This interview was previously published at Thomas Drinkard's blog http://brinson1.wordpress.com/T. Hello. Thanks for visiting the site, please give us a bit of biography.
B: I’ve has been making up fantasy and adventure stories all my life. It only took me thirty years to actually start writing them down, then grit and determination to whip them into shape. I love writing to empower girls and women with my kickass heroines who have to save the world against great odds.
By day I helps authors get their books done and out into the world. I also lead trainings for groups, associations and conferences all over the San Francisco Bay Area, the United States and Europe about motivation, persistence, publishing, craft and marketing.
My favorite city is Paris, where I’ve lived twice. My flavor ice cream is mocha chip. My favorite movie is a toss up between La Femme Nikita, The Fifth Element and Serenity. My favorite band is a toss up between Florence & the Machine, Evanescence and Sting. My favorite author: too many to count.
In my off hours, I enjoy cardio kickboxing, stick yoga, reading and watching movies with my husband, author and musician Ezra Barany. And two cats!
T. Wow! When did you start writing?
B: I started writing when I was seven years old. It was a fantasy story about our cats. I started writing down my dreams at thirteen and at twenty I wrote the first version of Henrietta The Dragon Slayer.
T. Was there a favorite writing teacher or mentor? Tell us about him/her.
B. Mrs. Maffei my eighth grade teacher stretched me as a writer. She had us writing all kinds of things such as poems, scary stories, diaries, comedy, how to, inspirational, motivational, essays and history papers. I loved it! And just knew that I wanted to be a writer from that point forward.
T. Please tell us about your current book: genre and blurb.
B. With pleasure! It’s a young adult fantasy.
Henrietta, the legendary Dragon Slayer of the Kingdom of Bleuve, can’t stomach the thought of one more kill. Yet in order to save her dying mentor she must go on one last quest. But will the quest for the healing stone be derailed by misfit companions, seasickness, and an egomaniacal king? And will she be able cut past her conscience and kill the dragon?
T. Sounds like lots of fun. Do you have a sequel or prequel in mind or in progress?
B. Yes, I have two more books in the series in progress.
T. What are your writing habits? Are you an outliner or do you write “by the seat of your pants?
B. I go deep and fast for my first drafts after I’ve daydreamed, then written the pitch and a 5000-word synopsis. So I’m part “pantser” and part outliner. I like an element of surprise and I like to know the gist of the story, especially the last scene. But I can’t know it fully until I actually write it. I love the first drafting process even though it can be anguishing, especially those moments where I absolutely don’t know what happens next. Or when I’ve discovered a dreaded plot hole and have to take a leap of faith to find what happens next.
T. What are your ideas about the future of digital publishing?
B. The digital publishing world is only going to grow. Opportunities abound for authors who are willing to go for it. The e-book market is growing at an exponential rate, especially outside the Untied States. And authors and other artists can now be entirely in charge of building their following and benefitting financially in a big way, like never before. We don’t need gatekeepers anymore between the audience and us. Our audience is our gatekeeper. Our job is to get the word out to our readers and give our readers what they want: a compelling great story.
T. Thank you.
B: Thank you Thomas for having me at your site! Readers can contact me through http://www.bethbarany.com/
And of course through Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/beth_barany
and Facebook:.
No comments:
Post a Comment