When you leave a
comment on THIS post by 6 p.m. CT Sunday, March 24, 2013 you'll be entered in
the DRAWING for a copy of the book below. If you're the winner. If
you mention in your comment that you’re a follower (see in the left column
“Join This Site” and “Follow by Email”), I’ll add your name a second time in
the drawing. You must be eighteen, have a U.S. mailing address, void where
prohibited. You can read details
about my book giveaways at Disclaimers.
Our guest
today is award-winning author, Dianna T. Benson. Dianna will give away a copy
of her book, The Hidden Son, to the winner of our book drawing.
JO: Welcome, Dianna! Please tell us a little about yourself.
DIANNA: After majoring in communications and a ten-year career
as a travel agent, I left the travel industry to earn my EMS degree. An EMT and
a Haz-Mat and FEMA Operative since 2005, I love the adrenaline rush of
responding to medical emergencies and helping people in need. My suspense
novels about adventurous characters thrown into tremendous circumstances provide
readers with a similar kind of rush. I live in North Carolina with my husband
and our three athletic children.
I’m
a 2011 Genesis Winner, a 2011 Genesis double Semi-Finalist, a 2010 Daphne de
Maurier Finalist, and a 2007 Golden Palm Finalist. In 2012, I signed a
nine-book contract. My first book, The
Hidden Son, released March 1, 2013.
JO: What are some fun or unique things you can tell us about yourself that we don’t know?
DIANNA: I never read any of my high school
required books. None of them caught my interest at all, so I read the Cliff
notes and winged it. I didn’t read much as a child or a teen. I don’t even
remember reading an entire novel until my senior year in high school. My
freshman year in college, I found my love of reading suspense novels.
Starting
in February 2012, for thirteen weeks I had a pending contract offer from one of
the largest traditional print publishing houses. The entire editorial staff and
the entire leadership team loved my writing, but the leadership team decided
their suspense list is already too full. During this thirteen week time frame,
my agent and the senior acquisitions editor thought it was just a matter of
time before my contract finalized, so my agent understandably let go of all the
other interest in my writing. Soon after those thirteen weeks with that
publishing house, Ellechor Publishing House, a small traditional print house,
contacted me and asked me to submit my 2011 Genesis Winner, Illusion of Safety. Days after I did so,
they offered me a nine-book contract (three trilogies). After I lost the contract with the large
traditional print house and before Ellechor contacted me, I was accepted into
Penn State’s psychology program to earn my Master’s degree to become a social
worker (my body, especially my back, can’t lift patients too much longer). So,
I wondered if the publishing industry wasn’t God’s plan for me. But Ellechor
Publishing House reminded I need to spend most of my time writing for Him.
JO: Please describe yourself with three
words.
DIANNA: Diligent, compassionate, overachiever
JO: What do you enjoy doing when you’re
not writing?
DIANNA: I work part time as an EMT. I’m a
life-long athlete and an outdoor enthusiast. I love to spend time in God’s
nature doing anything active and adventurous. When I’m not writing or reading,
I’m climbing, running, skiing, camping, scuba diving, cycling or traveling the
world. If I’m not doing a sport myself, I’m watching my oldest daughter swim
for Virginia Tech, my son play goalie for the Jr. Hurricanes, or my youngest
daughter play soccer for her travel team.
Spending time with my family and friends is a joy to me, especially my
husband of twenty-three years.
JO: How did you become involved in
writing?
DIANNA: When I was in fifth grade, I realized I’m a writer. For those details,
read the On Writing page on my
website: www.diannatbenson.com
JO: Where do you write? Do you have a dedicated office
or a corner or nook in a room?
DIANNA: My office is our bonus room (the room over our
two-car garage). During the polishing
process, I definitely need all that space since I print the entire 400 page
novel out, read through every word, and make changes as necessary, so I have
paper all over the place.
JO: Do you always know the title of your books before
you write them?
DIANNA: The title just pops into my mind typically within
the first twenty pages of writing the first draft.
JO: Please tell us about The Hidden Son.
DIANNA: The first book in the Cayman Islands
Trilogy:
When U.S. DEA Special Agent Lelisa Desmond refuses to
follow an order to bury evidence in a high profile case, her superior hires a
hit man to kill her deep in the ocean off Grand Cayman Island. Lelisa survives
the first attempt on her life, but someone close to her is mistakenly murdered
in her place.
With no one to trust, Lelisa enlists Inspector Alec
Dyer for help but learns she's his number one suspect in the scuba diving
homicide. She sets off on a daring mission to bring down the man who ordered
her execution. A man in a high position, with power friends. A man who will
stop at nothing to silence her forever in order to hide his son’s crimes.
JO: What takeaway value do
you hope your readers receive after reading this book?
DIANNA: In The Hidden Son (and in
all my books), I want readers to be inspired by how my characters don’t try the
impossible: “Get over” the difficult stuff in life and move on; instead, they
accept the pain difficult events in their lives cause and they move forward
with a renewed sense of understanding in themselves, in life, and in God.
JO: Where did you get the
idea for your book?
DIANNA: I’ve been a scuba diver for nearly twenty-five years.
I think the Cayman Islands are one of the world’s best diving locations. Since
I’ve dove in Cayman countless times, the opening of The Hidden Son just popped into my head. I’m a pantser (not a
plotter); meaning I write by the seat of my pants, so I just allow my writer
brain free rein.
JO: Did you have to do any research for this book?
DIANNA: Since I’m an EMT and a haz-mat and FEMA Operative, my firsthand
emergency medical and rescue experience and knowledge is automatically in my
mind for me. However, for all those details I don’t know, to make things
outside my expertise authentic, I turn to my various professional experts:
Firefighters, law enforcers, attorneys, MDs, etc.
JO: How long have you been
writing? When did you sell your first book?
DIANNA: In
1993, I started writing my first suspense novel. After completing three novels,
I started querying agents in 2000; all of them requested a partial. After I
completed my fourth novel, I queried agents again, and this time all of them
requested a full after reading a partial.
After I
completed five novels, I signed with my agent in 2007. Six agents offered me
representation that spring; it was difficult to turn down the other five since
all of them are top-notch agents. In the fall of 2007, a film agent requested a
screenplay of The Hidden Son after
reading the book. Just days before I completed the script, I learned the film
agent suddenly and recently retired due to health issues. I never pursued
anything further with the script.
In 2009 I
received a four-book publishing contract, but soon after that my husband was
diagnosed with cancer, so I turned that contract down to focus on our young
family of five.
In 2012 I
signed a nine-book contract with Ellechor Publishing House, a small traditional
print publisher.
JO: What advice would you give to writers who have been
writing a few years but still haven’t interested an agent or publisher in their
novel?
DIANNA:
If you want to be a published author,
don’t listen to anyone say your writing isn’t good enough. Even if you’ve spent
years submitting with no offers of agent representation and no publishing
contract offers, don’t ever give-up. Keep writing. Keep submitting. Always
believe in yourself as a writer. Above all, if you love to write, then never
stop writing. God gave you a passion to write, so spend time on your passion
and enjoy yourself, even if your writing is for your eyes only (plus a few
select others).
JO: What
are you working on now?
DIANNA: The second book in the Cayman Islands
Trilogy:
Persephone's Fugitive
Paramedic Reyanne Cooper finds herself under gunpoint
by her patient, Jason Keegan, an injured prison inmate. A standoff
ensues between Keegan and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.
As his hostage, Reyanne fights to save herself before
Keegan blows them both up, a threat he made to the Cayman police since
he'd rather die than live life in a prison cell. However, he's determined
to escape Grand Cayman and disappear forever off radar.
JO: What advice would you give to writers just starting out?
DIANNA:
Read a ton of books in the genre you
want to write. Watch a bunch of movies in the genre you want to write. Watch TV
shows with strong characterization. Watch not good TV shows and not good movies
on what not to do as a writer. Write, write, write. Read, read, read. Revise,
revise, revise. Don’t focus on the writing
“rules” you hear about, and ignore any negativity about the publishing
industry. Just write from your heart, and God will lead you on the correct path
for you and your writing. Every person is different; every writer is different.
Find your way. Don’t listen to anyone
say your writing isn’t good enough.
JO: Please tell our readers where they can get your
book.
DIANNA:
The Hidden Son is available:
JO: Please tell our readers where they can find you
online.
Thanks for hosting me, Jo!
Dianna
JO:
Thank you for the interesting
interview. Dianna will give away a copy of The Hidden Son to the winner of the book drawing Sunday
evening.
Remember: leave a comment on THIS post by 6 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 24, 2013 and you'll be entered in the drawing for a copy of The Hidden Son by Dianna T. Benson. You must be eighteen,
have a U.S. mailing address, void where prohibited. Please, please remember
to leave your
email address so
that should you be the winner I can get in
touch with you for your mailing address. I’ll announce the winner in Monday’s
blog.
Don't forget to check into my Monday blogs where I have interviews with characters of my novel, That Summer. When you leave a comment on my Monday blog that is specifically about the interview, I'll give you an extra entry when you comment on Thursday's blog.
Till next time ... keep on smiling.