True Blood – truly entertaining.

imagesI’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

Movie Review – Pan's Labyrinth.

ofeliaThere’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.

vidalThis 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.

pale manEverything 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

bookWithout 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

 

Courier Mail 1I 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

Courier Mail 2

Courier Mail 3

The New Zealand Herald reviews A Wicked Kind of Dark

Ngaire Atmore Pattison reviews A Wicked Kind of Dark for The New Zealand Herald:

‘The debut novel from a Kiwi author, this story does a slick job of combining fantasy and reality. The plot deals with love and magic and will appeal to a young adult audience. Benton wears his literary influences on his sleeve and refers to more than one popular cultural touchstone while keeping the reader hooked’.

Jonathan K Benton