Tag: Confessions of a Podcast Goddess

How Saint Nick helped me put together my “Holiday Poem” Video Podcast

by Jina Bacarr

I feel the holiday spirit in the air. Cold, windy days here at the beach. The smell of pine and cinnamon wafting in the supermarket. The sparkle of red and blue and green holiday lights evoking a warm, cheery feeling inside me down to my toes.

“Saint Nick, Cleopatra and me”

I also have a lot of writing to do. A lot. I just finished my author edits for my next Spice, Cleopatra’s Perfume (“One whiff and every man was her slave…”) and I’m working on a new Spice as well as another project, both that require an immense amount of research. I’m not complaining. I’ve worked years to get to this point in my writing and every day when I sit down at my computer, I give thanks for all I have.

Yet this holiday season I won’t be able to make the OCC/RWA December meeting and see everyone and share holiday cheer. My deadlines are just too close and there’s so much writing to be done.

What does this have to do with podcasting?

When I was in the midst of recording my audio podcast for the December 13th meeting, I was also in the middle of doing author edits for my 460 page manuscript. I began to think “What if Saint Nick could do these edits for me…”

I was so inspired by that idea that in minutes I’d written my holiday poem and decided to record it. I posted the audio recording here on our blog page and I also put together a video podcast using pictures from previous podcasts I’ve done on various subjects.

The result is my Holiday Poem video about Saint Nick, Cleopatra and me. I hope you enjoy it. And you never know, Saint Nick might log in on your computer and help you with your writing…

Best,
Jina

Jina’s Podcast Tip:

You can use video editing software to make a fun, creative video with photos you’ve taken yourself or purchased from sites like istockphoto.com. Then add a voiceover, sweeten it with podsafe music, transitions, special effects, etc.

I used Power Director 7 from Cyberlink.com to make this video and had fun adding interesting holiday effects. This latest version from Cyberlink is a 2008 PC Magazine Editors’ Choice.

Jina Bacarr is the author of The Blonde Geisha , Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs, featuring a female Indiana Jones.

Coming in April 2009:

Cleopatra’s Perfume

Three brothers and their tale of defiance on this Veterans’ Day

by Jina Bacarr

Australian Romance Readers ready to party like it’s 2009

by Jina Bacarr

My favorite Podcasting rule: Expect the unexpected and make the most of it.

I was hanging out in the downstairs lobby of the San Francisco Marriott during last summer’s RWA conference when I started talking to a gal sitting next to me. When I found out she was Juleigh Start, the author liaison for ARRC (Australian Romance Readers Convention), I convinced her to do a podcast promo with me for her event.

Juleigh was fabulous! We shot this in one take, but I updated it when I put together the podcast. I added a voiceover letting the viewer know Registration for the convention was open. It’s important to put enough information in your video description as well as in the credits so the viewer can find your website, event, etc.

Want to know more about ARRC? Here’s the info from their website:

“Celebrate romance fiction at the inaugural Australian Romance Readers Convention.

Meet your favourite authors, discuss your preferred romance sub-genres, buy books, get them signed and party. The inaugural Australian Romance Readers Convention will be held at the beautiful Jasper Hotel in Melbourne, Australia from February 20 – 22, 2009. Australian Romance Readers Convention is a not-for-profit event and is being organised and run by a group of hard working, dedicated, romance-reading volunteers!”

Visit http://www.australianromancereaders.com.au/

Enjoy the video!
Best,
Jina

Jina Bacarr is the author of The Blonde Geisha , Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs, featuring a female Indiana Jones.

Coming in April 2009: Cleopatra’s Perfume

“One whiff and every man was her slave.”

My Video Interview with Burn Notice Author Tod Goldberg

by Jina Bacarr

“When you’re a spy, certain things come easy…” writes Tod Goldberg in the opening of his Burn Notice book, “The Fix.”

For me, writing this blog on September 11th isn’t one of them.

I’m not a spy, but the heroine of my latest Spice release, Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs, is. Meet Breezy Malone, a female Indiana Jones and one tough chick. I asked Breezy what she would say if she was writing this blog on this important day in our history.

These are her words:

“Everybody knows the game has changed since 9/11. No longer are attacks planned and executed by a single al-Qaeda mastermind. Fueled by an ever-increasing well of recruits bound together by motives and causes, it’s up to me to find out what the target knows and who he’s working for.

I’m a spy. A covert op, a trained intelligence agent. I deal with graying KGB agents with prostate problems, punks from Pakistan flaunting peach fuzz and assault rifles and Iraqi militants eager to trade intel for explosives. It’s an international grocery list and it’s my job to roll up as many of these lowlifes as I can.

I go where other government agents can’t, taking down sophisticated men in grey tweed as well as terrorists who view the world with a piercing gaze and an AK-47.

If you passed me on the street you’d never know I was a Federal agent carrying a concealed Glock while keeping the eyeball on the punk ahead of me, ready to go into auto-mode to immobilize him if I’m threatened. I like my job and I do it well.

They say in the field, it’s all about people, not theory. Never was it so true as it is today. We’re fighting a war on terror and terror doesn’t take a holiday. The Federal agents out there know that and risk their lives every day to keep America safe. They do it because they believe in America and what we stand for. So do I and I know you do, too. So don’t forget the agents in the field. Not now, not ever.

Duty calls. Gotta go. It’s the business I’m in.”

Thankz, Breezy.

And thank you to author Tod Goldberg for bringing Michael Westen from the Burn Notice TV series to the page in his novel, “The Fix.” As anyone who watches the show knows, Michael Westen does his job with style, brains, a quick wit and fast moves. That also describes Tod. I had the opportunity to interview him after the August OCC meeting and totally enjoyed it.

Check out my video interview with Tod Goldberg then check out Tod’s blog at http://todgoldberg.typepad.com/

Best, Jina

Jina Bacarr is the author of The Blonde Geisha , Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs, featuring a female Indiana Jones.

Coming in April 2009: Cleopatra’s Perfume, set in Cairo and Berlin during WWII.

Jina says, “What if Casablanca was erotic…”

“Get Caught in the Act!”

RWA San Francisco: Video Overview

by Jina Bacarr

Like many OCC members, I just returned from the RWA conference in San Francisco with so much to share–including the 7 gigs of video I shot while I was there.

Unlike Alfred Hitchcock, who storyboarded his shots, I shot a lot of video knowing I won’t use it all. I never know what will work or what won’t.

Some of what I shot was planned–like following Jane Porter around for a day and shooting video for her podcast (I’d set this up with her ahead of time). When it was time to sit down with Jane and talk about her books, Mrs. Perfect, and Flirting with Forty (a holiday movie for Lifetime this December starring Heather Locklear), I needed a pretty setting with good lighting.

And quiet.

I love RWA conference attendees. When I found a great spot in the downstairs lobby to interview Jane, I noticed several people sitting nearby, chatting. I asked them if they minded us filming a video (which meant no talking). They all agreed and for the next several minutes, Jane kept them spellbound with stories about her life, books, etc. When it was over, she had made several new fans!!

Most of what I shot wasn’t planned: like sitting down next to an Australian gal, Juleigh Start, the Author Liaison for the Australian Romance Readers Convention in February 2009, so we shot a promo for the upcoming conference.

Then there was the unexpected: like attending a workshop that was cancelled and spending the time in the PAN lounge with RWA authors shooting podcasts, including a fun video for my dear friend, Jacqueline Diamond. Jackie gave me a super interview, which I’ll be putting up asap.

And who can forget the Harlequin party at the Four Seasons Hotel? It was nonstop dancing–and yes, I’ve got it all on video.

I always shoot video of the Literacy Signing–it makes me smile to see all those readers and fans lined up to meet their favorite authors.

I got more than a few curious stares when I was shooting video in Italian in the lobby at the hotel (my books have been translated into Italian and I talk with the Italian fans on the Harlequin Italy blog ) and on Market Street. I want to give the Italian readers a view of San Francisco.

And I’ve got video of my Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs fishnet purple tights–they matched my bookcover and were a fun conversation piece.

And so much more…

It’s all coming up!!

Stay tuned…

But first, I’ll be putting up a fab interview I did with our August afternoon speaker, Tod Goldberg. We talked about writing and my fave TV show, Burn Notice (Tod is writing the books based on the series).

See you in September!

Best,
Jina

Jina Bacarr is the author of The Blonde Geisha , Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs, featuring a female Indiana Jones.

Coming in April 2009: Cleopatra’s Perfume, set in Cairo and Berlin during WWII.

Jina says, “What if Casablanca was erotic…”

“Get Caught in the Act!”