Hey, shoppers! Sure, yesterday might have been Black Friday, the retail industry’s most notorious day of the year, and in two days you’ll have Cyber Monday, when the Internet shatters from the volume of online sales that will be flooding shop sites, but are you aware that Small Business Saturday—that annual celebration of mom-and-pop companies that can always use your holiday-buying dollars—takes place this very day? And in case you hadn’t noticed, StarWarp Concepts just happens to be a small business!
And what better way is there to support our efforts than by purchasing copies of our popular titles for friends and family members—or even for yourself? After all, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are right around the corner…
Writers and role-playing game enthusiasts: Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is perfect for budding authors as well as RPG fans interested in building their own fantasy and science fiction environments. In this nonfiction how-to book, author Richard C. White (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil) 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.
Horror and bad-girl comic fans: From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) is a nonfiction history of the queen of the comic book bad girls. In its pages you’ll find a breakdown 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); a checklist of every Warren Era appearance she made; a look at the six-book novelization series written by sci-fi and pulp-adventure author Ron Goulart and published by Warner Books in the 1970s; an examination of the awful 1996 movie that starred Talisa Soto of the Mortal Kombat movies as Vampi and featured a scenery-gulping performance from rock-god Roger Daltrey as Dracula; and a pretty extensive look at the history of Hammer Films’ Vampirella movie, announced in 1975 with model/actress Barbara Leigh and Hammer legend Peter Cushing as its stars, but which was never produced. Plus little-seen photos and other material pulled straight from the vaults of the Ackermonster by the Official Vampirella Historian, Sean Fernald, who also wrote the foreword.
Dark urban fantasy readers: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback is a young adult, dark-urban-fantasy novel series written by Steven A. Roman. It stars a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets a shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, in the first novel, Blood Feud, that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. But before Pan can learn more about what she can do, she and her parents are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans that leads into Blood Reign, the second action-packed novel, in which Pan must deal with even greater threats.
But if teen monster hunters aren’t your thing, there’s another urban-fantasy title that might be more to your liking: Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase. It’s a collection of fantasy-noir, pulp-detective tales by Richard C. White, starring a private eye working the supernatural beat in the city of Calasia, and whose clientele is of a definitely paranormal persuasion.
Fantasy and science fiction readers: For a Few Gold Pieces More is a collection of ten fantasy adventures by Richard C. White that star 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). Harbinger of Darkness is an original fantasy novel by Richard C. White that stars the daughter of a bookstore owner who at night transforms into a swashbuckling thief and adventurer. And A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs—the creator of Tarzan—is a science-fantasy epic about Civil War veteran John Carter, who is somehow transported to the planet Mars, where he battles monsters and aliens while falling in love with Dejah Thoris, the titular Martian princess.
Comic book and graphic novel fans: Got a comic book reader on your shopping list, or even them yourself? The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 features stories by author Steven A. Roman and comic writer Sholly Fisch, with art provided by Eliseu Gouveia, Elizabeth Watasin, and comic-art legend Ernie Colon. Lorelei: Sects and the City is a Mature Readers graphic novel involving a succubus battling a cult of Elder God worshipers, written by Steven A. Roman and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia, Steve Geiger, and Neil Vokes. Lorelei Presents: House Macabre is a one-shot anthology comic containing tales written by Steven A. Roman and Dwight Jon Zimmerman, with art by Uriel Caton & Chuck Majewski, Lou Manna, John Pierard, and Juan Carlos Abarldes Rendo. Lorelei: Genesis is a digital-exclusive comic collecting Lori’s early small-press stories from the early 1990s, written and drawn by Steven A. Roman. Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is a graphic novel starring a group of supernatural superheroes for hire on their first mission, written by the husband-and-wife team of Richard C. and Joni M. White, with art by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman. And The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special is a digital-only, 48-page pirate-fantasy adventure by writer Richard C. White and artist Bill Bryan.
Comic art lovers: The Bob Larkin Sketchbook is a collection of rarely seen pencil drawings by the acclaimed cover painter for Doc Savage, Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel Comics, and our own Saga of Pandora Zwieback. Included are a pair of original Doc Savage–related pinups done especially for this book.
Classic literature lovers: Know a reader with a passion for genre literature? They might be interested in our line of Illustrated Classics. King Kong is the 1932 novelization by Delos W. Lovelace that adapts the screen story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper used for the classic monster movie, enhanced by six black-and-white illustrations by Paul Tuma. Carmilla, by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, is a 19th–century paranormal romance between a vampire and her next intended victim—or lover, and contains six black-and-white illustrations by Eliseu Gouveia. Snow White is the timeless Brothers Grimm fairy tale, made even more enchanting by a collection of full-color illustrations first published in 1883. White Fell—The Werewolf, by Clemence Annie Housman, is considered the first feminist werewolf story. And The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving, is the quintessential Halloween ghost story.
So, take a look around at our offerings and get busy shopping! Spread cheer (not to mention books and comics) this year! And enjoy the holidays!
