The other day I went to our local library, also known as Monroe County Public Library or MCPL. I don’t know about your area, but many libraries have long surpassed carrying just books. They offer videos, CDs, computers, classes and books on tape.
But the coolest thing they have at MCPL is a humongous YA or teen space where kids 12-19 years of age can hang out every day. The space occupies half the lower floor and there are no adults allowed except for library staff. Teens can play, study, craft and design. They can socialize, read or simply hang out.
The super coolest part are the studios adjacent to the space where anyone can record music (two music studios) and videos (complete with green screen). I reserved an hour in the video studio where everything is set up to work at a touch of a button. No special knowledge required – thank goodness because I don’t have a clue. All I did was bring a thumb drive to record on and away I went.
I read two clips, one of ESCAPE FROM THE PAST: THE KID, book two in the Escape from the Past trilogy that came out February 26, 2016. The second clip is a sneak preview of book three, ESCAPE FROM THE PAST: AT WITCHES’ END which won’t even be released until late fall. So I read the two sections and ended up with me in front of a bright green screen.
Now what?
I had to get some sort of background to cover the green screen and of course, edit the ending where I leave my chair to turn off the recording. Well, it was easy. Next to the studio, MCLP has several desks with oversized computer screens and a whole slew of fancy software. I asked the young man in charge for help and two hours later walked away with two edited clips ready for my YouTube channel.
Amazing!
That super awesome image behind the video clip is none other than Castle Hanstein in Thuringia, Germany where Knight Werner von Hanstein used to live in the late 15th century. I’m especially proud that all my stories are based on actual history, historic events and characters.
You’ll also notice I’m reading from paper because the book isn’t yet printed. In fact, as we speak, they’re working on cover art, a final edit, cover copy and who knows what else to get the book ready for publication.