EJ Bennett, the author of Secrets of the Mind, visits the blog to chat about her work. EJ is a YA and Fantasy writer, who has also written children’s books. Already since its launch, she has notched up 44 reviews for Secrets of the Mind on Amazon – and I’ll be making that 45 next week as it’s on my Kindle right now.
EJ, welcome to Altered Instinct!
Secrets of the Mind seems to have been
doing very well since its launch – for readers who haven’t
encountered it yet, give us a brief rundown of what it’s about.
Secrets of the mind is about a
teenage girl “Kayla”, who has no memories of her childhood. She is
haunted by terrifying nightmares when she sleeps. One day, while
shopping with her best friend, her nightmares become reality, which
causes a stream of unreal events. Kayla doesn’t believe in magic, so
it takes her a long time to believe what she is seeing.
Personally, I’m interested in Kayla
being a witch – and no, not at all because the lead character of my
work in progess is a witch too! Perish the thought! How much research
did you find you had to do into witchcraft to try and make the
character as authentic as possible?
I did a lot of research to start
with on witches and supernatural then I decided to do my own take on
it. I thought following all the research would make my story like so
many others so I decided to write witchcraft in my own way. All the
supernatural creatures I have wrote in my book are different to the
average way of describing them.
Both Secrets of the Mind and Find Me –
your ghostly short story I’ve reviewed on the blog - share that
sense of a woman finding herself in a position where her life is out
of control, and she’s trying to find her way through. Which brings
me neatly to my next question... are you a plotter or a pantser when
it comes to writing? Because goodness knows that seems to describe my
pantser way of writing!
Usually I will come up with a
paragraph that will sum up my story - a bit like a blurb - then I will
start to write. Once I have the first page, the story will flow until
I have the first draft. Then when I rewrite the story, more ideas
will come to me. I don’t really plan my story step by step as when
I write the words are just there in my head and the planning is never
used.
What’s been the best thing for you
about the reaction that Secrets of the Mind has received?
I think the best reaction I have got
is how well people say I write first person present tense. I have
always been shocked at this as the story to begin with was in first
person past tense. The editor I first used changed it to present
tense.
What was the inspiration behind the
story?
I have always loved to write and
watch anything to do with supernatural from Charmed to Vampire
Dairies and even Teen wolf. I got a laptop for Christmas 2015 and I
then released My Little Brother by April 2016. My Little Brother is a
children’s book that is close to my heart. It features both my
children and told through the eyes of my daughter who was four years
old at the time we sat down and wrote it together.
My daughter didn’t understand why
people pointed or stared at her baby brother so we wrote a children’s
book to show that he is still the same as everyone else.
My Little Brother did quite well so
I thought I would give Secrets of the Mind a shot and sent it to an editor and published it in June 2016.
You do your own design work, I
understand, and I have to say it’s very impressive – love the
cover and the promos you’ve put together. Do you have a design
background or are you self-taught? And what software do you use for
your work? Talk us through your design process a little.
Growing up with dyslexia art was the
one thing I could do. It didn’t involve spellings or any gibberish
that came with math’s. Art was the one class I could relax in while
at high school. As I struggled in many of my classes, I was put into
Design Technology for one of my options which is where I learned to
use software like Photoshop and video making. High School is the
only place I have a design background in.
I use Photoshop for my covers and
promotion images and I also use Adobe Aftereffects for my
promotional videos.
Who are you when you’re not writing?
When I am not writing, I am a mum,
cook, nurse and referee.
I understand Skegness – or Skeggy as
I used to call it! - is a favourite destination. Crucial question
here... who has the best fish and chips?
Oh, I would say the chippy outside
of Seaview caravan site next to Oasis and I love Skegness! One of my
favourite all-time places and as we call it here skgvagas.
Your little boy has a cleft lip – and
I like that you have taken to writing children’s books too to
spread the awareness of cleft lips to others. Is there much of a
support network for parents in your situation, and have you found
your books having an impact to help others in your situation?
Yes, my son was born with a bad case, he
had no nose or any palate at all (roof of mouth). I was pretty lucky
they knew he was going to be born with a cleft lip and also palate at
my 20-week scan. I did get advised to have an abortion as the doctors
believed he would have other problems like Down Syndrome. Once I
refused that option, I was sent to Nottingham to meet a team of people
called CLAPA which included a surgeon, speech and language, dentist
and a few others. I was assigned a CLAPA nurse who came out once a
week once my son was born for the first year of his life.
The book helped my daughter understand
and she loves taking it to school and reading it in show and tell. My
daughter's school has also read the book a few times in assembly and
such so yes I do believe it has helped a little.
Is he of an age to read them himself
yet? Or is that still ahead of him? I presume part of the hope is
that he also finds them useful as he grows older and as he is in
contact with other children who might not understand about cleft
lips.
Not yet, he will be coming up three
in April and at the minute at the stage where he doesn’t sit still
long enough.
Back to writing, Secrets of the Mind is
book one of a series – where does Kayla go from here, and when do
you anticipate book two launching?
Kayla still has a long way to go,
book 2 gives a few hints to what is behind the whole story and book 3
will tie up many of the loose ends. Book 2 was going to be released
on the 31st of January but I am not sure at
this time when it will be released due to editing problems. Hopefully, it will be released soon.
How far along are you with that now,
what position is the book in at this stage?
The book has been edited but needs
to go back for re-editing.
Any other writing goals for this year,
seeing as we’re still in January?
I have a few rough drafts of books
that I am hoping to release this year. House of Horror will be
released in February and I am hoping to get a few more stories
cleaned up ready for release soon.
Well, thank you, EJ, much appreciate
you stopping by. We have a traditional double question to end our
chats here – so I must ask, what are you reading right now, and
what has been your favourite read of the past year?
I am reading Twice Born by Tracy
Green as part of a book launch I am taking part in. My favorite books
I have read this year and at the end of last year were the Transgressors
Trilogy by E.M. Swift-Hook - she has an
amazing way with words and builds a world that is unique and
different than many books I have ever read.
Many thanks for visiting Altered
Instinct! Now I’ll get back to reading Secrets of the Mind!
Find out more about Secrets of the Mind, and EJ Bennett at her website, http://secretsofthemind.weebly.com/, or follow her updates on Twitter or Facebook.
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