Aeternitas 2011

Well, release week celebrations for The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess is nearly done, though I hope your Strangely Beautiful reading pleasure will continue... (The contests for my HAUNTED LONDON BLOG TOUR are still up and running! Check them out!) and my cross-country travels have brought me back home again to NYC. I'm still attempting to process the Week of Awesome. Admittedly, I'm really tired, fighting a cold that I always get after exerting myself as madly as I do on release weeks, but I'm very blessed in having some amazing events to show and tell.


Starting with... Aeternitas 2011.

I was there because The Group That Shall Not Be Named kindly asked, since I am an unabashed Harry Potter nut, if I would be a Keynote Speaker along with friend and author of Knightley Academy, Violet Haberdasher, about the threads linking our love for Harry Potter into our own unique fantasy worlds. The Keynote video can be found on the Aeternitas page. Also, who can say no to a Harry Potter convention benefiting Lung Cancer research and the HP Alliance?!
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So. Gather about 300 Harry Potter fantatics into one charming, thoroughly House-decorated hotel on a lake, with a tent, with Ray the Dark Lord of the Bar, the great DJ Swish aiding our parties, a lineup of Wizard Rock and Hogwarts school programming, serious cosplayers and costumers, the beautifully led Keynote discussion with Violet and I about our love for HP and how that translates into our fiction and the awesome questions from the audience, me gladly taking on the reins of a very plausible Narcissa Malfoy (as noted in the MuggleNet article)... OMG the level of Geek-tastic could be split between a thousand Horcruxes and the squee would still need containment. I honestly have NO idea how to recap this weekend. It was one of those 'you had to be there' weekends.
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When you really love a genre, any genre, book, series, whatever it is, and you gather with others who share the same love, an automatic bond forms. You have a specific language, code, inside jokes, and a certain freedom that you certainly don't find in the Muggle world at large, because you are around people who, yes, admit that they own a level of geek that is larger than your average bears, but in context this is, in fact, encouraged. And as the con was filled with very talented, accomplished people, we all return to our lives to go on with our own art, our music, our work, etc, all the better for it. As I sit here trying to summarize, it's all a bit of a squee-blur, frankly. -- And we got a write-up (and a fabulous mention) in MuggleNet!!
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Here are a few favourite moments among countless:

- Wand-ball (requirements: wands and balloon)

-Catching up with Violet and talking publishing industry shop, and, of course, our Keynote and three book signings!

-Whatever in the world Ray the Dark Lord of the Bar would come up with next. The 'Dead Hufflepuff' was a crowd favourite.

- Unbreakable Vow!

- Impromptu Slytherin graveyard photo shoot. (Thanks to Violet for humoring us and taking photos). All the photos in general made for riotous fun, especially with The Enthusiasts directing much of the ridiculousness.

- The Dark Lord, Bellatrix, The Malfoys (including myself) and a back-up group of Death Eaters rocking out to Thriller on the dance floor.

-Signing at Annies Book Stop and watching my Slytherin contingent walk through the parking lot and proceed to own the store. (You can order signed books through Annie's! Just email them!)

-Cassie's dueling workshop, and Cassie in general, one of the most incredibly versatile actor/costumers around.

-The amazing costumes featured in the Fashion Show.

-The LePages for being beautiful and letting me play.

-The fact that Jonathon, organizer of The Group That Shall Not Be Named couldn't be seen out of the back seat of the car packed with con-gear because he was stuck sitting behind a cauldron.
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And now, photos. Here are only a few of my faves. More can be found on my FB page in my Convenions and Events album. The Bellatrix is Cassandra Johnstone, Lucius is Perseus LePage, Draco is Draco LePage and thanks to The Enthusiasts, to Cassandra and to Violet for lending photo magic. Huge thanks to Amanda and HP MA and The Group That Shall Not Be Named for some amazing organizing. Thanks to the fabulous attendees for bringing the awesome. Huh-zzah.




























Cheers and if you haven't checked out the latest Strangely Beautiful release, The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess, there are a lot of fun ghost stories and giveaways as a part of my annual Haunted London release week tour, with our final post tomorrow!
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ALSO, stay tuned. This week I'll be revealing my GORGEOUS cover for DARKER STILL, a Novel of Magic Most Foul!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

So it's no secret I'm a Harry Potter fan. And there's nowhere better than New York City to be a fan, where The Group That Shall Not Be Named creates incredible events around the Potterverse. Add the Harry Potter Alliance into the mix and the lead up to the Deathly Hallows midnight shows at Lincoln Center was really amazing. Please check out The Harry Potter Alliance's petition for Fair Trade chocolate in Harry Potter branded chocolate. This is only one of the many real-world Horcruxes they're trying to solve. From flaming HP themed drinks to invading a local diner to the flashmob around Columbus Circle (as documented by the New York Times)- it was blast of a twelve hour long celebration. As you can see, I chose a bit of a Narcissa Malfoy look and rocked out with my fellow Slytherins.

One of the great highlights of the night was meeting fellow author and media maven Violet Haberdasher, who had for quite some time come highly recommended to me as an author and person. Her Knightley Academy series is a clever Victorian take on, as the title does not mislead, an academy for Knights. Of course I was going to adore her. It helps that she's a tremendous lot of fun in addition to being a fellow fan of just about everything I go SQUEE over. Um... fabulous books and NaNoWriMo cheerleader aside, she reviews Doctor Who episodes. Considering I've been a Doctor Who fan since I was 7 years old, the meeting of minds that everyone said was meant to be, indeed felt just so.

With all this wind-up, it was a good thing the movie lived up to all the celebration. *sigh* Wow. Now, being a fan of the books first and foremost, I never go into the films with expectations. I know things will be different, I know things will be omitted, but I always know the casting and acting will be top notch, and I am always particularly won over by that. And this film? Best one yet. I'm not going to give anything away, only to say that I laughed and cried. A lot. The film is such a different feel, tone and take, just as the book is. And it was beautifully done. This part of Harry's hero's journey is painfully and beautifully rendered. The strength of this film is that we care about these characters so much. At this point we are so invested, it makes every difficulty, choice, loss, triumph and brave act all the more meaningful. I truly felt this one was made for the fans of the books especially, and maybe it's no coincidence that Our Lady J. K. said it's her favourite. It is simply beautiful.

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Around the Strangely Beautiful universe... Thanks tons to Reading with Tequila for a lovely new Strangely Beautiful review, it's so wonderful to see new readers getting on board with a series set to unfold into its further adventures. On that note, we'll soon be marking a new chapter in the Strangely Beautiful universe, so stay tuned, I can't wait to share the Midwinter treat with you!