Laura Benedict's Blog, page 34

A Beginning, of a Sort

The more I write, the less sleep I get. That’s another one of those habits that’s been hard to break. I crave the near-silence of a sleeping house–but only can manage to find it at the before-bed end. I have heard about writers who get up before dawn to work before their family stirs. But I have always, always been a night owl. The house is completely quiet, and even the cats are asleep. The furnace comes on now and then, but outside even the coyotes are silent. There’s only a single dog bark...

You Can’t Fail At Being Yourself

In my life, I have set myself up for failure a lot, confusing goal-setting with imperious, inviolable self-commands.

I’ve never seen failure asmy friend, even though I was taught by my father from a young age that failure is simply another kind of opportunity. Perhaps I just never believed it. Okay, it’s pretty evident that, no, I didn’t believe it at all.

One of my most self-annoying habits is setting unrealistic expectations for myself (and others, but that’s a different post). I gather...

Out and About with The Abandoned Heart: Pictures and Links

Here it is the end of November already, and only today did I realize I didn’t do a wrap-up of events for the publication of The Abandoned Heart and the paperback of Charlotte’s Story. Can I blame wanting to get back to work on the next book? Idid have a fabulous time bringing out The Abandoned Heart. The tour for it was protracted, and covered four states (five, if you count Bouchercon in Louisiana in September). There were lots of friends to see and lots of new people to meet.

Going backward...

Charlotte in Paperback!

In all the excitement of having The Abandoned Heart coming out earlier this month, I don’t want to forget about Charlotte’s Story coming out in paperback today. Okay, I wouldn’t really forget. That would be like forgetting one of my children.

Charlotte’s Story is the second Bliss House novel. I re-read Daphne DuMaurier’sRebeccatwice as I wrote it. I really wanted it to have that mid-20th century feel to it–thoughRebecca was released in 1938 andCharlotte’s Story takes place in 1957. I think...

In The Handbasket: J.T. Ellison and The First Decade

Trust me when I say that the next best thing to putting out a new book is to have your BFF putting out a new book. J.T. Ellison and I both had our thriller novel debutsin 2007, and I have had a front row seat to her meteoric rise ever since. Soon after we met, we recognized each other as kindred spirits, and we have since seen each other through many, many exciting and challenging times. J.T. has that spark that’s rare in both friends and writers: the ability to empathize, teach, encourage,...

The Abandoned Heart: Publication Day!

The excitement of having a new book out in the world never gets old.

The Abandoned Heart is my eleventh book and sixth novel to be published. And it’s the book that finally reveals the deepest, darkest secrets of Bliss House. I hope you love it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading the Bliss House books–and all my other work. I write for you!

(And I’ll have a piece or two of the celebratory Godiva chocolate I bought for myself for you, too. Cheers!)

Artist Date: Festival Day in Marion, IL

In her book, The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron reminds us that we need to refill our creative wells by taking ourselves on Artist Dates. An Artist Datecan be anything that feeds your creativity, feeds your soul. My soul likes to see and hear things. I love live music. I love to people-watch. I love to troll through other people’s things, imagining their lives. (Legally, I promise–you won’t find me in your kitchen. Probably.)

My son and I go to a lot of museums and galleries, but in those places...

Nine Years Ago Today

Nine years ago today, I had a big dream come true. I didn’t realize how big a dream it was for me until it happened–but when I walked into a bookstore and saw my debut novel, Isabella Moon, on the shelves, I cried a few secret, happy tears.

Isabella Moon was actually my third novel, but it was the first to be published, thanks to my long suffering agent, Susan Raihofer, and, later, my then-editor, Mark Tavani, at Ballantine. They both saw something special in that book–a story about a woman...

Bouchercon 2016–Five Days of Friends, Food, and Fabulous New Orleans

There are so many reasons I love being a writer. One I could never have anticipated was how much I would treasure the time I get to spend with other people who love books:editors, agents, other writers, and readers. To me, writing was only about telling the story. The publishing part was secondary, and so I stayed in my room, writing, writing, writing. Sure, I imagined that maybe, someday, possibly I’d have my books published, but I never understood that a novel is actually a two-way communic...

ARCs are here!

What’s an ARC, you ask? Why, it’s an advance reader’s copy of a forthcoming book. It’s the paperback that goes out to book reviewers so they have time to read it and review it before publication day. It’s often also sent to buyers for bookstores and libraries. Inside its covers, there are always typos and the occasional mis-named character. Or something about the book’s timeline may be off. There’s always something. But, rest assured, while the ARC is out, there are still eyes on the manuscri...