Painted Covers? What’s Up With That?!

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Early in the process of conceptualizing the cover style for the Saga of Pandora Zwieback novels, I toyed with the idea of a photo shoot—hiring a model to dress as Pan, and then using her pictures for the book covers. Then I realized the costs that would be involved: the model and the photographer (not to mention that the pics for all the book covers would have to be taken in one session); the makeup artist and the hairstylist (or at least a really good black wig with a blond streak painted on); and, most of all, the costume.

Okay, black jeans were not a problem, the pentagram choker could be cobbled together, and adding the devil-girl face to a black T-shirt was as simple as running out its image on an iron-on transfer from my inkjet printer… but that jacket. That flame-sleeved, bat-shoulder-ornamented jacket. Where the hell would I ever find that? They don’t sell those things at Walmart, y’know. And what might it cost to have one made?

Numbers began piling up in my head. And this didn’t even figure in the prospect of hiring an Annie model as well—and you know how complicated her outfit is!

Ultimately, I decided to go with painted covers by Bob Larkin. Not just because he’s an incredible artist, not just because a live-action Pan might have cost way too much for my small-press budget, but because… well, have you seen the covers of most Young Adult vampire-related novels lately?

They all use photographs. And they all. Look. The. Same. They don’t even look vaguely vampiric. I’m amazed that, outside of the author bylines, people can tell the difference between one series and another.

 

Now, I’m not a dope. I know there’s a certain appeal to portrait shots of attractive women on dark-fantasy covers—why do you think the StarWarp Concepts reprint of J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s vampire novella Carmilla has one? But at least we gave her red eyes so you’d know she was one of the undead!  😀

With Pan, however, I thought (and still think) it was the right decision to go with painted covers. It helps the series stand out from the multitude of pretty headshots, and allows us to be more dramatic with the images: the iconic-yet-attitudinal pose on Book 1; the bloodthirsty Goth Loli holding Pan on Book 2; the snarling werewolf stalking Pan and Annie on Book 3, the… well, I won’t say what the other covers will involve. “Spoilers!” as Professor River Song says on Doctor Who. Yet, after the first three paintings were completed, I still wondered if it were even possible to create an actual replica of Pan’s leather jacket.

And then came the day when Bob Larkin made it happen…


Blood Feud: Not Just for Dark Fantasy Readers

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It’s a new month, with a new outpouring of love for Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1!

Over at the Web site for the weekly podcast Sci-Fi Saturday Night, reviewer “The Dome” has posted his thoughts on Pan and Annie’s first adventure:

“Equal parts Sorcerer’s Apprentice and 48 Hours, this is a mystic roller-coaster ride that glimpses a demonic past and uncertain future in the hands of two unlikely women who the fates have paired.”

Read the entire review here.

48 Hours, huh? Hmmm… I guess Pan would be Eddie Murphy, with Nick Nolte as Annie. (How’s that for a weird visual?) Well, Pan could certainly sing “Roxanne” all high-pitched and off-key, so it might work…  😉

Bonus News! “Illustrator X,” the guest coordinator for Sci-Fi Saturday Night, contacted me about doing an interview for one of the podcasts—of course I said yes! Stay tuned for further developments.

Happy Halloween!

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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?

Zwieback: The Recommended Cure for Sparkly-Emo-Vampire Fiction

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What better way to celebrate this post–New York Comic Con 2011 week than with more great reactions to the arrival of our favorite Goth girl on the monster-hunting scene?

First off, the prestigious Midwest Book Review has posted their review for Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1:

“Blood Feud is a fun and very much recommended read that shouldn’t be overlooked.”

Read the entire review here.

Then, over at the pop-culture site The Sexy Armpit, journalist Jay Amabile gives his thoughts about the Pan Zwieback introductory comic that he picked up at the StarWarp Concepts booth, during Comic Con:

“Cooler than Buffy, tougher than the emo wimps in Twilight, Pandora is a teenage goth girl fighting off ghouls and monsters in New York City.”

Read the rest of his super-positive recommendation of Pan in part 1 of his NYCC 2011 report.

Zwieback: Now an Official Goth-approved Brain Food!

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I might be in the middle of attending New York Comic Con this weekend, but that doesn’t keep the good news from continuing for Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1!

Lillian Hawkins of the Goth-culture site Gothic Blend has posted a great review:

“This modern day, urban Goth horror will have readers turning the pages to discover how Pandora comes to terms with a very old problem . . . encountering the monsters among us!”

Read the entire review here.

Cry Havoc!

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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…

Enter: The Girl With the Cookie Name 2

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Back on August 24th, I introduced you to Pandora Zwieback 1.0: a pregnant teenage runaway who was the main character in a never-completed screenplay titled The Nightlife Ain’t No Good Life. And now the secret origin of Pandora Zwieback continues!

PANDORA ZWIEBACK

An unofficial member of the group, 16-year-old Pandora is Trent’s older sister and the group’s “guardian,” having been appointed as such by the kids’ parents.

Quick-tempered and a touch cynical, Pan resents having to “babysit” a bunch of nerdy kids. What especially annoys her is that Hector obviously has a crush on her, and she’s just not that interested in a “kid” as a boyfriend.

Pan is the member that gives the group their mobility, since she’s the only one old enough to drive a car, which she does with all the hypermobility and instincts of an Indianapolis Raceway driver. This sometimes makes her more of a danger to the kids than whatever threat they happen to be facing.

What you see above is the character description of Pandora Zwieback 2.0—no longer a pregnant teen runaway, but still not a Goth monster hunter; in fact, here she’s not even the lead, but a supporting character!

But what exactly is “here”? Who are Hector and Trent? And what’s with the “bunch of nerdy kids”?

In 1995, I was working as an assistant editor at Byron Preiss Visual Publications, a book-packaging company here in New York. My boss was Howard Zimmerman (who recently edited the first Pan novel, Blood Feud). One day Howard mentioned that a friend of his, Sandy Fritz, an editor at Popular Science Magazine. Seems the company had expressed an interest in publishing a version of the magazine aimed at younger readers, to be called PopSci for Kids.

About a week later I presented Sandy with a proposal for The Braintrust: a group of highly intelligent, science-oriented teens and tweens who’d have exciting adventures in each issue of the magazine. (Hector was Pan’s maybe-boyfriend; Trent was her younger brother.) Included were drawings of the characters by David C. Matthews, a small-press artist with whom I’d been working on the original run of my Lorelei comic. As you can see, there are no traces of gothiness in fact, this version of Pan. In fact, she seems to favor Banana Republic over Hot Topic for her outfits!

Capping off the proposal was the script for the first one-page segment. The story had the kids attending a science fair, where bad guys were in the process of stealing a special computer that was on display. With Pan behind the wheel of the family car, the Braintrust goes into high-speed pursuit—only for one of the bad guys to throw a hand grenade at them!

To be continued!

…or not. Unfortunately, Pop Sci was a little horrified that I’d put the kids in such over-the-top danger, and canceled the project. Throwing grenades at children—really?

Well, hey, you wanted an adventure strip, right? Didn’t anybody over there grow up watching old Johnny Quest cartoons on Saturday mornings?

Oh, well…

Looking back on the project, and Pan’s role as the grumpy older sister to a smarter younger sibling, I now realize that in 1995 I created the basic idea of Disney’s animated series Phineas and Ferb, with Pan as their older sister, Candace! If only I’d thought to include musical numbers and a secret-agent platypus…

Happy Banned Books Week!

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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!

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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!