Rachel Inbar's Blog: Magic Sparkles

My little sister's birthday is tomorrow. The little sister I wished for, dreamed of, and begged for. The little sister I convinced my parents I *needed*... and she's far, far away and we're both in lock down. Not what anyone would have expected.

As kids, we talked about things we'd do together when we grew up - travel (we went to Turkey together twice & she came to visit me in Austria twice), have kids who would play together (our daughters are close friends), and maybe even write a book someday...

The past several months we've spent endless hours chatting, plotting, and working. We've written, revised, edited, rewritten, edited some more, cut, added, and then edited some more... and, in honor of her birthday (well, that, and the fact that OUR book is finally finished) the third book in the Magic Sparkles series, Broken Sparkles, a joint effort--and my sister's first book--is now available for pre-order on Amazon Kindle!

Check it out, because it's really, really special. Though not nearly as special as my sister :)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0878WF53M/...

Things have certainly changed in the past week-and-a-half. Driving home from work on the 9th of March, I told my husband (we work in the same office) that I didn't really feel good about coming in anymore. I skipped lunch in the lunchroom (too crowded) and washed my hands about 5x as often as normal (and I'm really good about washing my hands to begin with).

The next day, I was home & rumors started popping up about home office (though we had been instructed to take our computers home daily a while ago) and, later that day, the official mail came through.

On Wednesday, I chose not to go to my German class (again, too crowded) and Wednesday night my daughter was quarantined because of secondary exposure (turned out that the first people had only been in the same location as the doctor who tested positive)...

On Thursday, our two younger kids went to school, even though I didn't feel so good about it.

On Friday, the kids asked to stay home and I said yes. I had already informed the teachers that they wouldn't be coming on Monday and Tuesday (which ended up being cancelled anyway).

Kind of understanding that the world was about to close, I took the kids to a big, empty store and let them choose things that they'd enjoy having (they chose a massive Lego set and a set of poker chips - and a bunch of pens, of course, because we're all addicted to pens).

Over the weekend, we took advantage of the opportunity to take a 4-hour hike out to a frozen lake. By Monday, we weren't allowed to do that either (no complaints, I think they're doing what's best for us).

So, now we've finished our first week that started with total lock-down and moved to quarantine (we can't leave the village). The kids are busy with homework (they get their assignments online, but don't have any face-to-face lessons). My husband and I are super-thankful to work in the medicine industry, which (hopefully) won't be hit as hard as other industries -- and working from home has been easier than I expected.

On my days off, with the help of my super-talented co-author (who also happens to be my little sister), we finished the first draft of the third book in the Magic Sparkles series!

The Orange Sparkles Do More and Understand More Superfun Workbook has been downloaded hundreds of times this week (yay!) and hopefully, I'll get the next workbook done in the coming weeks (should have plenty of time on my hands...) For a free copy, check out magicsparklespublishing.com.

I feel thankful for so many things - for the fact that my kids are self-motivated and I don't have to nag them to do their schoolwork. For the fact that I married my best friend and if I have to spend the next 10 years in quarantine with him, I'm sure it won't be too bad (but, please tell me that the kids will be able to move out at some point). I'm thankful that where we're living is calm, quiet and peaceful. That the supermarkets are fully-stocked with everything you could need and tons of things you would never need (but might want). That we live in a house with lots of space, so everyone can find their own quiet corner. For friends who keep sending funny things on whatsapp. For siblings who call to check in or just to gab with me. For parents who are smart enough to take all the precautions that other people aren't yet aware are necessary - so that they'll stay healthy! The list would go on forever, but I'm also thankful that I have time to spend doing things I see as a luxury - puzzles, reading, drawing, and,... wow, I'm never going to be bored.

Stay safe.

I flew to Israel with a plan to have one short event in which I'd read some excerpts from Blue Sparkles to kids, in the exact real-life location where the book takes place. I discovered that being an author opens doors.

Since the story takes place in Modiin, I thought I'd leave the mayor a signed copy. His secretary thought it would be better if I met him in person. There was a whole photo-thing and he asked me some questions. Super-cool.

Then, I got a phone call from a librarian at one of the schools (my beta-reader niece and her friend, who is also a beta reader go there) asking me if I could give a lecture on writing. I said I would love to.

I think my writing is pretty creative, but that's because my mind is - so I decided that I needed to do something interactive. At first, it was supposed to be 12-15 girls, but after protests at the school (yes, really) it turned into 35. It was a wild experience for me, because my main goal had been to survive, but, despite my utter lack of experience, I was able to get all of the girls on board. They all participated and they came up with something amazing. It was so fun that I have to do it again.

In the past few weeks, I've also done beta reading for 4 novels (I offered to give brutally honest feedback, and absolutely stuck to that), gotten the Orange Sparkles audiobook into production, prepared Blue Sparkles for publication (7 days and it's out there!) and written the first scene in book 3 of the Magic Sparkles series (it has a wild concept and I have the best co-writer anyone could wish for!)

One more important thing is happening in 7 days. My six kids, who haven't all been in the same place at the same time since last July, will be spending a whole weekend together! Blue Sparkles

I flew to Israel with a plan to have one short event in which I'd read some excerpts from Blue Sparkles to kids, in the exact real-life location where the book takes place. I discovered that being an author opens doors.

Since the story takes place in Modiin, I thought I'd leave the mayor a signed copy. His secretary thought it would be better if I met him in person. There was a whole photo-thing and he asked me some questions. Super-cool.

Then, I got a phone call from a librarian at one of the schools (my beta-reader niece and her friend, who is also a beta reader go there) asking me if I could give a lecture on writing. I said I would love to.

I think my writing is pretty creative, but that's because my mind is - so I decided that I needed to do something interactive. At first, it was supposed to be 12-15 girls, but after protests at the school (yes, really) it turned into 35. It was a wild experience for me, because my main goal had been to survive, but, despite my utter lack of experience, I was able to get all of the girls on board. They all participated and they came up with something amazing. It was so fun that I have to do it again.

In the past few weeks, I've also done beta reading for 4 novels (I offered to give brutally honest feedback, and absolutely stuck to that), gotten the Orange Sparkles audiobook into production, prepared Blue Sparkles for publication (7 days and it's out there!) and written the first scene in book 3 of the Magic Sparkles series (it has a wild concept and I have the best co-writer anyone could wish for!)

One more important thing is happening in 7 days. My six kids, who haven't all been in the same place at the same time since last July, will be spending a whole weekend together! Blue Sparkles

I haven't blogged in a while, but with a new book on pre-order - Blue Sparkles - a cover change, and starting book 3, things have gotten pretty exciting!*

Blue Sparkles picks up where Orange Sparkles left off, only with Noah as the new narrator. Megan's back from Paris and Elise's family is getting ready for the clinical trial that's about to start.

So - if you've read Orange Sparkles, please leave an honest review, if you haven't grab a copy, so you'll be ready for Blue Sparkles.

I'm happy to answer questions (just no spoilers, please!)

-Rachel Inbar


*Pre-order price is $1 off of the regular price