Larry Benjamin. Wordsmith. Writer. Author.

An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmaster of ever afterwards.  — F. Scott Fitzgerald I, like most writers with a modicum of self-control and a soupcon of good sense, don’t comment on reviews. But I do read each and every one. Mostly out of curiosity. I’m genuinely curious about what readers think of my work, of the stories I chose to tell, of the words I choose to tell them with—and yes, I realize that can be two very different things. I realize reviewers write not for writers but for other readers to either steer them to books they liked or away from others that somehow disappointed them. I don’t read reviews to learn what readers want—I decided long ago when I started writing seriously that I wasn’t writing to market but rather writing the stories that burned in me and let the market find me. Perhaps a stupid approach—certainly not a lucrative one, but one that allows me to feel good about my work. And ...

Don’t judge a book by its cover. We’ve had that drilled into us—at least my generation did, and, to a large extent, we believed it—I believed and I still do. At least as far as people go. And dogs—you ever meet a dog who looks mean and you want to step back but then he approaches you gently and licks your hand? Anyway, never judge a book by its cover, unless of course, it is a book . I’ve been thinking about covers a lot lately. It started when we released Vampire Rising , my allegorical Vampire novella. It pays homage to Bram Stoker’s Dracula while reinventing the Vampire genre. In the story I tell there were certain elements that helped tell the story—mockingbirds who appear wherever Vampires gather, the iron gates that demarcates the separation between the Vampire state and the human world. And the story is described in grays and purples. So I wanted to include all of those elements that in the cover. The Original Cover When my publisher notified me that they wou...

"Guerrilla filmmaking is driven by passion with whatever means at hand." — Mark Hill, Yukon Film Commission Manager   When we released my allegorical Vampire novella, Vampire Rising , in July, I quickly realized I wanted to create a book trailer for it. To make a book trailer I knew I had to meet a new challenge—I’d already told the story—but for the video I needed to retell it. Visually. This was the challenge. I am a story teller: in my day job I tell stories; if you’ve ever met me in person and spoken to me you will, no doubt, remember I am prone to telling stories; as a writer, I tell stories. But for my writing life, I focus on the words—the words for me are as important as the story itself. I want to use the right words, to define a mood, to capture the rhythms I hear it in my head. Having written four books, I’m fairly confident in my voice but I knew I’d have to rely on images and actions, rather than words, to tell the story. The story’s main premises are si...

This week I’m chatting with the remarkable Mark William Lindberg, a queer author, artist, performer, and educator, whose new novella, Queer on a Bench just came out. Let’s just dive write in, shall we?   As a writer, I am always interested in other writers' writing process and what inspires them, so can you talk a little about what inspires your stories and what your writing process is like? I'm really interested in form, so a lot of the time—certainly with my two books so far—I'll start with a what-if question. 81 Nightmares came from asking myself, "What if all you had was one character's dreams? What if that was the whole story? What could you learn about that person? What would you think you knew about them? Is it possible to tell a complete story that lives only in a character's dream life?" My new book, Queer on a Bench , began with the question, "What if the whole story has to happen between the time a character sits down on a bench an...

Today is the day. We've released the cover and first excerpt for my novella, Vampire Rising. There’s also a giveaway of all three books from my backlist. You can check it out at the blogs listed below. Vampire Rising will officially release on July 19, 2015 but if you pre-order now, you can get it for just 1.97 USD (eBook only). The paperback is 7.91 USD. Combined buy links | Amazon Beaten Track Publishing (eBook) Beaten Track Publishing (paperback) Visit these blog stops for details and to see the cover.   Parker Williams Multitasking Mommas Divine Magazine Bayou Book Junkie Andrew Q. Gordon Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words Inked Rainbow Reads TTC Books and More Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents Rainbow Gold Reviews MM Good Book Reviews Molly Lolly Happily Ever Chapter My Fiction Nook BFD Book Blog Mikky's World of Books Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance Havan Fellows Vampires, Werewolves, and Fairies, Oh My Hear...

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 ...

Nearly three years after first being published, and having published three books, I think the biggest lesson I learned—and perhaps the hardest to learn—was the fact that as a writer you don’t own the reader’s experience. Each reader experiences the book differently; they are free to interpret it how they want relative to their own experiences. Some will love it, so will hate it, others will have a reaction of “meh.” I read most reviews, and I admit I take them to heart. I won’t say they influence my future writing, but I do read them, mostly because I’m interested in what readers think of my work. Once in awhile, I’ll read a review and realize the reader really got my story. That happened the other day. I got a Goggle Alert for What Binds Us , my first book. It was a review by someone named Richard Green on a site I was unfamiliar with. (I should point out it appears to be a pirate site of some kind, offering PDFs of books, immorally if not illegally; but that is a whole other...

It’s Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving! Now, I know Thanksgiving can be difficult for a lot of people especially if you’re LGBT. If Great Aunt Gertie doesn’t want to hear about your “lifestyle,” fuck her. After all, you -didn’t want to hear about her bunion surgery or her 1947 hysterectomy that caused her to lose all her hair, but you listen with your rictus smile and glazed over yes nodding politely. Mon doesn’t want your boyfriend at her Thanksgiving table well stay home. Make your own turkey for you and him—it’s not that hard. And while you’re at it why not invite the intern from work who can’t afford to go home for Thanksgiving. And the older divorced woman down the hall who is so pleasant. Thanksgiving is about family but it doesn’t have to be the family you were born into or which you married into. Family is composed of the people it is not painful to be around. Family is made up of the people who support you. Who love you enough to let you be you .   I’m off to brin...