Thursday Thirteen -- 297 -- 13 Things About My Hal-Con 2013 Weekend

My second Hal-Con is wrapped and in the can. A fantastic weekend! Thanks to all of the organizers who put on the event, especially since -- as you'll see -- things went a little off-script on Saturday...

1 -  This is my husband Brad and me at our booth on the main retail floor, Day 1. We had an awesome spot, and I did the best ever at this show. Thanks to everyone who dropped by my booth, with very special thanks to all who bought my books. That's a thrill that never gets old.

2 - Upstairs on the second floor, in the official author area, my friend Shawna Romkey, a fellow member of our writers' group Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada, had her booth ready for Hal-Con pass holders. Shawna had an especially great con. Go, Shawna!

3 - Across from Shawna was bestselling fantasy author Terry Brooks, who came with his own legions of devoted fans. Witness the Terry Brooks lineup.

4 - When there was a moment between signings, Terry Brooks made his way along the other author tables, chatting with fellow writers.

Here's what happened immediately following the convention, in Shawna's words:

"Ummm...Terry Brooks just contacted me. He read my book on the flight home. He asked for my email to send longer comments than my website form would allow. YIKES!!!!!!!!!"

Then --

"Terry Brooks emailed me!!! He had some really positive things to say and also gave me some great feedback! *faints* "

5 - What book is that, you say?

Speak of the Devil

6 - One of the good news / bad news things about taking part in events like Hal-Con as an author is not being able to see everything that's going on. I did manage to stop for a few minutes on one of my trips upstairs to see Shawna, and watched these historical warrior reenactors demonstrating sword fighting.

7 - Sometimes the best place to see the headliner guests is just by staying put at your booth. That's Robert Maillet at right, from 300, Sherlock Holmes, Immortals and Pacific Rim checking out a jewelry vendor across from my table.

8 - Day 2 started out with a very large line-up stretching around the Metro Centre, with the interior crowds noticeably bigger. This shot of the corridor immediately outside of the room where Shawna and I did a Heroes and Villains panel on Saturday at 12:45 is a good indicator of the Day 1 crowd. Busy but still lots of space to move around.

Halifax is a little city, and Hal-Con is still a young event -- only a few years old. By about 10:30 on Day 2, having been a former Toronto's Fan Expo participant, as well as an eight-year veteran of working front of house for what is now the Sony Centre, I could sense that the building had reached maximum capacity and that people were no doubt being turned away.

I attempted to head upstairs to meet with Shawna before our panel, only to be faced with an unmoving wall of people being held back on the first floor. Using my Toronto Big City skirting-around-the-mob technique, I managed to get to the escalator where I thought I would have to plead my case as to why I had to get to the second floor.

However, the staff waved me along when they saw my vendor pass -- thank God!

9 - Somehow our panel started on time, with a packed audience and even standing-room-only at one point. Shawna talked Heroes and I talked Villains, and we had great questions from the audience.

This was the first-ever panel at an event like this for both of us. Thanks to everyone who attended and took part in the discussion.

10 - Meanwhile, unbeknownst to us at that time, Hal-Con was enduring some rather extreme growing pains. Here's a link to a news report on Hal-Con's Day 2 fiasco:

Long lines at Hal-Con lead to frustrations, refunds and an apology

11 - I salute the 5th Dr. Who, Peter Davison, who waded outside into the cold where all of the incredibly disappointed turned-away convention pass holders were lining up for refunds.

Peter Davison walked up and down the line to chat with those who couldn't get in, showing wonderful generosity and kindness.

Here's a clip from Dr. Who, with the 5th doctor in action.

12 - Shawna got to hang out with him at the Stargazer Soiree later that night. A jolly good fellow, what?

13 - The best part of taking part in cons like Fan Expo and Hal-Con is the incredible costumes that go by my author table. Here's a small taste of some great ones. Join me next week when I turn Thursday Thirteen over to the costumes of Hal-Con 2013.

I'm blogging at The Popculturedivas

Join me at The Popculturedivas for 13 Reasons to Attend Word on the Street.

I'll be signing books along the Halifax waterfront on Sunday, Sept. 22nd behind the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

My writers' group, Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada, will also have a booth there -- drop by and meet contemporary, YA, historical, paranomal and erotica romance authors.

Free Comic Book Day - May the 4th Be With You

To celebrate Free Comic Book Day, I'm hosting a giveaway that starts today and runs till the end of the month.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SAINT SANGUINUS features my Dark Ages vampire superhero, Peredur.

Last year, Free Comic Book Day was one of my favorite author events for 2012. This year, I have a special treat to go along with free copies of my book.

Toronto sculptor and illustrator Ted Heeley has created an illustrated version of Peredur for my Free Comic Book Day giveaway.

Six limited prints are up for grabs, along with six e-copies and six paperback copies of SAINT SANGUINUS.

Why six?

This blog turned six years old in February, and I'm celebrating six truly wonderful years by giving away six versions of each prize.

Enter through the Rafflecopter link, and good luck! 

A to Z Blog Challenge - V - Thursday Thirteen - 276

On Day 22 of the  A to Z Blog Challenge

V 

is for

Velocatus and the other brethren from my Dark Ages vampire novel

1 -  On Tuesday I introduced my main female character from SAINT SANGUINUS with an excerpt. T was a perfect day to meet Tanwen, the Welsh chieftain's daughter left behind to mourn her warrior bethrothed when he fell to a spear during a raid against the Irish.

As Tanwen discovers, Peredur did not die in the conventional sense. His curses hurled at God with his dying breath called the members of the brethren to collect him for duty in their elite brotherhood.

Peredur becomes a vampire whose task is to prevent humans from wiping out all vampires, and to prevent vampires from turning all humans into vampires. He is a vampire prevented from living the life of a true vampire, while no longer able to live life as a man.

Today I'd like to introduce the other members of Peredur's brotherhood, beginning with:

2 - Velocatus

This member of the brethren hails from present-day northern England, in the area now known as Richmond in North Yorkshire. 

3 - Velocatus belonged to a tribe known as the Brigantes when he lived as a man. They made up a thriving agricultural and trading culture in the present-day Midlands during Roman rule.

In SAINT SANGUINUS, Velocatus is especially adept at sword fighting.

4 - This novel takes place in 6th century Wales, and besides Welsh hero Peredur and Northern English Velocatus, there is another member of the brethren who hails from what we now call the British Isles:

Brude

5 - Brude is a Pict from the modern-day Inverness area of Scotland. There are two members of the brethren that Peredur befriends with closer ties than the others, and Brude is one of them.

6 - Peredur's other close friend is Sigbjorn. In fact, Sigbjorn becomes Peredur's closest friend amongst the brethren.

7 - Sigbjorn hails from the present-day Stockholm area of Sweden. Because the brotherhood is made up of warriors who curse God with their dying breath, their rarity makes collecting them from all across the world a necessity. 

8 - The moodiest and most reclusive of the brethren is Adalhard.

9 - Adalhard once lived in the modern-day area of Orleans, France.

10 - The member of the brethren who gives Peredur the most confusion is Wladislaw, from modern-day Poland.

11 - In an era when all men either serve a master or fight their way to leading others, the brethren operate as a collection of equals. Because Wladislaw was once a prince among men, Peredur finds it nearly impossible to treat the nobleman as an equal.

12 - The member of the brethren who showed up at Peredur's side as he took his last breath upon the battlefield was Melnak.

13 - Melnak came to Wales from across the continent, beginning his mortal life in Byzantium, or modern-day Turkey.

Here's the book trailer for SAINT SANGUINUS, which I wrote and directed (produced by Charlie Mac Productions:)

A to Z Blog Challenge - T

Welcome to Day 20 of the  A to Z Blog Challenge. Today:

T

is for

Tanwen

Tanwen is the main female character in my Dark Ages vampire novel, SAINT SANGUINUS. 

The daughter of the local chieftain, she was betrothed to warrior Peredur until he fell to a spear upon the battlefield.

For today's post, meet Tanwen in this excerpt:

Tanwen clapped both hands over her mouth. Her shaky breathing filled the hut as she realized Peredur truly lay at her father’s front door.

                “Tanwen,” he whispered. He regained his feet then reached a hand to her. “Come away.”

She looked back toward her sisters, at her brother curled by the fire, at her parents under the covers. So odd that none had awakened. Plucking a cloak from a peg on the wall, Tanwen wrapped it about herself, pushing aside the door flap to stride outside into the cold night.

                Her Peredur swept her up in his arms, running easily for a spell until he brought them far into the woods and out of the numbing wind. She clung to him, marveling at his solidness.

                How it hurt to be separated as he set her down on an overturned tree. He knelt before her on the thin powdering of snow. Tanwen clutched the woolen cloak tightly, her breath frosting white in the air between them.

                “I was told...” she tried. Reaching forward to touch his cheek, a part of her recoiled at the whisper of death she found there.

                Her beloved brought his hand up to cover hers. “Here I am,” he said at last.

                “But Cynfelyn,” she said. “He saw you fall. To a spear.”

                Peredur looked away.

                “How did you survive it?” she said, a tinge of fear underneath her words. She pulled her hand back, away from his face.

                “I didn’t,” he said simply, lifting his head to look her straight in the eye.

What could he mean? He was right here, solid and in front of her.

                “I did fall to a spear.” He lifted his tunic but there was no scar from the wound. His flesh was white as a corpse. She covered her mouth with her hand, but the shriek of pure panic escaped her.

                “I am no longer a man, Tanwen.”

                 Tears poured down her face. Why stop them?

                “I did not survive that battle. Cynfelyn was right to tell you what he did. I am no longer the Peredur who grew up here in this village.”

                “Why have you taken me here?” she asked, noticing the remoteness surrounding them as if for the first time.

                “I wanted to tell you I love you.”

                What he had never actually said to her in his life as an ordinary man, he said to her now as if that would help their plight. It just made her angry.

                “Why did you go off to fight, Peredur?” She no longer felt the need to hide her pain at being second-best after the adventure of war.

                He looked away from her. “I wanted to make a proper home. For you.”

                Tears dripped from her nose and chin. He held his arms out and she fell into them. It felt good to sob, Peredur caressing her hair, nuzzling her face.

                “I was visited upon the battlefield as I lay dying,” he said at last. “My curses brought him, Tanwen. I knew I’d never get a chance to do what we’re doing right now.” He could barely form the words. “So I cursed God.”

                She pushed back from his embrace. “What are you saying, Peredur?” An unbearable pit of dread formed in her chest.

                “I cursed Him as I lay dying,” he said. “I should have prayed and asked for forgiveness, but I didn’t.”

                “What do you mean?”

                “I am doomed.”

                “Doomed? What do you mean?” she asked, hearing the lunatic edge to her voice. “Tell me!” She let go of him, and the loss of him even for a moment took her breath away.

                He sat down heavily, seeming faint all of a sudden. “I live by drinking the living blood of people, Tanwen.” He bared his teeth, exposing two long fangs like wolf’s teeth.

                She couldn’t stop her gasp that seemed to pierce him. “I use them to get to the blood,” he said, a look of despair clouding his beautiful face. “I must feed soon. I must leave you or I will feed upon your family. And I won’t be able to stop myself.”

Copyright - Julia Phillips Smith - 2011

Thursday Thirteen - 260 - 13 Highlights From My Amazing Year

1 – Having been born in the Year of the Dragon, 2012 turned out to be pretty freakin' fantastic for me, starting with the arrival of the hard copies of my debut release, SAINT SANGUINUS.

2 – My friend and fellow author Shawna Romkey gave me this first-ever moment: my first book signing during the Valentine's Hearts on Fire event for my writers' group at The Halifax Club. 

3 – In March, I attended the Women in Film and Television conference with my producer and friend Tara MacDonald, and our friend YA author Renee Pace.  

4 – Later in the spring, I attended a women's retreat at the Oak Island Inn with Tara and Shawna. A much-needed rest before a crazybusy summer.

 5 – WAY, way up at the tippy top of my joy this year: directing the book trailers for my Scorpius series. Produced by Tara MacDonald and shot by Caroline Ruyle. Best time I ever had on set.

 6 – This May I participated in Free Comic Book Day. Thanks to three local comic shops, I gave away free downloads of the e-book version of SAINT SANGUINUS, since it's a Dark Ages vampire superhero origin story. Many thanks to Giant Robot Comics, Quantum Frontier and Monster Comic Lounge.

 7 – The thrill of seeing your very own book for the first time never gets old! My second release BOUND BY DRAGONSFYRE arrived in the mail in early summer.

 8 – The book trailer for SAINT SANGUINUS won two awards!

9 – In August I signed copies of my Dark Ages vampire novel and my dark fantasy novel in the Indie Artist Alley at Fan Expo in Toronto. Many, many thanks to my friend Tara for helping me navigate this venue, and to my husband Brad who worked alongside me.

10 - Easily, the most amazing moment of this year came when I finally made contact with a friend whom my sister and I met almost 30 years ago. We met Rashid Kamalov during the 1984 Tall Ships event in Halifax, while the Iron Curtain was still firmly in place. After writing about him here on my blog many times, his email showed up in my spam folder in September, which I only looked at because of the Fan Expo contest I held.

Rashid is now my Facebook friend!

Here's what he wrote after reading the tale of our summer together which I told to readers here at A Piece of My Mind:

"Dear Juliа, thank you for the wonderful story about our meetings and for good memory about me. I carried in my heart warm feelings to Michelle and to you through all life. I am glad to know that you are well, we can email each other. It is so well you are here!" - Oct. 2, 2012 

11 – In October I attended my 10th writers' retreat with my writers' group. Already counting down the days until the next one.

12 – A few weeks later, I shared a table at Hal-Con with paranormal/sci-fi erotica author Lilly Cain. Signed more copies of my books and had a ball.

13 – To cap off the Dream Come True year, I went on my second trip to New York City, sat in the red booth at the Russian Tea Room and walked into the lobby of Radio City Music Hall to watch The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular.

That's my sister with me in the red booth, and my BFF at Radio City.

SO amazing.

I can't believe it sometimes!

Thank you to all my readers who have become friends over the years. You've made the world a much, much smaller place.

Here's to 2013! Hope you're off to a fantastic start.

5 on Friday - Set 131

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

In two short weeks, I'll be sitting at my booth

A 49

at the Indie Artist Alley, Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario signing copies of SAINT SANGUINUS and BOUND BY DRAGONSFYRE. I'll also have prints of my mom's watercolor ink piece, Stare of the Dragon available. 

If you're in the Toronto area from Aug 23-26, hope you can join me at Fan Expo!

In the meantime, there's one more chance to vote for A Piece of My Mind for the Fascination Award. Click on this link for instructions on how to vote. Contest closes Fri the 10th at midnight EST.

In the spirit of Fan Expo and superheroes like Peredur, my Dark Ages vampire, here's a set of my favorite superhero themes.

1 -  Batman theme - composed by Danny Elfman

2 - Robocop theme - composed by Basil Poledouris  

3 - Animated X-Men theme - composed by Shuki Levy and Ron Wasserman

4 - Mad Max 2 - The Road Warrior theme - composed by Brian May

5 - Iron Man theme - composed by Ramin Djawadi

SAINT SANGUINUS is the featured book at Everyone Loves a Sinner

Everyone Loves a Sinner hosts SAINT SANGUINUS as the featured Book of the Day, wrapping up my month-long blog tour hosted by Bewitching Book Tours. 


Thanks to all who joined me for the journey!


Special thanks to Roxanne Rhoads, Tara MacDonald and Shawna Romkey for all your support.

I'm guest blogging at Black Hippie Chick's Take on Books & The World

I'm guesting over at Black Hippie Chick's Take on Books & The World.

I'm interviewed at Books, Books, the Magical Fruit today

I'm interviewed over at Books, Books, the Magical Fruit today, where I chat about which section of the bookstore I race towards first, why I have a Russian phrasebook in my purse and where I describe my very first 'novel' written when I was in grade five.

Review of SAINT SANGUINUS at VampireRomanceBooks plus interview, as well as featured book at A Dream Within a Dream

SAINT SANGUINUS was reviewed over at Vampire Romance Books on the weekend.

I was also interviewed there:

Interview at Vampire Romance Books

SAINT SANGUINUS is also the featured book at A Dream Within a Dream for Wed, June 20th.