BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR BETH BARANY'S FUTURISTIC SLEUTH JANEY McCALLISTER

Today we sit down for a chat with Janey McCallister from author Beth Barany’s Janey MCallister Mystery Series.

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

I was a Lieutenant in the Sol Unified Planets Space Wing based out of Las Cruces, NM and traveling around as military police at various space stations. I was doing okay with my life, until my mom got sick and I realized I needed a much higher paying job. Why not work on an exclusive hotel casino in high earth orbit? They pay great and Mom gets her expensive medical care.

 

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?

I like to solve puzzles, the more complex the better.

 

What do you like least about yourself?

I can be stubborn and also have blinders on and forget relationships if they are outside of my work sphere. 

 

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?

I don't know if it is strange per se but she wants me to dress up in all this fancy clothing; granted it is for the job. 

 

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?

No, I think we get along pretty well. Although sometimes I don't tell her everything. She gets upset about that. 

 

What is your greatest fear?

Failing the trust to do a good job that my colleagues have put in me. 

 

What makes you happy?

The company of good friends, a job well done, seeing my mother smile, and especially her homemade cherry pie. 

 

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?

I would like to know who my father is. But mom says we're all better off not knowing. It does simplify things. 

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

Partly Orlando Valdez, he is too sexy for his own good. 

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?

Sometimes I daydream about working with the chef in her kitchen when all I would have to do is make delicious meals as quickly and beautifully as possible. When the only problems I’d have to solve would be what recipes to suggest, based on the limited ingredients we have at hand.

 

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?

Beth’s series featuring me is perfect for fans of J.D. Robb’s Eve Dallas books and Killjoys, Vagrant Queen, Castle, and CSI. It contains a slow-burn romance, enhanced humans, cool high-tech gadgets, a futuristic vision of the Earth, and a tough kick-ass heroine with secrets

 

Learn more about Beth and her books and find excerpts and goodies at her website.

 

What's next for you?

More cases coming soon in Gone Green, Book 3 in the series, on preorder now. 

 

Lured by Light

A Janey McCallister Mystery, Book 2

 

At Bijoux de L’Étoile, the high-end casino orbiting Earth, anything can happen.

It’s a quiet day for L’Étoile lead investigator, Janey McCallister, until a young woman runs screaming through the blackjack tables. She looks like a victim of abuse, but when her boyfriend turns up dead the next day, she becomes the prime suspect

Determined to investigate every angle, Janey searches for clues and uncovers a world of high-priced escorts and human trafficking—a world just like the one that took the life of her best friend long ago. 

When Orlando Valdez, inspector for Sol Unified Planets, shows up with a new suspect, Janey isn’t sure she can trust the mercurial man who stopped returning her phone calls. But as the threats escalate and she unravels a deeper conspiracy, Janey and her team will need all the help they can get. If they fail, it could be the end of everyone on L’Étoile.

 

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR BETH BARANY

Today we sit down for a chat with author Beth Barany. Beth writes science fiction mystery, young adult adventure fantasy, and paranormal romance. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

I was aware I wanted to write novels at eighteen years old, but I had no idea how to do it. 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

I was forty-two years old when I published my first novel, though I had been published as a journalist since the age of twenty-two. 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

I am mostly an indie published novelist, with a few traditionally published deals. So I guess you could call me a hybrid author. 

Where do you write?

I most often write first drafts at cafes. I mostly do my editing at home -- either in my office, at the kitchen table, on the couch, or on the patio.

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

I love listening to pop music when I write my first drafts. I often listen to baroque music when I edit. Lately though, when I edit my science fiction mystery series, I'm listening to a huge playlist of Star Trek soundtracks, from the TV shows and movies over the last fifty years. 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

I think all fiction stems from the author's life in one way or another, but because I write science fiction and fantasy, it's harder to spot. I think my relationships show up in my fiction, but it's hard to point to a specific event or person that inspires my fiction. My interest in science and fairy tales and folklore show up in my fiction, for sure. 

Describe your process for naming your character?

Sometimes character names come to me out of the blue and I stick with them. Sometimes what I choose gets some pushback from my critique partners, so then I reach out into the ether and find another name. I often do research on name origins and create family trees for my characters. 

Real settings or fictional towns?

Many of my fantastical settings are a mashup of different places. For my science fiction, since my settings are space stations, I'm using real science and speculation about what they could look like and how they work. In my paranormal romance I use real locations that I have visited or lived in. 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

My character, Henrietta The Dragon Slayer, the main character of that series, can read bird sign. 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

Depends on who you talk to! I have so many.

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

I've never thought of that. I honestly can't think of one. Everybody's books are so unique and stem from who they are. 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

Maybe being a bird? That could be fun. I always daydreamed about that. As for something on a more realistic level, I would have liked to have been born into a family that traveled around the world a lot. 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

I don't like black pepper in my food.

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

Lots of paper, writing utensils, and a companion. 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

Shelving books in the library was pretty hard, until I learned to love it. 

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

Do I have to pick? If I have to pick, it's Once A Hero by Elizabeth Moon. 

Ocean or mountains?

Ocean 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

City girl 

What’s on the horizon for you?

I have three more books in the Janey McCallister Mystery series to release over the next 12 months. After that I might write more books in that series or go back to a new series within the Henrietta The Dragon Slayer universe. I also have some paranormal romantic suspense in the works that expand upon the five I’ve already published.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

Thanks so much for having me on your blog! 

Into the Black

A Janey McCallister Sci-Fi Mystery, Book 1

She wanted to make her mark. How hard could it be?

In 2130, at Bijoux de L’Étoile, a high-end casino orbiting Earth, you can get anything you desire.

Newly-hired as an investigator, Janey McCallister wants to solve her first big case—the theft of a priceless gem.

When her case of theft escalates to murder and points to the seedy underbelly of world affairs, Janey has to rely on her new team and trust the mysterious insurance investigator, Orlando Valdez—before a killer escapes into the black.

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