Field Recordings welcomes J_J_DiBenedetto to the internet wilds of the Eastern Shore. A Virginia resident, and author of the Dream Series, and fan of Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale (which is required reading in my house). This is the first of many author spotlights to open up a dialogue about the writing process, writing and publishing in general, and the influences that make writers tick. All are welcome. Please be kind if you comment.
The book trailer for his first novel is below the interview, along with blurbs of his books. Links are peppered throughout the interview, but the majority of them are below the Q&A.
Note: Speculative fiction is the genre I pegged on DiBenedetto, it is the broadest umbrella term for work that engages the speculative: the what if?
Also of note, DiBenedetto revises in a similar way as the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who enjoyed writing in his shed, working on a line until it was done, often three or four drafts of a poem, needling the line until it fit.
Pen Name:J.J. DiBenedetto
Most recent title published:”Waking Dream” (book #5 in the Dream Series)
Where do you write? At my computer, in my bedroom. But I’m thinking about the books all the time and noodling away with new ideas. My characters are having conversations in my head when I’m on the subway or walking to work, etc.
What are your rituals with regards to writing (ex: Must have tea, a cat on the lap, etc) I put on music, that’s the main thing. Always opera or classical, and always something familiar. I don’t want something that’s new and could be distracting to take me out of my writing.
Describe your writing process: Usually I just start writing with only a vague sense of where the story needs to end up (for Dream Student, there was the initial idea: what if you could see other people’s dreams…and that quickly led to seeing crimes committed in those dreams, so that you’re the only witness and you’ve got nothing to go to the police with, so you have to investigate yourself). I begin with something “everyday” that my main character would be doing, and then weave the main plot into that. “Dream Child” begins with Sara heading to a medical conference, an ordinary part of her job as a physician. Her supernatural dreams quickly intrude (and her daughter turns out to be able to see them, too) and that sets off the main story.
I don’t outline in detail; usually it’s enough to have a general idea of what the ending will be, and the important things that need to happen on the way there. I’m usually surprised by at least one or two subplots in each of the books.
What do you when you begin to revise? What's the first thing you do during that process? I revise as I go. After I finish each chapter, I go back over it two or three times and then send it off to a good friend who’s a fellow writer and a critique partner. Every three or four chapters I go through everything again from the beginning. By the time I get to the end, I’ve been over the whole book several times already.
When revising, how many drafts do you go through before you feel comfortable with the final product? I’d say it works out to two or three drafts, by the time I’m finished.
Where does your inspiration come from (music, film, other books)? All of the above. The initial idea for the series was simply the idea of seeing other people’s dreams. And Sara’s world was basically my college, and my dorm (the first book is set at a very thinly-veiled version of my college, and it takes place in 1989-90, when I was there). So my personal life was partly an inspiration.
My personal beliefs are also a big inspiration for what happens in the books (particularly the last two books in the series).
Explain how your local and regional environment influences your writing, your process, and your product (in other words, how does your reality intersect with the worlds that you create?): My reality is a big part of my books – as I mentioned, the first book (and the second) are set at a fictionalized version of my college. The house Sara’s in-laws live in is modeled after my cousin’s house; her apartment when she moves to Washington, DC is in the same building I actually lived in for a year or two, and so forth. I borrow liberally from my real life to fill out Sara’s world.
You have to invite three authors to dinner, who are they? Why?
Stephen R. Donaldson, because he’s one of my favorite writers ever. Mark Helprin because he wrote hands down the best novel I’ve ever read, “Winter’s Tale.” And Brian Herbert, because I want to ask him if the awful “Dune” prequels he wrote were really based on his father’s work like he publicly swears, while looking him in the eye to see if he’s lying about that or not.
Favorite title (you wish you had come up with): “The Touch of Your Shadow, The Whisper of Your Name” (sadly, the book didn’t remotely live up to the cool title!)
Line you wish you wrote: Basically every other line in “Winter’s Tale”. How about “what the hell. It’s the quick turns that mean you’re alive.”
Book you did not read in high school but now have read and have an appreciation for: And why: C.S. Lewis’ Narnia (not exactly a high school book, but it’s the closest answer I’ve got to the question). There’s so much truth – and beautiful writing – there, it was a shame to have skipped it for so long.
Favorite words: Beauty, love, smile (see a theme there?)
Least favorite words: Most curses (f**k, sh*t, etc.) They’re really ugly words. I use them VERY sparingly, when they really fit what’s going on, but I don’t really like to.
Advice you would like to pass on to other writers: Be patient, and remember that the work doesn’t end when the book is done – it’s just beginning!
What you would discuss with your pet if your pet could talk: Funny you should ask that. I and my wife already have full conversations with our cat and imagine what her answers might be. I would definitely ask her why she likes to sit in the dirty clothes hamper or the dusty back of the closet instead of the nice, soft, expensive cat bed we bought for her, though!
Biography:
J.J. (James) DiBenedetto was born in Yonkers, New York. He attended Case Western Reserve University, where as his classmates can attest, he was a complete nerd. Very little has changed since then.
He currently lives in Arlington, Virginia with his beautiful wife and their cat (who has thoroughly trained them both). When he's not writing, James works in the direct marketing field, enjoys the opera, photography and the New York Giants, among other interests.
The "Dreams" series is James' first published work. You can find him on smashwords. His personal website is here. You can also get a sample of the audiobook here.
His Amazon page is here.
You can also find him on ebook on fire, a website for independent authors.
Blurbs provided by the author, or author's agent.
Blurbs:
Dream Student
What would you do if you could see other people’s dreams? If you could watch their hidden fantasies and uncover their deepest, darkest secrets…without them ever knowing?
Sara Barnes is about to find out. She thought that all she had to worry about was final exams, Christmas shopping and deciding whether she likes the cute freshman in the next dorm who’s got a crush on her.
But when she starts seeing dreams that aren’t hers, she learns more than she ever wanted to know about her friends, her classmates…and a strange, terrifying man whose dreams could get Sara killed.
“Dream Student” is the thrilling first installment of the Dreams series.
***
Dream Doctor
“I didn’t expect to be woken up by someone I don’t know dreaming about killing somebody. I thought I was done with that once and for all…”
But Sara’s not done with it. As if adjusting to life as a newlywed and starting medical school weren’t difficult enough, she’s started seeing the dreams of everyone around her, again. Before everything is said and done, those dreams might destroy Sara’s hopes of becoming a doctor, wreck her marriage and even end her life…
“Dream Doctor” is the thrilling second novel in the Dreams series.
***
Dream Child
"I would give anything to take this away from her. I would gladly go back to having the nightmares myself – the very worst ones, the ones that had me waking up screaming in a pool of my own vomit – rather than see Lizzie go through this..."
As a resident at Children's Hospital, Sara can handle ninety hour workweeks, fighting to save her young patients from deadly childhood diseases. But she's about to be faced with a challenge that all her training and experience haven't prepared her for: her four-year-old daughter has inherited her ability to see other people's dreams...
"Dream Child" is the suspenseful third novel in the "Dreams" series.
***
Dream Family
"Why is this so hard for me? Why am I having so much trouble? Why do I feel so helpless, so hopeless? What the hell is wrong with me?"
After tangling with murders and mobsters, not to mention medical school and three years of residency, Sara thought she could handle anything. And then the police show up without warning at her new office and arrest her for a crime she can't possibly have committed. Sara's confidence, and her grip on reality, is shattered during one terrifying night in jail.
Now, the very dreams that have endangered her life and driven her to the edge of madness may be the only thing that can help Sara find herself again...
"Dream Family" is the powerful fourth novel in the "Dreams" series.
***
Waking Dream
“Oh, God! We can hurt each other. Whatever we do to each other in the dream, we’ll do it to ourselves for real…”
When her own dreams are visited by a mysterious woman in a red dress, Sara realizes she has something she never expected: a counterpart, someone outside her family who shares her talent to see other people’s dreams.
When the woman in red keeps showing up in other dreams as well, leaving ruined lives in her wake, Sara knows she has something she never imagined: a nemesis.
Now, Sara must track the woman in red down in the waking world, before she’s forced to fight for her life in her dreams…
“Waking Dream” is the exciting fifth novel in the “Dreams” series.
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