The Basics
– Meg Benjamin
– Genre(s) – Romantic Comedy (with a touch of suspense)
– Current Publishers – Samhain Publishing
To Other Authors
– What are the three MOST important pieces of advice you would give to a brand new author?
Well, there’s that old perennial, never give up! You’re going to get hit with a lot of rejection; nobody gets through this process without a few bruises. Learning to handle rejection has been one of the toughest things for me, and it requires a lot of support from family and friends. But remember how many other writers have gone through this and just guts up!
Find someone to read your stuff who doesn’t love you. When you’re trying to decide whether something is working or not, the last thing you need is your mom telling you you’re perfect. On the other hand, a critique partner who will look at your WIP and tell you when something doesn’t make sense and/or doesn’t work and/or just stinks can be invaluable.
Don’t get it perfect, just get it down. You can always come back later to revise and edit. If you spend too much time trying to get just the right word, you’ll never finish your draft.
– What’s your favorite way to advertise?
- As a newly published writer, I’m pretty shaky on this, but I love my Web site (http://www.megbenjamin.com) and my blog (http://megbenj1.wordpress.com/).
– What hard-knock lesson did the publishing world teach you (can be your own experience or someone else’s that you learned from)?
- Being a good writer doesn’t always get you a contract. Being a good storyteller, on the other hand, can make up for some really ham-fisted stylistic choices.
For the Readers
– What are you reading, if anything, at the moment?
- Julie Ann Long’s Like No Other Lover and Jane Haddam’s Cheating At Solitaire—I love to mix and match genres, so right now I’ve got a romantic historical vs. a very pragmatic mystery.
– Do you prefer ebooks or print for your reading pleasure?
- I like them both. I love the ease of my Kindle when I’m on vacation and eventually I may go totally electronic, but right now I’m trying to read through all the print books I still have sitting on my TBR shelf since I’m getting ready to move and really don’t want to pack more books than I need to.
– Name three of your all-time-favorite, read-them-over-and-over books.
- Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels
- Sarah Smith’s The Vanished Child
- Mary Balogh’s Slightly Dangerous
Idle Curiosity Compels Me to Ask
– What inspired you to be a writer?
- I love to read, plus English was always my best subject. I think if you’re always getting patted on the head about something (like writing), you start thinking, “Hmm, I’d really like to get this for the rest of my life” (oh, if only it were that simple!).
– What do you do immediately after finishing a manuscript?
- Pour myself a big glass of syrah and kick back! But the second thing I do is to restrain myself from starting to revise it from the first word onward.
– Do you talk to your characters or your muse or both?
- My characters do come alive for me. When I can’t get them published I fell apologetic—sorry guys, I just didn’t get that query right!
Promo Section
Learn More
– Website – http://www.megbenjamin.com/
– Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1113560246&ref=name
– MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/megbenjamin
– Blog/Newsletter – http://megbenj1.wordpress.com/
Thanks so much, Meg!!
Join me next week for an interview with Nancy Famolari
Great advice, Meg! Best of luck with your book!!!