Updates and Upcoming Appearances

Hey! Quite a bit has happened since I last posted. I was at the annual Pirate Festival in Guelph, I ran a panel on World Building at Toronto FanExpo, and I received some great updates on some upcoming books that I have coming down the pipeline. So, where do I begin? 

FanExpo was a lot of fun this year. The panel I ran featured myself, and fellow authors Jen Frankel and Sarah WaterRaven. If you haven't had a chance to check out their work, please go and do so. Seriously. These ladies are extremely talented. Our panel ended up being standing room only, which I was completely gobsmacked to see. (Imposter syndrome, I see you.) My daughter, Hailey was with me, and she turned to me to say "These people are here for you?" Children, keeping you humble. It was an amazing experience, where we ended with a great Q&A with the people who came to see us. We talked about where to begin building a world when writing, if characters influence the world you create or vice versa, and then we talked about how to apply these skills to gaming or being a DM. After the day at the con, we all went to dinner where the conversation continued, and I truly got to catch up with everyone. All in all, a great con.

While all this was happening, I got some fantastic updates from my publisher for The Ghost in the Garden, Crimson Dragon. I can not wait to have this book be out and about in the world! Ghosts in Stratford. I have been slaving away on my Canadian ghost story, and I have seen it's cover! It is truly one of my favourite things, and I cannot wait to do a full on cover reveal for this little book baby. Also, I have seen the interior layout. The truth is, I have never before realized how a layout can truly influence a reading experience. This book is beautiful. I literally ran around the house showing everyone the glory that is the little swoopies that are section breaks, the font, the paragraph spacing, and since this is a modern day story with modern day teenagers in it who love their cell phone... TEXT BUBBLES! Yes, I got excited over text bubbles. But it's the little things that make a big thing like a novel come to life on the page. So... stay tuned for more on this. I will probably be screaming about text bubbles some more down the road.

Speaking of down the road, (not my best segue. I know.) I have some news. See how I title this post Updates and Upcoming Appearances? Well, let's talk about those upcoming appearances, shall we? From October 12-15 I will be a part of New York Comic Con's inaugural Writer's Block! I am so excited for this. I will be at table 7 at NYCC for all four days of the con with all of my released books (as well as some surprises!) and I couldn't be happier about this! So, please, if you're in the area, come on by and say hello. See what I have in store for the Big Apple. As my daughter's favourite singer says "Welcome to New York!"