Larry Benjamin. Wordsmith. Writer. Author.

Like many people who work, I have a commute, an unpleasant, unpredictable commute. Some days it’s 22 minutes, others it’s 90. Music gets me through. The radio, more accurately the music—I hate people talking on the radio – blasting through the 10 speakers in my car is my salvation. Let me clarify, not just music but the lyrics married to the music is my salvation. Words are my freedom and my salvation. I hate music without words, but I hear music in words. If you’ve read my books, or follow my blog, you will know, for me, words are the thing. If I was at all musical, I’d have been a songwriter instead of just a writer. Thus, I love songs that tell a story, that paint a picture. Painting a picture with words is what I do—try to do. I particularly love songs that tell a story. I started out writing short stories so I understand the challenge of telling a story, creating characters and setting a tale in context economically. Neither of my books is very long, and my next release, a ...

Today, I’ve managed to coax my friend and fellow author, Andrew Q. Gordon , to stop by again and do a quick Q&A about the writerly life, and his new book, The Eye & the Arm, which was released on April 14. So Book Two, how does, The Eye & the Arm relate to Book One, The Last Grand Master ? Book Two is part of a series of five. Unlike “related” books in a series, this is a true sequel. You need to read The Last Grand Master to understand The Eye and the Arm. Think of it like The Lord of the Rings or Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy—you need to read the books in sequential order in order to understand them. Tell us something interesting that's not in the blurb? I've kept a lot out of the blurb so there's a lot to choose from. Farrell is going to meet a race of being that the world either never met or forgot about millennium ago. I don't want to say too much, as I don't want to give much away, but they are not the 'normal' creatu...