Compulsively Mr. Darcy in Best Book of 2012 Poll
Friday, February 1, 2013
Written by Nina Benneton
Synchronicity. I learned the power of that word recently. Events I’d considered coincidences (or the machinations of my late, beloved grandmother) were the power of the universe at work.
Synchronicity is expressing to yourself that, never mind that you’ve two left feet and no sense of rhymth, you’d love to take a ballet class, and then the very next day you see a notice about an adult ballet class in your neighborhood.
Ask and you shall receive.
But, it means being willing to be open and to allow yourself to receive the gift.
I admit, many a times I fight and fight accepting the gift of synchronicity. Why? To be honest: fear. Fear of failure. Fear of appearing a fool. Fear of over-reaching.
For example, last year, in January, a few weeks before the release of my debut novel, I had the expected bout of what-was-I thinking, what-was-my-agent-thinking, what-was-my-publisher-thinking? Why was my book being published? Accckkk! It was a mistake. Was it too late to tell them all I changed my mind? I was sure the universe was going to send me some sign to tell me that I’m a failure, I’m a fool, I over-reached.
Later that week, I received an email from Long and Short Reviews (LASR) telling me that they had reviewed an advance reader copy of my book.
Bleery eyes and in the midst of arguing with my kids why left-over cold pizza was not a good breakfast meal before school, I clicked on the link of the review and, after one quick glance, my heart sank. 1 gold star. At least I won the argument that morning with the kids. No pizza for breakfast.
My husband called me later that day from work and, in his usual understated, calm way, asked me if I’d actually read the review. I yapped to him something about protecting my inner artist child and not a good idea to read a 1 star review while I’m trying to gear up for the upcoming blogtour the publisher had arranged for me. (Denial can be a very healthy coping mechanism for creative souls, don’t you think?)
“Nina, read the review. With your glasses, please,” he advised and then went on to take care of more weighty matters involving life and death of some microbes.
I read the review. With my glasses. The one star had ‘Best Book’ in it. The highest rating.
Woohoo!!! I may still be a failure. I may still be a fool. I may still have over-reached. But I got a Best Book review from a reviews site. Then, the book earned the readers’ poll of February’s Book of the Month. (Okay, I freely confess here that I also harassed my nearest and dearest, especially my understated, calm, rational husband, and everyone in between, to vote). I even did an author interview with LASR.
It’s a year later now, and a friend, who firmly believes in celebrating milestones, tells me I should write a celebratory one-year anniversary blog. As I mulled over her suggestion (Do other authors celebrate the anniversary of their first book’s release? Is that indulging in solipsism? Would the gods of my late grandmother strike me?), I received another email from LASR.
Because my book received the Best Book rating last year, it has earned a spot in their Best Book of 2012 poll.
Synchronicity. How could I not celebrate now! Who cares what other authors do! The gods are blessing me with a Chinese New Year’s gift, I’m sure.
I accept the gifts of synchronicity.
Who cares if I fail, if I appear foolish, if I over-reach?
I had my first ballet class this week. I balancé, I chassé, I pas de chat. And then I went home and wrote this blog.
Voting for Best Book of 2012 is from 2/1 through 2/14. Please Vote
Sassing with fellow Death Sparkles Anthology author PJ Friel
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Written by Nina Benneton
Before I'd embarked on this writing journey, I'd always thought talented writers were black-turtleneck-wearing people who'd actually read, cover-to-cover, Moby Dick and War and Peace, and the first book they read in their cribs was probably Strunk and White.
Then I started meeting other writers. I discovered that yes, alas, it was true, many of them have read Moby Dick, War and Peace, and Strunk and White cover to cover. But I'm forced to forgive them because many of these people are also very, very, cool, multi-talented people.
Like PJ Friel, one of my eight co-authors in the DEATH SPARKLES Anthology, edited by the editor/writer extraordinaire Devon Ellington and released two weeks ago to immediately land on top 75 of Amazon short stories collections this week. Nine authors with distinctive voices and genres in one collection--Kelley Whitley, Devon Ellington , PJ Friel, KT Wagner, Diane Holdsworth, Faith Dincolo, Killion Slade, Watson Davis, and me, Nina Benneton.
Not only did PJ pen one of the most intriguing, funny stories with a hilarious, unexpected, and twisted ending, “The Needing,” she, as a sought-after cover artist by authors and publishers, also designed the cover. I've been dying to interview PJ because I'm fascinated and awed by her creative process—be it writing or doing art.
Q: When you first received the anthology's prompt line 'The diamond necklace dangled from the dead woman's hand,' what was your first impulse? Write it as mystery, thriller, or fantasy? Why did you choose the genre you did?
A: First, let me just say thank you for this interview. I actually learned a lot about my process by answering your questions. I never really stopped to think about it. I thought that I did things mostly on instinct, but now I realize that there really is method to my madness. I’m not crazy! I have methods! Awesome!
And now on to your question: My first impulse when I read the story prompt was PANIC! I’m horrible at writing to prompts. My brain immediately starts throwing out clichés. Since I’m a fantasy writer, my first impulse was to start a tale about some dungeon crawlers, seeking some famed jewel. Lame. However, once I’d calmed down, I decided that the real purpose of the prompt was to take me out of my comfort zone and to encourage me to try something new. A contemporary suspense is most definitely out of my wheel house. And when you add in a touch of creepiness…well, that’s just something that I don’t do.
Q: Without giving too much away about your story, could you talk where did you get the twisted idea behind “The Needing”?
A: After my aforementioned PANIC, I did what I often do. I started talking about it with a friend. After a session of “story in the middle” where we threw ideas back and forth, I settled down to start writing. The necklace became my sole focus. What was so important about this necklace that our lady would die while clutching it in her hand? And why would someone leave it there if it was so important? My answer was that they wouldn’t leave it. So why did they kill her for it? Greed was too simple. And I wasn’t writing fantasy so the necklace itself wouldn’t have special properties. Then an advertisement for a TV show caught my attention and the story took off.
Q: Did you name the character after moi? (If so, I thank you and love it!)
A: It was completely subconscious. I’m not sure what that says about my subconscious, though. Single White Female, anyone? Muahaha! Maybe suspense isn’t as far out of my wheel house as I thought.
Q: What is your favorite genre to read, to write, and why?
A: I love high fantasy and urban fantasy. I want to believe that magic really exists. It’s exciting to me to think about a world filled with extraordinary creatures and larger than life heroes and heroines. I love the escapism of it all. The news is filled with the pain of the world and the last thing I want to fill my imagination with is more of the same. I’ve never quite understood why people write stories where the good guys die in the end. (If you want to hear me rant, just bring up the movie, ‘The Perfect Storm!’) I need stories that fill me with wonder and hope for that happily ever after. There may be evil villains in fantasy worlds, but you know that in the end, the hero is going to wipe the floor with him and ride off into the sunset atop his trusty destrier with the princess clinging to his well-muscled back. Or in the case of my stories, the heroine is going to whip out her sword, gut the bad guy and give a saucy wink to the hot guy whose ass she just saved. (See! Fantasy writer!)
Q: Which came first, the artist or the writer? Is it one muse who feeds both mediums, or are there two distinct creative animals in the artist/writer?
A: Actually, the art LOVER came first. I’m a huge fan of Luis Royo and his artwork. His paintings are stunning! They’re filled with strong, beautiful women wielding swords, daring the monsters to bring it on. Looking at his work caused the most fantastical stories to race through my mind. Because of his art, I began to write little stories. As those stories developed, I found myself scouring the internet to find images that represented my characters. It drove me crazy that I could never find exactly what I was looking for, though.
One day, I stumbled upon a program by Smith Micro called Poser. Poser is a 3D art program that allows you to bring in a 3 dimensional figure and dress it, pose it, add different hairstyles and lighting and then essentially “take a picture of it” or as it’s called in the 3D world, produce a render. No traditional drawing skills are needed. I felt like I had just discovered magic!
After that, I became consumed with making art and writing with words fell to the wayside for a bit because now I could write with pictures. Seven years or so later, I’ve come full circle and have embraced writing again. However, one doesn’t really overshadow the other anymore. Now, they’re both a part of me, led by a single muse. She is not one of the sweet, gentle blonde-haired muses dressed in a flowing white gown who gently whispers ideas into my ear, though. No. This chick wears armor, has hair as black as midnight and she ruthlessly looms over my shoulder and shrieks into my ear, “Sleep is for the weak!” She occasionally slaps me upside the head with her steel gauntlet. I love that crazy wench. *looks nervously over my shoulder and smiles*
Q: Your visual arts are fantastical, evocative, and, at times, movingly poignant. When I look at one, I immediately sense a story, or rather, your art often makes me want to write a story to tell about the art. Is this part of your creative process? Visual image, followed by words to paint the story? Or words come together first to portray an evolving image? Click here to see PJ's art.
A: Thank you! I can’t tell you what it means to me to know that my pictures inspire stories. As I mentioned, Luis Royo’s work does the same for me and to find that my work can do that for someone else makes me overwhelmingly happy. It makes every late night worth it and then some.
As for my process…it’s a combination of things and each picture is inspired by something different. Music is a huge inspiration for me and I often have it playing while I’m working. As an example, I have a series of three images that was inspired by a single song, “10,000 days” by the group Tool. Each image focuses on particular words in the song – “Give me my wings”, “Time for you to bring me home”, and “10,000 days in the fire is long enough.”
Then, sometimes, it’s just an emotion that I want to express. A lot of my images express my feelings of a connection with something divine. Not a particular religion, but rather just a connection with a universal energy…spirituality free from dogma. There’s that desire of mine, again. To believe in magic. *wink*
Q: How did you choose the subject, the color and the frame for Death Sparkles Anthology?
A: I approached the cover for Death Sparkles much like I approached my story…minus the creepiness. I focused on the necklace. Often my book covers are created using stock art from sites such as Dreamstime.com. When I went looking for images for Death Sparkles, I couldn’t find anything that suited my needs, so I decided to do a Poser render instead. I knew that I wanted a dead woman and a necklace and that they needed to be the focus.
With that in mind, I chose a setting that was simple so that it wouldn’t detract from the star of the cover--our poor lifeless lady and her sparkly--yet elegant. (If a woman is going to have diamonds dangling from her fingers, she’s not going to live in a hovel!) I also knew that I needed to leave room for the title and all the author names, so that gave me my frame and it also dictated color, too. I needed colors that would allow the words to pop. However, I also wanted a splash of color to create interest. I didn’t want to put any blood on the cover. That just felt gory to me and didn’t really represent the whole collection of stories. Instead, I chose a red shirt on the model and that gave us our splash without the yuck factor. Our lady is blonde because well…diamonds and blondes just seemed to go together in my brain. Haha.
The book on which her hand is propped was added later because the necklace just wasn’t dangling from her fingers enough and I couldn’t resist the “wink wink nudge nudge” of the symbolism.
Q: I know you're often a requested cover-artist for many authors, like Devon Ellington and Stacey Kennedy, and others. How do you usually choose the theme for a particular book cover? Could you share with us some of your book covers?
A: I start my process by talking to the author. They tell me about their book, the themes running through the story and the general look and feel that they’d like to see on the cover. Then I go searching for images of the characters and settings in the book. I run those images past the author and after they choose the ones that they like, I work on a mockup that incorporates the things that are most important to the author.
One of the most important things on a cover is the font. You wouldn’t think that, but it really is. It helps to set the mood. An elegant font has a much different feeling than a creepy font. You can make a sunny setting feel sinister with the right font.
I’d love to share some of my covers!
Mystically Bound by Stacey Kennedy – The images on this cover were actually chosen by Stacey and she sent them to me and asked me to design the cover. I love this one because the background and the model are both so gorgeous and that shade of violet is a favorite of mine.
Hex Breaker by Devon Ellington – The cover incorporates stock art and one of my renders (the dragon). The challenge of this was fitting in all the elements without making it too cluttered.
Butterfly by Charlie Daye – This cover gave me fits! The challenge of it was fitting in the picture of the mask provided by the author. It was on a white background and was impossible to cut out because of all the tiny details. I got it to work through the power of Photoshop’s Multiply blending mode. Thank you, Adobe, for making my life easier!
Q: Those covers are amazing. See what I mean? They tell stories! My favorite is Hex Breaker. My next life, I want to come back as that covergirl (red hair and everything). Now, If you were stranded on an island in Hawaii and you only have time to do one thing before the Goddess Pele swallows you whole, would you make an art rendering of your memoir or write your memoir?
A: Well, since I probably wouldn’t have my computer with me, I’m going to go with writing a memoir. But see, I’m far too boring for a memoir about myself so instead, I’d convince Pele to let me write a memoir about HER! Goddesses need worship to be powerful, right? So Pele, being the wise goddess she is, would realize this and she’d spare me so I could drum up some more worshippers for her. This way, everyone’s happy. PJ doesn’t become a crunchy snack food and Pele gets an energy boost. Did I mention I write fantasy?
Q: Last questions: have you read Moby Dick and/or War and Peace? Do you own any black turtleneck?
A: Call me Ishmael. And that’s the sum total of what I know from Moby Dick. LOL! I haven’t read War and Peace either, but I did read Anna Karenina. I was forced to by one of my college English professors. It was the single most depressing book I’ve ever read. I think I’ll pass on War and Peace. I wouldn’t be able to afford the therapy bills afterwards.
I do own several articles of clothing in black, mostly because of black’s slimming properties (although it does little good on me. *sigh*); however, none of them are turtlenecks. The neck, it chafes me so.
It would appear that I am an utter failure as a literary writer, Nina. I mentioned I write fantasy, right?
Literary writers are depressing people, you don't want to be one of them.
Read an excerpt from “The Needling” by author PJ Friel:
The diamond necklace dangled from the dead woman's hand. Or had it? The woman's hand was empty now. Where had the necklace gone? Moments earlier, her hand had been clenching it, but now there was only blood, gathering from her slit wrist.
"Detective, are you OK?" a man said behind her.
She looked around. Detective? Who was he speaking to? There was no one else in the bedroom. She was alone with a dead woman. She turned and faced the man, who was dressed in a police uniform. "Are you talking to me?"
And an excerpt from “Sass” by yours truly:
He looked up and gave her a shy smile. "You were the best teacher I had, Miss Hartford. You're the reason I became a priest."
She took a step back. "Don't you blame that on me."
He smiled. "You stood up for me. Insisted I didn't steal Mrs. Campbell's purse."
She shrugged. "I didn't like Mrs. Campbell."
He pulled his hands out of his pockets and played with the buttons. He dropped his hands, coughed, and met her eyes. "I did steal it."
"Oh." She stared at him for a long moment then shrugged again. "If guilt from that kept you out of prison…"
"You told me to become something my mother would have been proud of."
"If I'd known she wanted you to become a priest, I wouldn't have said that," she returned.
Now, go get DEATH SPARKLES anthology here. ($1.99, the price of a cup of coffee. All proceeds go to literacy project).
Get to know the next author in the anthology blog tour, Diana Holdsworth, "Diamonds are a Girl's Bestfriend" by clicking HERE.
To check out the other authors in the anthology in the blogtour thus far, check here: -Kelley Whitley, Devon Ellington , PJ Friel, KT Wagner,
Calling at Austen Callers
Monday, October 15, 2012
Written by Nina Benneton
It's always an honor when another author, much less an author who's a professor and an Austen scholar, tells you she's read your book. It's an incredible honor when an author, an author whom you've never met and whose book you've put on the top of your TBR list, contacts you and tells you not only she's read your book in one day, but she'd like to interview you for her blog, Austen Callers.
So what was my reaction when Author and Professor Amy Elizabeth Smith, 'All Roads Leads to Austen' contacted me?
I squealed louder than Mrs. Bennet did upon hearing news of Elizabeth marrying Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, I preened more prettily than Sir William Elliot of Persuasion would at a Mary Kay Cosmetics convention, and now I'm here to brag worse than Mrs. Elton of Emma did about her brother-in-law's carriages.
Check out Amy Elizabeth Smith's interview with me here.
Austenesque Extravaganza Winner
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Written by Nina Benneton
Thank you everyone for participating in our Austenesque Extravaganza and for those who left a comment. My apologies to those who couldn't comment due to technical difficulty of browsers etc...
The WINNER of the Kindle basket of all three of our books, Jane Austen Marriage Manual by Kim Izzo, Moonlighting by Ola Wegner, and Compulsively Mr. Darcy by Nina Benneton:
***Ceri***
Ceri, please contact me via the contact link above with your email for arrangement to receive your Kindle basket.
Thank you everyone for participating and commenting. Click here for replies to comments.
Nina Benneton
PS: For those who'd like a chance to win a copy of Compulsively Mr. Darcy, check back here in the near future. I will be visiting Amy Elizabeth Smith's 'All Roads Leads to Austen.'
Also, I'm very excited that my short story, 'Sass' will be published in an anthology, Death Sparkles, later this month. More details to follow.
