Janelle Gabay's Blog

I'm very excited to share this media release with everyone. My manuscript won second place in the Young Adult unpublished category. This manuscript is represented by the Belcastro Agency and will hopefully be published in the near future.

LOCAL WRITER JANELLE GABAY WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD, ANNOUNCED AT
2018 FLORIDA WRITERS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE

The Florida Writers Association, Inc., (FWA) has announced that Janelle Gabay won a prestigious Royal Palm Literary Award (RPLA). Janelle’s winning entry, Dogs and Dirt, won, Second Place for Unpublished, Young Adult Fiction.
The award was announced at FWA’s recent four-day annual conference in Altamonte Springs, Florida. This annual competition, which received 420 qualified submissions, was RPLA’s seventeenth.

“This is the most competitive RPLA we’ve ever had,” said Chris Coward, RPLA chairperson. “The RPLA administrative team, judges, and entrants did an amazing job.”

In all, the competition covered 26 adult genres and 5 Youth genres, with published and unpublished entries considered separately. There were five grand awards, as well.

“A win at any level can help any writer market their manuscript or published book, and the detailed feedback from the judges is invaluable for all entrants,” Ms. Coward said.

The Florida Writers Association, 1,500 members strong and growing, is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization that supports the state’s established and emerging writers. Membership is open to the public.

The Royal Palm Literary Awards competition is a service of the Florida Writers Association established to recognize excellence in members’ published and unpublished works while providing objective and constructive written assessments for all entrants.

For additional information, visit the FWA website: floridawriters.net, where you’ll also find more about RPLA and the complete list of 2018 winners. Or, contact www.janellegabaybooks.com for details about Janelle Gabay.

I’m tremendously excited for Bookcon this year. Last year, the line stretched farther than I could see. I’d never experienced anything like it before. The enthusiasm for reading and authors energized me like a healthy addiction. I had my first and only book at the time. It’s not the book it is today. Today, First Born has artwork and better formatting. Also, I now have two books in the trilogy and more cool swag to give away with a book purchase. The turnout and positive reception I received last year boosted my confidence and stirred my creativity and passion even more. This year I’m expecting the same, if not more, encouragement as I feel my books are better. For one, the editing, formatting, and artwork make the books fabulous; and for two, having the sequel is a bonus. All of us have grown accustomed to continuing the storyline without waiting. I hate finishing a book only to find I have to wait for the next one. I guess that’s the by-product of Netflix. Of course, the wait can be exciting too. I waited for the fourth book in the Raven’s Cycle, and I waited for the third book in A Court of Thorn and Roses series, as well as many others.

The Bookcon experience from an author’s point of view is like being a rock star. With thousands of readers in awe of anyone that has written a book, whether traditionally published or self-published, whether a famous, popular novel or new, unknown novel, the Bookcon fan will recognize and compliment your effort. The Bookcon fan will happily hand over their hard earned money or their parent’s hard earned money to purchase your book, your baby, the three hundred pages you’ve poured your heart and soul into. It’s an enjoyable experience. It warmed my heart to see so many young people still highly involved in reading. In today’s day and age with iPhones, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Netflix – shall I go on – it's nice to see kids appreciate a good book. I’m all for different types of creative outlets. I’m not opposed to alternate forms of storytelling in the digital world. I believe we can all coexist and compliment one another. Bookcon is proof to me that my form of creative expression still has a purpose is the modern world. I guess I should never have doubted it. I mean storytelling in one form or another has existed since the beginning of time, but it is easy to feel it is diminishing when surrounded by the instant gratification of social media with its one hundred and forty characters or ten-second videos.

For the reader, Bookcon is a candy store like no other, the Disney World of books. Bring your suitcase because you will load up on books of all shapes and sizes. You’ll get swag like you’ve never seen before. Free pens, free bags, free bookmarks, free keychains, and sometimes free books. And lots and lots of signatures. But the most important thing is you’ll meet and chat with other book fans. Friendships are made between readers, and between author and reader. Soon you’ll be texting, emailing, Instagramming each other recommending books or talking about the heartthrobs of the series you both love.

I hope to see you all June 3-4, 2017 in New York City at Bookcon. If you can’t make it this year, then put it on your calendar for next year. Make sure to check in with me on Instagram @firstbornbooks, or Twitter @JanelleGabay or Facebook Author Janelle Gabay page for loads of pictures and videos of my trip to Bookcon this year.

Got to get ready for Bookcon!!!
Bye!

Happy Reading,
Janelle

Happy MLK day everyone! I hope you all are keeping warm and staying healthy! In 7 days I'll reveal the cover of my next book First Awakened. I'd love to see you all at the Cover Reveal party on Facebook at BookRhythm. Come join the fun!
https://www.facebook.com/events/36478...

Every day I navigate my way through this new world I’ve thrown myself into, the book publishing arena, I feel more and more like Bridget Jones shuffling along in her thirty and still single dating environment. Everyone tells you to get a platform, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, website, and on and on. Yes, I have all those wonderful social media sites, and honestly, I do enjoy it. I like to interact with people, and I have learned a lot this way. I’ve met fabulous readers who have introduced me to books I would never have read. We’ve discussed these books, and I’ve gained tremendous insight into the minds of fellow readers. It fascinates me when I love a book or a character and someone else hates that book or that character. I think, “No way! How can you say that?” I’ve networked and can call some amazing writers, agents, bloggers and publicists my friends now. It’s fun to see their work and retweet it or share it. I like all these wonderful things,

But…

There is always a butt isn’t there. Ha, Ha, Ha! There is a catch, and that is balancing personal with public. Twitter is public, no doubt about that. I had no problem separating my personal Instagram page with my public one. But Facebook, Holy Cow! This is where my Bridget Jones takes over, or the tiny bubbles fill my head (My high school drama friends will get that little inside joke).

It began with the creating of a page. Ok, done. But then I started to get confused when I’d share stuff. Did I share via Janelle Gabay or my First Born Book page? Hmmm? Then when I linked Twitter to what I thought was my public page but ended up being my private Facebook profile I was inviting strangers to visit me personally. Ugh! Strangers wanted to be friends, and I didn’t know if these people were real fans of my book or weirdos. You can’t be too careful these days.

So stumbling along I create an all new profile using all my professional information and link a page to it and cancel the other page linked to my private profile. I thought I was ready to go. No. I guess you still need to accept or deny friend requests even when you select a public profile. Okay, this is fine. One by one I accept the requests. As a public figure, I want to include everyone, right Bridget? I mean I am trying to sell books, right Bridget? Well, that was a mistake. I must have friended a ‘player,’ because all of a sudden I’m bombarded with friend requests. I think, “exciting, yay!” WRONG! These men had no interest in books I soon found out. So, now I needed to weed through whom I had acquired as friends and diligently go through the growing list of friend requests. What a chore and what an eye opening experience! There are a lot of very provocative people on Facebook. Too much T & A for this book nerd. Next, I go fumbling again and decide to click the 'married' button because I am married. I hadn’t said that in the first place because this was my public persona and I was trying not to include any personal information. Well, I soon got several congratulations on my wedding, which was very sweet, but I’ve been married 24 years now, so the congratulations are far overdue. My friends started calling me and asking if everything was all right with my husband and me. That was fun! Not!

I hope I am now done with the stumbling and fumbling on Facebook and can move on to promoting my writing with friends that are genuinely interested in my words, not my face or other parts of my body. Ha, Ha, Ha!!! I also hope in writing this maybe I can help another novice platform creator from making these same mistakes. Good Luck!

To see the blog with pictures: http://writetraveltennis.tumblr.com

We enjoyed many cafés and met up with a friend from tennis at Luderee. I love that my children know people from around the world thanks to the sport. The Quest Tour at Le Louvre with our Muse guide Charlotte King was a favorite. Having a guide explain the unique stories about the many exhibits made the experience more valuable and exciting. Visiting the Eiffel Tower and Arc De Triomphe made for exceptional views of the city, both equally majestic in their unique way. The Arc is free from peddlers as the Eiffel is littered with annoying people selling cheap trinkets that were just spray painted ten minutes prior.

Being a writer of fantasy and lover of all books witches, vampires, demons and such, I loved the Catacombs and Gargoyles. My daughter, unfortunately, became claustrophobic under the ground inside the tunnels of bones. She enjoyed it but needed to get above ground as soon as possible. The stacks and stacks of bones are fascinating, but you get a sense of emptiness down there. Six million bones are unfathomable. It puts life in perspective. The body seems very unworthy when stacked in a bone graveyard. I’ve often wondered if I wanted to be buried or cremated and thought buried, but now, I think cremated. What good is a bunch of bones once the soul has flown away? You learn in the Louvre that the belief in a soul has always existed, been celebrated and kept safe in many interesting rituals. For instance, the Egyptian Ha, Ba, and Ka seem entirely crazy now with the advancement of science, but there is something to be said about a society that made such an effort for immortality. None of us can comprehend non-existence. I mean, I based my entire novel on a society of immortals.

We also visited cathedrals the size of small towns with soaring heights that put a crook in our necks trying to look up. With inlaid walls of gold and vibrant colors and intricate stained glass and detailed sculptures, these buildings inspire us to worship and hope to bless our souls for salvation. Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur are beyond magnificent. There are no words to do their beauty justice, and the fact that these establishments were built hundreds and hundreds of years ago is pure amazement. But again, we seek immortality and safety for our souls so of course it makes sense to build a cathedral that represents beauty and strength. You can’t help but feel the immense awe as you approach these architectural wonders, especially Sacre Coeur as it sits atop a hill the pinnacle after hundreds of stone steps. Isn’t that the idea? The keepers of our immortality must sit above us common folk. Notre Dame has very few stairs to its entrance, and yet I found its effect on me greater. Something about it felt extraordinary and imposing.

I sought the Gargoyles and finally found them on the sides of the Notre Dame cathedral. As the little creatures stretch out from the stone walls, some look about to fly away while others peer down at you ready to pounce. Other Gargoyles are perched more regally like little generals protecting the divine. Unfortunately, nothing seems to deter the trinket peddlers.

These are the things you must see when you visit Paris. But be advised, there is a lot of walking and staircases. And don’t believe the rumors of rude French people. People can be rude all over the world. You’ll find that smiles are contagious. We had courteous service everywhere we went. But the times have changed, and people are aware of the dangers that threaten our humanity. We entered a small hotel to use the toilettes and got reprimanded for not following the instructions for one person only. In other words, only one person was allowed to go downstairs to use the bathroom; the others were required to remain upstairs. The receptionist explained rather crassly that they are in the highest state of awareness for further terrorism and are taking precautions.

Up and down the Champs Elysees you will find Muslim women holding paper cups. They kneel in silence on the hard concrete and some bow down their heads to touch the floor and outstretch their arms with the cup. The cups are empty, and I wonder why they continue to do this, and why is it only women. This according to my mom and my friend, who have visited Paris before, is a new development. I assume it’s due to the refugee problem throughout Europe. There is something disturbing about a silent beggar.

On Sunday, our last day, our busy but peaceful Champs Elysees was filled with protests and celebration. We rounded the corner to find a crowd of people, the Armenian flag waving, people chanting, a man with a microphone protesting, cars draped with Armenian flags slowing traffic, police vans everywhere and police officers standing throughout with guns and body shields. They said we were safe, but if they had body shields were we safe? Yes, it turned out we were. The demonstrators delivered their message and left. At the same time, Paris was celebrating Saint Germaine’s win of the French Cup. A beautiful French flag rippled in the breezeway of the Arc De Triomphe, stripes of blue, white and red filling the entirety of the space. It was great to experience both the anger from the protest and the joy of the celebrations at the same time. The city was alive.

The multi-culturalism makes this city both diverse and segregated. As much as I enjoyed seeing the many different faces of all sort of nationalities, it can be unsettling when people pass you by looking serious and carrying mysterious backpacks. We live in a world where it is our duty to keep watch so we can protect our fellow man should we be called to do so, but on the other hand, to feel such distrust for another person, a stranger, weighs heavy on the heart. But this too is not new. When you travel to such a historic place as Paris, and you revisit the past through the sightseeing and museums you learn very fast that nothing we are experiencing today is new. Hierarchies of wealth and status, conquerors and their conquered, chaos and peace has existed for centuries, and as it seems, will continue. But just think if it didn’t what would we be? A bunch of identical robots? No thanks, I’ll take the risk to have the beauty.

It's been a busy week, and I haven't been able to keep up with Goodreads. We have been in NYC visiting family, sightseeing and attending the MMUN - Montessori Model United Nations conference. These children are trying to solve the world's biggest problems. They are extraordinary. All dressed in business attire and looking and behaving professional. Walking the streets of NYC, they look like mini Wallstreeters. It has reiterated my belief that what you wear effects your mood, behavior, success. Dress to impress!

Most kids speak in front of 40 other children delegates with grace. These children come from all over the world. They are brave souls as a lot of them don't have their parents. They travel with teachers and chaperones. They have raised money to get here. One lady told me Phillipines Air sponsored them by paying their airfare. That's about $1,300 per person. It's difficult enough to travel from Florida, I can't imagine, but that's what a good teacher can do.

My son has met children from Asia, Africa, Australia. His topic is Child and Forced Labor, but they are also tackling Child Education. Wow! And there are more such topics. The 2,000 children from around the world separate into 40 or so delegates to discuss and try to solve these issues. What strikes me is that they do in fact have solutions. They work hard and have to consider many obstacles such as financial, geographical, safety. It has opened my child's eyes in that he realizes how blessed he is to live in a developed nation with an unlimited amount of opportunity. For MMUN, he represents Bangladesh where poverty and forced child labor are severe problems. These kids quickly learn that to end child and forced labor you have to end poverty and improve education. It is all intermixed. Something as simple as having a road to drive a motorcycle on does not exist for some children in impoverished countries. How can you get a child to school if they have no road?

Seeing these 2000 children work together gives me hope that maybe someday we will solve these global problems. If nothing else, these kids will do something great with their lives and this opportunity has given them experience in public speaking, problem-solving, communication and much much more. And so while our kids may have their noses stuck in cell phones or video games, they are amazing and intelligent given the chance. Thank you great teachers of the world!

I'm sitting here with a glass of wine watching the news on the political caucuses. Yes, this is a sad truth about my Saturday night. But, what strikes me is that Donald Trump wins yet another majority vote. Again, he is beating the odds. It reminds me of Indie authors vs. the established traditional publishing route. No one predicted Trump's success, except maybe Trump. Even the conservative reporters tell us they were wrong. They doubted he would make it this far, and yet here he is beating out the establishment. I'm a self-published author, and I received plenty of rejection letters and criticism. But on the other hand, I had readers telling me they loved it. "Write the next one!" they said. I sometimes think you have to listen to the people and not the establishment. But most of all, you have to listen to your gut. If you truly believe your writing is good then go for it and let the people decide. No matter how you feel about Trump, good or bad, you have to give him credit. He believes in himself, and it shows. We will see what happens, but it's fun to watch it unfold. I love to read people's "How I got successful stories" because everyone has a unique path. But they all share one thing: belief in themselves. I believe there is no set path, there is only one direction: FORWARD.

Thank you to all who entered to win 50 copies of First Born. I can't believe the turnout. I feel very fortunate. And I'm so happy to send some copies to Canada. First Born is actually set in both Canada and the United States, however, it's a little different in my future North American world called the Entente. The two nations are now one and enclosed inside a border wall. The threat of a border war hovers over and influences the actions of my characters. Have a wonderful President's weekend! Go skiing then curl up with a good book by the fire!!

Good morning! I wanted to share a fun story that played itself out this weekend. I let my son have a three person sleepover. Anyone who has young boys knows this can be a very messy adventure and torturous adventure, but a lot of fun too. While the boys were outside exploring the woods, they found a beautiful Chocolate Labrador. Of course, since I have three dogs they called me from their ever-present cell phones. I went to see this dog. He was so happy to have found four boys. It made me think of the children's book I used to read to my son, "The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy." They gave him water and played ball with him. They enlisted the help of our neighbor and called the number on his tag. Through animal control, they eventually found the owner who was delighted to have his dog back. Turns out the owners don't live far and also have children who may come to play in the future. Off he went, and we said goodbye, with no mention of me being a writer. Next thing I know, that evening someone has purchased 5 of my books. The owner of the dog wanted to say thank you and said they love to read Fantasy/Science Fiction books. They bought five and promised to spread the word of by book "First Born." So the saying, "No good deed goes unpunished," does not apply here. And it goes to show, dog lovers are good people.

I'm thrilled to be on Goodreads. A big thanks to my friend Cassie for enlightening me about this site. I've always enjoyed reading and writing as a hobby, but now that I'm writing professionally, it's a whole new adventure. Social media, of course, is a stupendous tool. Thank goodness I have teenagers to help me. It took me a long time to figure out Twitter, and now I'm on to Goodreads. I recently learned about Pinterest and my head is spinning. It's fun, though. I enjoy reaching out to people especially other readers and writers. I have learned so much by simply tweeting, chatting, blogging, etc. So I'm saying "Hello" and asking everyone to bear with me if I make mistakes. If I don't respond to you, it's because haven't figured out how to yet.