Friday, May 24, 2019

Blog Tour: Benevolent by Erin A Jensen with an #author #interview @ErinAJensen and a #giveaway #fantasy @RABTBookTours



Contemporary Fantasy
Date Published: February 2nd, 2019
Publisher: Dream Waters Publishing LLC

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A story about the purpose of life, the healing power of fandom, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Tormented by the in-crowd at school on a daily basis, there were two things that gave fifteen-year-old Abigail Perkins the strength to keep going—her best friend, Danny Cobb; and her favorite television show, Supernatural. But the night Danny’s mother calls to say that his battle with cancer is nearing its end, and the doctors don’t expect him to live through the night, even Supernatural can’t dull the ache in her heart.

Devastated by her impending loss and crushed that Danny’s mother won’t allow her to visit him one last time, Abigail crawls into bed and cries herself to sleep that night; and she wakes to find Supernatural’s most endearing angel standing at the foot of her bed.

Told from Abigail’s perspective as she nears the end of her long life and revisits the moments that defined it, this story was inspired by the deep connection that Supernatural fans feel with the show’s beloved characters, and the show’s miraculous ability to help its fans through troubled times.

100% of the net proceeds from this book will go to Random Acts charitable organization.

Random Acts inspires many amazing things around the world every day — from small acts of kindness, such as inspiring someone to buy a stranger a cup of coffee, to much bigger acts of kindness like building a school in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.

To learn more about Random Acts visit randomacts.org



Interview


Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?

Yes. Never give up. Remember that you are special and that every life has a purpose (even if you haven’t found yours yet). And live your life spreading kindness and seizing every opportunity to help others.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Usually, finding the time to write is the biggest challenge for me. Although, Benevolent had its own challenges. There’s a lot more of me in this story than there is in any other book I’ve written. So this book took more of an emotional toll. It’s told from the main character’s perspective as she looks back on her life while on her deathbed. The end of life scenes in the book are heavily based on my Grandpa’s final days. I spent a lot of time in his hospital room while he was on hospice, and I sat at his bedside holding his hand while he took his last breaths at 3am on Christmas Eve. Those portions of the book were emotionally draining to write, but they were also incredibly cathartic. I’ve actually heard from lots of readers since the book was released who really connected with that aspect of the story. Many of them said it made them think of a loved one who they’d recently lost and gave them a lot of comfort. Others connected with Abigail’s struggles with being bullied during her school years, which I also based in part on experiences from my past.  

How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

 I’ve published four books, and am almost finished writing my fifth (the fourth book in my Dream Waters Series. I think each new book becomes my favorite because you have to fall in love with your characters and connect with the story to make the book the best it can be. But if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Benevolent because the story is so near and dear to my heart. I feel like I’m doing a lot of good with the story’s message, the way readers have connected with it, and the fact that 100% of my net proceeds are going to Random Acts.

If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?

Normally that would be the easiest question in the world to answer. I’m a very visually oriented writer and I always imagine my books playing out like movies while I’m writing them. When I create a new character I usually choose an actual actor to play the role in my head. I could tell you my entire dream cast of my Dream Waters books. Rupert Grint would play my main character, Charlie; Amanda Seyfried would play Emma; and Jason Isaacs would play her husband, David. I actually got the opportunity to meet Jason Isaacs at Comic con in Montreal, offer him a copy of my book (which he accepted and got up from the table to put in his bag), and thank him for inspiring me to create the character. I still seize every possible opportunity to share the picture of him holding my book on social media. 
For Benevolent, I would obviously want Misha Collins to play Abigail’s guardian angel because he appears to her in the likeness of Castiel, the television angel the actor plays on Supernatural.   But I don’t have a specific actress in mind for Abigail, and there’s a reason for that. Although I mention Castiel’s beautiful blue eyes and good looks plenty of times in the story, I never describe Abigail’s physical features. I want every reader to be able to imagine themselves in her place. If I gave her a certain weight, height, skin color, or hair color, not everyone would be able to put themselves in her shoes as easily.

When did you begin writing?

I started writing about six years ago, and I didn’t tell most people I was writing a book until right before I released my debut novel.

How long did it take to complete your first book?

Dream Waters, my debut novel, took me about three years to finish because it was all new to me. I had to do a lot of re-writing to come up with the final story.

Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?

There were lots of writers who inspired me to become a writer. J.K. Rowling was an inspiration because she started out with nothing, and her accomplishments pretty much speak for themselves. Andy Weir inspired me because he started out publishing his book a chapter at a time for free on his blog and ended up with a movie starring Matt Damon. But it was Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, that inspired me to actually give writing a try. The book talks about how everyone has hidden talents and suggests that you give new things a try to discover what yours are. I can’t explain why exactly, but my take away from that was “I want to try writing a book.” It turns out, I absolutely love creating stories.

What is your favorite part of the writing process?

I love every part of the writing process, but my favorite part is finally getting a scene that’s been in my head for ages down on paper. There’s nothing quite as thrilling as capturing one of those scenes that sparked the whole idea for the book on the printed page!

Describe your latest book in 4 words.

Every life has purpose. (I’d say “Every life has a purpose” but that’d be one too many words.)

Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?

I’m currently writing the fourth book in my Dream Waters Series. It’d be tough to share much about it without spoilers for those who haven’t read the first three books. But I can tell you that I like to describe Dream Waters (Book One in the series) as a cross between One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Harry Potter. It’s set almost entirely in a mental institution and is definitely a story for mature readers. Charlie, the main character, constantly sees the people around him “flip” to the forms he believes they take in an alternate world when they drift off to sleep. The book begins when a beautiful new patient is admitted to the facility. As they grow close, Charlie learns that there’s much more to his fellow patients than meets the eye, that his lovely new friend is shadowed by an enormous fiery-eyed dragon, and he might not be as crazy as most of the waking world thinks he is.





About the Author


Erin Jensen is the Amazon International bestselling author of The Dream Waters Series. She was awarded the Bronze Medal for fantasy fiction in the 2018 Readers' Favorite international book award competition. She also received Honorable Mention for fantasy fiction in the 2018 Writer's Digest self-published e-book awards. A part-time pharmacist and a full-time daydreamer, she resides in upstate New York with her ridiculously supportive husband, two teenage sons – who are both taller than her – and a Yorkshire terrier who thinks he's the family bodyguard.


Contact Links

Twitter: @ErinAJensen


Purchase Link




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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for hosting!

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