Ask the Author: Tom Bentley
Answered Questions (10)
Tom Bentley
I would go to the world of Harold and the Purple Crayon, source of much wonder and amusement when I was a kid. I'd borrow Harold's crayon, and draw myself into impossible, scary and splendid situations, and, barely hanging on, draw myself out. (Check out any of the wonderfully imaginative Harold books to see what I mean.)
Then I'd draw myself a comfy lounge chair on a tropical beach setting, order the best of umbrella drinks, and settle in...
Then I'd draw myself a comfy lounge chair on a tropical beach setting, order the best of umbrella drinks, and settle in...
Tom Bentley
For the third time that day, I turned around to her whisper, "Keep going, keep going," but again, nothing there.
But when I hit that hard curve off that cliff on Canyon Drive, and I heard it again, "Keep going, keep going," I did—and there was nothing there, nothing.
But when I hit that hard curve off that cliff on Canyon Drive, and I heard it again, "Keep going, keep going," I did—and there was nothing there, nothing.
Tom Bentley
I have heard such great things about Mohsin Hamid's "Exit West" that it's at the top of my list. After having laughed aloud many times at Maria Semple's "Where'd You Go Bernadette," I much want to read her latest "Today Will Be Different." And I'm always trying to get to classics I haven't read yet, and Toni Morrison's "Beloved" is high on the charts.
Otherwise, I'll be trying to get to books I own but haven't read yet (some of them on a tablet), including some mysteries and books on marketing books, since I'm working on self-publishing a couple of novels.
Otherwise, I'll be trying to get to books I own but haven't read yet (some of them on a tablet), including some mysteries and books on marketing books, since I'm working on self-publishing a couple of novels.
Tom Bentley
I'd like to build a book around how blind faith and optimism go on their blithe, merry way in the face of harsh facts. I'd work that theme around the mystery of why I've bought so many vintage cars, drained my bank account fixing them (since I use wrenches only for paperweights), vowed to never again buy one, and at some point later, bought another.
Of course, the buying, agonizing over and selling of vintage cars isn't really a book. I'd have to create a character who is a deep believer in something that raises his/her pulse, but that doesn't serve their life in a sustaining way, but that they can't stop returning to, over and over again. The consequences would have to be more intriguing than the mere loss of money. There has to be some cost to the soul. (Oh wait, am I revealing too much about my personal life?)
Of course, the buying, agonizing over and selling of vintage cars isn't really a book. I'd have to create a character who is a deep believer in something that raises his/her pulse, but that doesn't serve their life in a sustaining way, but that they can't stop returning to, over and over again. The consequences would have to be more intriguing than the mere loss of money. There has to be some cost to the soul. (Oh wait, am I revealing too much about my personal life?)
Tom Bentley
Because I write for a living as well as for pleasure, I don't get writer's block. That said, I do have periods where I don't produce much fiction, but it's less of a block than continuing to let ideas percolate. I'm lucky in that I write travel pieces, personal essays and business pieces, so the variety both keeps me in writerly shape, and doesn't allow for the luxury of having writer's block. Deadlines can be bracing.
Tom Bentley
Clearly, the gold jewelry and the sports cars that adoring fans regularly send me. (But they must have misplaced my address.) For me the best thing is that writers get to work with their imaginations, and that work can take them to unusual and stimulating (and sometimes anxiety-producing) places.
The creative act is a holy thing: to make characters, scenes, situations out of your musings. After having stolen thousands of ideas from other writers and people, of course.
Another good thing about being a writer is that my typing has improved.
The creative act is a holy thing: to make characters, scenes, situations out of your musings. After having stolen thousands of ideas from other writers and people, of course.
Another good thing about being a writer is that my typing has improved.
Tom Bentley
Read broadly, read deeply (but don't leave reading for pleasure behind). Read different in different genres, and not just read literary novels if you're a mystery reader, but read poetry, plays, blogs, and magazines too.
Try to figure out—without destroying your pleasure in the reading—what the author was up to by describing a scene a certain way, a character's behavior, his or her choice of words, transitions between scenes, things left out, things emphasized. There's so much to learn.
Travel! See how people act, work, eat, play in different countries. Get out of your comfort zone sometimes—don't let fear of the new keep you from the new. Some landscapes are novels in and of themselves.
Appreciate the miracles of language. Cultivate an ear for how people talk, how they string sentences together, how emotion is conveyed in language or hidden by language. Words have such stirring power and can have such subtlety in their application, or such brute force. Look and listen for the power of words.
Try to figure out—without destroying your pleasure in the reading—what the author was up to by describing a scene a certain way, a character's behavior, his or her choice of words, transitions between scenes, things left out, things emphasized. There's so much to learn.
Travel! See how people act, work, eat, play in different countries. Get out of your comfort zone sometimes—don't let fear of the new keep you from the new. Some landscapes are novels in and of themselves.
Appreciate the miracles of language. Cultivate an ear for how people talk, how they string sentences together, how emotion is conveyed in language or hidden by language. Words have such stirring power and can have such subtlety in their application, or such brute force. Look and listen for the power of words.
Tom Bentley
I'm outlining a memoir about my years of high school shoplifting, where I essentially ran a small business selling shoplifted records, tape players and pints of bad booze. The book will look at my motivations, training procedures (yes, I had them), near police apprehensions (with dramatic scenes), apprehensions—both moral and judiciary—school repercussions and longer-term consequences.
Why would a nice boy from the suburbs raised in a home with traditional values be a serious shoplifter? Why, you'll have to read the book!
Why would a nice boy from the suburbs raised in a home with traditional values be a serious shoplifter? Why, you'll have to read the book!
Tom Bentley
Because I write for a living (travel writer, business copywriter, editor), I can't really loll about the house with tea and crumpets and wait for gossamer inspiration to tickle my cheek. I love to work with words, whether for sordid coin or the clap of thunder that occurs when a fine sentence is rendered. I'm grateful for the writing life I have.
Usually, when I have to write, I write, though I can dither about some picking up carpet nits before that first paragraph gets written. For fiction, there is more mulling and dithering, because the demands of good fiction are deep. But inspiration—good ideas—is everywhere. Turning the inspiration into achievement is another matter.
Usually, when I have to write, I write, though I can dither about some picking up carpet nits before that first paragraph gets written. For fiction, there is more mulling and dithering, because the demands of good fiction are deep. But inspiration—good ideas—is everywhere. Turning the inspiration into achievement is another matter.
Tom Bentley
The book, a collaborative novel, came about in the most random way: my co-author, a dentist, got an email with the line from a patient that had this phrase: "swirled all the way to the shrub." She was talking about an icicle.
Rick, my dentist friend sent it to me saying, "Tom, this is the greatest title for a book." Improbable as it sounds, I wrote the first chapter, making The Shrub a rough reporter's bar in Boston right on the eve of The Crash.
The lead character, Pinky DeVroom, is a society columnist who dislikes his work, but is about to have a novel he's written accepted by a publisher. He's about to meet his agent, the comely Elfred Norcross, for the first time. That's all I'll say about the book here, other than give you its logline:
Sozzled society reporter and would-be author blunders in and out of love, lunacy and sorrow in Great Depression Boston.
Oh my, it does turn into a saga.
Rick, my dentist friend sent it to me saying, "Tom, this is the greatest title for a book." Improbable as it sounds, I wrote the first chapter, making The Shrub a rough reporter's bar in Boston right on the eve of The Crash.
The lead character, Pinky DeVroom, is a society columnist who dislikes his work, but is about to have a novel he's written accepted by a publisher. He's about to meet his agent, the comely Elfred Norcross, for the first time. That's all I'll say about the book here, other than give you its logline:
Sozzled society reporter and would-be author blunders in and out of love, lunacy and sorrow in Great Depression Boston.
Oh my, it does turn into a saga.
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