I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Beth Barany. Beth is YA fantasy and paranormal author with a great read, Henrietta the Dragon Slayer. Her book released in February and has gotten some fantastic reviews. Beth has been doing a summer blog tour and is giving away some cool prizes. (Click here to see the other blog stops.) I hope that you'll play where you have a chance to win!  Personally, I'd like to have Henrietta's necklace which is the grand prize.  For now, I'll settle for an interview. Beth answered some serious and just plain nosy questions from me.

As an author, which is the more difficult: writing or publishing?
I'd say the writing part, since I'm indie published. Really, I agonize the most about editing and rewriting. That's the real work of an author, as far as I'm concerned, and I never feel done, ironically.

Do you have a music playlist for writing?
This is particular to each novel. For Henrietta The Dragon Slayer I alternated between listening to Baroque music while editing, the same CD over and over, and Evanescence, while first drafting.

Who are your favorite authors? Or favorite YA books?
I always find this questions so unfair. LOL Because I love them all. Here's a few of my favorite authors: Elizabeth Moon, Diane Duane, Sharon Shinn, Madeleine L'Engle, Issac Asimov, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Michael Connelly, Maurice Sendak, Tamora Pierce, Gail Carson Levine. Favorite YA books: Percy Jackson and the Olympians series; Harry Potter series; the Golden Compass series; The Three Investigators series; Ella Enchanted (and ALL of Gail Carson Levine's books); Robin McKinley's books; So You Want To Be A Wizard series.

What do you do for fun? Hobbies?
Read!
Journal write!
Watch movies and favorite TV shows with my husband
Garden; play in the dirt.
Play with my cats.
Work out.
Meander.
Daydream
Play on social media
Talk on the phone with my girl friends
Travel
Do you have personality traits in common with Henrietta?
Stubbornness
Focused
Connected to nature
Driven
Have often felt alone in the world
Self-reliant
A good story teller
Quick witted
Willing to try new things
Courageous
If Henrietta The Dragon Slayer were to get translated to the big screen, who would you imagine getting the role of Henrietta?
A young Milla Jovovich or Allie Grant or Lindsey Rayl.

Music playlist for Henrietta if she jumped into 2011?
Fun! I think she'd love what I love to listen to: Florence & the Machine; Evanescence; Pink; Christina Perri; Lady Gaga; Justin Beiber; the soundtrack from Step Up 3; anything that makes me/her dance!

5 Questions  for our heroine, Henrietta:  (feel free to elaborate)
Pizza or steak: steak, definitely!
jeans or skirts: jeans and leather jacket
Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift: Lady Gaga (see above for music playlist!)

Author Bio
Beth Barany has been making up fantasy and adventure stories all her life. She writes to empower girls and women with her kick ass heroines who have to save the world against great odds. In her off hours, Beth enjoys cardio kickboxing, stick yoga, reading and watching movies with her husband, author and musician Ezra Barany.
Beth Barany can be contacted through http://www.bethbarany.com or at beth@bethbarany.com.

I recently received the mockup for my book cover. There is something powerfully satisfying about seeing the front of your book. You can then visualize the prospective reader saying, "Ah, this looks like my kind of book." Or maybe the reader says, "Don't know this author, but the cover caught my eye."

For those of you who have some preconceived ideas of how this works, let me dispel those. First, you do not form an intimate relationship with the book cover artist where he/she knows your every thought about the story and what essence you want captured. I haven't had telephone conversations, exchanged emails, nor met the cover artist. We are strangers. Second, the cover artist probably hasn't read my book. I'm guessing about this one, but I'd wager I'm correct. I filled out a form with details about the story and characters that would help the graphic artist create a cover without being buried underneath a to-be-read pile.

So, what are the chances of getting the perfect cover? I haven't won the lottery yet, and I figured perfection might have the same odds.  I was wrong. JACKPOT.

I am extremely excited about revealing the cover to you. Once I have the final image, you'll be the first to see it. Well, maybe not the first since I had to show it to my family.  I hope you'll love it as much as I do. Unless you're not a reader...and you don't really care about book covers.  Here's a funny conversation with one person who shall remain unnamed.  I'll just use the names P1 and P2.
P1: "What do you think about the cover? If you saw this in a bookstore, would you buy it?"
P2: "No."
P1:"Why not?"
P2: "Because I don't read."
P1: "Okay, nevermind. If you saw this  DVD in the movie store, would you rent it?"
P2: "Who's in it?"
P1: "It doesn't matter who is in it. Nevermind."

Last week at this time, I was unable to walk. It was temporary but painful. I took a family vacation and had a blast in Destin. Relaxing was the name of the game...except for one activity. I decided that I'd support my sister in her fitness regime and exercise with her. Please keep in mind that I am currently sedentary. Writing sort of leads to a butt-in-the-chair lifestyle.

I walked with her several days along the beautiful sidewalks and beaches of Destin, Fl. That was fabulous. One day, I did the Insanity DVD with her. Yes, it IS insanity. No misnomer there.  Another day, we did zumba. My sister teaches at the local gym and is an excellent and inspiring fitness teacher.  That was so much fun, and I miss going to her classes.  

I'm not sure what put my body over the edge, but I'm guessing the Insanity DVD did it. Or it may have been the zumba. Either way, I can laugh about it now. The lesson is.....don't BEGIN a fitness program with the plan outlined above. If you have a Facebook account , you can click here to see a video of her doing a zumba routine. She choreographs, records and shares with her zumba friends and students. It's a blast just to watch. Happy Friday!

The Diamond State Romance Authors (found at http://www.dsra-rwa.com/) presented an informative session for the public in May of this year. Three lovely ladies comprised the panel of published authors. Shayla Kersten, Delilah Devlin, and Elle James (seated left to right) talked about the publishing industry, their own writing, and the path to publication.  I've learned so much about writing and publishing from these authors. I'll be posting the rest of the videos later this week. 

I'm doing research on how to create a book trailer. The easy thing to
do would be take a class.  I couldn't seem to find one offered at the
right time for me, so now I'm on my own.

Here  is what I've taken learned so far about the 4 elements in a book trailer:
1. IMAGES: Use images that are at least 640 x 480 pixels. In other
words, do not try to stretch a small picture until it becomes a blurry
mess.  I'm dealing with the frustration of looking at
billions...no...zillions of images and becoming overwhelmed while not
seeing that "just right" picture.
2. VOICE: Write a script/blurb. Your voice should be represented with
these carefully chosen words. Also, you need to be short and sweet. A
few words go a long way.  I am a master at handing out the advice on
other writer's trailers.  Although I've never made one, I seem to
think I know just what will help someone fine-tune theirs. If I've
offered comment on yours in the past, be assured that your time is
coming soon. Please be kind.
3. MUSIC: YouTube actually has music that you can add to your video
with a service from AudoSwap.com.  I listened to several songs, and I
think I'll be able to find something. I read an email post from one
author in my online group that  said it's acceptable to use any music
as long as it is not from Warner Brothers. I wish I could locate that
post. 
4. PACING: I might try for 10 sentences + 10 pictures = 30 seconds in
book trailer length. At maximum, I think a book trailer can be 2
minutes long. It needs to be really interesting to keep my attention
for that length. We'll see.

Wish me luck! I'm looking at using Windows Movie Maker since I already
know how to use it or maybe Animoto.  If you have any tips for me, I'd
love to hear them.

A while back, my techie son wanted to show me his project from a college class.  I'm always excited to see his work.  Then he told me it was based on augmented reality and the solar system. I could hear the wind whistling through my head on that one. The only time I hear 'augmented' used is when people talk about breasts. When he demonstrated the project, I marveled at his scientific mind.  I'm a proud mother.

Then I read an article about companies who are doing this with business cards. No lie. You must see it to believe it. While watching this video, I was reminded of one of the Star Wars movies. Maybe it was Princess Leia talking with Obi-wan Kenobi? Anyway, I digress. Here is what it actually happening in the world of high-tech business cards!  The future is here.