Júlia Goldman

Júlia Goldman (born 25 September 1974, Orosháza) is a Hungarian mathematician, teacher, programmer and author. She writes under the pseudonym J. Goldenlane. Goldenlane belongs among the most popular fantasy authors in Hungary due to her trademark humour that permeates her stories. She had a strong influence on the Hungarian sci-fi and fantasy generation which started off in the 2010s. Her popularity persists, even despite a ten years long hiatus in her writing career.

Her writings are being published by one of the leading fantasy publishing houses of Hungary, Delta Vision since 2015. Her novels were formerly published by Beholder.

Career

She was born in Orosháza and graduated at József Attila Tudományegyetem (currently called University of Szeged). Even though she is a skilled and trained programmer, she never held a job as one. She resides in Szeged. She sought out many publishing houses before Beholder finally published Isteni balhé. In the following years she published a series of novels and short stories. Eventually, apart from a cookbok she co-authored with Diána Balogh, Goldenlane totally disappeared from the literary scene from the year 2005 to spend time with her three children.

She reappeared in 2015 with her post-apocalyptic novel Napnak fénye, which was published by Delta Vision. The publishing house began to publish her older works as well as any new ones she writes.

Trivia

• According to herself, Goldenlane became a mathematician mainly because she lacked the confidence to start her writing career.
• Her first novel ever published, Isteni balhé was published thanks to a power shortage. The editor of the publisher was waiting for his computer to restart and began reading her text – and could not stop reading it, he enjoyed it so much.
• Her style was influenced by Jenő Rejtő and Antal Szerb.
• She tried her hand in many things from playing the violin to certain martial arts, but decided to stick with writing.
• Her parents are archaeologists, so she learned how to excavate a neolithic tomb at age 8.
• She’s living in a happy marriage for almost a quarter of a century now.

Bibliography

Novels

• Isteni balhé (A Divine Roughhouse) (Beholder Kft., 2001; Delta Vision, 2016)
• A szélhámos és a varázsló (The Swindler and the Wizard) (Szukits Könyvkiadó, 2001; Beholder Kft., 2006 – revised edition)
• Farkastestvér (Wolfkin) (Beholder Kft., 2002; Delta Vision, 2015)
• Papírtigris (Paper Tiger) (Beholder Kft, 2002)
• A herceg jósnője (The Oracle of the Prince) (Beholder Kft., 2003)
• A jósnő hercege (The Prince of the Oracle) (Beholder Kft., 2003)
• Pokoli balhé (A Hellish Roughhouse) (Beholder Kft., 2004; Delta Vision, 2016)
• Éjfél (Midnight) (Beholder Kft., 2005; Delta Vision, 2015)
• Napnak fénye (Sunlight) (Delta Vision, 2015)
• Holdnak árnyéka (Moonshadow) (Delta Vision, 2015)

Short stories

• Kardnemesek (Nobles of the Sword)
• Tengerészlegendák (Sailors’ Legends)
• Sytisi történet (A Tale in Sytis)
• A párbaj (The Duel)
• Horror a kiskertben (Horror in the Garden)
• Barbár-project (Project Barbarian)
• Egy kardot tartó kéz (A Swordwielding Arm)
• Csillagfény (Starshine)

Non-fiction

• Kedvcsináló szakácsköny (Encouraging Cookbook, co-authored with Diána Balogh)

External links

• Interview with Júlia Goldman (Hungarian)
• Q&A on the Beholder.hu (Hungarian)
• The Writer on the Moly.hu (Hungarian)