Benevolent By Erin A. Jensen

Please welcome Erin A. Jensen author of Benevolent

Erin A. Jensen will be awarding $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Benevolent

by Erin A. Jensen

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GENRE: Fantasy

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INTERVIEW:

What or who inspired you to start writing?

The first time it crossed my mind, I was reading an interview with Stephen King. He said he never got bored because he could make up stories that played out like movies in his head. My mind works in a similar way, which made me wonder if I’d be any good at writing. Years later, I was reading The Purpose Driven Lifeby Rick Warren. In it, he says that we all have hidden talents and he suggests trying new things to discover yours. I can’t explain why, but my take away from that was maybe I’ll try writing a book. When I mentioned it to my husband, he encouraged me to go for it. If it wasn’t for all his support, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

Well, I’ve always loved angels. When I was little my parents would take me and my siblings to a Christmas store near my aunt’s house every year and let us each pick out an ornament, and I always picked an angel. Now, every year my husband and sons buy me angel figurines or ornaments for Christmas. So I guess it was inevitable that I’d fall in love with the first angel to saunter onto Supernaturalwith an incredibly bad ass entrance. Last year the angel my husband bought me for Christmas was a Castiel Funko Pop figure that sits on my writing desk. I don’t know why they don’t make Castiel Christmas ornaments. But if they ever come out with one, I’ll be the first to buy it.

If you could be one of the characters from any of your books, who would it be and why?

I’d be a character from my Dream Waters Series, but I can’t say who or why without giving away spoilers. Aside from that, I’d have to say Abigail. She gets nightly visits from her guardian angel, who looks and acts like Castiel from Supernatural. That’s enough of a reason for me.

If you were the casting director for the film version of your novel, who would play your leading roles?

I could tell you my entire dream cast for The Dream Waters books, but Benevolentis different. Obviously I’d want Misha Collins (who plays Castiel on Supernatural) to play Abigail’s guardian angel, since he appears to her in Castiel’s likeness. But I purposely shared very little detail about Abigail’s appearance because I wanted every reader to be able to put themselves in her place when they read the story. If I made her a certain weight, or height, or ethnicity, not everyone could identify with her. I don’t want to give her a face until somebody comes knocking on my door to buy the movie or television rights.

Do you outline your books or just start writing?

I do a little of both. I jot down each scene I plan to include on an index card. That gives me lots of flexibility because I can rearrange the order of the scenes and add or remove cards depending on what turns the story takes. Sometimes what ends up on the page is very different than what I originally had planned. I know it sounds crazy, but well developed characters really do have minds of their own. There are plenty of times when I plan for them to head in one direction but when I sit down to write, they take a different path. More often than not, that leads somewhere better than I originally intended.

Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plots of your books?

I enjoy reading, and I believe that makes me a better storyteller. One of the best pieces of writing advice I ever got was to branch out and read genres outside of my own. Reading different types of fiction gives me more tools to add to my writer’s toolbox. Mysteries and thrillers sharpen my ability to surprise and thrill readers. Nonfiction expands my knowledge on subjects that might end up in a story. And reading erotica helped me become comfortable writing the “adult scenes” that shocked the people who knew me in real life when my first book came out. Watching movies and television helps me with character development. The faces I give my characters often belong to actors from whatever show I’ve watched recently. Hiking is another favorite pastime, and it’s inspired several of the landscapes in my books. Several of the massive waterfalls and forests in my Dream World were inspired by areas I’ve hiked.

Have you started your next project? Can you share a little bit about your book?

My current project is the fourth book in my Dream Waters Series. This won’t mean much to readers who haven’t read the first three books, but I can tell you a little about Dream Fragments (Book Four of the Dream Waters Series). You’ll learn more about Charlie, Tristan and Godric’s backstories. A few new characters will be introduced, and we venture into areas of the Dream World readers have never visited before.

Who is your favorite actor and actress?

My favorites change based on what I’m currently watching. If you’re asking about a favorite actor — on and off screen — I’d have to say Misha Collins. He’s used his fame to do an enormous amount of good in the world, and I adore his performance as Castiel on Supernatural. Jason Isaacs is another favorite. He inspired one of the main characters in my Dream Waters Series. James McAvoy is a more recent favorite. I was blown away by his performance in Split and Glass. I became mildly obsessed after looking him up on IMDB and realizing he played the male lead in Atonement — an older, tragically romantic movie with phenomenal chemistry and a pretty unforgettable library scene. After watching one of his interviews and hearing his Scottish accent, I cast him in the role (in my mind) of a new character who’s introduced in Dream Fragments. Keira Knightly springs to mind as a favorite actress (probably because I just mentioned Atonement). Amanda Seyfried and Zooey Deschanel are a couple more.

Can you tell us a little bit about what it’s like to write a series?

I’ve always loved reading a good series. Going back to characters you’ve come to know and love feels like visiting old friends. As a writer, spreading a story over multiple books allows me to delve into characters’ backstories and provides lots of opportunity for character development.

Anything else you might want to add?

Just a thanks to all the readers who’ve helped spread the word about Benevolentby leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads, sharing my posts on social media and telling their friends about the book. Every book sale helps to make this world a better place because every penny of Benevolent’s net proceeds goes to Random Acts.

BLURB:

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.

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EXCERPT:

I shuffled across the room with a heavy heart, crawled into bed and cried myself to sleep, aching in the knowledge that I’d most likely wake in a world that my friend no longer inhabited.

That was the first night that he ever came to me in a dream.

“Would you like to say your goodbyes now, Abigail?” a male voice inquired from the foot of my bed.

A deep male voice—rousing me from sleep in the middle of the night—probably should’ve terrified me, but it didn’t because this man’s voice was a familiar comfort.

I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, which was pointless since I was obviously still dreaming. There at the foot of my bed, stood my favorite television angel, dressed in a button-down shirt, crooked necktie, and that iconic trench coat of his. He was beautiful, flawless bone structure, stylishly mussed-up hair, and piercing blue eyes that looked far too wise to belong to this man at the peak of physical perfection.

I blinked my eyes a few times to reboot my senses, but he still stood there waiting for an answer. “Castiel?” I muttered in a groggy whisper, “Am I dreaming?”

He smiled at me with more compassion than I’d ever witnessed in any human set of eyes. “Yes. You are, but that doesn’t make this any less real.”

“I’ve lost my mind,” I muttered as my eyes filled with tears. “My best friend is dying and I’m sitting on my bed, talking to a fictional angel.”

His brilliant blue eyes brimmed with sorrow as he shook his head. “You are talking to a real angel. I chose this form because the fictional angel is a comfort to you.”

I blinked my eyes a few more times, expecting him to be gone each time my eyelids lifted. “What?”

His apologetic frown did nothing to detract from his beauty. “There isn’t much time to explain, Abigail. Danny is not long for this world, and I know how much he means to you. His mother is wrong to deny you the opportunity to say goodbye.”

“How would we get there?” I muttered, ignoring the way my heart ached at the angel’s words. If I focused on that pain, I would fall apart, this dream would morph into something nightmarish, and I’d lose this imaginary chance to see my friend one last time. “I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to leave the house with strange men who slip into my bedroom in the middle of the night.”

“I’m not a man,” he whispered as he touched a hand to my foot.

The instant he touched me, my room melted away and I found myself sitting on Danny’s hospital bed.

My eyes filled with tears at the sight of all the tubes and wires connected to my friend’s brittle body. I looked up and felt comforted by the angel’s presence.

“He can hear you,” the angel standing beside the bed whispered.

“Danny,” I croaked as I slid closer to him, “it’s me, Abigail.”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

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 awards. 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.

Website:          Erinajensen.com

Blog:                blog.erinajensen.com

Twitter:            twitter.com/erinajensen?lang=en

Facebook:       facebook.com/erin.jensen.756

Buy Links

Amazon:                      amazon.com/dp/B07NCFGFCV

Barnes & Noble:          barnesandnoble.com/w/benevolent-erin-a-jensen/1132005681

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Erin A. Jensen will be awarding $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Please use this rafflecopter code on your post:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3111