This Friday, December 25th (Christmas Day!) is the much-delayed U.S. theater release (and simultaneous HBOMax streaming debut) of Wonder Woman 1984, the latest entry in Warner Bros.’ DC Comics movie universe and the sequel to 2017’s box-office hit Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot returns as the Amazing Amazon, helped once again by Chris Pine as Steve Trevor. This time they face the threat of Wonder Woman’s old comic-book nemesis the Cheetah, played here by comedic actress Kristen Wiig (Ghostbusters: Answer the Call), as well as the machinations of businessman Maxwell Lord, played by Pedro Pascal (the helmeted star of Disney+’s Star Wars spin-off series, The Mandalorian).
Well, if you’re a Wonder fan, then perhaps you’d be interested in checking out a free digital comic available exclusively from your friends at StarWarp Concepts…
Heroines & Heroes is a collection of comic stories and pinups written and drawn by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), dating back to my days in the early 1990s small-press movement—that age of dinosaurs in which creators like me used to make our comics by printing them out on photocopiers and then stapling them by hand. In H&H you’ll find mainstream heroes and small-press heroines, and even a couple of anthropomorphic bikers.
Leading off is “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N (in the Summertime),” a three-page Wonder Woman vs. Harley Quinn story that I wrote and drew in the late ’90s as a sample for a DC Comics editor who thought I’d be a good fit for their Batman: The Animated Series comic (spoiler warning: it didn’t work out). It’s followed by an adventure of small-presser Jeff Wood’s rabbit-eared superspy, Snowbuni; three pages from the long-canceled indie comic Motorbike Puppies; and an adventure of the indie superheroine The Blonde Avenger.
Heroines and Heroes is a free digital exclusive, and makes for an awesome last-minute ebook gift for the superheroine fan in your life. Visit its product page for ordering information, as well as sample pages.
Roosevelt Hotel lobby. Photo from the Roosevelt Hotel Facebook page.
Phil Seuling will hold another Comic Book Marketplace 1/13, 10–5, at the Roosevelt Hotel, Madison Ave. and 45th St. Paperbacks, comic books, movie-memory stuff, sports memorabilia, and much more for true fans.—“Other Events: Happenings,” New York Magazine, January 14, 1985
The elegant Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown will close this month because of lagging business caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to reports.—David Cruz, “Iconic, Near Century-Old Roosevelt Hotel Will Close At The End Of October,” Gothamist, October 10, 2020
The Great Pandemic of 2020 did a real number on all our lives this year (and, unfortunately, is carrying over to next year), and among those hardest hit were businesses of all sizes, from mom-and-pop shops to major retailers that were forced to close (Lord & Taylor and Sears among them) to the convention industry (as I wrote about last week, when the publishing shows BookExpo and BookCon closed their doors for good). The hotel industry suffered, too, as evidenced here in New York by the closures of the Omni Berkshire Place in July, the Hilton Times Square in October, and the Marriott Marquis just this week telling 850 employees they’ll be unemployed come March. No travel + no tourists = empty hotels. And joining them at the end of October (Halloween, in fact!) was the Rooesvelt Hotel, once the home of many a science fiction, record, and comic book convention.
Opened in 1924 and named in honor of late American president Thoedore Roosevelt, the hotel was the height of elegance with a prime location in midtown Manhattan, one block from Grand Central Station and two from Times Square. Galas and balls and New Year’s Eve celebrations were held there, it appeared in countless movies…and occasionally it played host to gatherings of hordes of pop-culture-loving geeks.
Lunacon, for example, was held at the Roosevelt in 1967, as were a number of Creation Conventions Doctor Who shows in the 1980s, not to mention Phil Sueling’s monthly Comic Book Marketplaces. But the first convention I ever attended was Creation Entertainment’s final New York Comic Book Convention held at the Roosevelt, in June 1987 (Seuling—considered the father of the direct-market comic sales system—had passed away in mid-1984, and Creation stepped in to fill the comic-con void). I have a pretty vivid memory of buying a copy of the extremely hot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 there and the comic vendor pointing out that it was a third printing—which back then meant absolutely nothing to me. Was it the same comic, at the same cover price? Then I didn’t care, I just wanted to buy it.
The one panel I remember attending at that show was a small gathering of indie comic creators, which piqued my interest—people were making comics not from Marvel and DC? What’s that about? There were, I think four people on stage, but I only recall three of them: Bob Boze Bell, creator of the Texas slice-of-life comic strip “Honky Tonk Sue,” and Wendy and Richard Pini, the husband-and-wife creative team behind the fantasy series Elfquest. It was the first time I’d ever really paid attention to the notion of “independent comics”—but hearing the Pinis and Bell recount their experiences started the gears turning in my head as to the possibilities…
After that, the Roosevelt was pretty much abandoned by genre conventions as organizers moved their shows to less-expensive locations on the West Side of Manhattan: the Omni Park Central/Park Central Hotel and the New York Statler/New York Penta/Hotel Pennsylvania on 7th Avenue, the New Yorker on 8th Avenue, the Holiday Inn on 9th Avenue. And once the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center opened in 1986, everybody for the most part shifted over to 11th Avenue to stay.
So, thanks for the memories, Roosevelt Hotel. With any luck, a conversion from hotel rooms to luxury condominiums may be in your future—following in the footsteps of the world-famous Plaza Hotel on 5th Avenue. Unless, of course, someone thinks it would be the perfect spot to erect a soulless, glass-box office building in your place. After all, New York developers aren’t really known for honoring the city’s rich architectural history…
The publishing industry was stunned last week when convention organizer Reed Exhibitions announced that, effective immediately, it was putting an end to its annual trade-show gathering called BookExpo, as well as Expo’s spin-off event, BookCon.
It was the coronavirus that put the stake in the shows’ hearts, after Reed was forced to cancel BookCon and go virtual with BookExpo in June, as it would have to do with its other major show, New York Comic Con, a few months later. According to an article in Publishers Weekly, one factor in the decision to shut down was because Reed’s revenue for January to September had dropped by 70% as a result of the pandemic.
BookExpo started out in 1947 as the American Booksellers Association Convention and Trade Show, but became better known as BookExpo America when Reed purchased it in 1994, and then became just BookExpo in 2016. I attended a number of BEAs during my time as an editor for book packager Byron Preiss Visual Publications, and then as editor in chief of Byron’s ibooks, inc. publishing company. They were busy as hell, since it was a show where publishers and bookstore owners and librarians gathered to do business. Think of something the size of a major comic show—San Diego, NYCC—only attended by industry insiders and comic shop owners, with the general public excluded.
That no-outsiders-allowed rule would change, though, once Reed scored a major success with the launch of New York Comic Con in 2006. Then it simply became a matter of how long it would take for them to figure out a way to bring that NYCC madness to a sedate book show…
BookCon was that attempt at widening BookExpo to include the general public, launched in New York in 2014 and run by ReedPop, the same team responsible for coordinating NYCC. It was BEA’s younger, flashier offspring, touting appearances by big-name authors and free giveaways from the publishing houses. Ten thousand tickets sold out in short time, with the majority of attendees being teenagers from the much-sought-after young adult reading audience that had made J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins, John Green, and Stephanie Meyers household names.
Problem was, the BEA-attending publishers weren’t expecting or used to the frenetic atmosphere of an NYCC-style show. Post-con complaints ranged from frazzled nerves created by dealing with the hordes of outsiders, to annoyance at publishers now having to play retailer and handle cash sales, to outrage that their sample-book displays—which had always been set up as a way for booksellers and librarians to skim through a copy before deciding if they wanted to order it, and then put it back on the shelf for the next person—had been stripped bare by those same outsiders who considered them freebies. It didn’t help that the response basically boiled down to “Stop living in the past and get used to it.” Over time it became abundantly clear that RE was more interested in the fan-friendly con and less in the traditional, stodgy industry gathering.
J.D. Calderon (left) and Steven A. Roman at the SWC booth at BookCon 2014. Photo by Richard C. White.
StarWarp Concepts was at that first BookCon in 2014, with a booth manned by yours truly and author Richard C. White (with some help by friend and fellow small presser J.D. Calderon). Just weeks before the opening, Reed had created a “small publishers section” at the edge of the major publisher areas (toward the back of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, of course), and though the $650 small-press vendor fee for a one-day show was ludicrous to agree to, and I knew there was no way I’d ever recoup it, I thought of all the potential of reaching a wider audience and said yes.
When we arrived, I realized why the booths were such a “bargain”—they were basically spots that RE hadn’t been able to sell for Book Expo. Still, the booth came with a table and chairs (NYCC charges small pressers for a booth with neither; you have to bring your own), the turnout was great, we sold a few books, we talked to quite a few people interested in our titles, and at the end of the day, although I made nowhere near my investment, I thought, This is fun. Let’s do this again next year!
Steve Roman greets the masses at BookCon 2014. Photo by Richard C. White.
But then Reed got a swelled head from the audience response, expanded the show to two days for 2015, and charged more than double the 2014 booth cost—from $650 to $1,600. Thus BookCon 2014 became StarWarp Concepts’ first and only appearance at that venue.
SWC still had a presence at BookExpo in 2015 and 2016—I paid for display space for some titles at the Independent Book Publishers Association pavilion (we’re a member of IBPA), with the hope of getting booksellers to order them. But 2016 was our last contact with Reed’s book shows, as 2013 had become our last appearance at NYCC—it just got too expensive to be involved.
So while the book industry mourns the loss of shows it both adoringly loved and vehemently hated, we at ’Warp Central say farewell to them—and wonder if someday there’ll ever be an affordable book show we can attend…
According to the calendar site Happy Days 365, Red Planet Day “honors the launch of the spacecraft Mariner 4, a robotic interplanetary probe on 28th November 1964 by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). In the eight months it was on its journey, the Mariner 4 became the 1st spacecraft to fly by Mars successfully. It also gave the world the first close-up pictures of Mars.”
So how can you celebrate this special occasion? Well, we recommend reading a book about the red planet!
A Princess of Mars, originally published in 1912, is the first in the “John Carter of Mars” ten-novel series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, best known as the creator of the pulp-fiction jungle lord, Tarzan. Unlike Tarzan’s African adventures, Princess is the story of a post–Civil War era American who suddenly finds himself transported to the Red Planet, where he must constantly fight to stay alive against all sorts of alien threats—and where he falls in love with Dejah Thoris, the titular Martian princess. It served as the basis for Disney’s 2012 film adaptation, John Carter—a movie that didn’t deserve the poor treatment it got from the studio and is definitely worth checking out, if you’ve never seen it—and inspired a century’s worth of SF works, including Flash Gordon, Star Wars, and James Cameron’s Avatar.
The StarWarp Concepts edition—available in both print and digital formats—features six incredible illustrations by SWC artist supreme Eliseu Gouveia (Carmilla, Lorelei: Sects and the City), and a special introduction by Mars-fiction expert John Gosling, author of Waging the War of the Worlds. Here’s the back-cover synopsis:
Captain John Carter thought his days as a fighter were over. The South had lost the Civil War, and as a soldier now without a battle to fight or a cause to believe in, he journeyed west in search of a new life.
But not even Carter could have expected that his new life would begin with his death in the Arizona desert, and his inexplicable arrival on the barren plains of the planet Mars. Or that he would find love in the eyes of the beauteous Dejah Thoris, princess of Helium.
A prisoner of the giant, green-skinned warrior race called the Tharks, Dejah Thoris is meant to be used as a pawn in the ongoing war between the Tharks and her people, the red Martians—unless the gentleman from Virginia takes sword in hand to free her…and thus unite a divided world.
Once more, John Carter has a cause to fight for—and this time, a love to win, as well….
A Princess of Mars is available in print and digital formats. Visit its product page for ordering information.
Hey, comic fans! Today is Local Comic Shop Day. It’s an annual appreciation “conceived and implemented by ComicsPRO comic book specialty retailers to call attention to locally owned independent comic book specialty stores, celebrating their unique and vital role in being the primary fire-starters of pop culture.” In other words, it’s a way of encouraging comic fans to visit their LCS as the holiday season kicks into high gear and show some support. That’s especially true now, when the coronavirus pandemic is crippling a lot of businesses.
For more information, including a list of participating stores and the special collectibles they’ll be offering for sale, visit the Local Comic Shop Day website.
But it’s not just the retail shops that have something of interest for comic fans—not when StarWarp Concepts has its own range of comics and graphic novels to offer!
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0: A free, downloadable comic that serves as an introduction to the adventures of Pandora Zwieback and her monster-hunting mentor, Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, with an 8-page story written by me and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia, and a preview of Pan’s first novel, Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1. Pan is 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 Annie 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.
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1: A spinoff from the novel series, this 56-page, full-color comic special finds the teenaged Goth adventuress battling vampires and a jealous, man-stealing siren. It features stories by me and Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up), art by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0), comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), and Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), and cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella).
Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa: Long before she met Pan, Annie was the star of this short-lived “bad girl” comic book miniseries published in the 1990s. Here you’ll find Annie doing a bit of research for an article about gentlemen’s clubs in Times Square—research that includes actually performing as an exotic dancer (I did say it was a ’90s comic, didn’t I?). It’s that part-time gig that brings her into contact with Corum de Sade, a heavy metal singer with a deadly secret: he’s a soul-devouring incubus! All three issues—written by me, with art by Uriel Caton (JSA Annual), Holly Golightly (School Bites), and David C. Matthews—are available for free from this very website, so download them today!
Heroines & Heroes is a collection of comic stories and pinups all drawn by me, dating back to my days in the early 1990s small-press movement—that age of dinosaurs in which creators like me used to make our comics by printing them out on photocopiers and then stapling them by hand. In H&H you’ll find: “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N (in the Summertime),” a three-page Wonder Woman vs. Harley Quinn story that I wrote and drew in the late ’90s as a sample for a DC Comics editor who thought I’d be a good fit for their Batman: The Animated Series comic (it didn’t work out); “Dirty Laundry,” an adventure of small-presser Jeff Wood’s rabbit-eared superspy, Snowbuni; three pages from the mid-‘90s indie comic Motorbike Puppies; and “I Was a Super-powered Vampire Slayer!,”an adventure of the indie superheroine The Blonde Avenger. Twenty-four pages of comicky goodness—and all for free!
Lorelei: Genesis is another digital comic collection by yours truly, this time of the early adventures of SWC’s first lady of horror, a soul-stealing succubus who targets evildoers. I wrote and drew these stories in the late 1980s and early 1990s, so they’re a little rough around the edges (my first self-published comics!), but they’re the foundation for the professionally produced comics that would come later. Featuring a new cover by me (with colors by Eliseu Gouveia), it’s 24 pages of supernatural seduction for just 99¢.
Lorelei: Sects and the City is a Mature Readers graphic novel in which Lorelei battles a cult of Elder God worshipers attempting to unleash hell on Earth. Basically a love letter to 1970s horror comics like Vampirella, Tomb of Dracula, and Ghost Rider, it’s written by yours truly, and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Lady Death), Steve Geiger (Web of Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk), and Neil Vokes (Flesh and Blood, Fright Night). It also features a cover by legendary artist Esteban Maroto (Vampirella, Zatanna, Lady Rawhide), a frontispiece by original Vampirella artist Tom Sutton (Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night), and a one-page history of succubi drawn by Ernie Colon (Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld, Casper the Friendly Ghost).
Lorelei Presents: House Macabre is Lori’s debut as the hostess of a horror anthology comic. Behind an eye-catching cover by bad-girl artist supreme Louis Small Jr. (Vampirella, Vampirella/Lady Death), you’ll find stories by me and Dwight Jon Zimmerman (Iron Man, Web of Spider-Man). Art is provided by Uriel Caton & “Chainsaw” Chuck Majewski (Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa), Lou Manna (T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents), John Pierard (Graphic Classics: Horror Classics), and Juan Carlos Abraldes Rendo.
The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special is a digital pirate-fantasy comic created and written by Richard C. White, coauthor of SWC’s supernatural-superhero graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings. Drawn by Bill Bryan (artist of Caliber Press’ Dark Oz and DC Comics’ House of Mystery), and featuring cover art and color by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual), it’s 48 pages of high-seas adventure perfect for fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, as well as classics like The Crimson Pirate, Against All Flags, Captain Blood, and The Sea Hawk—and it’s available for download for just 99¢!
Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is a general readers’ graphic novel about a group of supernatural-superheroes-for-hire taking on their first case. The team consists of a wizard, a female ninja, a sorceress, a werewolf, and a rock ’n’ roll lighting designer wearing high-tech armor. Sure, they might not be on a power level with the Avengers or Justice League of America—they’re more like superpowered Ghostbusters—but they get the job done. The graphic novel is written by the husband-and-white team of Richard C. White (Terra Incognito, Chasing Danger) and Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman. Cover art is provided by Richard Dominguez, creator of the pulp-hero comic book El Gato Negro.
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual, Lorelei: Sects and the City, Lorelei Presents: House Macabre, and Troubleshooters Incorporated are available in print and digital formats. Pandora Zwieback #0, Heartstopper, Heroines and Heroes, The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special, and Lorelei: Genesis are digital exclusives. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages.
“Short tales to appease your monstrous hunger for suspense” is how we describe SWC Horror Bites, a series of done-in-one digital chapbooks that currently consist of Clemence Annie Housman’s White Fell: The Werewolf and Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Now that we’re knee deep in the Christmas season—or so it appears if the Hallmark and Lifetime Channels’ Christmas round-the-clock movie marathons are any true indicator—it’s time to announce the next addition to the Horror Bites imprint: a yuletide ghost story—and it’s not by Charles Dickens!
On December 15, we’ll be releasing The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall, by John Kendrick Bangs, the author of such supernatural-tinged novels as A House-Boat on the Styx and The Enchanted Type-Writer. First published in the pages of Harper’s Weekly magazine in June 1891, it’s a humorous tale about a bothersome ghost who’s been nagging one family for generations. Here’s the back-cover copy to pique your interest:
The Ghost of Christmas Pest.
Harrowby Hall is haunted; has been for generations of Oglethorpes. It’s not a particularly frightening ghost, though—not the sort of malevolent spirit you’d expect to find in a Hell House or a Hill House or in Amityville. The self-proclaimed Water Ghost isn’t out-and-out evil, she’s just…really annoying.
Every year around Christmas, she pops in to terrify the current owner…and drench his furniture—as well as him—with seawater. Every. Year. So, it’s less a haunting and more an ongoing prank that has reached an intolerable level. But all that spiritual tomfoolery might soon be coming to an end.
The most recent lord of the manor, Henry Hartwick Oglethorpe, is not one to put up with ghostly shenanigans. He has a plan to rid himself of this bothersome spook, and if luck is on his side, this ghostly war on Christmas will finally be put to rest—although not necessarily in peace…
The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall goes on sale December 15. Stay tuned for further information!
As the old saying goes, you learn something new every day. According to the National Day Calendar, today is National Love Your Red Hair Day, an annual event created in 2015 by Adrienne and Stephanie Vendetti, cofounders of the beauty site How to be a Redhead, and it’s “a day to celebrate the beauty of those gorgeous red tresses.”
What’s the best way to observe this special holiday? Well, around here at ’Warp Central, we celebrate it by honoring our favorite redhead: the flame-haired succubus Lorelei, StarWarp Concepts’ first lady of horror, who stars in two comic books and a graphic novel!
Lorelei: Sects and the Cityis Lori’s critically acclaimed graphic novel adventure, in which she battles a cult of Elder God worshipers who are trying to unleash their monstrous masters on the world. It’s a tribute of sorts to classic 1970s horror comics and movies, from writer Steven A. Roman (From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures) and artists Eliseu Gouveia (Jungle Queen Sheva), Steve Geiger (Web of Spider-Man), and Neil Vokes (Flesh and Blood). Cover art is provided by the legendary Esteban Maroto (Vampirella, Zatanna: Come Together), plus there’s additional art from two more legendary artists from the Warren Publishing era: a frontispiece by original Vampirella artist Tom Sutton (Werewolf by Night, Star Trek) and a history of succubi illustrated by Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld).
Lorelei Presents: House Macabre is Lori’s first outing as the hostess of a horror comic anthology, in this one-shot special that contains four tales of horror, behind eye-catching cover art by fan-favorite artist Louis Small Jr. (Vampirella, Vampirella Strikes). “The Old, Dark Manse” is written by me, penciled by Uriel Caton (JSA Annual, Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa), and inked by “Chainsaw” Chuck Majewski (Harvey Kurtzman’s New Two-Fisted Tales), and has Lori welcoming readers to this special. “All in Color for a Crime” is another tale from me, with art by Lou Manna (T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Young All-Stars), in which two comic book collectors clash over a rare back issue—and only one of them will be adding it to their long boxes! “The Basilisk,” from me and artist John Pierard (Graphic Classics: Horror Classics, My Teacher Fried My Brains), is a “Lori’s Feary Tale” that examines the history of a supernatural creature that’s a cross between a deadly snake and a…chicken?! Wrapping up the special is “Requiem for Bravo 6,” by New York Times bestselling author and comic writer Dwight Jon Zimmerman (She-Hulk, Steve McQueen: Full-Throttle Cool) and artist Juan Carlos Abraldes Rendo (Bloke’s Terrible Tomb of Terror), in which a special-ops team goes on a life-or-death mission…but will they be prepared for what awaits them at mission’s end?
Lorelei: Genesis is our latest release—and, in its own special way, is also our first. You see, Lori originally made her debut in the pages of the Lorelei One-Shot Special, published in January 1989; not only was it StarWarp Concepts’ first comic and first-ever publication, it was also the first comic I ever wrote—and drew! Behind a brand-new cover illustration from me (with awesome colors by Eliseu Gouveia), this digital-exclusive comic reprints that debut story, “In the Midnight Hour,” along with an eight-pager that shows a typical sort of day in Lori’s life as a succubus living in New York City. And best of all, it can be yours to download for the low, low price of just 99¢.
Lorelei: Sects and the City and Lorelei Presents: House Macabre are available in print and digital formats. Lorelei: Genesis is a digital-exclusive comic. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information.
So if you’re a redhead, if you know a redhead, or if you just love redheads, celebrate National Love Your Red Hair Day with the gift of reading!
Fall is in full swing, and with it comes that annual November event called National Novel Writing Month. To explain what it is, I’ll let this quote from the organization’s website provide you with some background:
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.
And what do you know? It just so happens that StarWarp Concepts has a book that’s perfect for writers!
Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is our popular how-to book for writers and gamers in which bestselling fantasy author Richard C. White (For a Few Gold Pieces More, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special, Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings) takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. Included is an interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons.
What you’ll find in its pages is information that’s vital for just about any writer, especially when it comes to world building, and Rich shows you how to do it:
• Avoiding the pitfalls of naming characters, regions, and countries • Applying the technique of “outside in” to develop and then refine ideas for your world • Creating a world your readers can relate to, regardless of its technological levels • Identify how to create backstories and conflict by observing how your world comes together • Adding details to make your story richer without overwhelming your readersIdentifying useful resources for research
From its first publication, the book has been a hit with not just fantasy writers, but role-playing gamers as well. When it debuted in October 2015 at the e-book distributor DriveThru Fiction and its sister sites DriveThru RPG and RPGNow, it immediately shot to the #1 position on all three as their top-selling title, and then remained for weeks as DriveThru Fiction’s #1 Hottest Nonfiction Book and #1 Hottest How-To for Writers! If you’re a writer or gamer, you might just want to check it out. In fact, it’s currently being used as a textbook in the Interactive Media Design (i.e., game design) program at Becker College in Worchester, Massachusetts!
“I think Terra Incognito is a solid introduction to the subject of world building. The book succeeds in helping the aspiring writer in creating a skeletal framework for which to hang the moving parts required of a believable fictional setting.”—The Gaming Gang
Halloween is just three days away, and so the timing couldn’t be better for fans of the Spooky Season than right now for the release of our latest SWC Horror Bite: Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow!
The tale of schoolteacher Ichabod Crane’s terrifying encounter with the Headless Horseman has captivated readers since its first publication in 1820, in Irving’s collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
In the 200 years since, it’s become the quintessential Halloween story. It’s been the basis for countless movies, TV shows, comic books, and other pop-culture adaptations, but if you’ve never read the original source material, then do we have a great digital chapbook for you!
Here’s the back-cover copy to pique your interest:
Getting Ahead in This Town Can be Murder…
Sleepy Hollow, New York, appears to be the perfect peaceful location for newly arrived schoolteacher Ichabod Crane, whose nerves always seem a little on edge. The people are nice enough—with the exception of the town bully, Bram Bones—the meals they serve are even better, and most appealing of all is the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, daughter of one of the town’s wealthiest families.
But lurking behind Sleepy Hollow’s peaceful setting is a terrifying secret: a murderer stalks the countryside—specifically, the ghost of a Hessian soldier whose head was blown off by a cannonball during the American Revolution. Ever since his grisly death, the dreaded Headless Horseman has been searching for a replacement…
…and Ichabod Crane’s noggin looks to be just the right size…
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a digital-exclusive chapbook available from the SWC webstore. Visit its product page for ordering information.
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