Author Interview & Contest with Jeanne Stein

It has been a little quite lately here on Amberkatze's Book Blog. Summer came and things slowed down but the cold weather is coming back and so are the author interviews!

To get us back in the swing of things is author Jeanne Stein! I love her Anna Strong Vampire series and highly recommend them to anyone who will listen ;) The fifth book in the series, Retribution, came out a few weeks ago and of course I got my hands on a copy as soon as I could.

Here is your chance to get to know the author (again! She was a guest here before click here to take a peek!) and also try your luck in this weeks contest. Jeanne has some great prizes up for grabs so make sure you enter!

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Amber - Jeanne, Welcome back to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to
have you here again!

Jeanne - Thanks for having me back.

Amber - The newest Anna Strong book is out! Can you tell us about it?

Jeanne – In Retribution, Anna faces an old foe, the black witch Belinda Burke. Belinda has cast a spell on Anna’s friend, Culebra, and when Daniel Frey tries to help, both their lives are put in danger. But Belinda is up to more than revenge. She’s discovered a way to use vampire blood in an anti-ageing cream that rejuvenates human women in a remarkable way. Unfortunately, it has side effects and the method Burke uses to extract the blood is right out of a textbook on medieval torture. This story also features a character from my story in Many Bloody Returns, the good witch Sophie.

Amber - Retribution is the fifth book in the Anna Strong series. How many more Anna books are there going to be? Can you give us any clues about what to expect in Anna's future?

Jeanne – I just finished the sixth book, Chosen, and am starting work on the seventh. In Chosen, Anna learns what it means to be the “Chosen One” and it completes the first year of Anna’s life as a vampire. It will answer old questions and introduce new ones. I hope to keep writing as many as I’m asked to.

Amber - The covers for the Anna Strong books are great! How much
influence do you have in the book printing process, like picking covers, after you hand in your story?

Jeanne – I have a great cover artist, Cliff Nielsen and a great cover designer, Judith Lagerman. Retribution was the first cover I was asked my opinion on, though, and I have to say, I think it’s my favorite. As writers, we don’t usually have much input.

Amber - Are you working on anything else? Do you have any ideas for
another series?

Jeanne – I’m working on an angel/demon story set in World War I with a co-author, Susan Smith. And a novella featuring Anna Strong that will fill in back story for some of the characters in the series.

Amber - Something I have always wondered is how authors come up with the
names for their characters. How do you pick the names you use in your
books and where did the name Anna Strong come from?

Jeanne – Names are always tricky. In fact, in writing the sixth book, Chosen, I realized a name I’d used in the fifth, Retribution, I had used again. Fortunately, I had time to change it in Retribution since it was a character with a small part in that book and a much more important character in Chosen.

As for Anna’s name—I always liked the name Hannah Storm. But since that’s the name of a well-known TV personality, I had to come up with something different. So I just played around with similar sounding names and eventually settled on Anna Strong. It fit.

Amber - There are so many online sites eg, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace
etc. to get in touch with fans. Which sites are you signed up with? Is it hard to keep up with them all? Do you think they are good?

Jeanne – I just signed up with Facebook. So befriend me, please! I have a MySpace page but I haven’t done anything with it. Facebook is easier because you can post when you want and add pictures. Social sites are time consumers, though, and it’s easy to spend too much time on then.

Amber - What is the easiest and hardest part about being an author?

Jeanne – Easiest part is the writing. Hardest part is everything else—the marketing, the travel, deadlines, all that goes into getting a book in front of an audience.

Amber - How do you relax when your not writing? Do you have any hobbies?

Jeanne – Hobbies? Who has time for hobbies?  I take kick-boxing classes and they are great stress relievers. I read and try to spend time with my husband and friends when I’m not on the road.

Amber - What was the last movie you watched? and the last Book you read?
and did you enjoy them?

Jeanne – The last movie was a 2007 movie called Surveillance…wow, wonderfully creepy. The last book is Dracula—the Undead. Dacre Stoker (yes, a member of that family) co-wrote a sequel to the original classic with Ian Holt. I got an advanced reading copy at ComicCon. Yes, I enjoyed it.

Amber - If you could be any famous person, alive or dead, who would you be? and why?

Jeanne – hmmm..interesting question, Amber. If I could go back in time, probably a World War II woman in the Army Air Corp. Not famous, but I so admire the adventurous spirit displayed by those women! Present day, maybe Mia Farrow. She’s had an interesting life.

Amber - Thank you for coming back to visit Amberkatze's Book Blog! I hope you will come back next time you have a new release!

Jeanne – Thanks again and just invite me!




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Contest Time!

Jeanne is giving away some great prizes here on Amberkatze's Book Blog so make sure you read the contest rules before entering!

There will be three winners this week. Each of the winners will get to choose an Anna Strong book (any from the series released so far) which will be signed by Jeanne and to make things even more special Jeanne is going to add some book cover magnets and pens.

So if you haven't started the series yet or are missing one of the books this is your chance to get a copy! Signed! Oh and the magnets are lovely! I have a couple myself.

So to enter the contest you have to come up with a vampire character name. The name can be for a male or female, be short or long but it has to mean something! So try and post about why you are choosing the name you are entering!

No character = No entry!

The usual rules apply!

Earn another entry for each place you link this contest on the net. Make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries!

You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.

I can offer more prizes if my Amazon Associates account gets more money!! So please make sure you order at Amazon.com through the links around the site and help keep the contest coming!



The contest will stay open until Wednesday 23rd of September 2009 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.

If you are claiming a prize, have emailed me and have not heard back before the 7 day limit is up then post a comment here on the blog. Your email may get sucked into my spam filter.