BOOK PARADE - James DiBenedetto

Soft Parade

MONDAY MARCHES ON

The Ancient City Poets / Poet Plant Press blog is participating in the The Indie Lights Book Parade. For the entire month of February, different authors and artists will be parading past our viewing stand. It has been said that Monday is just a reminder that the weekend has past and there are only a few more days before another weekend gets here. This Monday is some thing special because James DiBenedetto is here. James is best know for his "Dream Series" books.


Ancient City Poets: What inspired you to write your first book? 

James DiBenedetto: 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.

Ancient City Poets: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life? 

James DiBenedetto: 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.

Ancient City Poets: What are your current projects? 

James DiBenedetto: 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.

Ancient City Poets: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

James DiBenedetto:  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.”

Ancient City Poets: Who designed the covers? 

James DiBenedetto: 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.

Ancient City Poets: 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.


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Info on James DiBenedetto

Links:

Website & Blog: http://www.writingdreams.net 
Amazon Author Page: http://viewauthor.at/JJDiBenedetto
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjdibenedetto
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dream-Series/107699179403603 

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Many thanks to James DiBenedetto for taking the time to stop by during the Indie Lights Book Parade. Who will stop by next? Check in tomorrow, February 10th, and find out who parades by.

Thank you for all your support,

With Respect,

Chris Bodor
Ancient City Poets / Poet Plant Press

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