My guest author today is James DiBenedetto, author of Dream Student. Want to learn more about him? Keep on reading.
1. What inspired you to write your first book?
DREAM STUDENT came from asking a simple
question. Why, in most mystery stories,
do average people try to solve a crime or catch a killer themselves, when most
normal people would do the sane thing and just call the police?
2. Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
3. What book are you reading now?
I’m finishing my yearly re-read of my favorite novel ever, “Winter’s Tale” by Mark Helprin.
4. What are your current projects?
I’m working on the latest book in the Dream Series. This is the ninth book, and it’s called SHATTERED DREAM. I hope to have it released by the end of April.
5. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
Absolutely. Every time I read my work over, I see things I would change. But I think every author feels that way. Leonardo Da Vinci said it best – “art is never finished, only abandoned.”
6. Who designed the covers?
The original covers for my first six books were hand-painted by a local artist who also was the head graphic designer at my old employer, Ami Low. She did a fantastic job, and gave me exactly what I wanted. But unfortunately, what I wanted was not what readers in my genre were looking for. So I had to change the covers, and the new covers were designed by Emma Michaels (http://www.emmamichaels.com), who’s also done an amazing job.
7. While you were writing, did you ever feel as if you were one of the characters?
Not exactly. What I feel like, sometimes, is that the characters are actual people, and I’m only passing on the stories that I’ve heard from them, rather than creating them myself.
1. What inspired you to write your first book?
DREAM STUDENT came from asking a simple
question. Why, in most mystery stories,
do average people try to solve a crime or catch a killer themselves, when most
normal people would do the sane thing and just call the police?
I tried to come up with an answer, and what I
thought of was: maybe they wouldn’t go to the police if the only evidence was in
their heads. If they saw the crime
through the eyes of the killer, and that was the only proof they had. If they saw it in the dreams of the killer. So there was the idea: if you could see
someone else’s dreams, and that person was committing crimes, what could you do
about it? You’d have no physical proof,
the police would never believe you.
You’d have to start investigating yourself, if you wanted to stop them.
Sara, the main character of DREAM STUDENT, came into
being along with that idea, and so did the college setting of the book.
The actual story of DREAM STUDENT (and the rest of
the Dream Series) is not based on real people or events, but the background
settings and some of the minor characters definitely are. In DREAM STUDENT, Sara attends a (very
thinly) fictionalized version of my college; the apartment building she lives
in in book four, DREAM FAMILY, is basically the building I lived in when I
moved down to Washington, DC, and so forth.
3. What book are you reading now?
I’m finishing my yearly re-read of my favorite novel ever, “Winter’s Tale” by Mark Helprin.
4. What are your current projects?
I’m working on the latest book in the Dream Series. This is the ninth book, and it’s called SHATTERED DREAM. I hope to have it released by the end of April.
5. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
Absolutely. Every time I read my work over, I see things I would change. But I think every author feels that way. Leonardo Da Vinci said it best – “art is never finished, only abandoned.”
6. Who designed the covers?
The original covers for my first six books were hand-painted by a local artist who also was the head graphic designer at my old employer, Ami Low. She did a fantastic job, and gave me exactly what I wanted. But unfortunately, what I wanted was not what readers in my genre were looking for. So I had to change the covers, and the new covers were designed by Emma Michaels (http://www.emmamichaels.com), who’s also done an amazing job.
7. While you were writing, did you ever feel as if you were one of the characters?
Not exactly. What I feel like, sometimes, is that the characters are actual people, and I’m only passing on the stories that I’ve heard from them, rather than creating them myself.
You can visit James at:
http://www.writingdreams.net (website & blog)
http://viewauthor.at/JJDiBenedetto (Amazon Author Page)
https://twitter.com/jjdibenedetto (Twitter)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dream-Series/107699179403603 (Facebook)
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