghey and Woody Harrelson); and in a recurring role on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black.