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Bentz Deyo, a must read!!!

  • John Hamrick and Bentz Deyo
  • Mar 20, 2017
  • 3 min read

Name?

Bentz Deyo

When did you start seriously writing?

After college. I graduated during the recession and could only find part-time work as a production assistant, so since I had hours of free time, I wrote The UnDelightened.

What genre are your books?

YA Contemporary Fantasy. But I wrote it also for the adult readers who fell in love with Harry Potter when they were younger. It’s dark for YA, but you’re patronizing young adults if you dumb down or censor your work.

Do you write full-time or part-time?

Full-time.

What inspired you to write your first book The UnDelightened?

JK Rowling. I fell in love with Harry and Hermoine, and I guess Ron. When I had finished The Chamber of Secrets, I remember thinking, “I’d love to make people feel how Rowling just made me feel.”

Do you aim for a set number of words/pages per day?

I write most every day, but sometimes that buzz you feel when writing well just isn’t there, and you have to be okay with those days too. 2,000 words a day is a great goal, but it’s not a race. Racing is awful for writing. The good “racing”, and all writers have felt it, is when you’re connected with the Muse and your pen is flying and somewhere in your subconscious you know you’re creating something special.

You have two successful books under your belt, The UnDelightened and The UnLeashed. What is the hardest thing about writing?

The faith required to do such hard work without knowing if anything will come of it. But the armor for that sort of worry is living in the moment, ferociously enjoying what you’re doing, and realizing that the act of writing is hopefully more important to you than commercial success.

Did you learn anything from writing your books: The UnDelightened or The UnLeashed, and what was it?

I had no clue how to write when I started The UnDelightened (My first draft was the literary equivalent to a Razzie). Then Stephen King’s On Writing became my bible and I’m slowly getting better. Truthfully, I’ve learned more about myself writing than I have by living.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Stephen King and JK Rowling.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Incorporate yourself into all of your characters or they’ll taste stale to readers. Your breath keeps the characters alive. Even for an evil character, dig deep and tap into your own darkness; your inner ugliness. Connecting with your demons is gold for writers.

What are you reading right now? Are there any authors (living or dead) that you would list as influences for your books?

Right now it’s the Revolutionary War book 1776 and Of Mice and Men, which is one of my favs. Influencing The UnDelightened Series…the Harry Potter books, Frank Herbert’s Dune, and the Robert Langdon books by Dan Brown.

What influenced you to write this book series?

I read once that you have to write the book you’re desperate to read. So I’m doing it. Five times.

What can we come to expect from your protagonist, Leam in future novels?

Leam’s tricky, man. He’s bipolar in “our” world, and by being born half Dark half Light into the magical world, he’s more susceptible to inner conflict and therefore a threat to cause chaos to those around him. He’s fed up with hanging onto the middle of a tug of war between Darkness and Light and is going rogue in Book 3. He’s conflicted, trusts no one, and can become unstable at any moment. This guy freaks me out and I’m writing him.

Where can we buy, or see The UnDelightened and The UnLeashed?

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Stay with me. Cliffhangers are frustrating and items introduced in one of the books that aren’t fully explained is unorthodox too. But I promise it will all come together and the final book in this series will slay you.


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