Want THE PROMISE on Kindle?

THE PROMISE is finally on Kindle! Here's the link. Enjoy!

TJB

It's ON!

Just wanted to let everyone who is interested know that the talk I had to postpone from April is ON again. I'll be speaking to the wonderful group of writers over at West Houston RWA on my MBTI-based topic, "When Your Princess Isn't Perfect: Understanding the Dark Side of Your Romantic Heroine," on August 14, 2010. Please feel free to visit the website for more details. This is a follow-up to last year's popular workshop, "Finding the Dark Side of Your Knight in Shining Armor."

Join the PROMISE ME/FOR MY SISTER campaign

Anyone who has read the work of Joni Rodgers, a terrific novelist and memoir guru (Bald in the Land of Big Hair) may want to know she's co-authored a wonderful memoir by Nancy G. Brinker, founder of the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast cancer research and Susan's sister.


Right now the publisher is sponsoring a special campaign wherein if you pre-order the book, they will also send a signed, free copy to your sister (or anyone you designate) when the book is released. Cover price is $25, but I pre-ordered at Amazon for $14.

Joni is one of my amazing critique partners, for which I am eternally grateful. I can tell you without reservation that this will be one of the most moving, beautiful, and heartfelt books you have ever read. The early pages I saw knocked my socks off. Joni is a terrific writer, and Nancy Brinker is an amazing woman.

If you or someone you love has ever been affected by breast cancer, you need to read this book.

Take care,

TJB

Winners of Amazon.com Gift Certificates!

Thanks for discussing LOST with me, folks. I've picked the winners of the two Amazon.com $10 gift certificates. Please contact me via my e-mail at tjb(at)tjbennett(dot)com and let me know if you would like yours sent electronically or via the mail (and I'll need your appropriate contact info either way). The winners are:

Candace
Margay

Congratulations!

For those of you who didn't win, stay tuned. I just received a box of six beautiful new romance releases from Hatchette Books, and who knows, I might be tempted to share them with you. Loverly, eh?

TJB

Last thoughts on LOST and storytelling

Okay, so if you haven't seen the finale of LOST yet, do not read any further. There WILL BE SPOILERS ahead.

>>>>SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT<<<<

Don't say I didn't warn ya.

So, why not add my thoughts to the gazillions already trending on Twitter and the webverse? Everybody with a blog has an opinion, so here is mine.

I don't know what I think. Yet. And that is the beauty of LOST, both in its final episode, "The End," and in the series itself. LOST has given us the kind of storytelling that is the ultimate of interactive TV: it made us think. How many series can you say that about? Not many.

It made us talk. It made us gather in groups and debate philosophy, and time travel, and physics, and good vs. evil, and and... It drove us to the Internet in search of others who had to know. It divided and conquered and united and rose above. Sometimes it soared, and sometimes it stumbled mightily, reaching out its hand to stretch for the brass ring, and having fallen, still arose with that ring clutched in its fingers.

It was epic. And now it is over, and I must admit it: I feel a little bit LOST myself.

I'm a storyteller at heart, and this was storytelling at its best. When it all comes down to it, isn't that what being part of the community of humans is all about? From the days of the caveman sitting around a flickering fire, relating the hunting tales of the day to the hushed and gathering crowd, to the present day, we all still enjoy a great story, well-told, with plenty of action, food for thought, and memorable characters, and that's what LOST gave us.

So my thoughts on exactly what happened in the finale? I'm still digesting, as I said. I haven't figured out if I liked the end, because I haven't figured out if I understand the end. I can honestly say, however, I've never watched a television show that made me toss and turn at night and wonder, "What does it all mean?" I've read books that have done that, sure, but the idiot "boob tube"? Never.

And of course, those who said the island was a kind of purgatory were sort of right, but I think the purgatory was the place they had all created to find each other, not the island itself. Until they did, they couldn't find each other--so they were, in fact, waiting, which is what purgatory is all about: it's not Hell, but a place to wait while one, as Ben Linus put it, "works some things out."

Which is why, I suppose, Ben didn't move on with the rest. He had a lot of things to work out still, to put it mildly, and even though he was the island's villain, he was so well-motivated most of the time that we still rooted for him to have his happy ending. Or at least the possibility of one.

I was a bit bewildered that Sayid's sideways character's true love was not his wife, Nadia, but Shannon. Frankly, the fact that Sayid sold his soul to the MIB to be with his wife again would have made me think otherwise. 

And I think some mixed messages were sent as a nod to political correctness with "Christian Shepard" ("Seriously?" Kate asked about the name) standing in a church in front of a stained glass window which ecumenically touted the religions of the world behind him while telling Jack he was dead. I know the producers probably didn't want to offend by trying to say any particular version of what happens after people go into "the light" is the only one, but it seemed a bit pat, a jarring note that reminded me of the end of BOOK OF ELI, another story that made me think and which I loved.

Still, nothing was so moving to me as seeing Sawyer and Juliet together again. The moment when he held her and said, "I got you, baby," made sitting through an entire season without her worth it. I loved Juliet, and felt her absence keenly throughout the season, both hers and Desmond's Penny. I wish we had gotten to spend more time with them.

So, anyway, those are some of my thoughts. If you have any, feel free to comment below. I'd like to hear your take. Did you like the finale? Hate it? Feeling ambivalent? Or, just feeling LOST, like me? And if you made it this far, I'll give away two $10 gift certificates to Amazon.com to two people who comment on this post by 5/27/10.

TJB

Just to let you know I'm still here...and laughing...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

And more good news...

I've just been informed that my first novel, THE LEGACY, has a negotiated agreement for its first foreign rights sale! It will be going to France, which apparently appreciates my work and Jerry Lewis's, for what that's worth. LOL! Vive la France!

TJB

Performance Reviews in Hell

Because some days are just like this:

Some Good News

I guess it's okay to officially announce this now, and I'm glad because I can't keep it to myself any longer. I've signed with a fabulous new agent at a wonderful agency I've been hoping to be with for a long time. I feel like I landed the dream date quarterback and got crowned queen of the prom all in one. Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency offered me representation, and I have accepted. I'm so excited to be working with this experienced, savvy agent, and I know she'll do right by me.

Lucienne's enthusiasm for my work is such a validation, as it is so easy to question one's talent when one hears more "no's" than "yes's."
To see a sample of this enthusiasm, check out her blog, which describes the process she went through when reading the manuscript she took me on for.

In addition to signing with the agency of my dreams, I also received news that my second novel, THE PROMISE, is a finalist in the Orange County Chapter of RWA's Book Buyers Best award. Rumor is there were over 100 entries,  so I'm flattered and delighted to be among the finalists in this prestigious contest.

So, despite having a broken kid in the rehab hospital, there are still good things happening in my life. I'm grateful for all my blessings.

Take care,
TJB

Winners of free books!

We have our winners, folks.

Christine, you are the winner of Gerry Bartlett's Vampires Hate Their Thighs!
Kara C, you are the winner of Colleen Thompson's Touch of Evil!

Both copies are signed by their authors and yours to treasure forever...provided you claim them by sending me an e-mail (tjb @ tjbennett . com) no later than April 19. I'll need your snail mail address to send them out to you. If you don't claim you book, I'll select another eligible winner.

Congrats!

TJB