Laura Benedict's Blog, page 35

Small Bouquets

This time of year my house is filled withsmall bouquets.

I didn’t grow up in a gardening family, so I came late to growing flowers. Flowers were things that grewin conservatories orin gardens belonging to people who lived in big houses. Flowers grew in small patches or pots, along the side of the highway, or in the half-wild, empty suburban lots I liked to explore as a kid. Really special flowers arrived in vans or trucks, and were brought to the front door by delivery men. These flowers...

Permanent Joy

I am aproduct of this gorgeous couple. Look at them. See their happiness? Their readiness to take on the world? You can read their optimism, their hope, on their shining faces. There was no stopping the two of them. They are the embodiment of American Dream, with 2.5 kids (we turned out to be 3), and a sweet love story to boot. Why wouldn’t I want to follow in their parenting footsteps?

Still, I had no idea that I was going to be a mother. No–strike that. I had no idea I wanted to be a mo...

Down the Rabbit Hole

When I finish draftinga novel, I always feel a bit stunned, as though I’ve been unconscious for months and have awakened to find myself in a different place. In a way, that’s exactly what has happened. With my ADHD, I am terribly prone to hyper-focusing. As soon as I get to the halfway point in a book, things that–only daysbefore–caused me to lose sleepquicklyslip away like fleeingroadsigns in my rearview mirror. I’ve always dreamed of being a steady, scheduled type of person, with spreadshe...

The Abandoned Heart

Coming October 10, 2016

There is no bliss to be found in Bliss House.

In Old Gate, Virginia, stands a grand house built by Randolph Bliss, a charming New York carpetbagger who, in 1878, shook off dire warnings to build his home elsewhere. For the ground beneath Bliss House is tainted with the kind of tragedy that curses generations, seeping through the foundation and sowing madness in its wake. His first and second wives, and his young Japanese mistress, Kiku, bear witness to Randolph’s grow...

Dear Writer: Will You Still Like Me Even If I Give Your Book Away?

Often, when I give someone a book, I make it a habit to put a dated inscription inside. (If I give someone a book, it means I like it A LOT.) And if a bookstore or a reader asks, I delight in signing and inscribing books I’ve written. It’s a very personal, fun thing, yes? So personal, in fact, that I tend to hang onto all the signed books I own. Jumpstarted by a wonderful first editions program at Lemuria Books, we’ve added an insane number of signed books to our shelves over the years. With...

The End of Possibilities

People die. That’s it. The End.

When I was 12 years old, I couldn’t imagine that life beyond the age of 55 would be worth living (I’ve written about this before, but it keeps coming up.) I forget now why I chose 55. My own grandparents weren’t that much older, though I guess I considered them pretty ancient. From the age of 12, those 43 years stretching to 55 look awfully long, and full of possibilities. I remember deciding that I wouldcommit suicide when I came to the end of those years. I...

It’s That Time of Year

It’s that time of year. Well, it’sthat time of year, too. But what I mean is that it’s the disappearing time of year.

This December has been so warm that I’ve found myself pulled outside to wonder at the strangeness of the weather. The last week has been gray and humid and warm enough to make me think of March and tornado season. Languid is the best word I can think of to describe it. But my interior life has been anything but languid.

For the past few years I’ve spent each holiday season on...

Bohemian Gospel, and Two of my Favorite Fearless Writer-Chicks

This summer, one of my dearest writer friends,J.T. Ellison, told me about a book she’d just read calledBohemian Gospel by fellow Nashvillian, Dana Chamblee Carpenter. “You must read it. It’s fabulous!” Now, J.T. is a voracious reader, andshe doesn’t throw the wordfabulous around lightly. She added, “By the way, it’s out from your publisher, Pegasus Books.” Well, one of the nice things about having a publisher that publishes a lot of wonderful books is that you can sometimes get pre-publicatio...

All The Nice Things Said About Charlotte and Her Story

Sometimes I get shy. Really shy. But I come by it honestly. I grew up being told that it was a Very Bad Thing to draw attention to oneself. So I guess I’ve picked a pretty strange career, right? Being a writer requires an odd combination of personal skills: an ability to spend hours, days and weeks alone, and a willingness to step out and shout from a rooftop or two. Talk about a contradiction.

But.

I write for you. I write books and stories to be read by you and others. And while conferences...

Close to Home: Signing Charlotte in Southern Illinois

I spent all last week on the couch, desperately trying to be well for my Saturday signing at the Carbondale Barnes & Noble. (Turned out I have asinus infection that’s now, finally, almost mended.) The wonderful Heidi Houghton, from the store, had been working hard to set up a horror event for months, and I didn’t want to miss it. It was also SIUC’s Homecoming, so I wasn’t sure what sort of turnout to expect. Weather? A little misty and cool. Folks were worried about it raining during the...