Author Jen Guberman & The Neon Palm

Jen Guberman isn’t a New York Times bestselling author, and she has no critical acclaim, but her mom thinks her books are pretty good. She graduated from Gardner-Webb University with her bachelor’s in communications & new media. She spends her free time playing video games, creating jewelry, hand making new crafts, and watering her excessive house plant collection. Jen lives with her husband and their cats in Charlotte, North Carolina.

What Else You Should Know About Them:

Describe all the geeky goodness you'll be bringing to the next Geekery Market! What kind of items will you be selling?

I'll have my books, book bundle boxes, handmade clay dragons, jewelry, and holographic dragon eyes! My books cover a bunch of genres. I have YA fantasy, dystopian, and cyberpunk suspense. New this year: Portals & Doorways, a fantasy anthology! I'll be offering book bundle gift boxes for a couple of my books. These include a signed paperback, character artwork, sticker packs, pins, metal bookmarks, tea or coffee blends, etc. They make great gifts! My handmade clay dragons are back again! Every year, I come with brand new dragons ready for adoption. Each is entirely unique (no duplicates!) and comes with an adoption certificate.

What is something that surprised you about making / selling your wares?

I'm always surprised by what makes each clay dragon stand out to someone. Inevitably, every year I have one that's a little weirder than the rest, and that one's always adopted first. Whichever is my favorite of the year tends to be the last one picked. I've never guessed right which one will be the first to go!

What has been one of your favorite stories so far while running your business?

My favorite story while running my business has got to be the time a student reached out to me once about my dystopian trilogy. She said she absolutely devoured the series and it reignited her love of writing. Not only that, but it inspired her to try writing herself, and she realized she really loved it. That's probably been one of the most impactful things to ever happen to me. I'm so honored to have inspired someone to pursue writing because of my books!

What is an interesting fact about your wares / business that you want to make sure everyone knows?

I have a new book coming out later this year! It should be out by late November, and I'm super excited about it. It's the second book in my yound adult fantasy duology: Deathriser of Darkwood. This might've been the toughest book I've ever written, but I'm excited to finally share it with everyone soon! I'm planning to have some sort of free goodies for anyone at the event who pre-orders or signs up for release day emails.

Looking over the list of artisans this year, what is one of the booths you are looking forward to visiting?

I'm most looking forward to checking out what The Crafthouse has this year! Every year I've gone to the Geekery Market, I've purchased something from them. I always make a point to take a break from my booth to see what they have!