dark fantasy – Jonathan K. Benton

Darth Vader rant, and can someone please shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level?

Everyone has their favourite superhero – at least people who like this kind of stuff. Mine is Darth Vader. Okay, he doesn’t quite fit into the Marvel and DC idea of what a ‘super hero’ should be, but he did end up saving the galaxy. Darth Vader possessed the highest concentration of midichlorians, ever, period, full stop. Midichlorians allow their host to communicate with the force. The force is life. This means Darth Vader is the most powerful superhero in all the universes – that’s my solid fact-based scientifically proven conclusion anyway . He’d see Superman coming before the Man of Steel donned his external underpants. He’d force crush the Hulk and give Thor a lightsaber haircut. At the risk of sounding immature, Darth Vader is simply the best. So there. Just ask this guy.

Jonathan K Benton

True Blood – truly entertaining.

I’ve been struggling to blog recently, even though I’m determined to make it part of my weekly routine. Blogging ain’t easy when you’re writing a book.

There are a lot of terrible things happening in the world at the moment. I feel I have to try to make some sense of it in blogs likes this. Sometimes, however, it’s good to leave the big picture stuff alone and write about True Blood.

I spent last night in Bon Temps with Sookie and company. Jason Stackhouse is my hero. I’m thinking of modelling myself off Ryan Kwanten’s character. I’m glad Alcide passed away last night. Every time he took off his shirt my partner gasped. Now I don’t have to listen to her sharp intake of breath whenever he disrobes. Lafayette is simply sensational and Pam is some kind of wonderful. I’ll miss them when they’re gone. I hope this final season ends with a wonderful Bon Temp’s vampiric flourish!

Jonathan K Benton

Writing tip no. 3 and my thoughts on New Zealand

Writing tip

This one is subjective, but I hear it lot, and it works for me. Don’t edit the first draft until you’ve finished it. Write your story from beginning to end – smash it out. Don’t worry about sentence structure and beautiful images. These things can be polished into the novel at a later date. If you get bogged down, write some ‘he did’ ‘she did’ sentences to move your mind out of the mental quagmire. Then continue with the story. Flesh out the gaps on subsequent drafts. As I said, it works for me.

Thought for the week

I spent three weeks in New Zealand last year. My father and his partner have a bach at Matarangi on the Coromandel Peninsula. Kiwis refer to their holiday homes as baches. Matarangi is the type of place where you can play cricket on the road or sit on the long white surf beach believing you’re it – that there’s nobody else on the planet. I can’t remember seeing more than four people at a time on the pearly Matarangi sands. Then I took my family back to Auckland stopping at several boutique cafes serving top shelf cuisine and superior coffee. My mum lives in Tindalls Bay. This idyllic seaside suburb boasts a beach protected from the ocean swells and therefore perfect for my firstborn boy (No. 2 was just a twinkle in his parents’ eyes at the time).

I am a Kiwi living in Australia. My partner is an Aussie, our sons wear the green and gold too. I’m outnumbered three to one in my household. I love Australia – it is my home and I consider it a privilege to be able to live here. But I was filled with pride when I returned to New Zealand. The Land of the Long White Cloud is one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. If you haven’t been, you’re missing out.

Jonathan K Benton

Writing tip No. 2 and my thoughts for the week

Messy writing

Two weeks ago I enjoyed another exhausting day pouring through my half-finished manuscript with Joelene, the talented young woman helping me with my writing. I also had the pleasure of reading some of her own exciting work. She mentioned the term ‘messy writing’. I think it’s something all writers should know about. Messy writing makes the story believable. It’s the character driving the plot, rather than the protagonist being dragged along by a series of set pieces.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Barry loved taking his dog, Boof, for a walk. Boof needed a leash because he loved chasing other dogs. He liked chasing humans too. Then the leash broke forcing Barry to drive to the local pet shop. The pet shop had sold out. The owner suggested that Barry should make the trip to Sid’s Pet Bizarre in the next borough. Frustrated that the pet shop had sold out of leashes, and knowing that a drive to the next borough would swallow a large part of his day, Barry decided to ask his beautiful neighbour, Karen, if she had a spare leash. Karen loved dogs – she owned two huskies. Perhaps they could walk their dogs together.

In example two, Barry took matters into his own hand. He didn’t do what the pet shop owner suggested. He used his initiative. This opened up opportunity. Let’s hope Barry and Karen fell in love and lived happily ever after, until the end of time!

Messy writing takes the story in unexpected directions driven by the choices made by the protagonist. The protagonist’s personality should be considered when making these choices.

Thoughts for the week:

Ukraine. I still believe that most people want to live peacefully. Click here. Sometimes, however, it seems like humanity is self-destructing. Is it just the media, or are world leaders sabre rattling rather than throwing their collective wisdom into helping the citizens of Ukraine achieve a peaceful resolution? I’m sick of bullies – the people of Ukraine are suffering.

Roger Federer. Federer won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last night. Check out this gorgeous Federeresque (surely this word deserves a place in the dictionary) drop shot. He makes it look so easy. Click here.

Lessons Learned – if I could impart one piece of advice to first-time authors this would be it.

I am a perfectionist, in terms of my writing. Most authors probably are. This doesn’t mean we think our writing is perfect. It means we’ll never be content with the finished product. I’m constantly looking for ways to improve the craft.

I’m halfway through my second manuscript. Fate – or perhaps chance – has introduced me to a brilliant young woman. She is helping me craft my next draft (very Dr Suess – ‘craft the draft’). Based on the work we’ve been doing, I now think it’s essential to have someone to bounce ideas off through the drafting process. Joelene is somewhat of a connoisseur of young adult literature. She asks the hard questions of my work, like: Why does Laika (a principal character in my next book) behave like this when she’s in that situation? Why does Jack (the main protagonist) say this when previously he’s said that? Is there a reason this character has no friends? What’s your motive for creatures in this world doing that? Why does the main antagonist choose this weapon, when surely that weapon is far more menacing? If I cannot answer Joelene’s questions, I need to revise the text. Each word is chosen for maximum impact. Every action has to have a reason, every scene a purpose. This is why I love writing.

Descriptive writing is one of my strengths – Queensland’s largest paper, The Courier Mail, agrees with me in their fantastic review of A Wicked Kind of Dark (click here to read the full review). I love creating beautiful images and unique phrases. If you want to read a book ‘dripping with descriptive language’ look no further than here. Joelene is ensuring that my weaknesses become strengths in my next novel. Her vast knowledge of the YA market is proving invaluable.

Writing is a deeply personal thing. It is your voice that distinguishes you – nobody else’s. However, I’m discovering the very real benefits of bouncing ideas off someone well-versed in the genre I write. The text is singing. I wish I’d met Joelene earlier!

Ckick here for another useful article I found for authors about to take those first few steps:

Happy writing

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

My favourite first sentences – in no particular order. Jonathan K Benton

Without a great book to support them, the following sentences might not have been so great. Each sentence appeals to me in a different way. For example: Douglas Adams’s unique voice exudes personality. Dickens’s words are profound, and who knew C. S. Lewis was a comedian?

Here they are, in no particular order:

‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way –’

Charles Dickens The Tale of Two Cities

‘There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.’

C. S Lewis The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.’

J. R. R. Tolkien The Hobbit

‘Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.’

Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

‘All children, except one, grow up.’

J. M. Barrie Peter Pan

‘When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.’

Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games

‘The seller of lightning rods arrived just ahead of the storm.’

Ray Bradbury Something Wicked This Way Comes

Let me know your favourite first sentence and I will add them to this post. I’ll even read the book, if I haven’t already.

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

A bit of fun – A Wicked Kind of Dark

If A Wicked Kind of Dark was a movie, who would play the leads? The cast I came up with would cost a fortune! Every author, in fact everyone, is allowed to dream …

I think Julia Roberts would be perfect for Tala Lae.

I’d pick Sean Bean to play the part of Rafael Lae.

Christian Bale – I couldn’t think of a better Gabriel

Dustin Hoffman would make the ideal Arthur.

Tim Robbins for Dennis

Allaria could be played by Audrey Tautou

Carey Mulligan as Luthien

I cannot pick Robert – if you’ve read this far, perhaps you can help?

AND

Do you agree with the actors I’ve chosen?

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

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