An Interview with
Trista Bane
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I’m excited this month to be talking with Trista Bane about the opening of her new publishing company, Twilight Fantasies Publishing (jointly owned with her husband), and her books. Thanks Trista for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us. 1. Congratulations on both your latest release, ALYSSA’S CHOICE, and on the opening of Twilight Fantasies Publishing! How in the world are you managing to balance it all and still work a full time job elsewhere? It’s amazing what you can do if you don’t waste those hours sleeping everyday, lol. No. Seriously, while I am a bit sleep-deprived, I couldn’t do it without a wonderful supporting staff! My husband and friend Holly have helped me manage the behind the scenes stuff, and Cassidy McKay and CJ England have joined Holly as administrative assistants to help when I’m nearing the end of my rope, lol. Cassidy has been a god-send! If it wasn’t for her expertise and patience with webgraphics and html, I shudder to think what shape everything would be in. And CJ has taken over as author-liaison to help me out, especially during the hours in which I’m at work. When we welcome new authors to the “Twilight Family” we really mean it. TFP feels like a family, and if it wasn’t for my family, online and off, TFP wouldn’t exist. 2. A little birdie told me that opening a publishing company has always been a dream of yours. What made this time right for your dream to come true? It’s really like having a baby. I wanted to wait until the “right time.” For a long time, that meant until I had more time, because as you mentioned, I have very little. I do have three kids, a full-time and a part-time job, and I attend college classes, working on my second masters. My life is just hectic. But, if I waited for it to become less hectic, my dream would never become a reality. I love the publishing world. I love every aspect. I’ve dabbled with every job from reviewer, promotions, review coordinator, editor, submissions reviewer, and line-editor. I even play around with designing covers. Granted, I’m not very good, so I’ll leave that up to the professionals, lol. CJ, Cassidy, and Brenda blow me out of the water. But, I do like to play, so I created the cover of Lexi’s Quest, my own book (because I didn’t want to mess up anyone else’s lol), which is coming out in June. I also created the cover for our free teaser book (which is up on the website and ready for immediate download in choice of pdf, html, or lit formats). Just like someone who wants to wait for the “right time” to have a baby, I discovered there is no “right time.” Not really. It’s a major, life-changing adjustment, but when the baby gets here, it’s worth the change, and everything else just works itself out. 3. Was opening a publishing company easier or more difficult than you expected? What went into the planning to pull off such a successful launch for Twilight Fantasies? Twilight Fantasies is the result of over a year of planning, hours upon hours of research, and tons of preparatory work. I never knew there would be so many decisions to make. From naming the company, finding the domain, deciding upon specialty lines, guidelines, contracts, hiring editors and cover artists, and the list goes on and on. I’m a very hands-on person. I love knowing exactly what’s going on at any given time. And, while I did anticipate difficulties, there’s always something you just don’t plan on. For example, my computer crashed just two weeks before opening day. When I got it fixed, there was hours of finding and retrieving data to make sure nothing was lost. When we were finally convinced that everything was going to be okay (yep Trista nearly had a panic attack, lol), I got news just a week before we opened that the conference I was scheduled to attend (that had been scheduled for two years) had been changed, and I would be leaving on May 1st. We opened on May 2nd! Which means that the day before, the day of, and the day after our opening, I was out of town. Thankfully, hotels have internet, and while it is considerably slower than my internet, it was much better than being without internet. I guess I’ve had my fair share of stresses, and will continue to have them, but I love what I do! There’s nothing in the world quite like bringing together writers with readers who love them! 4. The quality of both the writing and the cover art at Twilight Fantasies is astounding! How did you pull together such a talented core group of authors? Someone above was looking out for me, I guess. I was very fortunate to get some great manuscripts very early in the game. As for the cover art, Cassidy and CJ and I were friends, and I’d known for many months that they were under-recognized talent as far as cover art was concerned. And the new addition to the cover-art staff, Brenda, is just as astounding! What really makes this work is that, while their styles are vastly different, we all have the same vision and want to uphold the same quality and standards at TFP. My editing staff is patient but tough. They have the ability to take a diamond in the rough and work with the author to make it shine, without sacrificing the author’s voice, which is important to me. 5. What advice would you give to writers who want to be published through Twilight Fantasies Publishing? Send me something you’re passionate about! I want to feel your enthusiasm for your work in every aspect of your submission, from the query letter to the synopsis to the sample chapters. If you can’t sell me on the work, how can I then sell it to others? I want works that I can be passionate about presenting to the public! Where does that passion come from if it doesn’t first come from the writer? Don’t send a two-sentence query, and don’t send a form letter. I’ve made it clear to my submissions staff that whether we accept, reject, or ask for revisions in a manuscript, I don’t want any form letters going out. As an author, I resent them. If someone can’t take the time to write me a personal letter, how do I know they took the time to thoroughly review my manuscript? Yet, you’d be amazed at how many authors send form letters. A little bit of a personal touch to the letter lets me know you’ve seriously considered Twilight Fantasies and want to become part of our family. 6. What can we be looking for in the future with Twilight Fantasies Publishing? You mean besides great romances at great prices? Our motto is “Romance For Everyone.” We are actively seeking romance in every genre so that every reader will find something he/she can fall in love with at Twilight Fantasies. Our major goal is for great customer service! We want everyone’s experience at Twilight Fantasies to be magical. With our polls, contests, and prizes we hope to find out what our readers want and give them exactly that!—with a smile and a thank you. 7. I was so excited to read the next book in your Heirs of Lycaon series! ALYSSA’S CHOICE is such a poignant story and you handle such difficult issues in a very sensitive way. Where do you get the inspiration for your characters and the trials they often face? The English teacher in me is a researcher and explorer. I observe life and seek out universal themes. The school counselor in me (although I’m only half-way through my degree program) seeks to discover emotions and motives and to understand both. Alyssa is like so many women I know. She’s unsure of herself and what she wants in life, and her insecurities lead to vulnerability in a bad relationship. She sees her sister as someone who is brave, strong, and in control—all of the things she wants to be. All of the things so many of us want to be. Jace helps her discover that she is stronger and braver than she gives herself credit for. 8. I really like your fresh approach to werewolves. I know you’ve also written about vampires. Do you prefer one or the other and if so, why? Before I wrote Vampire Trinity, I would’ve said werewolves, hands-down. I’m still partial to my wolfies, but Vampire Trinity is one of my favorites so far. In it, I tie in my love for Greek mythology with the vampire tale. I won’t go into that much here, but the god of the Underworld, Hades was responsible for vampires. He released a shade back to the man who loved her. Because she’d lived on blood as a shade, she must still feed from blood, and because she’d been in the dark place for so long, her body could not survive the sun. Thus, the first vampire was born… But, then I think of Alexandros, Julius, Conner and Marc… my wolfies, and my heart just melts. So, I just don’t know! lol 9. What first sparks a story idea for you? Is it the characters, a scene, or something else that kickstarts your imagination? Let me just say that anyone who loves my stories would love to be able to borrow my dreams for a night. All of my best stories were sparked by a dream. Blood of Lycaon: Dream Lover, for example came from the following dream: A woman is sleeping in a room in an old castle. (I often dream in third person.) I’m watching her and she looks just like the woman in a portrait over the fireplace. Then I see a pair of gold eyes staring at her from a closet or ante-chamber. He springs out—he’s a hybrid, half man-half wolf. She wakes with a start and he calls her something. She corrects him. She’s not the woman in the picture. I was intrigued by the look of sadness on the face of this creature that should be scaring me to death. He starts to jump off the opened doors that led out onto a balcony, but she stops him. She calls his name, and he turns into a (ahem, very buff, very naked) man. She kisses him…. And I woke up. So, of course, I had to know how the story ended, and I got up at 2 AM to start writing their story. 10. Your stories are very sensual. How would you explain to readers the difference between sensual/erotic stories and porn? Those of us who write romance novels leave very little to the imagination, and we avoid purple prose—the flowery language to describe certain body parts. My stories are still romances and the main focus is on the relationship. If the sex doesn’t fit, or doesn’t move the plot forward, I leave it out. For example, Petals in the Snow, my holiday romance (available for free download for a short time only) has no sex in it whatsoever. It didn’t fit there, and I wasn’t going to force it. Porn stories are those in which sex is the main focus, and the plot is underdeveloped. Unlike sensual stories and erotic romances, these stories focus less on the relationship and more on the sex. 11. What authors have influenced you? If we were to peek on your own bookshelves, who would we find? Hmmm. Let’s see… you’d find a lot of classical mythology, a lot of classical literature (because those are the genres I love to teach) and right next to Virgil, John Milton, and William Shakespeare, you’d find Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan, Susan Krinard, Doreen Orsini, and Ronda Thompson. On my eBook reader, you’d find Michelle M. Pillow, Leah Vaughn, Heather Holland, Ann Cory, and (of course) Cassidy McKay and CJ England. 12. Do you have any specific rituals you go through while writing? Any particular ways you celebrate once a book is done? I spend hours sitting in front of the screen with my eyes closed picturing the next scene in a dozen different ways, lol. When I have writer’s block, I go for a long ride, a short walk, or listen to music. I usually celebrate finishing a book by treating myself to a romance book to read. I always celebrate release day with birthday cake—because the books are my babies J. 13. What is your favorite place to write and what does it look like? What did I do before I got my laptop? I haven’t a clue, but I love to take my laptop out under the stars at night. Our nearest neighbor is five miles up the road, so it’s so peaceful and serene. 14. How would you describe the ideal romantic hero? The ideal romantic hero for me doesn’t have to be an Adonis, necessarily (that’s just a perk). The ideal romantic hero is kind and understanding. He gives of himself to make his lover happy. And he can admit when he’s wrong, lol. 15. If you could meet any one character out of all of your books, who would you choose to meet and why? I’d meet Alexandros Lycaon, alpha male of the Lycaon clan. He’s all of the things I described in the previous question. 16. Which book has been your favorite to write and why? Blood of Lycaon: Dream Lover is still my baby and still my favorite. In it, I got to set the rules in motion that will govern not only certain aspects of the Blood of Lycaon series, but also of the Heirs of Lycaon series. It’s the book in which the research was the most profound and all the plans were made for the entire series. Characters you just meet in passing in Dream Lover will become important to the plot of the third or fourth or fifth book in the series. 17. Could you give us a few teasers about some of your upcoming books or works in progress? And please, oh please, tell me that that a certain male character from ALYSSA’S CHOICE is going to find happiness soon! ROFL. Marc will have his own book very soon. Right now, I’m working on the sequel to Alyssa’s Choice, but it’s not about Katie. It’s about her younger sister, Sirena. The book is called Call of the Wild. Call of the Wild is actually the name of the club Sirena decides to work for, despite her friend Jennifer’s protests that her sisters will kill her when they find out. Sirena becomes an exotic dancer in this club, which caters to both male and female audiences—at the same time Sirena is dancing on one side of the stage, a male dancer is dancing on the opposite side. What Sirena doesn’t know is that she’s volunteered to work for a clan of rogue werewolves, which is worse than turning herself over to Meleager’s clan. Can she find an ally in the wolves’ den, or will she have to answer to the Call of the Wild? Thank you so much Trista for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer our questions. Is there anything you else you would like to say in closing? Thank you so much, Anne for the interview! It’s always so nice to get to talk with you. And, I’d just like to remind everyone that Twilight Fantasies releases on the first and third Wednesdays of every month! Come check out our catalog. Visit Trista's website! Visit Twilight Fantasies Publishing! Read reviews of Trista's books: Heirs of Lycaon: Alyssa's Choice
Interviewed by Anne |