Laura Benedict's Blog, page 38

From Days of Our Lives to The Road–What’s a Writer do With the Kids?

Every book I write has its own special backstory: the way it came about, the books I read or films I watched while writing it, what was going on in my marriage, my diet, or inside my head. I can make all the plans I like (though I never write to a strict outline) ahead of time, but no book is ever exactly as I imagine it to be on the first day I sit down to write. Every extra doughnut, good hair day, or sick day will influence it. Think of writing a book as creating a special meal. You can wo...

Homemade

I’m not a very crafty person. At least notin the scrapbooking, sewing, beading, needlework sense, anyway. Of course, when you havekids, yourlack of craft skills becomes glaringly obvious when their friends show up inprecious handmade Halloween costumes and your child is wrapped in a bed sheet decorated with twine and a dried-out Sharpie. Then you arrivefor aplaydate to find a handmade wreath on the door that looks like it came from Pottery Barn. And then you’re served delicious, fresh-out-of-...

Haunted Holidays

Haunted Holidays
Pre-order at Amazon.
(Available in print and at Barnes & Noble.com, iBooks, and Kobo November 28th) $2.99 (ebook), $4.99 (paperback)

Haunted Holidays: 3 Short Tales of Terror



Three devious divas of horror — Lisa Morton, Laura Benedict, and Carolyn Haines (aka R.B. Chesterton)—liven up your holiday fireside reading with three tales of Christmas fear.

The Christmas Ornament by Carolyn Haines (aka R.B. Chesterton) — Six graduate students should know better than to party at an isol...

What If Any Day Could Be Halloween?

I have friends who worry about Halloween, and I take their concerns seriously. If onehas a strong sense that there is evil in the world, one usually wants to stay as far away from it–and to keep one’s children as far away from it–as one can.

But the Halloween I see when I look at the kids I have and have had around me is not a frightening thing. In those kids–and, truthfully, in myself–I see a wish to be something different, a wish to try out a new persona, a wish to be a different person from...

Warning: Your Favorite Writer (or Actor or Athlete) May Be A Jerk

Years ago, I knew a pianist. She was a wonderful pianist who gave brief, beautiful concerts. She wasn’t a large woman, though she seemed to become onewith her powerful concert piano as she played. Together they were like one magnificent, magical instrument. I met her sometimes socially, andbeing a rather lame but hopeful pianist myself, I felt a little intimidated by her. At one cocktail party, I screwed up my courage with the help of a glass of chardonnay or two and told her how much I enjoy...

Time to Go Pro

My new office gear: One geeky backpack and a lunchbox.

What? Aren’t you already a professional?you might say, if we were sitting down for a cup of tea together. Haven’t you been publishing for more than two decades?

When I think about how long I’ve been writing and publishing, I feel slightlyembarrassed about how littleI’ve actually published. I’ve written six novels (but published only four–the other two were for practice), and edited four anthologies. I confess I haven’t really kept track of...

A Better Place

It’s no secret that I have organizational issues. ADD/ADHD is a real thing and I struggle with it every day. My memory is pretty terrible, and I can’t prioritize my way out of a wet paper bag. It’s also an amazing gift. But some gifts are hard to live with.

“Why don’t you just use a system?” is the question I frequently get from my well-organized friends. There are a bajillion systemsout there: Personal Organization Systems nets around 246 millionsearch responses. Goal setting = around 20 mill...

Meet Sylvie!

One recent Monday–Garbage Night to be exact–my husband, Pinckney, heard mewing near our front gate. We were immediately concerned because ourdaughter mentionedshe’d seen a dead cat out on the road earlier in the day. The mewing gave us visions of some pitiful, half-alive creature abandoned and dying on the asphalt. Usually we only find beer cans and the occasional shoe at the end of our drive. (What is it about a driveway out in the country that screams to some people to stop atnight–sometime...

Unintended Consequences

The thing about writing storiesand publishing is that they’reboth very much like that old Lay’s potato chip slogan: You can’t eat just one. (No, please don’t eat books–no matter how much you love them.)

So many people I’ve met who say they want to write, or want to be a writer, claim that their life will be perfect if they publish JUST ONE STORY. I find it rather charming when I hear that, because most of the writers I know said exactly the same thing when they started. They imagine that publi...

Don’t Let Chocolate Taste Like Failure

There’s this thing that I do, and I’m wondering if you do it too. A little story: (You knew there was a story coming, I bet.) I was sitting on the couch watching television with my Sweet Husband, and I started thinking about cookies. Not just any cookies, but specifically the two dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies I had buriedin the freezer that were left over from a booksigning event. Now, I make kick-ass chocolate chip cookies. (Okay, you can too–just add an extra cup of chocolate chips...