1. Who is Queen B?
She is a superheroine with super super powers. She lives in Bigtown, a typical suburb in Dallas, Texas. Her mother is the mayor of Bigtown, and her father is a scientist working at a major biochemical plant. Bigtown is a growing city with malls, new housing, farms, new corporate buildings, new sports arena, etc. It used to be a smaller town made up of farms. Like all growing towns with growing population comes a growth in crime. Queen B is really Barbie Barton, a pretty blonde teenager who's active in school and her community. She's typical of any pretty blonde teenager except she gets stung by a chemically-enhanced bee and develops bee powers. What I like about Queen B is her protectiveness towards her family, friends, and community. She's the Queen of her hive, and she will protect her hive from harm.
2. What super powers does she have?
Bees are amazingly strong for their size. They're also incredibly fast. With the flapping of their wings, they can generate enough heat to fry their enemies. They also have several eyes which gives them 360 degrees vision. They have stingers and amazing honing and communications ability due to antennas. Combine all that in human size and form, then you have an amazing superheroine. She's also the Queen. As the Queen of bees, followers and male species naturally are drawn towards her.
3. What is the Queen B series about?
It is a series about Barbie Barton's transformation from Texas teenager to serious superheroine who will protect her community, her "hive" with her newfound abilities. At this point, she is still a teenager and deals not only with issues facing all teenagers (SATs, boys, grades, extracurricular activities, friends, etc.), but with the added issue of being a real freak - half bee, half human.
4. What was high school like for you?
I have mixed feelings about it because I've experienced the whole gamut of being a teenager. I sort of belonged to every crowd or rather, was accepted in every crowd. I was on the newspaper staff (voted Best Writer!), yearbook staff, advance drama production, pep club, art club, orchestra, and government. I was also in lots of AP (Advance Placement) classes. In a sense I ran with the popular crowd, but in a sense I ran with the geekiest people - drama, journalism, and AP people. In drama, I was always given the romantic female lead role, but I've always played the smart wise-cracking best friend. I have mixed feelings because being a teenager is not fun when you don't really know who you are (which is normal - the teenage years is about trying to figure out who you are), but I really enjoyed the process and made lots of friends from all walks of life through it. It also helps when I write about novels for teenagers. I'm able to relate in several aspects.
5. How did you come up with Queen B?
I love comic books and cartoons. I grew up collecting comic books with my brother. My brother also dragged me to take kung fu and karate lessons with him when we were kids. We ended up taking kung fu lessons from a Shaolin monk and learned to take the "violence" away from kung fu, and to see it as an art form. I was taking kung fu the same time I was taking ballet, violin, and piano lessons. I was a tomboy, but also a girly girl. I learned to skateboard off ramps at the same time I learned how to crochet. I thought about girl heroines growing up, but never really thought of them as realistic. When I saw a documentary about bees on a flight from Europe to the US, Queen B as a living breathing teenager developed.
6. Can you see this as a movie or a television series?
Most definitely. In fact, I first pictured this as a television series, but I wanted to develop a whole story line first with a book series. I've written a screenplay for this, as well as a television pilot script. Because I love this character and her story so much, I would love to see this produced. WB, FOX, or Paramount would be a dream come true. So, anyone who knows someone who wants to develop this for production, please get in contact with me or my entertainment lawyer. Thanks!
7. How can I find more information on Queen B?
There's a website, queenbseries.com.
