January Bain

I’d like to welcome January Bain to our In the Spotlight this morning. January brings her own unique version of Vampire’s in her Forever Series. Her first book Forever Man has jumped right up charts from the get go. So before we begin let’s find out a wee bit about her.


Biography:

January Bain, Storyteller, hails from Ashern, Manitoba, Canada. Married to the love of her life, her husband Don, she has combined her love of romance with her interest in vampires to create the FOREVER SERIES of books. She teaches high school Computer and Business courses during the day and writes in every spare moment she possibly can.

If she could be a super character, she has said it would be “super-teach” endowed with the gift of healing like the heroine in her first novel, Forever Man, to help heal broken spirits. She hopes her characters will touch your heart. She loves to be approached about the journey of writing and can be reached at www.januarybain.ca

She also has a keen interest in hard sci-fi and writes a blog a few times a week about writing time travel novels and future world fiction at http://january-bain-science-fiction-musings.blogspot.ca/

January is also a monthly contributor at The Writers Vineyard.


Welcome January, thank you for joining us this fine day. Please tell us what life is like at this very minute on your spot of earth.

Oh, it’s awesome! Summer time is when I get to write full bore. I’m allergic to sunshine so it’s easy to hunch over my computer and dream away!

Before we get on to the serious stuff, let’s start right out with the fun stuff.

I’ve seen other interviews of you each saying you married to the love of your life tell us a little about how that came to be.

I am blessed! I’m married to the perfect man for me. He’s romantic, hard-working (at this exact moment staining the deck he built), trustworthy, protective and he says he looking forward to my going grey someday! We even get to go to work together as we both teach in the same small town high school. He’s also my dream guy!

Sometimes the hardest part about being a writer is getting support from the family, what does your family think about your writing? Have they read your book?

My sister-in-law is always asking to read my next book. (I’ve finished four from the Forever Series alone, not to mention two science fiction books, one on time travel and one set well into the future), one fun zombie short story and one longer one that is a work-in-progress and two erotic novellas that were written under a different name, one still in progress this summer.) I find her input very helpful. Also, one of my half-sisters loves vampires so she’s very supportive and all my family is darn nice about handing out bookmarks to promote my work. My parents are also supportive.

If you were a superhero, what would be your name and superpower?

Well, in the past I have said “super-teach”, but now I’m thinking “Healer” would work better as the moniker for the superhero that could help heal those in need. The best part of writing Forever Man was experiencing Ellie’s (the heroine) healing power through living her experience in my mind. Of course, there was a small down side of it exhausting her for a few days.

What interview question have you never been asked that you’re dying to answer? Answer it now.

Can you have it all as an author?

The answer is no (for me anyway) at this time of my life what with full time teaching most of the year, a family to support, and three furry children that love attention. I’ve invested hundreds, if not thousands of hours, in writing novels, something has had to give. For me, it’s been social time, though I am still working on that and am truly trying to achieve a better balance in my life. Maybe when I can retire from teaching it will be more possible, but that’s quite a ways away yet!

It's always interesting to know what authors read. Who is you favorite author?

So many wonderful authors… I can say it was Stephen King who first introduced me to modern vampires, followed by Anne Rice. Of course, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has had a big influence on me. I’m also reading a lot of the work by fellow author’s at Champagne Books because the writing is truly stellular!

What point in your life did the little light go on that told you, you wanted to be an author?

Well, not long after I taught myself to read before I went into grade one. I literally found a primer on the street and took it home and taught myself. Then, with a ridiculously overactive imagination, the rest has been history. My fingers literally will not keep up with the output…

What aspect of the writing process do you enjoy the most? What part of the process do you dread?

I actually love all of it. Though, to be honest, if I’m going full bore on an idea I don’t like to stop and go back to work on another book that requires editing so much. I’m trying my hardest to write better first time round to avoid too many rewrites. And yet, as soon as I do get to this very necessary work, I always re-fall in love with the work. To date the timing of things has been pretty darned good. Sometimes it’s almost like the universe is helping!


Now the important stuff, tell us a little about your books? Please give us a little preview. Tempt us.
 

I think I’ll talk about the next book in the Forever Series, Forever Woman. The heroine, Winter Kennedy, is a nurse dying of ALS and goes to Nome, Alaska to try to find the vampire that has been plaguing the town. She wants to trade the vampire for the gift of immortality. But she unexpectedly falls in love with a wonderful man, Aiden. Unfortunately, the vampire she has already contacted will not take “NO!” for an answer now and kidnaps her. Will Aiden be able to save his love? You’ll have to wait till October 1, 2012 to find out!!!



What can readers expect in the coming months? What are you working on now?

I have entered the most imaginative outpouring of words and ideas of my life. I’ve got a lot of proverbial irons in the fire. I made a list a couple of days ago of my creative journey and output since I wrote Forever Man and it literally stunned me. And it was very gratifying as well to know that I have so much to do yet. I keep an idea file so that nothing is lost, because that would be so easy when so many characters are clamoring for attention!

If you could change anything about yourself to match a secondary character in one of your books, who would it be and why?

  Lighten up! I’m way too serious about my work. I need to laugh more, work at being a better human being like Arc (the former Joan of Arc) in Forever Woman.

Why should readers read your books, what is it you January Bain have to offer them?

  I think I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime, lived many places, been a big observer of people and I still have a great deal of hope that this world can be a better place. I think that’s an underlying message to all my work. Julie Eberhart Painter, a wonderful author, picked up on this thread for me as she said I wanted to save everyone. I just wish I could…

Now that you’ve tempted us where can we buy your book?

Champagne Books has done a brilliant job of getting my work out all over the place. Thanks guys!

Thank you for joining us today January, now before we leave tell us where can you be found on the web? (Website, blogs, social network links)

 

Oh, lots of places! And I love to hear from people!


January Bain

STORYTELLER

Forever Man

Forever Woman

Forever Clan

WWW.JANUARYBAIN.CA

jbain@xplornet.com

http://thewritersvineyard.com/

http://january-bain-science-fiction-musings.blogspot.ca/

http://www.humanmade.net/january-bain

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/JanuaryBain

https://www.facebook.com/january.bain

https://www.twitter.com/#?/JanuaryBain

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6437282.January_Bain