A Wicked Kind Of Dark – Page 2

Phone tapping, billionaires, Doctor Who and a smirk

Is there a difference between tapping the phone of a democratically elected president and tapping the phone of a celebrity, or murder victim? Employees of Rupert Murdoch are facing jail sentences for their roles in the News of the World phone tapping scandals. Should governments face the same repercussions? Probably not. I don’t know international law well enough to comment on government-sanctioned spying. It’s just sad that we live in a world where people feel the need to spy at all. I’m innocent, and yet I’ll be listening for that tell-tale click on the phone next time I’m ranting about politics to my family or friends. If I look out the window and see a man in a yellow hard-hat tinkering with the telephone exchange … I’ll hang up and wait for the men in black suits.

Bill and Melinda Gates: thank goodness for these two. They make being billionaires ‘cool’. I’m a big fan of Sir Richard Branson too. His biography is inspiring. Gina Rinehart, who inherited her millions, evokes a different set of feelings. ‘If you’re jealous of those with money,’ Gina wrote, ‘don’t just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself – spend less time drinking or smoking and socialising, and more time working.’

A thoughtful billionaire would never use the world ‘jealous’ in this context, or risk sounding like Smaug the dragon.

Clive Palmer: if you build it, they will come. I like this guy. He builds dinosaur theme parks and Titanics. He’s also a conspiracy theorist. Colourful Clive. Good on ya, mate!

All this talk of billionaires, and I’ve forgotten to get my lotto ticket …

Doctor Who. This morning I watched the 50^th Anniversary addition of this brilliant British series. Doctor Who proves that amazing special effects are no match for great scripting and excellent acting. Despite not having a Hollywood budget, this BBC sci-fi series kicks butt. Long live the Doctor!

I tuned into the Bolt Report for the first time this morning. What a wonderful smirk Andrew Bolt has. It never left his face. Is it permanent? Is he Channel Ten’s answer to The Joker?

Jonathan K Benton

Movie Review – Pan's Labyrinth.

There’s a reason I don’t review books/movies that I believe possess no redeeming qualities: I’m an author, and I don’t have time to write a review about something that doesn’t inspire me. There are not enough hours in the week to waste precious keyboard time on something I didn’t enjoy. I likely never finished the novel or movie anyway, which rarely happens because I choose my passions carefully. As an author, if I’ve got nothing nice to say about someone else’s art, it’s better left unsaid. My dad once told me never to throw stones in glass houses. It’s great advice. If I review something on this blog, I think it’s worth the effort.

I’m starting with one of the best. It’s a movie. Check out how I categorise movies here.

Pan’s Labyrinth.

This dark fantasy is not for the faint hearted. There is no creature on the silver screen more terrifying than the Pale Man, no human more selfishly evil than Vidal. Ofelia’s innocent beauty is pitted against an overwhelming evil … Picture a small but brilliant, white light shining in an endless darkness.

Everything works here. The haunting soundtrack, brilliant acting and excellent script. Even the special effects are carefully managed so as not to eclipse the beautiful fairy tale at the heart of this incredible movie.

Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth is an inspired piece of cinema. Definitely not for the faint hearted.

Ranking: Terrifying Movie.

Jonathan K Benton

If it was your wand, would you wave it?

Imagine a magic wand. It was yours alone to wave. One magnificent flourish would guarantee the same standard of shelter, education and health care to everyone on the planet – no exceptions. No more mansions, no more homeless. One size fits all. ‘Them’s the rules’.

Think carefully before you wave your wand. You’d be giving a drug-pedalling pimp a house and taking a castle from a philanthropist on the cusp of funding a cure for cancer. The reverse is equally true. Shelter would be provided to people living in third-world poverty, and mansions would be removed from greedy warlords who have profited on the misery of the innocent. There are billions of variables to this offer. Consider them all. You studied hard at school to buy a mansion with a pool. If you waved your wand, this dream could no longer be a reality. Houses would be the same, built for subsistence to accommodate a burgeoning population – lavish to the billions currently living in poverty, basic to the millions not.

For every argument there’s a counter argument. Surely the doctor working tirelessly to save lives is entitled to a bigger house than the lazy person unwilling to work at all. Surely a single parent working two jobs to make ends meet should go to bed knowing that their children have access to the same education and health care as the kids whose parents have inherited their wealth.

Waving your wand does not prevent tragedy, bullying, crime and bad choices. It does ensure every child has a chance to blossom inside the basics: shelter, education and health care.

Is the world beyond the wand even possible? Doctors, nurses, scientists, teachers and trades people – how would we show individuals like this that we value their contribution? Is our thanks enough? I don’t think so. Hard work and positive contributions to society have to be recognised and rewarded. If we don’t, their ranks would dwindle.

Waving the wand is a philosophical ideal. Economists would need to find a way to redistribute resources without society breaking down. Humanity would need to settle on a new form of reward that would keep people motivated. We are not yet capable of universal altruism. Perhaps we never will.

But I know this – the child you don’t know is just as precious as the child you do. If someone you loved was living on the street through no fault of their own; if this someone needed immediate health care; if you could not afford to help them … I bet you’d wave the wand.

I know I would.

Jonathan K Benton

Queensland’s largest newspaper The Courier-Mail reviews A Wicked Kind of Dark

I truly love it here in Queensland. The support given to me by the people of this justifiably proud and beautiful State has been overwhelming. Councillor for the Deagon Ward, the amazing Victoria Newton, read and recommended A Wicked Kind of Dark to the Brisbane City Council libraries. The sensational Jacqueline Husson from one of my favourite papers the Bayside and Northern Suburbs Star interviewed me, and now Queensland’s largest newspaper The Courier-Mail has run the following book review:

‘Brisbane writer Jonathan K Benton has created a parallel world of magic interwoven with reality in this dramatic debut tale of good and evil.

Young hero Robert Duncan refuses to believe in the supernatural until a chilling phone call from an unknown woman forces him to remember his past and his childhood sweetheart. Robert finds himself thrust into the dark, dangerous world of Minaea, where magic is everywhere and humans are forbidden. But a powerful demon threatens to overshadow the good of Minaea and, to save the world from darkness, Robert must find his lost friend Luthien before the next blood moon.

Dripping with descriptive language, A Wicked Kind of Dark is a sinister kind of fairy tale that grips readers from the first chapter. It is a climactic tale for teens that explores the limitless power of the imagination.’

A big thank you to The Courier-Mail

This link will take you to a smorgasbord of places where you can purchase A Wicked Kind of Dark.

And thank you, Queensland.

I love the Sunshine State

Jonathan K Benton

The Prologue for my next book and a Q and A with the main character – Jonathan K Benton

Prologue

So this is fear.

The man stood trembling on the edge of the plank as dark clouds tumbled towards the boat. The approaching storm sent cannonballs of wind to clear its path. Inside the storm, the ocean was black. Outside, it churned blue. The water was rising and the sky was falling. Something had to give.

Swells rolled towards the North Australian coast, trying to dislodge the man, who was naked apart from a pair of white boxers stained yellow with urine. He was also bald, with a chunky physique, and beady close-together eyes. Angry red welts criss-crossed his back, and burns blistered his cheeks like chicken pox. Desperate for fresh water, he licked his cracked lips, tasting salt mixed with blood

The man had not felt fear before. He had seen it in others – that silent scream trapped inside wide, white eyes. Sometimes, like steam whistling from a kettle, the scream escaped, and sometimes it hid itself in short, sharp breaths which mirrored the rapidly beating heart.

Fear made its own noise. Horror movies captured it perfectly: psychopaths plunging their knives in time to fear’s screech. Sitting in the comfort of the theatre, the man had thought that noise beautiful, but now he was the victim.

Fear screeched through his body as he overbalanced, falling heavily onto the plank. Scrabbling, he managed to cling to the wood. His willpower abandoned ship. The man closed his eyes, expecting to die.

Q & A

Jack is the main character in my next book. He’s agreed to an interview. I’ll be asking him questions at the end of some of my blogs. Part of Jack’s contract stipulates he cannot reveal specifics about himself and his past – it would ruin the story. Some people might say this interview is an exercise in dialogue. Others could suggest it’s a unique way to introduce readers to a character before he’s officially unveiled to the world.

Q: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today, Jack.

A: No worries.

Q: You’ve been through a lot.

A: Yeah, but I’m not the only one in this world with problems.

Q: Do you have any advice for people who’ve had similar experiences to you?

A: Just the usual things. You know – stay strong. Don’t give up. It’s all right to ask for help sometimes.

Q: Have you always followed this advice

A: Tried to, but it’s harder than you think – especially when a creature from another dimension wants to bite your head off.

Jonathan K. Benton

A Wicked Kind of Dark – Book signing – Angus and Robertson Post Office Square

Angus and Robertson are holding a book signing for A Wicked Kind of Dark at their Post Office Square store in Brisbane’s CBD on Thursday 19^th September. I’ll be there between 12 and 2.30 pm to sign copies.

I live in Brisbane so this will be the unofficial second launch. I won’t be making a speech but I’m happy to chat. I’d love to see you there.

Live long and prosper, may the force be with you AND

I’ll be back

Jonathan K Benton

Writing a speech – tips for a book launch.

I was going to write a detailed account of the book launch until I realised most of what I wanted to say I’d already said in my speech … So I’ll simply copy and paste my speech into this blog. Who knows – you might find some useful tips. An author mustn’t talk about their book much (during their own speech). That role is for the person launching your novel, in my case the brilliant Irina Dunn. I needed to talk about how I got there, to that moment, standing holding a copy of A Wicked Kind of Dark in front of family, friends and book-industry guests.

The jazz band introduced me to Star Wars’s Imperial March:

SPEECH

Being introduced to Darth Vader music was always a dream of mine. The other dream was to get published. That’s two boxes ticked today.

(Thank yous)

One of the first books I remember reading was a collection of illustrated nursery rhymes. I used to imagine I was part of the illustrated worlds written about in the book. Who Killed Cock Robin was the stand-out rhyme in this collection … ‘I said the sparrow with my bow and arrow, I killed cock robin’. That murderous little sparrow proudly declaring its guilt used to keep me up late at night. Even way back then, I marveled at the power of the written word … Even way back then I knew I wanted to write my own stories.

I was a better author when I was 14 than when I first started developing the craft. Whenever I wrote a story I either won a competition or got top marks. But as I stumbled through my teens I lost my writer’s voice. The car accident – such a huge part of my life. It still is – hardly a day goes by that I don’t wonder what Julie King would be doing now if she was alive.

All these experiences muted my expression. But it’s these same experiences that now fuel my creative engine room. They are what makes me want to, as Stephen King puts it in Lisey’s story: ‘Go out in my flimsy wooden boat and capture the big ones’. The big stories, the compelling tales from the pool of life.

I’ve lived in a quartet of countries, each one an essential part of my journey to publication.

In many ways Fiji saved me. I swear – if anyone is experiencing tough times I recommend they get on a plane to Nadi, find a reef, throw on some scuba and sink beneath the swells. The underwater world is easily as good as any of the great fantasy landscapes of literature. Being a PADI Divemaster, and looking after the people I used to take diving, centered me. It gave me a sense of responsibility that I don’t think I had until Fiji.

England. Rather than base myself in Earl’s Court with the other Kiwis and Aussies, I found a quiet little English village, and immersed myself in its culture for two years. How a small town could have 7 pubs I’ll never know – I was drinking back then though. Several pubs probably filed for bankruptcy once I left. New Zealand. Another beautiful country, and Australia, the place I now call home.

I arrived here in Australia, and with the help of a trilogy of wonderful mentors – Jan, Sean and Irina – I was able to reconnect with my author’s voice and re-learn the craft. A Wicked Kind of Dark is all about reconnecting too. Reconnecting with your inner child, reconnecting with the richness of that part of your imagination. We seem to have so much imagination when we’re young. I don’t believe we ever really lose it!

Young adults … What a wonderful market to write for. What an amazing, energizing and inspiring group of people. I believe they deserve books that have layers, thought-provoking books. I certainly enjoyed those kinds of books when I was a strapping young lad! Books like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and Something Wicked this Way Comes. AND I’m hoping A Wicked Kind of Dark. But writing is a balancing act. One of my mentors – Jan – once told me his thoughts on Moby Dick: what is the significance of the white whale; what are the deep underlying messages; how these questions have been discussed and debated in the ivory towers around the world. Jan then went on to say that Moby Dick wouldn’t be talked about at all without it first being a ripping good yarn. That is the kind of balance in their literature that I think young adults deserve.

The map makers got it wrong! – A Wicked Kind of Dark

Minaea is a difficult world to map – the constantly changing Outerlands need to be updated on a daily basis. They are as abstract and eclectic as the imagination itself. The more earthly familiar Corelands and Borderlands can be mapped; the issue lay in finding a cartographer capable of reaching inside his or her imagination deep enough to travel to Minaea and correctly interpret the geography.

The current map featured on www.jonathankbenton.com.au is based on word of mouth, therefore it isn’t reliable. Fae would get lost if they used it, and likely flattened by a stone giant or slurped up by a troll. I had to find a cartographer who understood the power of imagination, and the world in which it led too.

Josh Bracken travelled to Minaea, and was able to provide us with an accurate map of the Corelands and Borderlands. To map the Outerlands would have taken Josh an eternity – literally. But the map does indicate where the Outerlands can be found, and how to get there for those daring enough to explore infinity.

Josh’s magical map will be revealed shortly, together with some more exciting images of Minaea.

A thousand smiles

Jonathan Benton

A Wicked Kind of Dark – Cover Reveal

Here it is: the cover of my young adult fantasy novel A Wicked Kind of Dark.

Due to certain laws (and fair enough too), I’m not allowed to include Eminem’s Lose Yourself alongside this reveal, but feel free to play it. I’ve got the CD on repeat as I’m writing these words. Lose Yourself is one of my ‘go to’ songs …

Thank you Odyssey Books

Six quotes to help you get through the day – Jonathan K Benton

1) If you’re going through hell, keep going – Winston Churchill

Thank goodness for Winston. This quote has inspired me through some tough times.

2) I can resist everything but temptation – Oscar Wilde

I love this quote. I thank Oscar’s genius every time I reach into the freezer for some chocolate ice-cream or push the snooze button on the alarm clock.

3) Always forgive your enemies: nothing annoys them so much – Oscar Wilde

Smile at the nasty wretch trying to upset your day. Thanks again, Oscar.

4) If you can dream it, you can do it – Walt Disney

And why not too!

5) I love deadlines, I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by – Douglas Adams

This is my ‘chill out’ quote when I’m stressed – nothing like a bit of humour to calm the nerves.

6) We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit – Aristotle

I blogged a few weeks ago about something similar – actions speak louder than words!

Stay up to date on future releases

Receive our email updates