Happy Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day 2022!

Hey, book lovers! Today marks the twelfth annual Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day

Founded in 2010 by author Jessica Milchman, the event, held on the first Saturday in December, “is about instilling a love of bookstores in children so that they will value and support this most precious of resources as they go on to enter and create communities of their own” (according to its website).

Kids + reading + brick-and-mortar bookstores? Always a great combination!

For more information, including a map of the bookstores that are celebrating with events of their own, visit the TYCBD site.

Merry Christmas…in July!

 

blood_feud_lg_cover_2013A second summer book sale? You bet! First, it was our participation in Smashwords’ Summer 2016 Sale, and right now e-book distributor DriveThru Comics—along with its sister sites DriveThru Fiction, DriveThru RPG, and RPGNow—has launched its annual Christmas in July sale, during which you can purchase a ton of digital books, graphic novels, gaming manuals, and comics at savings up to 40%!

Included among the many participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (of course), which means you’ll find the following titles at special discounts:

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

Blood-Reign-FinalCvrBlood 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…

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.

Carmilla_CoverCarmilla is J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century classic vampiric tale of love gone wrong. Laura is so desperate for a friend that when a young woman named Carmilla practically turns up on the doorstep of the castle owned by Laura’s father, she thinks her prayers for companionship have been answered. But as she comes to realize, Carmilla isn’t as interested in making friends as she is in spilling blood. Regarded as the one of the earliest female vampire tales—if not the first—Carmilla was an influence on author Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in his seminal novel, Dracula, and remains a popular character in fiction to this day. Just like with A Princess of Mars, our edition contains six original illustrations done especially for StarWarp Concepts by the super-talented Eliseu Gouveia.

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 (SWC’s 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.

troubleshooters_lrg_coverTroubleshooters, 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: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination, For a Few Gold Pieces More: Tales of the Rogue With No Name) and Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman.

Snow White is the classic story by the Brothers Grimm, one of the titles in our Illustrated Classics line, and featuring full-color illustrations first published in 1883 (and they really are beautiful drawings).

Christmas in July runs until July 29, so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at DriveThru Comics and start your summer-reading shopping!

Blood Reign: Pandora Zwieback 2 On Sale at Amazon UK

Blood-Reign-FinalCvrNever fear, Panatics of Great Britain and Europe: the highly anticipated Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2—my young adult, dark-urban-fantasy follow-up to Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1—is now available for order from Amazon UK, in both print and Kindle-compatible editions! Here’s the synopsis:

She was stabbed in the heart with an ancient mystical spear. Her mother was kidnapped by a band of vampires led by a fallen angel—their goal: unleashing hell on earth. And every living creature on the planet faces extinction at the hands of a race of biblical monsters. But for Pandora Zwieback, the worst may be yet to come.

In this terrifying next chapter of the story begun in the critically acclaimed novel Blood Feud, join the teenaged Goth adventuress as she discovers that death is only the beginning of her saga…

You’ll find the trade paperback edition of Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 here at Amazon UK. And you can purchase the Kindle-compatible e-book edition here at the UK Kindle Store. Order it today!

And don’t forget: the first Pandora Zwieback novel, Blood Feud, is still available from Amazon UK, in both print and Kindle-compatible editions. Want to know how Pan begins her saga? Then purchase Blood Feud and Blood Reign and get started reading!

Blood Reign: Pandora Zwieback 2 On Sale at B&N

Blood-Reign-FinalCvrFirst the ePub edition hit the Nook Store; now Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2—my young adult, dark-urban-fantasy follow-up to Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1—is available in print form from Barnes & Noble! Here’s the synopsis:

She was stabbed in the heart with an ancient mystical spear. Her mother was kidnapped by a band of vampires led by a fallen angel—their goal: unleashing hell on earth. And every living creature on the planet faces extinction at the hands of a race of biblical monsters. But for Pandora Zwieback, the worst may be yet to come.

In this terrifying next chapter of the story begun in the critically acclaimed novel Blood Feud, join the teenaged Goth adventuress as she discovers that death is only the beginning of her saga…

You’ll find the trade paperback edition of Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 here at B&N. And you can purchase the ePub edition here at the Nook Store. Order it today!

And don’t forget: the first Pandora Zwieback novel, Blood Feud, is still available in print and e-book editions from B&N. Want to know how Pan begins her saga? Then purchase Blood Feud and Blood Reign and get started reading!

E-bookapalooza!

The holidays are here, so what better time to curl up with your favorite e-reader and catch up on the doings of Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback in her first novel?

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is available right now at the following e-tailers, for the quite reasonable price of $3.99:

•  (Nook Book)

 

 

 

 

•  (.mobi, ePub, PDF, RTF, Palm; .mobi, BTW, means it’s Kindle compatible)

 

 

•  (PDF)

 

 

 

Also available at DriveThru Fiction: J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century vampiress novella, Carmilla—illustrated by Pandora Zwieback comic artist Eliseu Gouveia, and on sale for just $2.99.

Just click on the logos and start your last-minute shopping!