And Now For Something Completely Different…

Posted on July 23, 2012 by steven

Well, after weeks of staring at this page every time I log on to Safari (it’s my home page, y’see), I’m kinda tired of seeing my face at the top of this blog—how about you? 😀 Here’s something far more attractive. (And I apologize for the lack of posts.)

This is a pencil sketch of Pan that I drew while killing some time at the 2011 Boston Comic Con. After seeing so many Doctor Who fans cosplaying as their favorite characters—the Doctor (many versions of the 10th and 11th incarnations), his companion Amy Pond, and the Doctor’s time machine the TARDIS (usually in the form of women wearing TARDIS dresses, with a flashing lamp worn as a hat)—I decided to do a tribute to old-school Who, back in the days when I became a fan.

Thus: Pan cosplaying as Sarah Jane Smith (played by the late Elisabeth Sladen), journalist and companion to the Third and Fourth Doctors, in the episode “The Hand of Fear.” Eldrad was an alien life force that possessed various people in the story—including Sarah Jane; you knew they were possessed because they’d always start droning, “Eldrad must live!”

As for why Pan would be wearing candy-striped overalls, here’s a screen cap from “The Hand of Fear” so you can see Sarah Jane’s now famous (infamous?) outfit. Hey, don’t you go judging 1970s costume designers!

Writing Comics for a Goth Adventuress

Posted on June 10, 2012 by steven

Over at the StarWarp Concepts blog today I talk about the methods by which comic books are scripted—short-story style, shuffling art pages, full scripting, and what’s known as “the Marvel [Comics] Method.” Head over there and give it a read, then come back here for Part 2 of this StarWarp Concepts blogging crossover event. I can wait.

…

All done? Great! So, like I was saying at SWC, I’m a full-scripting advocate. I enjoy directing the pace of a story. (Here’s a tip I once picked up years ago: think of every right-hand page as a mini-cliffhanger and give the reader a reason for wanting to turn the page.)

What follows is the script for The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0, the freebie comic that you can get right now by clicking on the “Download the Comic” link in the sidebar. That way you can compare what I wrote to the finished product. (As you’ll see, page 3 especially follows the “mini-cliffhanger” rule.)

(And please excuse the all-cap dialogue and captions; I’m not Internet-screaming. Writing that way makes it easier for designer Mike Rivilis to copy and paste the text into the word balloons and caption boxes when he’s lettering.)

THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK #0

“WELCOME TO GOTHOPOLIS”

PAGE 1

SPLASH PAGE: We open on a MID-SHOT of PANDORA ZWIEBACK, dressed in her traditional all-black look of leather jacket, “devil girl” T-shirt, jeans, and thick-soled boots. She’s talking directly to us, and looks quite serious about the subject matter she’s discussing.

1.
PAN: HEY, THERE. I’M PANDORA ZWIEBACK

2.
PAN: AND I’VE GOT A QUESTION FOR YOU.

3.
PAN: DID YOU KNOW THERE ARE MONSTERS IN THE WORLD?

4.
PAN: REAL ONES, I MEAN.

5.
PAN: ’CAUSE IN MY SERIES OF DARK URBAN FANTASY NOVELS FROM STARWARP CONCEPTS

6.
LOGO: THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK

7.
PAN: I SEE THEM ALL THE TIME…

PAGE 2

PANEL 1: In the ruins of an old castle, a Japanese Gothic Lolita vampire girl (not the one from the Blood Reign cover, let’s have a new design) faces off against a huge, rabid-looking werewolf. It’s like Underworld—only different!

1.
CAPTION: PARANOID WEREWOLVES—

2.
CAPTION: –AND “GOTHIC LOLITA” VAMPIRES.

PANEL 2: We’re at a big concert, with the band SARKOPHAGIA on stage wailing away. In true Norwegian death-metal style, most of the band members look like escapees from a Hellraiser film festival—heavy makeup, piercings, fake(?) blood [see reference]. The lone exception is the lead singer, LEANDER FAUST, a dark-haired, shirtless, sculpted Adonis of the black arts.

In the audience is a goblin chewing on a human arm—and the fingers of both the goblin and his meal are bent in the devil-horn symbol made famous by Black Sabbath’s Ronnie James Dio!

3.
CAPTION: ROCK-STAR DEMONS—

4.
CAPTION: –AND FLESH-EATING GOBLINS.

PANEL 3: Hey, it’s a crossover! We find LORELEI in an alley, sucking the soul out of some loser with a kiss while, in the background, a rotting, business-suited corpse sits on the ground, shoving a handful of stale donuts into his mouth.

5.
CAPTION: SOUL-STEALING SUCCUBI—

6.
CAPTION: –AND SUGAR-ADDICTED ZOMBIES.

PANEL 4: A kid’s room late at night. Six-year-old Billy looks terrified as he clutches the superhero blanket on his bed—not just by the Bernie Wrightson-esque monsters lurking under his bed, but by the ones starting to creep out of his closet! It doesn’t look good for little Billy…

7.
CAPTION: ALL THE THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT–

8.
CAPTION: —INCLUDING THE ONES HIDING UNDER YOUR BED.

PANEL 5: Pull back to a HIGH ANGLE SHOT of Pan, standing with her arms spread wide to gesture at the world around her. She’s standing on a foggy, cobblestoned city street, done up with all the spooky trappings: gnarled trees, weeds sticking up through the cracks, and “monster” eyes peeping out from a sewer drain. And a full moon in the night sky for added dramatic lighting effect. Wispy images of scary monsters swirl in the mist around her.

9.
PAN: THE WORLD IS FILLED WITH MONSTERS–

10.
PAN: –AND ONLY I CAN SEE THEM!

PAGE 3

PANEL 1: ANNIE, Pan’s monster-hunting mentor, steps through the fog in her standard leather-and-lace costume. She looks a little annoyed by the comment Pan just made. Pan, still talking to us, gestures at her.

1.
ANNIE: EXCUSE ME?

2.
PAN: Oh, OKAY…ONLY ME–AND SEBASTIENNE MAZARIN.

3.
PAN: ANNIE’S A MONSTER HUNTER WHO’S TEACHING ME EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT FIGHTING GHOULS AND GHOSTS.

PANEL 2: Pan enthusiastically continues her description of Annie, who looks surprised by what she’s telling us—no woman likes to have people discussing her age!

4.
PAN: SHE’S ALSO A SHAPE-SHIFTER—AND OVER FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OLD!

5.
PAN: FOUR HUNDRED YEARS! ISN’T THAT, LIKE, TOTALLY INSANE?

6.
PAN: THAT MEANS SHE’S BEEN DOING THIS MONSTER-HUNTING STUFF FOR, LIKE, FOREVER!

PANEL 3: SILENT, BEAT* PANEL. Pan, grinning, looks at Annie, who’s all wide-eyed and horrified with shock at Pan for revealing her age.

[*From TVTropes.org: “A silent panel in sequential art, it approximates the comedic pause before a punch line. Particularly efficient comic artists may copy and paste adjacent panels, since the point of the Beat Panel is usually that the characters are frozen in contemplation.”]

PANEL 4: EXACT SAME AS PANEL 3, with Pan still grinning, only now Annie lowers her head in exasperation (and embarrassment) to put her head in her hand.

7.
ANNIE: (small) >sigh.<

8.
ANNIE: (small) YOU MAKE ME SOUND LIKE SOME OLD HAG…

9.
PAN: Oh, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT.

10.
PAN: TRUST ME, ANNIE–YOU LOOK TOTALLY HOT.

11.
PAN: …FOR AN OLD HAG, I MEAN…

PANEL 5: Pan smiles as she holds up and extends her hand toward us. A friendly invitation to take her hand and join in her adventures.

12.
ANNIE: (small) Hmmf.

13.
PAN: SO…

14.
PAN: WANNA SEE WHAT I SEE…?

PAGES 4–5: TWO-PAGE SPREAD [FULL BLEED]

A montage of action scenes. (Feel free to mix up their order as they fit your page layout.)

CENTER IMAGE: Pan and Annie side by side in action poses, around which are grouped:

SCENE 1: Pan in a cemetery, running for her life from one scary MF of a slobbering, psychotic, Howling-style werewolf that’s loping after her.

SCENE 2: A group shot of the Japanese “Elegant Gothic Lolita” vampire clan from Blood Feud. (See GothVamp.doc for descriptions.)

SCENE 3: Rock concert scene with enormous Cthulhu-like monster rearing up behind the stage as Sarkophagia plays and the huge crowd roars its approval.

SCENE 4: Annie and Pan in an underground sewer tunnel, Pan holding a large mirror in a gilded frame. They rear back from the sight of a giant chicken-headed basilisk exploding out of the water behind them.

SCENE 5: Wide shot: Pan has jumped off a building’s roof. We find her in mid-fall, holding a mystical staff as she dives toward a huge, ugly Cloverfield-type monster. It roars as it spots her, and it’s clear this thing has a snaggle-tooth–filled mouth the size of a subway tunnel. Not her wisest decision…

SCENE 6: Annie in a junkyard, facing off against an oversized goblin in a filthy Adidas tracksuit he pulled out of a Goodwill contribution box. She’s in mid-leap, transforming from hot-looking woman to lethal panther along the way, her fangs and claws ready to do some serious damage.

PAGE 6

PANEL 1: LARGE PANEL (so we can fit in the important information about the book). Pan holds up a copy of Blood Feud [a Photoshopped insert of the cover image] next to her head so we can all get a good look at the cover.

1.
PAN: PRETTY WILD, HUH? AND THE FUN ALL STARTS IN THE FIRST NOVEL:

2.
DISPLAY TYPE: BLOOD FEUD
THE SAGA OF PANDORA ZWIEBACK, BOOK 1

3.
PAN: THAT’S WHERE ANNIE AND ME WIND UP IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR AMONG RIVAL VAMPIRE CLANS, WITH THE SAFETY OF THE WHOLE WORLD AT STAKE! (no pun intended)

4.
PAN: IT GOES ON SALE [DATE TK].

5.
PAN: IN THE MEANTIME, YOU CAN ORDER A COPY BY USING THE COUPON ON PAGE 8 OF THIS COMIC, OR BY VISITING MY WEB SITE

6.
DISPLAY TYPE: WWW.PANDORAZWIEBACK.COM

7.
PAN: WHERE YOU’LL ALSO FIND ALL THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT MY BOOK SERIES!

PANEL 2: A smaller, inset panel near the bottom right-hand corner of the page. Pan, interrupted in the middle of her sales pitch, looks off-panel at a voice calling to her.

8.
PAN: AND DON’T FORGET TO VISIT MY PUBLISHER’S SITE, STARWARPCONCEPTS.COM, TO CHECK OUT THEIR OTHER PROJ–

9.
SHEENA: (off-panel) HEY, ATTENTION WHORE!

PAGE 7

PANEL 1: Pan looks to the side, where we find her best friend, SHEENA McCARTHY, and Pan’s boyfriend, JAVIER MALDONADO, working behind the scenes on this “shoot.” Sheena is an Irish, blue-haired, 16-year-old full-on Goth chick (black clothes and heavy makeup) with a “Rubenesque” figure (in other words, plump but curvy and not your typical comics hottie); she’s working the fans and fog machines used to create the spooky atmosphere—and she doesn’t look happy about it.

Right beside her, Javi is wearing the shaggy fur costume for one of the monsters we saw lurking in the fog, but he’s scratching himself like the costume’s infested with bugs. Javi is a 16-year-old Puerto Rican, dark-haired, handsome, muscular (he plays high school baseball and is a top-level base stealer), and clean-shaven (color-wise, give him a light tan to distinguish him from the white chicks).

1.
SHEENA: YOU ABOUT DONE PIMPIN’ YOUR BOOKS?

2.
SHEENA: THIS FOG MACHINE IS GIVIN’ ME HELLACIOUS CHILLS!

3.
JAVIER: YEAH, AND THIS STUPID MONSTER COSTUME’S MAKIN’ ME ITCHY.

4.
JAVIER: (small) I THINK IT’S GOT BEDBUGS OR SOMETHING…

PANEL 2: Pan grins at us as she jerks her thumb toward her friends. Sheena looks pissed.

5.
PAN: DON’T MIND THE DRAMA QUEENS.

6
PAN: THAT’S JUST MY BOYFRIEND, JAVIER MALDONADO, AND MY BEST FRIEND, SHEENA McCARTHY.

7.
PAN: THEY’RE WHAT YOU CALL “SUPPORTING CHARACTERS”–KINDA LIKE MY BUMBLING COMEDIC SIDEKICKS.

8.
PAN: WELL…AT LEAST SHEEN IS…

9.
SHEENA: HEY! I’M STANDIN’ RIGHT HERE!

PANEL 3: Pan continues speaking to us, while Sheena and Javier join Annie behind her. Annie gazes at Sheena like she can’t believe what Pan is saying; Sheena just shrugs.

10.
PAN: SO, THAT’S IT. BUT I HOPE YOU’LL JOIN US ON BOARD THE FUN HEARSE WHEN IT REVS UP IN OCTOBER 2010.

11.
ANNIE: THE “FUN HEARSE”?

12.
ANNIE: REALLY?

13.
SHEENA: Ah, FORGET IT, ANNIE–SHE’S ON A ROLL…

PANEL 4: CLOSE-UP of Pan, smiling a sinister little smile.

14.
PAN: IN THE MEANTIME…

15.
PAN: (in creepy font) PLEASANT SCREAMS…

16.
DESIGN TYPE: THE END…?

Pandora Zwieback Celebrates Free Comic Book Day

Posted on May 1, 2012 by steven

—Press Release

This Saturday, May 5, 2012, will be a cause for celebration as comic shops around the world mark the tenth annual Free Comic Book Day. Independent publishing house StarWarp Concepts joins the occasion with a pair of free e-comics that will be available for download from the SWC Web site that day—comics that tie directly to its critically acclaimed young adult, dark-urban-fantasy novel series The Saga of Pandora Zwieback.

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0: Introducing 16-year-old Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback! Pan is a girl with the ability to see the monsters that regular humans can’t, and with the help of a 400-year-old monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, she’s going to protect the world from danger—and maybe even have some fun while doing it.

Written by series author Steven A. Roman (X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy) and drawn by Eliseu Gouveia (The Phantom), this 16-page, full-color comic book is hosted by Pandora and includes two preview chapters from Book 1: Blood Feud, in which rival vampire clans search for the key to an ultimate weapon—a key that’s been delivered to the horror museum owned by Pan’s father!

(For those who can’t wait until Saturday, the comic is available right now here at the Pan site—just click on the “Download Free Comic” link in the sidebar and start reading today!)

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 (ISBN 978-0-9841741-0-2) is available in both print and e-book editions from such retailers as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Kobo.com, Smashwords, and DriveThru Fiction.

Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa #1: In 1994, Sebastienne Mazarin made her debut in this short-lived Mature Readers series from Millennium Publications. Now, for the first time in almost two decades, StarWarp Concepts re-presents this long-lost comics adventure of the monster hunter known as La Bella Tenebrosa (“the beautiful dark one”).

A nefarious heavy metal band has arrived in New York City, and its lead singer is more than just a sex magnet for his female fans—he’s an incubus! Will Annie put an end to his plans for worldwide chaos, or fall prey to his supernatural charms?

Written by Roman, with art by co-creator Uriel Caton (JSA Annual 2000) and Alan Larsen, this 32-page, full-color comic offers a rare look into the past of the immortal shape-shifter, long before she became mentor to Pandora Zwieback.

After May 5, the comics will remain accessible on the StarWarp Concepts Web site’s “Free Comics” page. For more information on the company and its projects, please visit www.StarwarpConcepts.com and www.PandoraZwieback.com.

The 13.5 Days of Pan-demonium

Posted on April 13, 2012 by steven

Here’s the story of a hidden gem.

Last year, this site hosted “The 13 Days of Pan-demonium”: a promotional event used to help launch the first Pandora Zwieback novel, Blood Feud. It involved thirteen artists (including me) doing interpretations of Pan and her monster-hunting mentor, Annie. (As you can see from the navigation bar up top, there’s a separate page that warehouses all the images, for your viewing pleasure.)

One of those artists was Dave Hoover, an artist who’d worked for Marvel and DC Comics in the 1990s on superhero projects such as Starman, Fantastic Four Unlimited, and Captain America, and as an animator on films and TV shows including Fire and Ice, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and Men in Black: The Series. In 2011, he’d just finished a run as the penciler of Zenescope Entertainment’s comic series Charmed, based on the popular TV show.

When I started making plans for the 13 Days, I contacted Dave through his DeviantArt page and asked if he’d be interested in drawing my teen Goth heroine. He was, we negotiated a price, and the result was a spectacular illustration of Pan and Annie that I used for Day Four.

The big surprise, however, was when I received the actual 11” x 17” art. I’d been dealing with so many digital artists by this point that I’d assumed his pinup existed only as a Photoshop file—but no! When I tore open the package—one Dave had never told me he was sending—I found the hand-colored final piece inside. I was thrilled beyond belief!

Sadly, Dave passed away on September 4, 2011, at the age of 56. When I heard the news, I pulled the illustration from the art drawer and just sat awhile, admiring it. Such a fantastic artist, and now I’d never have a chance to collaborate with him again. I started to put the drawing away and did something I’d never thought of doing in the three or four months I’d had the art: I turned it over.

What you’re looking at is Dave’s original blue-pencil sketch, before he came up with what he no doubt considered a better composition. Still, as great as the final art is, I think this one would’ve made a helluva pinup, too.

Thanks, Dave.

A Monstrous Appetite for Zwieback

Posted on January 31, 2012 by steven

And so we close out January 2012 with another enthusiastic recommendation of Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1, courtesy of reviewer Sheila Shedd and the site Monster Librarian:

“Blood Feud is a roller coaster read; the action never lets up…. Highly recommended for ages 15 and up for complexity of plot and violence.”

Read the entire review by clicking on the logo above. And hey, all you librarians out there, how about adding Blood Feud to your YA sections and introducing your readers to a certain Goth adventuress? You never know—they might really enjoy meeting Pan!

StarWarp Concepts Webstore Opens!

Posted on January 30, 2012 by steven

It’s true— the SWC webstore is finally up and running! Now you can spare yourself the frustration of hunting down Pan’s adventures, and order them—as well as other StarWarp Concepts titles—directly from her publisher.

Currently available are print editions of Blood Feud, the classic vampire tale Carmilla (with illustrations by Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 comic artist Eliseu Gouveia), and The Bob Larkin Sketchbook (which features Pan on the cover). And since the sketchbook is an SWC exclusive not available in stores, the webstore’s the only place you’ll be able to get it—not counting when we sell it at conventions, of course.

Also:

The official Pandora Zwieback T-shirt! You asked for it (repeatedly) and now you’ve got it! Available in both men’s and women’s sizes, it’s the same devil-girl T that Pan wears on the cover of Blood Feud, and an essential piece of clothing for every budding Goth adventuress.

The Blood Feud Art Print! It’s Bob Larkin’s cover art for the first Pan novel—as you should be well familiar with by now—presented on 11” x 17” cardstock without text, and limited to 100 copies.

So, head on over to the StarWarp Concepts site and start ordering already—I gotta clear some space in this office! 😉

What the Best-Dressed Monster Hunter Is Wearing

Posted on December 23, 2011 by steven

Back in the November 7 post, I told you about my decision to go with Bob Larkin–painted covers for Pan’s novel series as opposed to the fairly interchangeable photo covers that just about every other publishing company uses for their Young Adult titles. One of the reasons was that I couldn’t imagine what it would take to have a replica of Pan’s leather jacket created, complete with the bat ornament that hangs off its left shoulder.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, courtesy of master artist and sculptor Bob Larkin, I proudly present the one-of-a-kind, real-life Pandora Zwieback leather jacket—complete with bat shoulder ornament and pentagram choker!

Sweet, aren’t they? It’s the same make of women’s motorcycle jacket that Bob used for the Blood Feud painting. The neckwear is a combination of a three-tier choker I found through Amazon.com, and a large piece of Halloween costume jewelry. The bat ornament is constructed of Sculpey modeling clay over a metal frame, then baked in the oven—which means that once it hardened, the thing became extremely fragile; drop it on the floor and it’s bye-bye, ornament.

The devil art is the 16th-century title page image from Eloy d’Amerval’s epic poem Livre de la Deablerie (reproduced in the Picture Book of Devils, Demons and Witchcraft, from Dover Publishing, which is where I found it). I scanned it and Bob printed it on cotton, then attached it to the jacket with industrial-grade glue—that thing is never coming off!—and painted over the image. Then, after he stripped the oil from the jacket cuffs, the sleeves each took about 30 coats of white paint as a primer so the black leather wouldn’t show through. And after many more hours of painting and waiting for each coat to dry, the sleeves were done—and Pan’s jacket was finally complete!

What about the bat-faced belt buckle she also wears? (And if you’ve read Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1, you know where she’ll be getting that from, at some point…) I’m so glad you asked—because Bob sculpted that, too!

That’s just damn creepy-looking, isn’t it? Not to mention those wings would probably stab Pan in the stomach every time she bent over—but hey, she’s a fictional character with the reader-influencing power of suspended disbelief, so she can wear whatever she wants! 😀

And before you ask, I’m still using painted covers on the series!

* * *

And with that we come to the end of 2011. (Yeah, I know there’s one more week left, but the office’ll be closed between Christmas and New Year’s—at least that’s the plan.) It’s been a mildly bumpy road, this first year back in the publishing saddle for StarWarp Concepts after a six-year hiatus, but the madness has been fun in its own way. And rest assured, we’re just getting started!

However, we couldn’t have made it this far without the support of you folks out there, so on behalf of book designers Mat Postawa and Mike Rivilis, Web designer Dave De Mond, artists Bob Larkin and Eliseu “Zeu” Gouveia, and photographer Marc Witz, I wish you and yours a fun and safe holiday season and a Happy New Year.

See you in 2012!

Painted Covers? What’s Up With That?!

Posted on November 7, 2011 by steven

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…

Enter: The Girl With the Cookie Name 2

Posted on October 3, 2011 by steven

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…

Talking to Myself (Part 3)

Posted on September 21, 2011 by steven

Wrapping up a previously unprinted interview that I did for another Web site…

What is the one book no writer should be without?

I’ll give you five (’cause I’m so generous!):

On Writing, by Stephen King: It’s not only a great guide to the craft, but it’s also a good look into the creative writing process and serves as the closest thing you’ll get to King’s autobiography. I’m always recommending it to writers, even though I ignore probably half of his rules.

Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale—The Final Chapter, by Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook: Basically, it’s a massive collection of e-mails between Davies (the writer/producer who, in 2005, successfully revived Doctor Who) and former Doctor Who Magazine editor Cook that intricately explores the writer’s mind-set when he’s trying to create. Davies is amazingly open about how he writes, and in how he fights through frequent bouts of procrastination. The Final Chapter covers the period between Davies’s third season on the show, all the way to the conclusion of the final David Tennant two-part episode “The End of Time.” It may not teach you new writing tricks, but it’s a fascinating exploration of the writing process.

The Chicago Manual of Style: It’s the bible of the publishing industry, used by every editor, copyeditor, and proofreader worth their salt. It makes all their jobs easier if writers familiarize themselves with how things are meant to be written, and not just guess at it. Yes, it’s an expensive book (about $45.00), but in the long run it’s worth the investment. I’m constantly making use of it.

Webster’s Dictionary (most up-to-date edition): This is the dictionary used by mainstream publishers for reference—they accept no substitutes.

The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White: A great reference tool that will help you tighten your writing and guide you past common writing mistakes—for example, it’s “I couldn’t care less,” not “I could care less.”

What writing magazines or other resources do you find most helpful?

I think Writer’s Digest is a good place to start for beginners interested in improving their craft. Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal keep you up-to-date on what’s going on in the industry, but considering how expensive a subscription is, it’s best that writers check out the online versions instead, or subscribe to their free e-newsletters. And magazines like Rue Morgue and Gothic Beauty keep me informed about fashion and horror culture that pertain to Pan Zwieback’s world.

Are you working on anything now?

Sure! I’m busy working on Blood Reign, the second Pandora Zwieback novel, for next year. But considering the cliffhanger ending I wrote for the first novel, Blood Feud, I can’t really say anything about the new book, except it’s got another great cover painting by Bob Larkin.

I also have a graphic novel coming out later this year from my company, StarWarp Concepts. Lorelei: Sects and the City is about a succubus (a female demon who feeds on the souls of her victims) trying to stop a supernatural cult from destroying the world. It’s a “Mature Readers” title, which means you have to be older than 18 to buy it because of adult language and some nudity. It’s sort of a tribute to the horror comics I read and the horror movies I watched when I was a teenager.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever had on writing?

Back in college, the professor in a screenwriting course I was taking once told the class that if you want to be a writer, you should always have a pen and notepad with you in case an idea comes to mind, or if you see something in your travels that you think would make for a good scene. So I don’t go anywhere without a notepad.

Do you have any advice for young writers?

Write what you know, but don’t be afraid to research what you don’t. Research is critical if you want to add depth to your story, especially if it’s set in the real world.

Always be willing to listen to constructive criticism; you don’t have to accept all of it, but you should keep an open mind. I got some great feedback while I was writing Blood Feud, especially from my editor, Howard Zimmerman. Contrary to the belief of some writers, editors aren’t there to screw with your “vision”—certainly not the good ones. They’re there to help you improve it. It’s the bad editors you have to watch out for.

Oh! And always carry a notepad. 😀

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