Vali Benson's Blog

Proud to announce that "Blood and Silver" by Vali Benson won 1st Place at the 2022 International Book Awards !!!

"Blood and Silver" took home top honors in the Novella category.


Blood and Silver

Vali Benson

"Blood and Silver" by Vali Benson has Won 1st Prize at the 2021 Arizona Literary Awards !

Proud to announce that "Blood and Silver" by Vali Benson has just been named a GOLD WINNER at the 2021 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards !!!

"Blood and Silver" was named GOLD WINNER in the Best First Book category.

Blood and Silver

Vali Benson

I am proud to announce that "Blood and Silver" by Vali Benson has just been named a Winner at the 2021 Paris Book Festival !!!

"Blood and Silver" took home top honors in the Young Adult category.

This award adds to wins in both the 2021 San Francisco Book Festival and 2021 New York Book Festival for "Blood and Silver".

Blood and Silver

Vali Benson

I am proud to announce that "Blood and Silver" by Vali Benson has been named a WINNER at the 2021 American Fiction Awards !

"Blood and Silver" won in the Novella category and was named Finalist in the Historical Fiction category.

Blood and Silver

Vali Benson

https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Silver-V...

I am proud to announce that my book, "Blood and Silver", has just been named a Winner at the 2021 New York Book Festival !!!

"Blood and Silver" took home top honors in the Young Adult category.


In June 2021, "Blood and Silver" was named a two-time Winner at the San Francisco Book Festival (History and Young Adult categories)!

Blood and Silver

Vali Benson

I am proud to announce that my book, "Blood and Silver", has just been named a two-time Winner at the San Francisco Book Festival !!!

"Blood and Silver" took home the winning honors in the History and Young Adult categories.

Blood and Silver

Proud to announce that my first novel, "Blood and Silver", has been named a finalist in the 2020 Chanticleer International Book Awards!!!

Question: There are so many “Old West” towns, why did you decide to pick Tombstone as the setting for your first novel, “Blood and Silver”?

Answer: Full disclosure – I live only forty five minutes away from Tombstone. It is a place that we visited many times; first with our two young boys (what little boy doesn’t like cowboys and shootouts!) Later when friends and family discovered how close we were, they insisted on a visit.
I’ve walked those original boardwalks and explored those old historic buildings many times. But I was frustrated that all anyone ever talked about was the Earps or the shootout at the O.K. Corral. I started thinking that there had to be a lot going on in Tombstone before one incident it is infamous for. So I started to dig…what I found was Blood and Silver.

Question: Do you ever get too close to your characters? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Answer: Every writer gets too close to their characters; there is no helping it (not for me anyway). We (writers) are our characters. We created them and they do and say what we want them to. If we were not close to our characters, there would be no story. I really don’t think being too close to your characters qualifies as a good or a bad thing; it is just the way it is.