Congrats Trista, you get to be my guinea pig for my first official interview. Today we are chatting with Trista Bane, a woman of many hats. She is a Teacher, Author, Editor, Reviewer, and Friend. Many will recognize her from Silk’s Vault where she does a lot of behind the scenes work.

Greetings Trista,
So let’s get down to business without further ado the questions.

You do so much, day to day, what is your favorite job that you do and why?

My favorite job is, of course, writing. And it is the one I seem to have the least time for. I do love editing and promotions. I also love teaching, but when I can find a few hours to sit in a quiet room (or sit with my laptop under the moon) and just write, I'm in heaven!

I know you do editing, do you have any bad writing habits you find hard to break?

Overusing passive voice is a tough habit for me to break. I catch myself doing it all the time. Now I see why my students groan when I highlight passive verbs in their essays and ask them to revise, lol.

Out of all the characters you have written who is your favorite? What makes her/him so?

Alexandros Lycaon has to be my favorite. He was a secondary character in the first book in the Blood of Lycaon series (Dream Lover). I loved him so much that I have to give him his own book. I love Alex's passion. He's the ultimate alpha male. With a tormented past, and a turbulent present, I want to see him happy. Nothing ever comes easy of Alexandros, as fans will see in Blood of Lycaon: Alanda's Trust. Alexandros finally finds a carrier, finally falls in love, only to find out that Alanda is a werewolf huntress.

If you could be anything other than yourself what or whom would you be and why?

I'd be Susan from the Chronicles of Narnia. Susan has access to a magical world that has a separate time of its own. I'd take my family to Narnia for vacations and quality time; I'd go there to study for my classes, grade papers, or take a nap, and then come back to this world having lost no time at all. Perhaps if I could spend a few hours a day in Narnia, there'd finally be enough hours in a day to do everything I need to do.

When you are reading a new submission what is the one thing a writer must have to be accepted in your opinion?

I'm not the acquisitions editor, but I am occasionally asked my opinion on a work. If the work has a strong, solid plot; exciting, believable, three-dimensional characters; and a strong narrative voice, the work receives my recommendation for acceptance.

As a teacher what is the biggest joy you get from your students? And what is the hardest obstacle?

The biggest joy is seeing the look on students' faces when they finally "get" something that's eluded their understanding. My students say I ruin movies for them. We discuss motifs or patterns in literature, and I tell them things like, "If a plot starts with a wedding (happiness that the character has not yet earned), something bad is usually about to happen." They apply this information to the movies they see, and come back to school complaining that I've ruined it for them. They smile as they tell me this as if I've let them in on some big secret.

The hardest obstacle in teaching teenagers is that education competes with so many other activities in today's society. Students have a choice of reading a book--- or watching TV, playing video games, chatting online, MySpace, and all kinds of other high-tech pastimes. How do you make learning and reading exciting in such a fast paced society?

As an author are you a better writer under pressure or with a lot of time to plan? As crazy as this question may seem I have seen both.

I work better with more time. Not necessarily because I plan the entire book before I write it, but because I spend about 80% of my "writing" time visualizing the scenes, allowing different scenerios to play out in my mind, and then choosing the best one. I don't know how much of my time in front of the computer is actually spent with my eyes closed, lol. But I'm a very visual person, and if I can't see it, I can't describe it.

This will be a tough question, you have many author friends, who do you believe has grown the most as a writer in this past year?

That is a tough question. Several deserving authors come to mind (CJ England, Jade James, and Cassidy McKay, to name a few). But if I had to choose only one, I'd have to say Annmarie Ortega. There is no doubt in my mind that her dedication to her craft, her professionalism, and her determination will propel her to become one of the most successful romance authors in the industry.

I know there is a new Blood of Lycaon due out soon, making this difficult in three to four sentences what is this book about? And when is the anticipated release date?

Alanda's parents were murdered by werewolves. Now, she has become an infamous werewolf hunter. She believes all werewolves are evil. Can sexy alpha wolf, Alexandros Lycaon, win Alanda's trust?

I anticipate an early 2007 release of Blood of Lycaon: Alanda's Trust.

Besides Sherrilyn Kenyon who's books reside on your bookshelf?

Would it be cheating to say Kinley MacGregor (since Kenyon and MacGregor are one in the same)? The obvious ones first-- Christine Feehan, Ronda Thompson, and Karen Marie Moning. Some may find it a shocker that I also love Tolkein, Ann Rice, Bram Stoker, Alexander Dumas, Homer's epics, Virgil's Aeneid, Dante's Inferno, Eragon, Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis, and all of the Harry Potter books. I love many books from many genres. The one I pick up depends only upon my mood.

Tell your fans something they may never guess about you.

I'm a terribly shy person. I visibly shake when I have to give a speech in front of a large crowd. When talking to someone face to face, I rarely start the conversation, which is probably why my yahoo group is not as active as it could be, lol. I'm also very nervous during chats .

Last but not least when you are much older what will you want to be remembered for?

I want to be remembered as a woman who would do anything for her family, who only wanted to see her children smile and be the reason for the smile at least some of the time. I want to be remembered as someone who was passionate about life, about writing and reading, and who shared, or at least attempted to share, that passion with her students and her readers.

Thanks so much Jayne and FAR for taking the time to chat with me!

Trista Bane
www.tristabane.com
Blood of Lycaon: Dream Lover-- werewolf paranormal romance
Song of Seduction-- vampire paraormal romance
available now at Silk’s Vault

Interviewed by: Jayne