Ask the Author: David Bennett Laing
Answered Questions (8)
David Bennett Laing
No, I can't. A few sentences will have to do. (Copyright © David Bennett Laing, 2017)
When I was nine, I walked the woods road at dusk from my grandmother's house to home. Dark fell as I came to the woods section. My step quickened, and I felt a shiver cross my shoulders. Nearby, a barred owl hooted, and in the distance, a whip-poor-will's call sounded, ominously. Strange rustlings were going on in the autumn leaves by the roadside. It was full dark as I hurried on. Then I stopped and stood quite still as a question trickled into my mind. "What is the biggest, most dangerous animal in these woods?" The answer came quickly. “You are, you fool.” Then I smiled and looked all around me, listening with joy, not fear, to all the magical sounds of the peaceful night woods that I was hearing for the very first time. Since then, I have been a frequent night visitor to those friendly woods.
When I was nine, I walked the woods road at dusk from my grandmother's house to home. Dark fell as I came to the woods section. My step quickened, and I felt a shiver cross my shoulders. Nearby, a barred owl hooted, and in the distance, a whip-poor-will's call sounded, ominously. Strange rustlings were going on in the autumn leaves by the roadside. It was full dark as I hurried on. Then I stopped and stood quite still as a question trickled into my mind. "What is the biggest, most dangerous animal in these woods?" The answer came quickly. “You are, you fool.” Then I smiled and looked all around me, listening with joy, not fear, to all the magical sounds of the peaceful night woods that I was hearing for the very first time. Since then, I have been a frequent night visitor to those friendly woods.
David Bennett Laing
All the fictional book worlds that I create are exercises in guiding the given situation toward the best possible outcome. Many of them are situations that I myself have experienced, and how I write about them says how I feel they actually should have played out. This I find creatively cathartic as well as a way to express the fact that no imagined Wonderland can possibly outdo the real world in which we live.
David Bennett Laing
I'm a scientist (geologist). One of the key principles of science is that everything you say about something must make sense in terms of everything that's known about that thing. For a long time, I've had the feeling that the theory of greenhouse warming wasn't making sense, and the more deeply I looked into it, the more that feeling was confirmed. "In Praise Of Carbon" is my attempt to set the record straight about carbon dioxide, one of the most vital (and most underappreciated) substances for all life on Earth.
David Bennett Laing
I don't need to. I have a long list of "must writes whenever I have the time." My problem is only which one gets priority treatment!
David Bennett Laing
A manual on the habitats of New England wildlife. (I also write novels and books about the real world as I see it. I'm also working on what I call my "orterbyogriffy.")
David Bennett Laing
Don't even think of writing with commercial intent! There's far too much of that stuff already around. Write what's in you. That's the only thing that's real, along with people's reactions to what you write, which you should take seriously.
David Bennett Laing
Being able to set down my views on the world around me, both natural and human, and to get serious critiques on them. I value other people's opinions! They help me to refine my views.
David Bennett Laing
Writer's block? What on Earth is that? My problem is I don't have enough time to write about all the things that I have on the shelf!
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