Tuesday, February 24, 2015

CBB Promotions Blog Tour, Interview, & Giveaway: The Intergalactic Adventures of Queen Bea (Jeanne Gransee Barker)

Welcome to my tour stop for The Intergalactic Adventures of Queen Bea by Jeanne Gransee Barker. This is a young adult sci-fi. The tour runs February 16-27 with reviews, author interviews, guest posts and excerpts. Check out the tour page for more information.

Everything she’d ever known was a lie. Now Bea must find the courage to trust her own voice to save not only herself — but an entire planet.
At almost 15, late-bloomer Bea Parker has just discovered that her aunt, uncle and cousins—the only family she’s ever known—aren’t actually related to her and don’t know anything about her birth parents. Then a strange, high-tech device shows up in her room in the middle of the night with a note promising answers about her shadowed past. This alien technology takes her on a journey that forces her to leave behind Earth, and everything she knows, to meet her destiny.

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I discovered science fiction when I was four. My father loved Star Trek, the original series. Every Friday night he’d make a big deal of getting the house quiet so he could hear the TV. The importance of it drew me in. And then I was hooked on other worlds, molecules being scrambled and reformed, and meeting totally logical aliens. As I grew older and continued to watch, I loved the idea that a story could explore our contemporary dilemmas couched in two-tone faces or hidden with green skin. Science fiction was the “gateway genre” that led me to fantasy and paranormal fiction.
I began my first novel at age 12. I still have the ring binder with the hand-written pages of OOTG-1 (that stands for Out of the Galaxy)—the story of the first manned expedition to venture forth beyond our galaxy. Alas, after about thirty pages my hand got tired and the crew never left the Milky Way. But that experience sparked a lifelong love of writing which has continued through my school days to the present.
When I'm not enjoying the alternate universes of my written creations, I live, work, and play Seattle, Washington.

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What gave you the inspiration to write this book?

I love a book series called “Nine Princes in Amber” by Roger Zelazny. In it there was a royal family that transported through a deck of playing cards with the family members’ pictures on them. I always wanted to pay homage to that idea. I don’t think the stories are at all similar, but I think that is where the seed came from.

Who is your favorite character in the book?

I have to pick just one!?!? I guess it would have to be Bea. At times she makes…unwise…decisions. But that is part of what I love about her. I sympathize with wanting to keep moving—to just do something. And then you end up acting before you’ve thought it out. But she has passion. Gotta love that.

Which came first, the title or the novel?

They came at the same time—a very unique occurrence for me. I kept trying to change the name because I thought it was way too long. But no matter what I came up with (I even had other writers come up with options) I just couldn’t change it. This just was the title the book wanted. (Crazy? That’s the only way I can describe it.)

What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?

I love the end—I don’t want to give anything away. (I’ll be careful.) I love that she made the decision to do something for others and to do it alone. And in the end she was supported in a big way.

Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?

To plot the story out BEFORE you begin. Outline, that is. It doesn’t have to be set in stone, but I have to know there is a viable path. And if I change it along the way I can see the ripple effect right away. Book Two is much smoother sailing because of this.

What do you like most about the cover of the book?

I designed the cover so I’m a bit biased. ☺ I love that I found a picture of someone who was very similar to what I think Bea looks like. And that it is a profile view so I can use my imagination to complete the picture and make her exactly what I imagined. (I also edited the face in Photoshop. That helped.)

What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2016?

The next Game of Thrones! I can’t get enough of that world.

What was your favorite book in 2015?

Now, that IS impossible. I couldn’t say. But my favorite of the books I’m reading right now is The Thought Readers by Dima Zales. It’s really fun.

What’s up next for you?

Well, I’m planning on releasing Queen Bea Two later this year. I’m also working on another series called Shadow Gems. I’ve finished a draft of the first book in that series. It’s a paranormal thriller about the fight to control Gems—those born with a variety of special abilities. (Now that I think about it, it is sort of in the same vein as The Thought Readers. That genre definitely.)

Is there anything that you would like to add?!

Just that I had so much fun following Bea on this adventure and I hope others enjoy it as well. And a big thanks to all of those who’ve read it!