Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

Lights, Camera, Video!

We finally finished the video book trailer for Three Blonde Mice, and it’s a lot of fun. (Be sure to stick around for the credits! They’re the best part of the video!)

Matt Senecal, the farm guru at Arethusa Farm Dairy in Litchfield, CT, was a great sport. He not only let me milk a cow named Viona but he played straight man and answered all my crazy questions. The idea was to take readers back to the research I did for the book last summer about “haycations” and what goes on at farms, so I hope everyone will take their own haycation this summer or fall. You can spend a week on a farm, as my characters did, or you can go for the day or stay overnight. You’ll learn about the food you eat – I mean really learn about what people mean when they say “locally sourced” – and you’ll get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. What could be better?

If you do plan to spend any time on a farm, please take a pic and upload it to my Facebook or Twitter page using the hashtags #ThreeBlondeMice and #DairyPrincess.

So Now I'm A Casting Director

 

Okay, I’m not exactly Steven Spielberg, and my video trailer for “You’d Better Not Die or I’ll Kill You” will only be about three minutes instead of three hours, but still. As I’ve mentioned, the intro and ending of the trailer will be animated, so today’s task was for me to select actresses to “play” (i.e. do the voice-over work) for the two women in the brief animated scenes.

What fun to listen to all the candidates reading lines from the script I wrote! The gist of the animated scenes is that two women meet in the checkout line at a supermarket and start commiserating about their caregiving experiences. Woman #1 is supposed to sound a bit older and world-weary, while Woman #2 is younger and more surprised by the situation she’s been thrown into.

After careful consideration – and a second opinion from husband Michael – I picked actress Faleena Hopkins for Woman #1…

…and actress Sarah Pesek for Woman #2.

You can listen to their demo reels on their web sites, but I just hope they’re both available to do my trailer because they’re talented ladies.

Of course, now I wish I could be a casting director in my next life. I really did enjoy this part of the process, as limited as it was.

Now, onto the animation part. According to Expanded Books, I should see something in a week or so. Can’t wait.

 

More Great Endorsements for "You'd Better Not Die"

I’ve added them to the earlier post instead of listing them here separately, but I’m just very flattered by the kind words the book’s been getting and grateful for all the support.

Coming up this week is the video trailer I’ll be shooting for the book. The production crew is coming to my house on Wednesday and I’m trying to figure out what to wear – always a dilemma when authors who sit alone in front of a computer day after day have to actually appear on camera. The producer said “no green,” because they’ll be shooting me in front of a green screen for the animation to come later (yes, there will be animated characters!). Not that I was planning to wear green, but my usual black may be too harsh. We should all have such problems, I know, but I did run out shopping over the weekend and spent more than I intended – no surprise.

 

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