It’s National Novel Writing Month 2022!

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Steven

Halloween’s over, in the U.S. it’s getting time to turn the clocks back an hour as Daylight Savings Time ends, and the chill of fall is fully upon us, And with that comes the annual November event called National Novel Writing Month, which kicked off yesterday. 

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 anyonewho has ever thought about writing a novel.

And what do you know? It just so happens that StarWarp Concepts has a title that’s perfect for novelists!

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 readers
• Identifying useful resources for research

“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

Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is available in trade paperback, hardcover, and digital formats, so visit its product page for ordering information.

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The Legend of Calamity Jane Kickstarter Campaign Ends Tomorrow!

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Steven

Hey, Wild West fans! Like the title says, tomorrow is the last day for Piko Interactive’s The Legend of Calamity Jane: Box-Set DVD and Comic Kickstarter campaign, which includes The Legend of Calamity Jane: The Devil Herself, a one-shot comic I’m collaborating on with artist/colorist Eliseu Gouveia (Lorelei: Sects and the City and the Saga of Pandora Zwieback comics) for Piko’s Virtual Comics imprint.

The Legend of Calamity Jane was a Western series that appeared on the Kids’ WB network in 1997 and presented a heavily fictionalized, heavily stylized take on the life and times of the real-life Martha Jane Canary, a gunslinging, bullwhip-toting cowgirl who was famously known across the United States as “Calamity Jane.” It starred Barbara Weber-Scaff (Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets) as the voice of Jane, with Frank W. Welker (Megatron and others of the Transformers cartoons and movies, Freddy of Scooby-Doo) as Jane’s sidekick, Joe Presto, and Clancy Brown (Superman: The Animated Series, Highlander) as Wild Bill Hickok.

Unfortunately, the series was canceled in the US after just three weeks—possibly due to the level of violence and gunplay on display—but it did complete its single-season, 13-episode run in other countries, where it built up quite a worldwide following over the years. And in recent years, people have been discovering it by watching low-res, fuzzy transfers posted on the Internet.

The Legend of Calamity Jane: Box-Set DVD and Comic collects the entire series, taken from the original masters and presented in its original running order, and comes with the aforementioned The Legend of Calamity Jane: The Devil Herself full-color comic book that picks up the continuity from the series—and moves the action to the present day, Jane is on the hunt for a stolen relic: a gun that belonged to her old friend Wild Bill Hickok. But more suprising than the identity of the gun’s current owner—a series villain from her past—is the even bigger mystery it sets up: How can Calamity Jane still be alive today, and not looking a day older than she did in the 1870s?

The Legend of Calamity Jane: DVD Box Set and Comic Kickstarter campaign—features a presentation video narrated by none other than Barbara Weber-Scaff, Calamity Jane herself!—ends tomorrow at 11:20 a.m. ET. If you’ve thought about backing the project but haven’t done so yet, head on over now and throw your support to the Wild West’s most badass cowgirl! 

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All the Beast Wishes for the Horrorday Season!

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Steven
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Celebrate Halloween Safely with NYC’s Trick or Streets

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Steven

If you live in a big city, you know how dangerous trick-or-treating can sometimes be, with dodging speeding cars and trucks while you’re trying to make the rounds of your favorite candy-giving haunts—even in the daytime!

This year, New York City is taking steps to try and make trick-or-treating a much safer event, with “Trick or Streets,” an expansion of its “Open Streets” initiative that closes certain streets to vehicular traffic so that NYC residents can walk and bike on them without fear of injury. (It’s a popular program that started in May 2021 as a result of the pandemic lockdown, so that people could finally get out of their homes and apartments to enjoy fresh air.)

From 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Halloween, nearly 100 streets will be closed off in Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, allowing you and yours to hit the pavement and fill those goody bags. (Weather forecasts indicate showers during those hours, so be sure to bring along an umbrella.)

For more information on the city’s Halloween plans, including a map of the streets involved and a list of family-friendly events being held, head over to the Trick or Streets website.

Have a fun, and safe, Halloween!

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It’s the Final Charge for the Legend of Calamity Jane Kickstarter Campaign!

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Steven

Just six days and a few hours remain for Piko Interactive’s The Legend of Calamity Jane: Box Set DVD and Comic Kickstarter campaign, which includes The Legend of Calamity Jane: The Devil Herself, a one-shot comic I’m collaborating on with artist/colorist Eliseu Gouveia (Lorelei: Sects and the City and the Saga of Pandora Zwieback comics) for Piko’s Virtual Comics imprint.

The Legend of Calamity Jane: Box Set DVD and Comic collects the entire 13-episode animated series from 1997—only 3 of which were ever broadcast in the U.S.—that stars Barbara Weber-Scaff as Calamity Jane, Clancy Brown as Wild Bill Hickok, and Frank Welker as Jane’s sidekick, Joe Presto, and is not only taken from the original masters but presented in its original running order. 

Plus it comes with a disc of bonus features and the aforementionedThe Legend of Calamity Jane: The Devil Herself full-color comic book that picks up the continuity from the series and moves the action to the present day. Jane is on the hunt for a stolen relic: a gun that belonged to her old friend Wild Bill Hickok. But more suprising than the identity of the gun’s current owner—a series villain from her past—is the even bigger mystery it sets up: How can Calamity Jane still be alive today, and not looking a day older than she did in the 1870s?

The Legend of Calamity Jane: DVD Box Set and Comic Kickstarter campaign—featuring a presentation video narrated by none other than Barbara Weber-Scaff, Calamity Jane herself!—ends next Wednesday, November 2, at 11:30 a.m. ET. 

Happily, the campaign was successfully funded as of Wednesday afternoon (thank you, Jane fans!), so now it’s on to the stretch goals! Even if you’re not interested in the upper tiers, but have always wanted your own set of this much sought after “lost media” series (plus a comic I’m totally sure will become highly valuable…one day), head over now and back the project! 

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Halloween Movie Offerings Examined at Pandora Zwieback Blog

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Steven

Looking for something to watch this Spooky Season? In the mood for a horror movie marathon?

Over at the Pandora Zwieback blog, this week I’m taking a look at what some of the cable channels are running for their Halloween programming next Monday—Freeform, AMC, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), MeTV, Movies! TV Network, and IFC.

Sure, there’s a lot of sameness to what’s on the menu—the Halloween franchise, Ghostbusters, Gremlins, etc.—but it’s what horror fans have come to expect from the networks. TCM and Movies!, however, are always good for some real classics.

Whatever you might be interested in, whether it’s scary movies or family-friendly fare, head over to the Pandora Zwieback blog and see what’s on TV!

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The Spirit of Warren Publishing Lives On!

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Steven

If there’s one thing horror fans have learned from a lifetime of watching movies is that you can never keep a good monster down for long. Oh sure, it might look dead, but it’s really just biding its time to make its return to terrorizing the townsfolk. And such is the case with one such monster—a famous monster, in fact.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Corey Taylor, frontman for the band Slipknot, announced that he had purchased the rights to Famous Monsters of Filmland, the legendary horror magazine created by Forrest J Ackerman that inspired generations of Monster Kids to become writers (Stephen King), directors (Steven Spielberg), artists, makeup masters, special effects designers, and many other occupations.

As a Monster Kid myself, I’m looking forward to the revived Famous Monsters, and hope it won’t become too focused on the over-the-top gore that pervades today’s horror movies, as magazines like Rue Morgue and Fangoria do. Famous Monsters was always about showcasing classic horror; with luck, the new iteration will find a way to balance the two audiences—the old-school and the grue school (as Forry might say)—in order to be successful.

And speaking of Forrest J Ackerman—aka FJA, aka Dr. Acula, aka the Ackermonster—Famous Monsters of Filmland wasn’t the only creation he’s known for. Along with Famous Monsters’ original publisher, James Warren, he also created a comic book heroine known to horror fans around the world: the one and only Vampirella! And it just so happens that your friendly fiends at StarWarp Concepts have a book that’s all about the queen of the comic bad girls…

In From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), you’ll find a wealth of information in its chapters:

The Vampire Who Fell to Earth: It’s the story of the life of Vampirella at Warren Publishing: her 1969 development by cocreators James Warren and Forrest J Ackerman, with the assistance of artists Frank Frazetta and Trina Robbins; the adventures she went on via the writing and artistic talents of such visionaries as Archie Goodwin, Bill DuBay, Jose Gonzalez, Enrich, Gonzalo Mayo, and many others; and the cancellation of her series in 1982 when the company collapsed. It also features probably the most you’ll ever see reported about four Vampi writers who were just as talented but not as well known: Mike Butterworth, who wrote under the pseudonym Flaxman Loew; T. Casey Brennan; Rich Margopoulos; and Gerry Boudreau.

The Vampirella Episode Guide: The largest section of the book, it examines every story starring Vampirella during the Warren Era: over 100 entries, some with little known behind-the-scenes details. Plus stories behind some of Vampi’s unpublished adventures!

Vampi Goes to Hollywood: In 1975, Hammer Films announced the development of a Vampirella movie starring model/actress Barbara Leigh and the legendary Peter Cushing (later known the world over as Grand Moff Tarkin of Star Wars). The project crashed in spectacular fashion, but the details have always been murky. I try to clear up the confusion surrounding it, detailing the production from its launch to its unfortunate ending. And then I take a critical look at the awful Vampirella movie that was made in 1996, starring Talisa Soto and rock god Roger Daltrey of the Who—and probably shouldn’t have been!

The Literary Vampiress: From 1975 to 1976, Warner Books published a series of Vampirella novelizations by sci-fi author Ron Goulart. I take a look at each novel, and explain why they’re worth tracking down…if you can find copies!

The Vampirella Warren Era Checklist: A list of every Warren Vampi story! Every reprint volume from Harris Comics and Dynamite Entertainment! Plus little known trivia!

From the Starsalso features: A foreword by Sean Fernald, the Official Vampirella Historian! A peek at Peter Cushing’s personal copy of the 1976 Vampirellascreenplay! A frontispiece by legendary artist Bob Larkin, who painted covers for Warren’s Vampirella, The Rook, Eerie, and Famous Monsters of Filmland! Photos of Barbara Leigh in costume as Vampirella at the 1975 Famous Monsters Convention, held in New York! If there’s only one Vampirella history book you pick up—and let’s be honest, this is the only Vampirella history book that’s been published—then be sure to add it to your collection!

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

This book is unofficial and unauthorized. It is not authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by Dynamite Entertainment or any of its licensees. Vampirella is a trademark of Dynamite Entertainment.

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DriveThru’s 2022 Halloween Sale Is On!

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Steven

It’s time to celebrate the Spooky Season—with e-books and digital comics! E-book distributors DriveThru Comics and DriveThru Fiction—along with sister site DriveThru RPG—have  kicked off their annual Halloween sale, during which you can purchase thousands of horror-themed digital books and comics and roleplaying games at special prices! It runs until November 1—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion. 

Included among the many participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (of course), which means you can get the following titles at lower prices:

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.

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is my young adult novel that 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. It’s a character-driven action-fest that leads immediately into the second novel, Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2. 

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 is a 56-page, full-color comic special that features cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella) and contains three original stories. In “Song of the Siren,” by writer Steven A. Roman and artist Eliseu Gouveia (Vengeance of the Mummy, Lady Death), the teenaged Goth adventuress matches wits with a man-stealing enchantress who’s set her sights on Pan’s boyfriend, Javier. It’s followed by “After Hours,” by writer Sholly Fisch (The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries), and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), in which a demon walks into a bar to unwind after a long day of scarifying. And rounding out the issue is “Shopping Maul,” a short story by Roman with title-page art by Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), in which Pan and Annie, along with Javier and Pan’s best friend, Sheena, run into a group of Gothic Lolita vampires out to do more than a little window shopping.

And 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 Strikes, Vampirella/Lady Death), you’ll find stories by me and Dwight Jon Zimmerman (She-Hulk, Iron Man, Web of Spider-Man). Art is provided by Uriel Caton & “Chainsaw” Chuck Majewski (Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa), Lou Manna (Infinity Inc., Young All-Stars, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents), John Pierard (Graphic Classics: Horror Classics), and Juan Carlos Abraldes Rendo (Bloke’s Tomb of Terror).

Again, the Halloween sale runs through November 1 (the Day of the Dead!), so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at DriveThru Comics and start shopping!

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Talking Comics on a Sunday Night: The Recap

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Steven

For those who might have missed the livestream, this past Sunday I joined the latest laid-back panel discussion on J.D. Calderon’s YouTube interview series Indy Comics Explained, on the latest installment of his ongoing panel-chat gathering “Talking Comics on a Sunday Night.”

Along with me, J.D. hosted indie publishers JayDee Rosario of Unstoppable Comics, Ozzy Longoria of Gemini Comics, and Timothy B. Fling of Earth Dog Studios, plus creators Peter Breau and C. Michael Lanning. We touched on topics like the farthest distance we’ve ever traveled to exhibit at a convention (both J.D. and I said San Diego Comic-Con); what our most successful non-comic product has been, sales-wise (I said Richard C. White’s writers-and-games-masters guide, Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination); the attitude of consumers toward “bad-girl” comics (I got in a plug or two for the graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City); and other things related to indie publishing.

And when it came time for talking Kickstarter campaigns, I was off and running on promoting Piko Interactive’s The Legend of Calamity Jane: Box-Set DVD and Comic Kickstarter campaign—which launched on October 3rd and runs until November 2nd—and The Legend of Calamity Jane: The Devil Herself, the one-shot comic I’m collaborating on with artist/colorist Eliseu Gouveia (Lorelei: Sects and the City and the Saga of Pandora Zwieback comics) for Piko’s Virtual Comics imprint.

So now you know the basics, but to get the full experience, head on over to the actual “Talking Comics on a Sunday Night” panel at Indy Comics Explained and see for yourself!

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Reminder: SWC Writer Steven A. Roman Appears on Talking Comics on a Sunday Night—Tonight!

Posted on October 16, 2022 by Steven

Like the title says, here’s a reminder that tonight I’ll be making a return appearance to J.D. Calderon’s YouTube interview series Indy Comics Explained, on the latest installment of his ongoing panel-chat series “Talking Comics on a Sunday Night.”

In addition to discussing indie comics, indie publishing, and the like, I’ll be promoting Piko Interactive’s The Legend of Calamity Jane: Box-Set DVD and Comic Kickstarter campaign—which launched on October 3rd and runs until November 2nd, and is already more than half funded—and The Legend of Calamity Jane: The Devil Herself, the one-shot comic I’m collaborating on with artist/colorist Eliseu Gouveia (Lorelei: Sects and the City and the Saga of Pandora Zwieback comics) for Piko’s Virtual Comics imprint.

“Talking Comics on a Sunday Night” livestreams tonight at 7:30 p.m. EST, so be sure to head over to Indy Comics Explained and tune in!

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