BETHEL PARK AUTHOR DOMINIC BIANCO IS WORKING ON THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF HIS POPULAR APPARITION SAGA SERIES.
BETHEL PARK AUTHOR DOMINIC BIANCO IS WORKING ON THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF HIS POPULAR APPARITION SAGA SERIES.
Mary Shelly’ s“ Frankenstein,” Stephen King’ s“ Misery,” and Bethel Park author Dominic Bianco’ s“ Apparition Saga” all have the same thing in common— they started with a dream.
And Bianco’ s dream has kicked off a series of young adult science fiction that’ s garnered a lot of attention locally and abroad, something Bianco attributes to the accessibility of the characters in his story.
“ I tried to craft a character who was relatable,” Bianco says of his main character, Angelo, who gains telekinetic powers after a car accident embeds the powers of an artifact called Trifecta into his chest. The relic is one of three disparate pieces of an ancient power source from a long-dead Atlantis-type island nation called Abluvion. Not only must Angelo cope with finding out who he is in the world, he also must juggle his newfound powers. Along the way, he finds his nemesis, who also is looking for the Trifecta for his own nefarious gain. Within all of this, another character shines— the city of Pittsburgh— which serves as the perfect backdrop to the action.
“ It’ s for kids and young adults who struggle with growing up and finding out who they are,” Bianco says.“ Angelo wants to start his own path in life, and feels he’ s not living up to his full potential. And then he gets these powers and has to struggle with the success of being a superhero.”
For Bianco, getting the chance to write his own superhero series is a dream come true. A lifelong fan of comics and science fiction, his number one hero is Superman. And, since his first book was published in 2013, he’ s now seated behind the table signing autographs at the Comicons he once attended as a fan.
“ We sold out at Steel City Con, which I didn’ t expect,” Bianco says.“ We reached the top 5,000 authors on Amazon in SciFi and Young Adult. It was picked up for audiobook. Rick Waldmiller read the first book and is working on the second for Audible.”
In his third book, a new character is introduced who will leave readers wondering who’ s good and who’ s bad. Bianco promises that the backstory and mythos of Abluvion will be revealed.
At 32, and with unwavering support from his friends and family, Bianco still feels he’ s not living up to his full potential.“ I have more ideas I’ d like to turn into realties. There’ s never a shortage of people or places from which to get ideas— they’ re all over. You can find inspiration in anything. And the one thing Apparition has given me is the courage to put my ideas out there without fear.”
The popularity of Bianco’ s past work continues to have him looking over his shoulder for new challenges.“ There are book signings and vendor shows that always come up on the calendar,” he says.“ So I’ ll be talking about this series for a while, which is great. This thing continues to grow and allows me to work on my next project.”
Beyond that, Bianco has also dipped his toe into merchandising with blue t-shirts and bracelets, which represent the color of the Apparition’ s force field. While movie deals and TV adaptations are pie-in-the-sky for Bianco, he admits he’ s thought about it.“ I think Logan Lerman from‘ Percy Jackson & the Olympians’ would be a good person to play Angelo,” he says.“ Or Cody Christian from‘ Teen Wolf.’”
But for now, Bianco is content with the local recognition the Apparition Saga has brought him and hopes his ability to make people smile is a superpower he never loses.“ I was in Five Below the other day and a girl was staring at me and her mother said,‘ My daughter loves your book.’ I hope when I do a signing or a talk at a school that it’ s more than just about the characters. I hope kids and young adults will see that an everyday guy from their hometown wrote a book and say,‘ He wrote a book, I can too.’” ■
Dominic Bianco
BETHEL PARK ❘ SPRING 2018 25