Once again, FanExpo has come and gone, and I am utterly exhausted! It is a four day whirlwind of craziness! But don't get me wrong, it is definitely a good kind of crazy, and I look forward to it every year. It is a chance to connect to readers and to fellow fans of fantasy and science fiction, Hello fellow Whovians! and I have a blast. I love the energy, the cosplays, the dealers floor, and the chance to meet people who I have looked up to for ages, and this year proved to be awesome.

An and I were there with our "minions" all four days. I can not thank these people enough. Emilie, Jeff, Katrina, Leah, you guys were amazing. Each day, you were beyond helpful. Without you, I don't think we could have eaten, let alone experience the con as we did, so thank you.

Another thing that happened was that Brian showed up on Friday with Joseph, 
Phillip, and Hailey! They went to their first FanExpo! They did it in full costume, and Joseph was the Hulk, Phillip was Iron Man, and Hailey was a Pirate Princess. Now, Joseph went all out. He was roaring at people, and smashing the ground, he was the Hulk. He even smashed a guy dressed as Spiderman who had asked him for a high five. He was a total hit with the grownup cosplayers. The funny thing was that the kids didn't realize that the people around them were fans like them. They thought they actually met the real superheroes! It was too cute!

Now that evening, I had planned a special treat for the kids. I had planned to take them for a photo op with Stan Lee. Phillip knew exactly who Stan Lee was. He knew that this was the man responsible for the heroes that he knows and loves, and is the hot dog vendor from the Phineas and Ferb special episode Mission Marvel. He had a special plan of what he was going to say, and how he was going to smile, and what he wanted to do. He had even planned on giving him a drawing of the hero he had invented: Captain Iron Man. We got to the photo op and waited for him to arrive. When he did, Phillip just stared. I think he was in shock. Joseph whispered to me that he "looked like a zaidy". Hailey got nervous, as she sometimes does around strangers. We went up to him, said hello, and took the picture. Phillip did not smile. But after the picture when he realized that we were just going to walk away, Phillip turned to him and said "Hi". Stan Lee responded with a smile, and Phillip went on to say "Thank you Stan Lee for all the superheroes." I swear, he looked like he melted. Later on, I discovered that upon forgetting his drawing, Phillip took it upon himself to sketch one into one of the copies of The Strings of the Violin that I intended to sell. Well Phillip, Mommy found a way. That book is now in Stan Lee's possession. You're welcome. Please do not deface anymore of my property in the future.

Oh! Before I forget, The Dybbuk's Mirror is out in two days! My ARC's are looked over, as are my galley proofs, and now I wait and panic!

Now, pictures! (and THE picture is at the end)

Once again, An and I were at the Milton Pirate Festival! We love it there! Where else can you spend the weekend dressed like a pirate having a blast? This weekend, I got to do readings from my books onstage at the Thirsty Parrot Pub, and I think I'm getting over my nervousness sharing my work live. It's always difficult trying to pick a random spot from a novel. I never know if I'm making the right choice. I want to introduce the characters to potential readers, grab their interest with something exciting, but at the same time, I don't want to give too much away. Anyway, the first day I chose the Prologue from Sitnalta, and I think that went well. The next day I chose the first chapter from Sitnalta, and for the last, I went with Chapter 17 from The Strings of the Violin. I don't know why, but I liked that one. It was fun to read, a nice mini capsule adventure, that ended on a bit of a cliff-hanger. I enjoyed it. It felt like a bit of a performance piece. Also, there weren't to many long foreign words to stumble over. Those make me nervous. I know how  to pronounce them, they just make me a bit nervous. An and I opted not to do a reading from Bath Salts. This is a family festival after all. :)

The last day of the festival, we also had a major rainstorm (or two). For the last couple hours, An and I gave up on selling books. We packed everything into the middle of the tent, and went to the tavern for the pub sing. There was a lot of puddle jumping going on by children, and lots of adults! The actors from the mud show made a mud sliding competition in front of the tavern, and everyone was fairly soaked through at that point.

After the pub sing, we went back to the tent to pack everything into the car, and I had one of the more terrifying experiences of my life. We folded the tent in, and as we started shaking the canvas roof off the frame, a spider the size of a small squirrel flew off and went right down the front of my bodice. I screamed and An rushed to help me. She quickly untied my laces, and I tried to shake it out (while protecting my modesty). I thought I was successful, so she began to retie it. I then felt the thing start to creep across my torso and shrieked again. We ran to the car, and Clara, another girl who was working a booth helped shield me as I ripped off my bodice, and grabbed another top. I was not going to wear the spider bodice a second longer! I got redressed and we made our way back to the pub.

All things considered, it was a great, successful weekend. Tons of fun. Can't wait for next year!




Pictures!

Wow. Okay, so it's been a while since I've posted. There has been quite a bit going on, and I have some news.

First thing: I have been asked to contribute a short story to a YA Paranormal anthology called NightLife, that's coming out December 2014. I am hard at work on it, and it needs to be done by July. Keep in mind that short story in this case means 15,000-20,000 words, so not TOO short.

I have been making good headway in my sequel to Sitnalta, and I am hard at work editing The Dybbuk's Revenge. So I definitely have a lot on my plate in the writing world right now. I have also started sending in applications to the various festivals and cons for the upcoming year. Wee! Lots to do.

What I didn't need was for my good friend Julia to give me her Blue Rays of Once Upon a Time. Oy. I'm loving it so far! But I didn't need more distractions! These stories will not write themselves, and I am a master procrastinator!

In completely unrelated news: Next week marks the start of Birthday-palooza in the Goldenberg house. The kids are on the 5th, I'm the 8th, and Brian's the 11th. Lots to do there to get everything all ready. For the kids' birthday, I'm baking a cake and putting figures on it. It's the only way to give them all what they want. How else can I get a cake that has the Avengers fighting Princess Sophia, Jake, and Captain Hook? I'll definitely take pictures when I'm done.

On the 2nd, An and I will be participating in a video blog called "In Bed With Bran" where we will be interviewed about all things Bath Salts. I look forward to it. I get to be filmed in my pyjamas! Maybe I just won't get dressed that day...

I will definitely strive to keep this blog more up to date. I think it needs it. 

Well, Chanukah is over, and the family had an amazing time seeing relatives, getting presents, giving presents, making latkes. I may hate the cold, but I certainly do love this time of year. It's full of so many wonderful excuses to get together, and to see people you may not have seen in quite some time. I know that Brian and I are going to certainly take every opportunity to do just that.


The kids absolutely loved the holiday, and Joseph has taken to hiding dreidels in his bed. He wants to pretend that Chanukah is still happening. He got upset with me when I tried to take down the decorations. He loved watching everyone light the candles (as he tried to blow them out), and he learned several songs at preschool that he, Phillip, and Hailey sang from the moment they woke up in the morning, until they fell asleep at night. I hope they embrace every holiday with the same vigour.


On the writing front, I am making slow and steady progress on the sequel to Sitnalta. I know exactly where the story is going, and in what direction I want to take each and every character, and that's a hugely important step for me. My broken computer monitor (aka my story board) is littered with post-its telling me exactly where I need to go. It's just a matter of plunking the words out on my lap top.


In other news, I will be having another online party for Sitnalta on January 15, 2014 between the hours of 2-4 Toronto time on Facebook. I will be pasting the link as soon as I have it, and if you could all show up and join in the fun and games, that would be awesome! Also happening in January, I will have an official trailer posted online for The Strings of the Violin, and I can't wait to see how it turns out! I am also deep into the first round of edits for the tentatively titled The Dybbuk's Revenge which I finished last month.


Since the holidays are here, how about giving a book (or two) to your loved ones?

The Strings of the Violin

Bath Salts

Sitnalta

And remember, a review feeds an author's soul! :)

Well, it's finally here! Sitnalta can now be purchased as a paperback novel! I can't wait to be able to actually hold it in my hands. In other news, I am finally embarking on a writing project with my baby brother Brian. It's taken 22 years for us to finally get our acts together and work on something from the ground up. Usually I'm in the shows he directs and he attempts to tell me what to do. A partnership is an entirely different beast altogether. Hopefully we don't kill each other before we're done. What are we working on? (you may ask.) Well, I don't want to give too much away too soon. However, I will tell you that this project combines everything we're passionate about: Music, performance, writing, and kids. So, in other words... Another zombie novel. (Just kidding. Or am I...)

Speaking of zombie novels, Severed Press has relaunched Bath Salts! We've got ourselves a whole new cover, and she is beautiful! Check it out!

Love it! 

On a completely unrelated note, my attempts to build my army of geeks is working! I recently took Phillip to the doctor's office, and he insisted that his doctor was THE Doctor. And when I asked if he was going to see the doctor, he'd respond with a vaguely British sounding comment of "Dr. Who?" I melted a little inside. Success!

And now to business:

You can buy your brand new paperback copy of Sitnalta here.
Bath Salts is available here.

I did it! It's just over 51,000 words, and it's done a week early! Granted, I scrapped the majority of what I wrote before NaNoWriMo started, and I had a little prewritten (making me a NaNoRebel), but it's finished! I have completed the final instalment of the Hadariah trilogy that starts with The Strings of the Violin, goes on to The Dybbuk's Mirror (coming out September 2014), and will finish with (the tentatively titled) The Dybbuk's Revenge. It is so weird to be done writing about these characters. I have had them living in my head for so many years now, from when I first came up with the idea for writing a book based on Jewish folklore, to today. It's strange to me to have this sense of completion. I know that I still have edits to do, and more edits, and submitting it to the publisher, and then more edits etc. But for me, the hard part is over. The series now has a concrete beginning, middle, and end. It feels bittersweet. It's odd to no longer have to return to these people's lives and add more to it, because I feel there is no more for me to tell. I'm at a bit of a loss right now. 

In my other worlds: Sitnalta's sequel is chugging along nicely. I have the playground of Colonodona still to visit. I'm doing well there. I'm also adding up my list of cons and fairs that are to be attended this coming year, and it looks to be longer (and possibly American in some cases)! Bath Salts is offline temporarily. This is exciting news! Severed Press is doing an epic rerelease and relaunch with a brand new cover, and bells and whistles (sold separately). We will be appearing on Bathtub Bran's webcast in celebration.

My own celebration is as follows:

It's that time of year again, and National Novel Writing Month is creeping up on us. Once again, I have decided to participate. What will I write about this time? Zombies? Trolls? Dybbuks? I am vacillating between a few ideas. I have a whole list of story ideas I would love to put down. I will probably choose one of those.

In other news, I am embarking on another blog tour, and I am enjoying this one immensely. Keep your eyes open on my Facebook page for my stops and what's going on there. There will be interviews, reviews, excerpts, and guest posts written by me on a lot of wonderful people's pages.

This Saturday, An and I will be appearing at the Toronto Zombie Walk to sell Bath Salts, and our official poster. We won't be the only ones there, there will also be thousands of shambling zombies! I've been thinking that a place like Zombie Walk would probably be the worst place for a zombie outbreak to begin. It would be quite difficult to tell who was among the afflicted, and who just had an awesome costume and makeup job. Hmmmm..... I smell a book idea there...

This is probably the perfect time of year for something like the Zombie Walk. Halloween is just around the corner, and with that in mind, guess what's happening on Halloween! That's right! That is the day that Sitnalta will be available as an ebook! The book that An affectionately calls "Princess Troll" will be available to buy. I am ridiculously excited. I have had these characters bouncing around in my head since I was thirteen years old and making up stories for my little brother. Now everyone will be able to read some of them.

Here is the official blurb from Pandamoon Publishing:

"Her third published novel, Sitnalta is a young adult fantasy. In the land of Colonodona, being a princess is not all fun and games. It means being shackled to the ancient tradition of an arranged marriage to a King that Princess Sitnalta does not love. Left with no other choice, the princess runs away as the King tries to find Sitnalta while Sitnalta tries to find true love."

In even more exciting news, Brian and I are going away on our first trip together since the triplets were born! We are going to New York, and this means SHOWS!!!! I have a (longish) list of things I would like to see, and I know there is no way I will get to see them all, but I will sure have fun trying!

While I'm gone, Pandamoon will be having a launch party on Facebook, for both myself and fellow author Jackson Baer for his new book The Earth Bleeds Red. Check out the link here, and be sure to stop on by for games, giveaways, and other fun stuff. Even though I'm out of town, with the help of the internet, I will be able to fully participate!

So, I bought this button making machine a while back so that I could make buttons for my books to give out as promotional materials at the various cons and faires I was going to this summer and fall. Question: How many authors does it take to work a button press? Well, apparently the answer is "more than two". That's right. An and I could not figure the darn thing out! Looks like there will be no buttons for our zombies to give out this weekend. Boo. But they will still have bookmarks! So there's at least that I suppose.

That's right everyone. This weekend when An and I are at Indigo at Bay and Bloor, we will have actual zombies walking around. I will definitely have pictures of all of this awesomeness to show you. We will be there on Saturday from 12-4.

In other news, I spent a bit of this evening going through all my old blog entries. My goodness how things have changed! I had to laugh when I said in an older entry that The Dybbuk's Mirror would be coming out in early 2013. Then I had absolutely no idea that I would be picked up by Prizm for my Hadariah books, or that I would have Bath Salts out and Sitnalta on the way. With the new year coming up next month, I have to take a moment and be so thankful for all that I have accomplished here. It really is astonishing, and I am amazed at how far everything has come. For that I have everyone who has read my books, helped me with them and has just been there for me. So thank you.

Next month also has Angelwalk's next show opening. If you haven't seen or heard of Tick...Tick... Boom! I encourage you to please check it out. It is written by Jonathon Larson who wrote Rent and is a great little show. Check out more details here. I am once again doing props, and am so excited to be working with Tim French as director once more. I last worked with him on Altar Boyz and I had a small little contribution on [title of show] ( I think I loaned a purse). So it's great to be back with him. Check out the whole season. It's sure to be great! 

Yesterday, An and I had our official book launch party sponsored by Milestones at Yonge and Sheppard in Toronto. We had an amazing time, people came by to buy our book and have it signed. Snacks were eaten, sangria was drank, it was great!

Later on, An hosted a great afterparty where more snacks were served including cake. We played Cards Against Humanity (an evil game) and just had a fun time. I would definitely call the day a success!

Next weekend it's Pirate Festival time! August 17 we are at Indigo at Bay and Bloor for a signing, and then... FanExpo!

Now, some launch pictures:

My crazy busy summer is definitely full to overflowing with things I need to get done, and things I've committed to doing. And to top it all off, I've become an Arbonne consultant. First of all I love the products, second of all, some people I respect very much have taken me under their wing and I have met so many amazing people and heard so many fascinating stories, which, money aside, as a writer is just incredible. I have never seen such a close-knit group who support each other's endeavours so whole-heartedly.

Back to writing! My chair that I had in my office was an old chair I got from my Bubbie Minnie. She was my dad's mom and I took her chair. It looks like an old wooden dining room chair with mustard yellow corduroy on the seat cushion. Not great for sitting for long periods of time at a desk in front of a computer. So today, while my husband and I were at Staples, I found a new chair and just bit the bullet and bought it. So far, my back thanks me.

More exciting news! An and I are having our official book launch this Saturday at Milestones at Empress Walk (5095 Yonge Street) between 2-4 pm. If you're in the GTA, stop on by! I'd also like to give a giant "thank you" to Milestones for sponsoring our launch. Guys! We have a sponsor! This is too awesome!

I am still making progress on the third Hadariah book and the sequel for Sitnalta. Slow and steady everyone. Maybe now that I can sit for longer at my desk, I'll stop it with the lame excuses. Okay, my chair and Candy Crush. That game is pure evil.