Larry Benjamin. Wordsmith. Writer. Author.

I write fiction—there’s a reason for that. I find real life, well, boring. It was for that reason I never had an interest in journalism—reporting facts and on real life? No thanks. I’m beginning to have a change of heart though—not that I’m going to start reading nonfiction or become a newspaper reporter. No, no. Somehow last fall I got talked into joining our neighborhood community council. The experience has been...eye opening, and far from boring. First a little background on our Philadelphia neighborhood. It’s a former mill town, started, and stopped, by the river from which it takes its fantastical and picturesque name: Falls of Schuylkill. Sadly, since the late 1800s, it’s been known as East Falls. The new name is perfectly fine, I suppose but, I don’t know…it lacks the musicality, the romance of the original.  Anyway, it’s a diverse neighborhood, in a city of neighborhoods, each with its own distinct personality. Here there are row houses , (which define the vernacul...

This week, I'm catching up with author, Ismael Manzano, whose debut novel,  Soulless, will be released on March 8, 2016 by Fantasy Works Publishing. Ismael and I first met when I was asked to interview him for the Bronx Chronicle (You can read that interview here ) I was so impressed with him and so intrigued with the premise  of Soulless that I invited him to talk to me for this blog, an invitation he graciously accepted. Hi Ismael. Thanks so much for agreeing to chat with me again. Why don’t we begin with you telling us a little about yourself. I’m a husband to a fellow writer and a father to a hyper little boy, and I’ve aspired to publish my own work since as far back as I can remember, only finding success last year. I understand your wife is an editor and also a writer. What’s that like—living with being intimately involved with another writer? It’s been wonderful. Before I met her, I was the only person I knew who was interested in writing, so whenever...