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Book Update

Dayo Benson

Allies_500x750Hi Guys,

Further to my last blog post, I didn’t hear back from my editor so Allies (Crystal 4) is now being edited by another editor. I don’t want to give an exact release date, but I should still be able to publish it this month.

In the meantime, why don’t you check out an interview I did with a fellow author, Remi Roy: http://thelightedgirl.com/2015/dayo-benson-prolific/

I will be interviewing Remi on my own blog soon. She’s a fantastic author that I think you’ll love.

God bless.

Dayo x

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Stay Calm/Smile Anyway

Dayo Benson

Hey guys,

I’ve been busting my butt to get Allies (Crystal 4) ready for publication on 1st of May, and guess what? It still hasn’t been returned by my editor. But you know what? I refuse to go into panic mode. In fact, I’m feeling pretty calm, and I’m smiling–although that may have something to do with the fact that I’m eating Duck Vermicelli from my favourite Chinese Restaurant.

I’m actually feeling all compassionate towards this editor. Who knows, she might have had some kind of tragedy, or she might be unwell, or she might just hate my book so much that she really can’t make herself read and edit it. I have been an editor myself, and sometimes still take on editing work so I know how hard it is, and how tedious it can be. So, honestly, I’m feeling compassionate.

Image result for not stressedAnd I’m not going to stress because if I miss the deadline, at least I’ll know never to tell people what my publication date is anymore.

When I get a book back from an editor, I go through each change they have made one at a time and review it, deciding whether to accept it or reject it. This is a painstaking process and takes a while. I then read the whole book. Doing these two things can easily take two weeks, but these days I limit myself to a week at most, and three days at least. I need the book back by tomorrow (Saturday). If I don’t get it tomorrow, only God knows when it’ll get published.

You know what, the more I think about this the more I’m glad I have my Duck Vermicelli to comfort me.

Please pray for my editor to respond.

Thanks xx

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Book Update/Cover Reveal: Allies (Crystal 4)

Dayo Benson

Hi Everyone,

Quick update on what I’m doing and why I’ve been so quiet blogging-wise:

I’m Currently Writing: Sleeper (Crystal 7).

I’ve flown through the writing stage for most of the books in Crystal’s series, but this one is taking me longer than necessary. I’m on my third week writing it. I should be able to finish it by Saturday. Sometimes I forget how early on in the series my readers are, because obviously I know what’s going to happen a lot further down the line, and when people contact me about the series I have to remind myself that they’ve only read books 1 – 3 and not give away any spoilers. I really can’t wait to get the whole series out for everyone to read it all. I think it’s pretty fun and exciting, but had deep spiritual messages too. I was worried I wouldn’t do it justice before I started the series, but I’m pretty proud of how it’s turning out.

I’m Currently Editing: Allies (Crystal 4)

Allies_500x750I’m hoping this will be out on 1st May. Fingers crossed/pray for me. I’m trying hard to get it ready by then. Here’s the unofficial/unedited synopsis–I don’t think it’s going to change:

Crystal never wanted anyone to get hurt…

But her team of ex-SOT rebels was dealt a near-fatal blow after their first assignment. It’s been two weeks and Crystal still cannot push away the pain of her team’s devastating loss until the support of a business coalition and news of new havoc that the SOT is wreaking in the country rekindles her hunger for the SOT’s downfall.

Crystal never wanted to fall for Juda…

Between masterminding missions and infiltrating nefarious meetings, Crystal doesn’t have time for her strange attraction to Juda. He’s not the right guy for her, and he never will be. But sometimes, it seems fighting the SOT is much easier than fighting her conflicted feelings for Juda.

All she wants is to find a weak spot in the SOT, see them crumble, and then get back to living a normal life. But nothing is ever straightforward. Is it?

***I had such a ball writing this book 🙂 ***

Random Info

I am doing really badly with my New Year’s reasolutions. One of them was to cut down on sugar, but I’m even worse than usual now, eating sweets all the time. Today I bought a pack of 15 macaroons (I’ve never bought macaroons before today!!!) and I’ve eaten 7 already. I can’t believe myself. I hope you’re doing better with your resolutions than I am. Not really sure why I felt the need to share that. I guess it’s bugging me, lol.

Anyway…

If you want to receive an email alert as soon as it’s out (or as soon as I publish anything) CLICK HERE to sign up.

God bless,

Dayo x

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Putting God First

Dayo Benson

number_1_godBecause writing is such a time consuming thing to do, I do it every spare moment I get. I have tight (self-inflicted) deadlines this year. I wasn’t going to share what I’m trying to do, but I’ve decided to just say. A book a month. That’s what 2015 is about. Whether I publish a book a month or not is another matter, but I just want to write a book a month.

Anyway, with that kind of schedule I have to push a lot of other things out of my life, but I have to be careful not to push out important things. Something that helped me is not writing on Sundays. I didn’t think this would help, but it was just an idea I had a few weeks ago. I decided that having a day to recuperate each week would be helpful. I figured I’d give it a try and see how it goes, so for a few weeks I’ve not written on Sunday. Instead I’ve spent the time that I would have spent writing praying.

You won’t believe how much this has helped me. I’m the kind of person that finds it hard to get back on track if I take a break, but I’ve been totally fine. In fact, after spending Sunday in prayer, including praying about my word count goals for the week, I’ve surpassed my goals.

I don’t want to be a spoiled Christian, so I didn’t go into it saying, ‘God if I give Sundays to You, then You have to do this or do that.’ I guess it would have been fine to do that, but I didn’t want to ask for anything in return. I don’t feel like the time I spend with Him on weekdays is really *quality* time, so I wanted to give Him Sundays out of love, out of wanting to be with Him because He’s awesome. So I went into it saying, “God I want to just spend quality time with You whether it helps or harms my word count.” I didn’t even want to care about my word count. But, guess what? I wrote a book in two weeks when I started setting Sunday aside for God.

I’m sure I will write on some Sundays in future, but I’m in the process of letting God change my plans if He wills. If I write a book a month and stray away from God because I’m not spending time with Him, that will be no good. I’d rather spend time with God and not meet my goal. As a Christian author it’s so important to me that I stay connected to God so that I please Him with my writing, and so that we’re just tight.

Life is so busy these days. When I was in my late teens and early twenties I was busy but my time was mine to spend as I pleased so I could plan my day without having anyone else to consider. I could pray, write, study, and sleep when I wanted. Now, time for morning prayers has to be balanced with the time it takes to get kids dressed and fed. Evening prayers have to be balanced with a husband that wants to tell me about his day. Writing used to come after God. Now it comes after God, the husband, and the kids.

But that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Have you ever struggled with putting God first?

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Passion

Dayo Benson

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life – Steve Jobs.

This morning I finished writing Unrest (Crystal 5). I managed it in two weeks and two days, although I initially gave myself a deadline of 28th February. I have literally been writing early in the morning and at every spare moment. This morning I asked myself why. Seriously, where does this drive come from? People have all kinds of passions. For some people it’s music, or art, or sports, or acting. But where does the passion come from? What compels us to do it?

Nobody has to tell me to write. I’m completely self motivated and I could do it all day, every day. My husband was talking to a friend last week lamenting about how he didn’t get any work done in the house because of our kids. His friend asked how I manage to write with the kids around, and my husband said ‘my wife can write even if there’s a hurricane tearing the house to bits.’ It made me laugh, but it wasn’t far from the truth. I’d probably hold on to my laptop and let the hurricane take the rest of my possessions.

The only explanation I can give for the overwhelming drive that motivates us and pushes us to do the things we love is that God builds it into us. I feel like writing is as much a part of me as anything else in my make up. God wires us all up for something.

When I was younger my parents tried to get me into science so that I could get a good science job ‘when I grow up’. I studied the sciences in school and did molecular biology with genetics at university, but it was a tug of war. Each day was a struggle. I got to a point where I actually became depressed. I felt like I was drifting. I hated it. To cope I would take a notebook to university with me and write stories while everyone else was taking notes about Nucleic Acids and Ribonuclease.

It wasn’t my passion. I was a square peg in a round hole. Just as you are if you’re making yourself do something you don’t want to do. Yes, we need to be responsible and sometimes we have to do things we don’t enjoy. But if all you do is things you don’t enjoy, you’re wasting your time. Like the Steve Jobs quote above says, your time is limited. Don’t waste it. Use it for what God created you to do.

God has given everyone a passion. Dig deep and explore yours. Writing novels takes time. It means I don’t have time to watch TV. I have to weigh up everything I do. I can write 1500 to 2000 words in an hour, so if I have the option of doing activity A for an hour I weigh it. Would I rather do activity A or add 2000 words to my work in progress? It might sound boring, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s what happens when your passion takes over.

God has a unique purpose for each of us. We just need to find it.

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).

P.S. Happy Valentines Day!

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Out Now: Insurrection (Crystal 3)

Dayo Benson

Insurrection_Amazon etcHappy Saturday!

Insurrection (Crystal 3) is out now. I hope you’ll check it out. If you haven’t started Crystal’s series yet, book 1, Searchlight, is currently free at all online retailers.

You can view my Pinterest board for this series here. It’s ‘in progress’ so if you see any pictures that you think I should pin to the board let me know. I’m looking for a picture that would suit Luke’s character. He’s probably the hardest to ‘cast’.

As always, if you’re reading this series, get in touch to let me know what you think. I’d appreciate your feedback.

**Get your copy of Insurrection (Crystal 3) at Amazon UK, Amazon US, iTunes & Smashwords

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Pinterest – Check out the Crystal Series Cast

Dayo Benson

CrystalSocial Media really isn’t one of my strong points. I have Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest accounts, but post only once in a blue moon. Ya’ll probably didn’t know I was on Pinterest, did you? I’m most active on Twitter, but I post book covers on Facebook, and I have started adding more pins on Pinterest. The picture on the right is the pin i chose for Crystal. I’m finding that I quite like Pinterest. The pictures of food…mmm. They make me salivate. It’s torture.

Anyway, I have 3 boards on Pinterest. Actually I have lots of boards, but only three of them are public. One of them is for my Crystal Series. It only has nine pins on it so far, but I’m going to try and add two pins a week. Let’s hope I do that, because I know I’m no good with social media. If you’ve already read Searchlight, feel free to check it out HERE. If you haven’t read the series, don’t look. Honestly, you need to form your own mental picture for each of the characters so please don’t look 🙂

***If anyone wants to add pins, let me know (dayo.benson@ymail.com) and I’ll give you access.***

I’m planning to do boards for all my other books too. The Beauty for Ashes Series will be hard as some people are in love with Jace Washington so I probably won’t be able to get someone that makes everyone happy, lol. Oh, and just to let you know, my boards are ‘safe.’ I cropped out washboard abs and the like. Faces only, ha ha.

Writing update

I finished writing Allies (Crystal 4) on Saturday morning. I was happy, but I didn’t get the rush I’ve gotten each time I’ve finished a book in the past. I was just like ‘next’ and created the file for the next book, which I started writing this morning. I want the rush back 🙁

Publishing update

I’m going to try and get Insurrection (Crystal 3) published sometime this week. Sorry for the delay.

Dayo xx

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Cover Reveal: Insurrection (Crystal 3)

Dayo Benson

InsurrectionOoh, I am loving this cover so much. I got it on Friday and I was so excited, but my weekend was really busy so I’ve only just managed to sit down to blog about it. It was my husband’s birthday yesterday so Saturday was spent getting his present (I need to stop leaving everything ’til the last minute), and I took him out yesterday. He says he enjoyed his day so I feel like I did a good job 🙂

Anyway, so back to Insurrection. It’s about Crystal and her team trying to bring down the SOT. If you’ve read Surrender (Crystal 2) you know who her team is.

I send my books out to a few people before I publish them, and they give me feedback, so I’ve been reviewing their notes on Insurrection. I’m shocked at how much my beta readers like Juda in book 3. Every one of them want Crystal and Juda to be together. I didn’t see that coming, since Juda is what he is and he does some pretty awful things in this book. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I thought people really wouldn’t like him. Here’s the synopsis for Insurrection (Crystal 3):

Crystal has survived eighteen months of trauma at the hands of the SOT. She now has two options: she can either fade into obscurity, or fight. She chooses to fight—along with her team of unlikely alliances. But as their plans come together, doubts are never far away. Can she really trust her team, or will they give up at the first hurdle? And, are they on a suicide mission, or can they really bring down the SOT?

I’m hoping to get it out before the end of the month. If you haven’t subscribed to my new-release list yet, Click Here so that you’ll be notified the minute it’s out.

If you would like to be one of my beta readers and read my books before they come out, send me an email (dayo.benson@ymail.com). You need to be good at spotting plot holes and pointing out things that need to be improved.

Blessings xx

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Happy 2015!

Dayo Benson

2015For some reason I’m really excited about 2015. I’m not quite sure why. I just like 2015 and feel like it’s going to be a great year 🙂

I’ve been thinking about my resolutions and what I want to achieve this year, and as usual I have so many things. I’m pretty private about my goals. I know some authors will write about all their goals on their blogs, but just the thought of doing that gives me chills. I will share a few of my goals though. Not just writing related ones.

Prayer

Last year, I didn’t do so well. Because I’ve been going to church for as long as I can remember, and I made my personal decision for God when I was nineteen, a day doesn’t pass when I don’t pray in some form. But I also set time aside to have more focused prayer. Last year I had a rough time in the first quarter of the year, even ending up in hospital in March, and after that I got stuck in a rut where my praying was more daily adhoc prayers rather than dedicated time. I felt horrible about this when I was taking stock a few weeks ago. I have to get back on track this year because prayer really is my sustenance. Occasionally I would set a day apart and tell my husband I’m praying, but still, it wasn’t good enough. I think daily dedicated time is best for me.

God is so faithful. He still inspires me even when I haven’t been faithful to Him or given Him priority in my life.

Writing

I’m the kind of person who likes to set aside large chunks of time to write. On a Monday and a Tuesday I can write for about eight hours each day. On a Saturday I can probably snatch four hours to myself to write while my husband and my eldest daughter go for the evangelism programme at church (I stay home with our youngest). This year, I’m going to try to write for two hours every day. The reason for this is, if something comes up on one of my heavy writing days I lose all that time and my word count for the week suffers. Also, it’s hard to stay in the ‘flow’ if I’m having a writing binge at the beginning of the week, then not writing again until Saturday. If I just write two hours a day, there’s no need for a binge, and I figure I can write almost a full book each month if I stick to two hours a day. (Although I love my eight hour writing sessions).

So, there are two of my goals. I have more spiritual and writing goals, as well as marriage/family goals and workout/diet goals. I’m not trying to lose weight (I just want to make that clear in case my mum or dad read this, ha ha. Mum thinks I’m too skinny). I’m just trying to be healthy because I eat too much junk i.e. sweets. I’m trying to stick to water and healthy snacks this year. I’m trying to be a good example on this for my kids too. I can’t really tell Rhema off for always eating sweets if she knows I keep a stash of mentos, chewits, haribos and lollipops 🙂

I also have a big birthday coming up this month so I’m evaluating my life and where I’m at. A few months ago I was dreading this birthday, but I’ve come to terms with it now and I’m looking forward to it. Partly because the husband and I have some cool plans. I’ll try to get Insurrection (Crystal 3) published this month. I’ll do a cover reveal soon.

What are your goals for 2015?

Dayo xx

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I can finally call myself a bestselling author!

Dayo Benson

Every author wants their book to be number 1. It’s like a reward for all your hard work, and it’s probably an ego thing too.

So, anyway, back in August I was updating my goals for this year. I rarely share my writing goals with anyone. I know some authors blog about theirs, but if a goal is really important to me I won’t tell a soul about it. I added a couple of goals to my list, and one of them was:

To make it to number one in the Christian Fiction category on Amazon (either UK or US) by December 2015
At first I wrote 2014, but then I thought that wasn’t realistic, so I changed the 4 to a 5. Well, obviously my words went straight from my lips to God’s ears because Surrender (Crystal 2) is number one in two of it’s categories on Amazon UK!!!

Surrender no.1 ranking bigger

And it has a cool little tag when it’s listed in search results that says ‘the no.1 bestseller.’

Surrender no.1 best seller bigger

It’s probably because I chose a different category for this book. I’ve put it under Christian YA. Maybe that’s not as competitive? The only big Christian YA author I know is Melody Carlson, and she’s so good at what she does. Anyway, I’ll be wearing a huge maniacal smile for the rest of today 🙂

I’ve been publishing independently since July 2011 and none of my books have ever been number 1 in their category. There is just too much competition, especially in Christian fiction where the big names are very well established and people don’t want to deviate from them because they represent the finest in Christian fiction.

Last year I had a bit of a wobble and thought I needed to be more like Karen Kingsbury and Francine Rivers, so I started my Pure Passion Series. I had a ball writing Lust, but by the time I was moving on to book 2 in the series, Bondage, my edginess (some may call it weirdness) was back and that book had violence, rituals and a cult. I had another series lined up, called the Restoration series, which is all about married couples. I started to write it and I just thought, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Again I was trying to be a hybrid of Kingsbury and Rivers, so I decided to leave that series for a while.

I’m still finding my feet as a writer, and not having a publisher means that I can write whatever I want. So, I will probably still try to imitate the big names in Christian fiction in future (after all, they are amazing and talented), but I will also do my own thing, too. Crystal’s series is my own thing. I’m just being me and writing what I want, and thankfully my readers are supporting it. You guys got Surrender to no.1 in its category, and I am so thrilled.

Christmas has definitely come early for me. I can now call myself a no.1 bestselling author 🙂

Dayo.

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