The World Among Us Blog Tour Stop: Interview with Beth Ann Masarik!

I'm still reading The World Among Us: #1 Prince of Darkness and I have to say I reeally like what I've read so far! It's so not how I expected it to be like. My review should be up soon!

Anyway, I have Beth Ann Masarik, author of The World Among Us: #1 Prince of Darkness with me today!! She's going to talk about her book, what's in store for us in The World Among Us #2 and much much more! Don't forget to check out the giveaway and scavenger hunt at the end of this post!

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to write! 

Well, my name is Beth Ann Masarik, and I am obsessed with writing lol. No matter what I am doing, I HAVE to find a moment to write, albeit a text message, facebook post, blog post, or even fiction writing. I’ve always had an over active imagination, and when the time came for high school, I took as many creative writing courses as I could, and even wrote an article for the school paper!

Greek mythology meets the modern world meets vampires and werewolves! I’ve never read anything like it! What inspired you to come up with the premise for The World Among Us? 

Really? I would have thought that it would have been done already! LOL. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve always loved writing, and my over active imagination helped me out there. I was never big into reading, until I started college. Kind of ironic, huh? I remember reading Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, when I decided that I was ambitious enough to write an actual book. I was taking a college level creative writing class, and it gave me an excuse to start it. So, I guess you could say that it was a combination of JK Rowling’s great work, and my English professor.

What made you want to write about Hades, Greek god of the underworld? And how do you see Hades? 

Honestly, his character kind of just came to me. I didn’t “decide” to write about any one particular character. Nope, my Muse makes those decisions…I’m just her dictator lol. Sorry, a bit of lawyer humor there. (I work around lawyers when I’m not writing and they dictate words into a recorder for their secretaries to transcribe what they have to say). Hades is really difficult to describe, because he’s my version of Satan, and people view Satan differently. Long story short, I see him as one evil character who needs to be put in his place!

What about Damien? What made you make him a vampire? 

 My muse and I thought that it would be good for the story, and so far, it seems to be that way. It adds more drama and is what makes the story continue to be so interesting.

What is your dream cast for The World Among Us? 

Ahh, I am actually going to be writing a post on that on Cambria’s blog, so, you will have to wait until March 2nd I think it is to find out the answer to that! Her blog is www.cambriahebert.com

Which character in The World Among Us could you relate to the most? 

You know, I always used to think it was Selene, because she started out as being loosely based off of me, but now that I think about it, I’m more like Damien (in some respects.). I guess you could say that Damien is like my alter ego. We both have fallen for the wrong people, and made some really big mistakes in our lives. Granted, I’ve never murdered anyone, but still. I am human, and not perfect.

Which character did you enjoy writing about? 

 It’s a toss-up to be honest. I enjoyed writing them all, but Damien & DuVessa were the ones that I really got into when it came to writing parts.

What was the hardest part of writing the book? What was the part you really enjoyed writing? 

The hardest part was finding the right words to say, and I constantly had to remind myself to show, not tell, which is very difficult for me to do because of my learning disability. The part that I really enjoyed, was watching my characters come to life on the screen in front of me.

Any hints on what is in store for us in The World Among Us #2? 

Book two, which is tentatively titled Stormy Nights, is the heart of the series, it is the calm before the storm, but at the same time, it’s not. There isn’t a whole lot of violence or death (at least, not yet) unlike in Prince of Darkness. BUT, there are enough issues and drama to keep the character on their toes. I don’t want to give too much away to risk any spoilers

Are you working on any other writing projects other than this series? 

 My primary project is The World Among Us, but I have some other side projects going on when I am not bogged down with work.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors? 

JUST WRITE! Write every day…even if it’s just a blog post, or a letter or even a journal entry and not fiction. WRITE. I find that writing can be very soothing and therapeutic. It’s a non-violent way to relieve stress. Don’t let anyone discourage you from writing and living your dream. Being an author is NOT easy. There is so much competition out there, and it can sometimes get ugly, BUT, if you are dead serious about being an author, then don’t let anything or anyone stand in your way. Look at all that I have had to overcome over the last 28 years of my life…learning disabilities, bullies, health problems galore. You name it, I’ve probably been through it If I can make it, so can you!

DON’T GIVE UP! If you hit a wall, or a road block, back up, and try, try again!

Is there anything else you would like to add?

For more information about me, you can visit my blog at www.bahbammymusings.wordpress.com. Thank you for having me on the blog today, Ajoop!

RAPID FIRE

All-time favourite book: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire hands down!
Favourite genre: YA/Fantasy
Song you last listened to: Selena Gomez “Intuition.”
Authors who inspired you to write: JK Rowling
Favourite greek god/goddess: It’s a toss-up between the moon deity’s and Gaia.
Favourite film: The King’s Speech. (What? You thought I was going to say Harry Potter and the…again didn’t you? Nope!). The storyline was very powerful, and the acting was just AMAZING. Granted, yes, a lot of the cast from Harry Potter was in it, but I went mostly because it was something different. I honestly recommend you go see it if you haven’t!

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

I am offering up an ebook AND autographed poster of this cover:

All you have to do is fill out the rafflecopter code, and a winner will be selected within 24-48 hours after the contest ends!


NOW, for the fun part: THE SCAVENGER HUNT!

Dress up as your favorite character or have someone dress up as your favorite character, and send the pictures to me at bethmasarik@gmail.com. I will post your pictures on my blog on Friday, February 10th. (You will have until Thursday the 9th to send them to me.)


Awesome, right? Thank you so much, Beth! That was inspirational! Don't forget to check out the other blog tour stops (details can be found here)! The next stop is at http://www.chapter-by-chapter.com/ on the 9th of Feb!

a Rafflecopter giveaway