Tag Archives: 2019 plans

Panapalooza 2019 Continues!

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monster-mania-logoBack on January 30, I told you about two conventions stops I’d set up for 2019—MinCon in July and CT Horrorfest in September. Well, you can add one more to the tally, coming this fall:

October 4–6: Monster-Mania Con: Held at the Delta Hotel Marriott in Hunt Valley, Maryland, this horror con has been growing in attendance every year—and no wonder, considering the caliber of genre guests they always manage to bring in. So far they’ve already got Mr. “Evil Dead” himself, Bruce Campbell, on board, as well as Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen—stars of the original Candyman (there’s a remake currently in development)—and Danielle Harris of Halloween fame.

With CT Horrorfest in September, that now means StarWarp Concepts will be exhibiting at two major terror fests this year, so if you’re attending either show (or both!), be sure to stop by the dealers’ rooms to pick up all the SWC titles you’re missing.

More news to come on other SWC convention appearances as information becomes available!

Down the Convention Path We Go…

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ForestRoad-KarenArnold-PubDomPics

As I mentioned back in the January 7 post, in addition to the long-awaited release of the third Pan novel, Blood & Iron, Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts (in other words, me), is making plans for convention appearances this year—the first time we’ve been on the road since…let me check…March 2016, at the Big Apple Con in Manhattan. So that means we’re long overdue for going adventuring—join us, won’t you?

We’ve currently got two venues locked in: MinCon in July, and CT Horrorfest in September, with others to come.

MinCon is a one-day show held every two years at the Mineola Memorial Library in Mineola, New York (located on Long Island), “celebrating comics, fantasy, science fiction, gaming, and anime,” as their site says. This year, it’s being held on Saturday, July 13; you’ll find the SWC table somewhere among the stacks of library books—I’ll let you know exactly where as soon as I find out.

CT Horrorfest is Connecticut’s sole horror convention, and this one-day gathering of monster kids keeps getting bigger every year. In 2019 it’s being held on September 14 at the Naugatuck Event Center in the town of Naugatuck (located in New Haven County), right at the corner of Rubber Avenue and…Elm Street?! Huh. I’m probably gonna need one of those clicker-counter things to keep track of all the Freddy Kruegers sure to show up for photo ops…

More information on both shows—and other convention appearances—as the information becomes available!

(Photo by Karen Arnold, courtesy of Public Domain Pictures)

StarWarp Concepts’ Other 2019 Plans

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Tales-Sorta-Tremble-CvrBack on Monday, I clued you in to some of the publishing plans in the works by Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts. Well, if you head over to the SWC blog, you can read all about the remaining titles they’ve got lined up this year.

There are a couple comic projects starring Lorelei, a Mature Readers succubus character I created in 1989 (making 2019 her 30th anniversary). Lori is my homage to the horror comics I grew up with in the seventies, like Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night, Ghost Rider, Son of Satan, and Man-Thing, and Warren Publishing’s outer-space vampiress, Vampirella.

And speaking of Vampirella, there’s a special nonfiction book I’m working on that you can learn about in the SWC blog post.

There are also two more SWC Horror Bites chapbooks that’ll drop in time for Halloween and Christmas—the cover for one you can see up top.

Go check it out!

StarWarp Concepts’ 2019 Plans

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Mortal-Immortal-CvrLast week I told you that the next Pan novel, Blood & Iron: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 3, is scheduled to come out this year from her publisher, StarWarp Concepts. Well, Pan’s book isn’t the only title they have lined up for 2019, and if you head on over to the SWC blog you can read about the start of their publishing plans.

There’s a new entry in the SWC Horror Bites chapbook series, this one by Mary Shelley, the legendary author/creator of Frankenstein; a collection of dark-urban-fantasy stories by author Richard C. White, about a detective whose clients tend to be creatures of the night; a one-shot comic collecting my old small-press stories starring my succubus character, Lorelei; and Blood & Iron, of course!

Go give it a read!

Takin’ Care of Business

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blood-and-iron-cvrHappy 2019! Better buckle up, it’s gonna be a fast-paced year—especially for our favorite teenaged Goth chick!

She’s been shot at by vampires, killed by a fallen angel, come back from the dead, and nearly trampled in a zombie stampede for sweets, she’s maybe started to fall in love with a boy named Javier, and her mother’s been turned into a vampire, but teenaged Goth Pandora Zwieback has a whole new set of challenges facing her in the latest volume of her adventures: Blood & Iron: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 3!

That’s right: After a four-year gap after the previous volume, Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 (sorry about that), the conclusion to Pan’s first literary adventure will finally make its debut, bringing to an end an epic story that started in the critically acclaimed novel Blood Feud. That doesn’t mean it’s the end of Pan’s adventures—I’ve got plenty of others in mind!

Spoilers ahead: When we last saw Pan, she, Javier, and their friend, the immortal, shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, were trapped on a remote South Pacific island, and the fallen angel Zaqiel—not just Annie’s former lover, but the creature who had killed Pan and turned her mother vampiric—was leading an army of monsters to free his fellow bad angels. Could things possibly get any worse? Well, if you asked Pan, she’d probably say that’s a rhetorical question when it comes to her increasingly complicated life—and she’d be right!

But it’s not just Blood & Iron that’ll be coming out this year—after a 3-year hiatus, StarWarp Concepts (and therefore yours truly) will be stumbling out from its subterranean headquarters to hit the convention trail again. We’ll be attendng a mix of street fairs, libraries, and horror conventions to spread the word about SWC’s widening range of titles—including Pan’s, of course!

In October, Pan will be hosting her first Countdown to Halloween—an annual event started by writer John Rossum in 2006 that involves a wealth of bloggers posting 31 straight days of Halloween- and horror-themed entries to help get you in the mood for All Hallows’ Eve. I’ll also have some bonus material to pique your interest over at the StarWarp Concepts blog.

And in December, because 31 straight days of Halloween blog posting apparently isn’t enough punishment for me, Pan will be joining in on the 13 Days of Creepmas, another online event that celebrates terrors of the Yuletide variety.

It’s gonna be a busy time at Zwieback Central this year, so stay tuned for further information!