Blood Reign: Teaser Snippet #1

Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2—author Steven A. Roman’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed first Pandora Zwieback novel, Blood Feud—goes on sale Monday, February 2, 2015. And to whet your reading appetite, hot on the heels of yesterday’s reminder for you to download the special Blood Reign preview, here’s a little snippet of the other thrills you’ll find within its pages:

BloodReign-Snippet1

Blood Reign: Read the Sneak Preview

BloodReign_FreebieBlood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2, the highly anticipated second part of Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback’s debut adventure, is scheduled to make its debut on February 2, 2015. But why wait until then to learn how things turned out for Pan after the shocking cliffhanger ending of her first novel, Blood Feud?

Available right now for your reading pleasure is a special Blood Reign preview, which you can download for free from the website of Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts. If you thought Pan suffered a major setback at the end of Blood Feud…well, matters only worsen for her as she finds herself in a brand-new predicament. Then again, it wouldn’t be much of an adventure series if the threats to the protagonist didn’t get bigger along the way, now would it?

Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 is written by me: Steven A. Roman, the bestselling author of the novels X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy (based on the mega-successful Marvel Comics franchise) and Final Destination: Dead Man’s Hand (based on the popular horror film series). And when it comes to horror credentials, in addition to Blood Feud and Blood Reign I wrote the critically acclaimed Mature Readers graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City (about a succubus fighting a cult of Elder God worshippers), and contributed well-received short stories to the anthologies Best New Zombies Tales 2, The Dead Walk Again!, Tales of the Shadowmen 4: Lords of Terror, and The Almanac of Vampires. So, yes, I know horror. Besides, where do you think Pan got her love of the genre from (other than her fictional dad, David Zwieback, of course)?

Read the Blood Reign preview now, and then get ready for Ms. Zwieback’s triumphant return on February 2, 2015!

Blood Reign: And Now a Word From Our Sponsors…

BloodReign-Johnny-Ad

Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2—author Steven A. Roman’s highly anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed first Pandora Zwieback novel, Blood Feud—goes on sale Monday, February 2, 2015. Don’t miss it!

“Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.”HorrorNews.net

“Roman has an incredible gift for running lateral plotlines that intersect with a glorious crash.”Monster Librarian

“Roman’s writing is wonderfully crisp, drawing us into a hidden world that is great fun.”Taliesin Meets the Vampires

“Pan is a smart and brave heroine who manages to stay positive and upbeat, despite the obstacles she must overcome.”The Horror Zine

Taking Care of Business

Welcome, Panatics, to a New Year and a new publishing schedule! It’s been a while since you and I talked, and let me deeply apologize for that. But as you saw here from that teaser posted yesterday, there’s some good news that I’m sure you Panatics were greatly interested in… 😉

blood_reign-coverYes, after many delays Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 is finally being published, on Monday, February 2nd, and let me thank all of you for your patience. I know I was a right SOB for leaving you where I did with that cliffhanger ending of Book 1, Blood Feud, but now at last you’ll be able to find out what adventures lie ahead for our resident happy Goth.

(By the way, if you can’t wait that long, you can always download the Blood Reign free sample chapter from the StarWarp Concepts website, and discover what happened to Pan directly following Blood Feud’s ending.)

If you head over to the StarWarp Concepts blog and read today’s post—I’ve been referring to it as the State of the StarWarp Concepts Union address—you’ll find out exactly what’s been going on over at Pan’s publisher, as well as what’s going to be happening this year to get things back on track.

As for this blog…well, I’ve got some exciting stuff coming up, as Blood Reign’s release date gets closer. Stay tuned!

Angels and Monster Hunters

blood_feudHey, there, lovers of genre television! You may be aware that tonight is the broadcast debut of Dominion on the SyFy Channel. A sequel of sorts to the 2010 Paul Bettany–starring film Legion, the series stars Christopher Egan and Anthony Stewart Head and takes place 25 years into an ongoing war between humanity and God’s army of angels. Well, if angels—either arch or fallen—are your thing, then perhaps we here at ’Warp Central can interest you in a tale of our own that involves those heavenly—and not so heavenly—messengers…

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is the first novel in a series of adventures starring a teenaged Goth who has the power to see past the human disguises worn by the ever-growing community of monsters (vampires, werewolves, sirens, etc.) that exist in her world, and especially in her New York City hometown. Blood Feud sees Pan, along with her family and friends, get drawn into a war among rival vampire clans for possession of a rare antiquity: the remains of Zaqiel, a fallen angel who once tried to take over the world!

blood_reign-coverBlood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 (on sale later this summer) is the second part of Pan’s epic adventure. Zaqiel is back among the living, badder than ever, and it’s up to Pan and her small band of angel busters—which includes her boyfriend, her best friend, and Zaqiel’s ex-lover, the immortal monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin—to stop the fallen angel from leading his armies of horrors in an all-out assault on humanity.

Visit the Blood Feud and Blood Reign product pages for more information, including sales links and sample chapters.

Welcome, Eternal Con 2014 Attendees!

Thanks for stopping by the StarWarp Concepts booth this weekend, and for your interest in my Goth adventuress, Pandora Zwieback. If you’re here because you spoke with me, then go ahead and download the Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 digital comic that I showed you; just click on the cover in the right-hand sidebar and save it as a PDF. 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.

blood_feudThe Saga of Pandora Zwieback is the critically acclaimed 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 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 Annie can explain further, Pan 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.

Pan’s adventure continues in the upcoming 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!

Also on sale right now is The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, which features two brand-new adventures of Pan and her friends that are separate from the novels: a full-color comic story, in which Pan and her boyfriend, Javier, run into one of his ex-girlfriends…whom Pan can see is really a mythological siren that can enrapture men with its voice; and a short story that pits Pan, Annie, and Javier against a trio of Elegant Gothic Lolita vampires—in a shopping mall!

Carmilla_CoverAnd 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, the Brothers Grimm’s Snow White, 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.

Hopefully I’ll see you again on September 21, at the Brooklyn Book Festival. See you there!

Blood Reign Preview Available for Download

BloodReign_FreebieDon’t worry, Panatics, the wait is almost over! The highly anticipated Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2—the second part of Pan’s debut literary adventure that began in the novel Blood Feud—is on its way (and I deeply apologize for the lengthy delay between books), but in the meantime you can download a free chapter of Blood Reign!

Dying to learn Pan’s fate after Blood Feud’s shocking climax? Well, of course you are! Then get ahold of the preview today and discover how the terror that Pan experienced at the end of Blood Feud is only the beginning of her saga…

Just go to the Blood Reign product page at StarWarp Concepts, scroll down to the free preview, download the PDF, and start reading!

Blood Reign: The Bad News and the Good News

“You want this, don’t you? The hate is swelling in you now…”

First off, loyal Pan-atics, I have to pass along the bad news: Despite my best efforts, Blood Reign, the second Pandora Zwieback novel, won’t be making its October 9 release date. Despite my best efforts to publish a book I’d be happy with (and you’d be happy with, as well) it’s not quite where I want it to be. And since I’m a stickler for perfection I just can’t let it go out. Not right now. Sorry. As TV host Craig Ferguson says, “I look forward to your angry letters.”

However, there is some good news. In order to take the sting out of not having Pan’s latest adventure on hand, StarWarp Concepts is making the following publications available—for free:

Blood Oath: A short story that you’ll be able to download as a PDF from the Pandora Zwieback Web site. Set between the events of Blood Feud and Blood Reign, it explains what became of House Karnstein’s vampiric strike-team leader Jenessa Branislav after she and her soldiers learned firsthand how foolish it is to attack monster hunter Sebastienne Mazarin in her home. And since Jenessa returns to complicate Annie’s life in the pages of Blood Reign, you’ll definitely want to check out this brand-new addition to Pan’s saga. The story will go live on October 11.

(By the way, what you see here is a dummy cover for the story that I cobbled together. Trust me, the final version by a professional designer will look much better.)  😀

Blood Reign—Special Sneak Preview: If you bought a copy of Blood Feud in the past year-plus and you’re attending next week’s New York Comic Con, come to the StarWarp Concepts booth (#2139) and receive this special printing of Blood Reign’s unedited first chapter, in its entirety. And yes, that cover art is a brand-new illustration by Eliseu Gouveia, artist of the still-free downloadable comic The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0.

Curious about what happened to Pan after Blood Feud’s shocking cliffhanger? Of course you are! Well, this is the place to find out until the novel goes on sale. Supplies will be limited (because I honestly know exactly how many copies of Feud have been sold to date), so get your copy while you can. (More than likely this preview will also appear as a PDF on the Pandora Zwieback site, after the convention and until the book goes on sale, so that Pan’s worldwide fans can join in on the excitement.)

Also for NYCC attendees, The ’Warp be making this one-time offer: If you’re willing to pay us what you would have spent at the show for a copy of Blood Reign, and give us your mailing address, we’ll send you an autographed copy of the book as soon as it’s available, with no extra charges. Think of it as a preorder…on a very late book.

I’ll keep you updated on the book’s progress, but at this point I’m not going to announce a definite publication date. I will, say, though, that when it’s done it means I’m happy with the results. And then I’ll have to immediately jump on the next Pan novel, the werewolf-centric Stalkers, so this problem never happens again.

I appreciate your loyalty and your understanding. And if you do plan on stopping by the SWC booth, please leave your pitchforks and torches at home—the con rules prohibit weapons and open flames.  😉