Happy World UFO Day 2024!

Holy Close Encounters of the Third Kind! It’s Roy Neary’s favorite holiday, as you can see in this iconic cover painting that our friend, legendary artist Bob Larkin, did for Marvel Comics’ comic book adaptation of CE3K, back in 1978.

According to the site There Is a Day for That, World UFO Day was launched in 2001 by UFO hunter Haktan Akdogan and “is observed and celebrated on July 2nd every year to raise awareness about Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and alien life forms. The day aims to discuss and educate people about UFOs, flying saucers, and sightings of bright blue light in the sky that make headlines across the world.”

True story: When Bob was commissioned by Marvel to do the CE3K cover painting, the notes he was given described the main characters, Roy Neary and Jillian Guiler (played respectively by Richard Dreyfuss and Melinda Dillon), running away in fright from the approaching UFO. But shortly after he delivered the painting, he received a call from the comic’s writer/editor, Archie Goodwin, who explained that Steven Spielberg had rejected the art because Roy and Jillian were supposed to be running toward the UFO.

Since this was long before the days of Photoshop, the art couldn’t just be reconfigured with replacement foreground figures, so Bob hurried to his studio and created a completely new painting—the one you see here—in 24 hours!

But it’s not just his painting skills that are impressiveBob’s also one hell of a pencil artist, as evidenced by his work in a couple of SWC projects (cue the sales pitch!).

The Bob Larkin Sketchbook is a collection of some of Bob’s incredible pencil drawings, and what you’ll discover when you see them is how wide-ranging his subjects are. Sci-fi, horror, Westerns, pulp adventure, crime fiction, movie merchandise, even wrestling stars—as we say on the book’s back cover, there really is little that he hasn’t painted.

The sketchbook also features three pieces created especially for it: the Pandora Zwieback cover art; a portrait of Patricia Savage, the fightin’ cousin of pulp fiction’s top-tier adventurer, Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze; and a two-page spread in which Doc faces off against another Golden Age crimefighter—The Shadow!

Bob also provides a great frontispiece illustration for From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!). It’s a nonfiction history that takes an extensive look at the queen of comic book bad girls, from the debut of her series in 1969 to the death of Warren Publishing in 1983, featuring an in-depth guide to all her Warren stories; a checklist of all her Warren appearances; an overview of the six novelizations by pulp sci-fi author Ron Goulart that were published in the 1970s by Warner Books; the story behind the rise and fall of Hammer Films’ proposed Vampi movie of the 1970s that was meant to star Playboy model Barbara Leigh and horror icon Peter Cushing—along with a peek at Peter Cushing’s personal copy of the ’70s Vampirella screenplay; and a look at the awful 1996 direct-to-cable-TV movie that was made, starring Talisa Soto as Vampirella and rock god Roger Daltrey as Dracula. There’s also a foreword by Official Vampirella Historian Sean Fernald, and photographs from the personal archives of Vampi’s cocreator (and creator/editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland), Forrest J Ackerman.

The Bob Larkin Sketchbook and From the Stars…a Vampiress are available in print and digital formats. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information.

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Smashwords’ 2024 Summer/Winter E-book Sale Begins

Hey, book lovers! Today’s the day when e-book distributor Smashwords launches its annual Summer/Winter Sale, during which you can purchase thousands of digital books at special prices! It runs from July 1 to July 31—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion.

As for why Smashwords gives this event such an unusual name: Because Smashwords serves a global readership where it’s summer in the Northern hemisphere and winter in the Southern hemisphere. So whether you’re looking for a great beach read, or you want to curl up in front of a warm fireplace with a great read, we’ve got you covered!”

Included among the many participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (of course), which means you can get the following digital titles at 25% off:

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 (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special) takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. A bonus feature is an exclusive 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.

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is my young adult novel that’s perfect for lovers of dark urban fantasy. It introduces readers to Pandora Zwieback, 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 professional monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin 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. In Blood Feud, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans 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.

In Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2, Pan and Annie face even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover! But Pan isn’t about to let some ancient monster win the day, not when the lives of her parents and friends—along with those of every human on the planet—are at stake, so she leads a charge of her own. But whose side is going to emerge the victor remains to be seen…

For a Few Gold Pieces More is Rich’s collection of linked fantasy short stories about a Rogue With No Name who travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure, romance—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did). Think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly).

Harbinger of Darkness is Rich’s original fantasy-adventure novel in which a thief named Perrin steals an extremely valuable—and magical—gem from the evil king ruling her home country. With thugs and fellow thieves and the king’s assassins hot on her trail, Perrin finds just staying alive is becoming a full-time occupation, which directly conflict with her secret life—and identity—as a humble bookseller’s daughter. It’s sword-swinging adventure at its finest!

And Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase is Rich’s collection of fantasy-noir, pulp-detective tales starring a private eye working the supernatural beat in the city of Calasia. From a sexy chanteuse who literally turns into a beast when the moon is full to a string of pearls that kills its owners, and from the ghost of a dead woman seeking justice to the Grim Reaper’s little girl seeking her stolen chicken, Theron Chase certainly has his hands full—of danger, death, and dames!

Again, the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale runs July 1 to July 31, so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at Smashwords and start your summer (or winter) shopping!

Posted in Dark Urban Fantasy, e-books, e-tailers, Fantasy, Horror, Nonfiction, Richard C. White, Steven A. Roman, Summer Reading, Writing Reference Books, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Smashwords’ 2024 Summer/Winter E-book Sale Begins

Quality SWC E-books Available for Libraries

With today being Day 1 of the 2024 American Libraries Association Annual Conference (being held this year in San Diego, California), I’m always reminded of a conversation I once had with Richard C. White, author of SWC’s supernatural graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings, pirate-fantasy digital comic The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special, the fantasy-adventure titles For a Few Gold Pieces More and Harbinger of Darkness, and the popular how-to book for writers, Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination.

Rich had been a guest at a science fiction convention where he spoke with some school librarians interested in adding Terra Incognitoto their lists of e-book titles. But how, they asked, would they be able to obtain it? As librarians, they’re required to order books from distributors, not from publishers; that applies to e-books as well.

Well, librarians, it just so happens that one of The ’Warp’s digital distributors, Draft2Digital, makes our titles available to libraries through OverDrive, Baker & Taylor, Odilo, Bibliotheca, BorrowBox, Palace Marketplace, and hoopla:

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 (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. In fact, the book is so popular that it’s currently being used as a textbook in the Media & Game Development program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, Massachusetts!

“A solid introduction to the subject of world building. The book succeeds in helping the aspiring writer in creating a skeletal framework on which to hang the moving parts required of a believable fictional setting.”—The Gaming Gang

For a Few Gold Pieces More collects Richard C. White’s fantasy short stories about a Rogue With No Name who travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did). Think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). It’s “entertaining, old-school sword and sorcery, in the tradition of [Fritz Lieber’s] Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser,” according to author Jim C. Hines of the Magic ex Libris book series, and we at SWC couldn’t agree more!

Harbinger of Darkness is a fantasy-adventure novel by Richard C. White. In it, a thief named Perrin steals an extremely valuable—and magical—gem from the evil king ruling her home country. With thugs and fellow thieves and the king’s assassins hot on her trail, Perrin finds just staying alive is becoming a full-time occupation, which directly conflict with her secret life—and identity—as a humble bookseller’s daughter. It’s sword-swinging adventure at its finest!

“A visceral adventure through a world of magic with well-developed characters, dynamic dialogue and a good dose of two-handed sword fights.”—Experience Writing

You can also obtain our Saga of Pandora Zwieback young adult novels, written by yours truly, Steven A. Roman. You know how popular young adult books are these days, don’t you? Well, here’s another series your patrons might be interested in!

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 an immortal monster hunter named 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. You’ll find Pan battling her own brand of evil dead in the following titles:

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1: This critically acclaimed novel is the beginning of Pan’s story, explaining how she, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans 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.

“Far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.—HorrorNews.net

It’s a character-driven action-fest that leads immediately into the second novel:

Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2: Pan and Annie face even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover!

So if you’re a librarian interested in adding those titles to your digital bookshelves, head over to OverDrive, Baker & Taylor, Odilo, Bibliotheca, BorrowBox, Palace Marketplace, or hoopla and place your order today!

Posted in Dark Urban Fantasy, e-books, e-tailers, Fantasy, Richard C. White, Steven A. Roman, Writing Reference Books, Young Adult | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Quality SWC E-books Available for Libraries

StarWarp Concepts Publishing News

Hey, folks! I know it’s been a while since my last post, so here’s just a brief update on what’s going on around ’Warp Central. It’s a good news/bad news situation—but mostly good!

We’ll start off with the bad news: For the moment, the SWC Store is off-line due to software problems that are preventing us from taking orders on our print and e-book titles. We’re currently working on finding a replacement program that will restore in-house ordering. In the meantime, you can still follow the links we have on the product pages to outside vendors like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and DriveThru Comics, among others. Sorry about the complications!

Now for the good news:

Item 1: Last week, e-book distributor Draft2Digital made our original e-titles (in other words, the books by Richard C. White and myself) available through Fable, “the social app for bookworms” (according to the company’s press material) in which readers can join virtual book clubs or start their own, in addition to purchasing e-books directly from their store. So, that’s a whole new venue in which to pick up new readers!

Item 2: In a couple of weeks, StarWarp Concepts will be participating once again in e-book store Smashwords’ annual Summer/Winter Sale, running throughout July, where you can purchase our titles at 25% off (not to mention choose from the thousands of titles available at similar discounts from a world of indie publishers large and small).

Item 3: SWC will also be participating in another e-book event next month: DriveThru Comics and DriveThru Fiction’s annual Christmas in July Sale, which is held the last two weeks of the month (usually in time to coincide with the San Diego Comic-Con), so that will give you an opportunity to save on our books, comics, and graphic novels!

And hey, all you librarians looking for quality e-books for your patrons: Through our association with Draft2Digital, our titles can be ordered through OverDrive, Baker & Taylor, Odilo, Bibliotheca, BorrowBox, Palace Marketplace, and hoopla. Please keep that in mind while you’re attending the 2024 American Library Association Annual Conference at the end of this month, when you’re in search of books to add to your virtual shelves.

After all, summertime’s the perfect time for reading, isn’t it?

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Happy International Tabletop Day 2024!

Celebrated on the first Saturday in June, International Tabletop Day is an annual event celebrating tabletop and board games of all sorts, launched in 2013 by creator Boyan Radakovich and originally hosted on actress (and gamer) Felicia Day’s Geek & Sundry YouTube channel. As the website Days of the Year explains, it’san opportunity for players to remember why they got into playing tabletop games in the first place. It’s all about pitting yourself against strangers and finding ways to survive through to the next turn.”

Well, if you’re looking to celebrate this special event, it just so happens that StarWarp Concepts has a book that’s perfect for tabletop RPG gamers:

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 (Harbinger of Darkness, For a Few Gold Pieces More, 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.

A bonus feature is an exclusive 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. In fact, it’s a book that’s become so popular with gamers that it’s currently being used as a textbook in the Interactive Media & Game Development program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, Massachusetts!

Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is available in both print (trade paperback and hardcover) and digital formats, so visit its product page for ordering information. And don’t forget to order a copy for your favorite game master!

Posted in Events, Fantasy, Gaming, Nonfiction, Richard C. White, Writing Reference Books | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Happy International Tabletop Day 2024!

DriveThru Fiction’s 2024 Dracula Sale Is On!

Here’s a pleasant surprise: Just in time for Memorial Day Weekend (in the U.S.) this Friday—the start of summer beach-reading—and the celebration of World Dracula Day on May 26 (the date when Bram Stoker’s seminal novel went on sale in 1897), e-book distributors DriveThru Comics and DriveThru Fiction are currently running a Dracula Sale, during which you can purchase digital books and comics involving the Lord of Vampires at special prices! It runs until May 31—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion.

So why is it a “pleasant surprise”? Because included among the participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (which I didn’t know about in advance), and selected for the sale is our most popular Illustrated Classic:

Before Edward and Bella, before Lestat and Louis, even before Dracula and Mina, there was the tale of Carmilla and Laura.

Living with her widowed father in a dreary old castle in the woods of Styria, Laura has longed to have a friend with whom she can confide; a friend to bring some excitement to her pastoral lifestyle. And then Carmilla enters her life.

Left by her mother in the care of Laura’s father, Carmilla is young, beautiful, playful—everything Laura had hoped to find in a companion. In fact, the lonely girl is so thrilled to have a new friend that she is willing to overlook the dark-haired beauty’s strange actions…which include a disturbing, growing obsession for her lovely hostess.

Carmilla, it seems, desires more than just friendship from Laura….

The blood-drenched temptress of a 19th-century vampiric “romance” by author J. Sheridan Le Fanu (Uncle Silas, In a Glass Darkly), Carmilla is a vampiress who desires not just blood but love from her victims, and when she enters the life of a young woman named Laura, Carmilla decides that her new friend will become her next great love—and won’t take no for an answer.

Carmilla was an influence on Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in Dracula, and she remains a popular character in fiction to this day. The novella has also influenced generations of writers, and has been adapted for the screen many times, including Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers and director Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses.

The StarWarp Concepts edition features exclusive illustrations by Eliseu Gouveia (A Princess of Mars, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, Lorelei: Sects and the City).

Fans of gothic literature have certainly enjoyed it:

“The way Le Fanu blends together desire and predation is spellbinding. A true Gothic story, Carmilla is great fun.”Gothic Beauty Magazine

Carmilla is a must-read for any true fan of vampire fiction.”LoveVampires.com

“Like many vampire romances, Carmilla and Laura’s love is doomed and unhealthy, but glorious.”io9

Carmilla is an enthralling wonderland ripe with blood and death. Curl up with this little sleeper if you like your creatures of the night with just a little dash of pixie dust and wolfsbane.”ClassicHorror.com

Again, the Dracula Sale runs through May 31, so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at DriveThru Fiction and start shopping!

Posted in Carmilla, Classic Fiction, e-books, e-tailers, Eliseu Gouveia, Horror, Illustrated Classics, Vampires | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on DriveThru Fiction’s 2024 Dracula Sale Is On!

Happy National Superhero Day 2024!

If you’re a devoted comic book fan, you probably noticed that the internet was set on fire this week when Disney and Marvel Studios released the F-bomb-dropping trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine, the sure-to-be summer blockbuster starring Ryan Reynolds in his third go-round as the Merc With a Mouth, and Hugh Jackman as the claw-wielding X-Man. So what better way to end the weekend than today’s celebration of National Superhero Day?

According to a number of websites, National Superhero Day “was created in 1995 by employees of Marvel Comics, who sent a team of interns out in central Pennsylvania to hear what the public thought about superheroes and what super powers they’d most want to have. Today, the day is about honoring all the superheroes in our lives, both the fictional and the real-life heroes who give their all every day.” 

It sounds like an apocryphal story (Why would Marvel send out interns to do a poll? Why only central PA and not the entire United States?), but in a country that celebrates National Chocolate Custard Day (that’s May 3, in case you were wondering—mark it on your calendar!) it shouldn’t be all that surprising that even a probably made-up story can get its own holiday.

Still, it’s superheroes we’re talking about, and if you’re looking for some around these parts, we have a couple of titles you might be interested in:

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, but they get the job done. (However, they have been compared to the JL’s supernatural offshoot, Justice League Dark and Hellboy’s Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, although TSI predates both organizations.) The graphic novel is written by Richard C. White and his wife, Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman, and features cover art by Richard Dominguez (El Gato Negro).

And Heroines & Heroes is a digital-exclusive collection of comic stories and pinups all drawn and mostly written 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 (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. 

Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is available in print and digital formats; Heroines and Heroes is a free digital exclusive. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages.

Let’s f@&#ing go!

Posted in Comic Books, Digital Comics, Graphic Novels, Holidays, Richard C. White, Steven A. Roman, Superheroes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Happy National Superhero Day 2024!

StarWarp Concepts Books: Perfect for Independent Bookstore Day 2024!

Today is Independent Bookstore Day, which has been celebrated on the last Saturday in April since its launch by the American Booksellers Association in 2013. The idea, of course, is to urge book lovers to hit those small but essential bookstores that have to compete with Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and help keep them in business. 

With that in mind, I have a question for owners of indie bookshops around the world: Are you interested in adding StarWarp Concepts titles to your shelves? Given the quality of our releases, of course you are! Well, here’s how you can do it!

SWC’s in-print titles (as opposed to our e-book exclusives) are all print-on-demand releases available through our distributor, Ingram Content Group—and POD means they’re never out of print, so they’re always ready to appear on your shelves!

Our ever-growing list of titles ranges from the young-adult thrills of supernatural heroine Pandora Zwieback and the Lovecraftian chills of the graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City to the nonfiction books Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination (perfect for writers and RPG game masters) and From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, and from the Illustrated Classics A Princess of Mars and Carmilla to the swashbuckling adventure of the fantasy Harbinger of Darkness, StarWarp Concepts has a book sure to appeal to your customer base!

And our titles are critically acclaimed, with overwhelmingly positive responses from reviewers:

“Far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.”—HorrorNews.net on Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1

“This is without a doubt the essential, authoritative reference book for anything related to the Warren-era Vampirella… There are lots of books out there with good information, but none offers such a broad, all-encompassing look at the history of this character.”—Vampirella of Drakulon (news blog) on From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures

“A solid introduction to the subject of world building. The book succeeds in helping the aspiring writer in creating a skeletal framework on which to hang the moving parts required of a believable fictional setting.”—The Gaming Gang on Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination

“A satisfying romp and one that feels like it would have made an excellent seventies horror film (especially one made by Hammer)…. The story is funny at times, graphic at times, and horrific at others, and it’s always delivering its stuff at full volume.”—Strange Amusements on Lorelei: Sects and the City

“A visceral adventure through a world of magic with well-developed characters, dynamic dialogue and a good dose of two-handed sword fights.”—Experience Writing on Harbinger of Darkness

“With a cover that looks like it belongs on the paranormal romance shelf in a bookstore and half a dozen illustrations provided by Eliseu Gouveia, this edition stands a good chance of tempting some younger readers to pick up this classic vampire tale…. I wish I’d picked this book up in seventh grade instead of slogging through Dracula.”—The Gothic Library on Carmilla

Take a look at our backlist to see what we offer, and then contact Ingram Content Group if you don’t already have an account with them. 

After all, why should Amazon and B&N have all the business—and the fun?

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The Nighttime Is the Right Time: Celebrating World Book Night in 2024

Hey, book lovers! This evening brings World Book Night in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Run by The Reading Agency, this annual gathering of book lovers, to quote their website:

“…brings people from all backgrounds together for one reason – to inspire others to read more. Organisations and individuals hold events up and down the country to celebrate the difference that reading makes to our lives, from book themed parties at home to books swaps in offices. Organisations can volunteer to hand out books from our annual list to people who don’t read for pleasure or own books.”

Sounds like fun, and anything that helps promote reading is a-okay with us! For more information, including how you can get involved, visit the World Book Night site.

So, even if you don’t live in the UK or Ireland, grab your favorite book, sit back, and join in on the enjoyment of reading tonight!

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Happy 60th Anniversary, Warren Publishing!

Well, “Happy 60th” if the company was still around, that is…

If you’re a longtime comics fan, you’ve probably at least heard the name Warren Publishing. Launched in the 1950s by president/publisher/editor in chief James Warren, this indie magazine house was the home of the horror-comic anthologies Creepy and Eerie, the horror-entertainment mag Famous Monsters of Filmland, the time-traveling adventures of The Rook, and, most famous of all, the queen of the bad girls: Vampirella, created by Warren with FMoF editor/creator Forrest J Ackerman, and designed by art legends Frank Frazetta and Trina Robbins.

But even though Warren Publishing had been firmly established since 1958, the first Warren comic-book publication didn’t star a couple of creepy and eerie-looking horror hosts, or even a scantily clad vampiress from outer space, but a “modern Stone Age family” from the town of Bedrock: Hanna-Barbera’s The Flintstones.

That first Warren comic, in fact, was The Flintstones at the New York World’s Fair, a 64-page, full-color promotional “comic souvenir” produced under Warren’s JW Books, Inc. imprint—through a licensing deal with Gold Key Comics—and sold at the 1964–1965 World’s Fair, which was held at what is known today as Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the borough of Queens. (These days, the area is recognized more for being the annual site of tennis’s U.S. Open and, across from the park, Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. The park was also featured in the first Men in Black film and, in a heavily fictionalized version, was home to the Stark Expo in Iron Man 2.) Although the writer is unknown—the comic contains no creative team credits—the artists involved have been identified by auction house Heritage Auctions as penciler Harvey Eisenberg and inker Steve Steere, with Mel Crawford providing the cover art.

So, what makes today Warren Publishing’s 60th comic book anniversary? Because this is the day in 1964 when the New York World’s Fair opened, and the Flintstones comic went on sale!

Warren Publishing stopped publishing in 1982 and completely shut down just months later, but its characters still live on, with Vampirella ultimately ending up at Dynamite Entertainment (after a decade-plus run at Harris Comics, starting in the 1990s), and Uncle Creepy, Cousin Eerie, and time-traveling cowboy The Rook finding a home at Dark Horse Comics. (And in case you were wondering, no, Warren Publishing’s Rook—created by writers Bill DuBay and Budd Lewis, and artist Luis Bermejo—has nothing to do with Image Comics’ recently published dystopian sci-fi comic Rook: Exodus.)

So, Happy Anniversary to James Warren and his late, lamented Warren Publishing. You might not be in the comics game anymore, but fans like me will always treasure the memories!

And while we’re on the subject of Warren Publishing (he said slyly), you might be interested in a nonfiction book we have that’s all about that company’s most famous comic character. Cue the shameless sales plug!

From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, from author Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) is SWC’s critically acclaimed and fan-favorite examination of every Vampirella story that appeared during her Warren Publishing days from July 1969 to December 1982 (plus a list of the modern-day books that reprinted them), along with essays on related spin-off material; an autopsy of the awful 1996 movie that starred Talisa Soto of the Mortal Kombat movies as Vampi and rock-god Roger Daltrey as a scenery-gulping Dracula; and a pretty extensive—and quite possibly the only in-depth—look at the history of Hammer Films’ planned Vampirella movie, announced in 1975 with model/actress Barbara Leigh and Hammer legend Peter Cushing as its stars, but which was never produced. 

“This is without a doubt the essential, authoritative reference book for anything related to the Warren-era Vampirella… There are lots of books out there with good information—Empire of Monsters, The Art of Vampirella: The Warren Years, The Art of Jose Gonzalez, etc.—but none offers such a broad, all-encompassing look at the history of this character.”Vampirella of Drakulon (news site)

From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures is available in print and digital formats, so visit itsproduct page for ordering information.

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