It’s been a crazy-busy month (or four). I started the process of e-publishing DEVIL’S OVEN (it’s here and here, btw!) way back in November, and, even as late as my most recent blog post, I was sure I would have it–as well as my backlist–up and available the first week in March. Three weeks ago. …Read More

Did anyone else have a terrible Valentine’s Day? P was out of town and the children were doing a school fundraiser, so I found myself alone with the dogs, a whole lot of laundry, a bit of leftover chicken and no dark chocolate. Yes, I was feeling very sorry for myself! P did make sure …Read More

So, 2009 caught me without a New Year’s Day blog. I’ve been ruminating, but mostly I’ve been freaking out about–uh, change that to carefully planning for–my Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts tour. It starts today, as a matter of fact. My first stop is the Carbondale, IL, Barnes & Noble. I’ll be there from 1:00 until …Read More

Some novelists envision their novels in fragments, writing a climactic scene or even the ending first. But I started at the beginning with Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts, describing the strange little ritual three teenage girls had come up with to conjure up a boyfriend (never would they have used the word “lover”) for themselves. The …Read More

Welcome to the party! Have you checked out the site? I feel like I’ve been keeping my surprise party a secret from all of you for forever. My site’s been up for about a week now and a couple folks have mentioned it–quietly. But I wanted to have a special event to launch it because …Read More

Lovely news this week… The paperback of Isabella Moon will be featured in Target’s Breakout Books promotion beginning in February. I couldn’t be happier because, yes, Target is my happy place! And here’s the Booklist Review of Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts: Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts. Benedict, Laura (Author) Jan 2009. 352 p. Ballantine, hardcover, $25.00. …Read More

When I talk to groups or give a reading, one of the stories I like to tell is of how I gave myself just one year to write Isabella Moon. I say it with a certain amount of pride–especially considering that the two novels I wrote prior to it took me eight and four years, …Read More

Finally! I sent the copy edits of CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS back to Ballantine today. I feel like celebrating! Alas, it may not be the last time I see CMLH in manuscript form if I wasn’t clear enough on corrections. Then come the bound galleys, aka ARCS. As soon as I get my hands on …Read More

A little more on the Big City tomorrow. The FedEx folks delivered my copyedited manuscript for CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS yesterday morning. I had been wondering when it would arrive and had bugged my editor’s assistant about it when I saw him in the bar at Thrillerfest. But it turns out he’d been promoted to …Read More

Lucky for us, fiction comes in many flavors. Some fans of crime and suspense fiction don’t mind the full-gore treatment—But I, and several other writers I know, can attest to the fact that other readers are vocal about wanting the violence in their crime fiction to be restrained and tidy, more like Agatha Christie than …Read More