Happy Birthday, Rona Shively!

Today is a special day! Not only is it the birthday of my favorite character in the world, it is the day I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and publish the first chapter of the eleventh book in the series on Kindle Vella, The Harder They Fall! I struggled with the idea for a while, but then realized that there was no better way to get myself in gear than to just jump right in and start sharing. I realize that for those who’ve never read Rona, there will be some big spoilers in book 11, but I’m hoping it won’t deter them from going back to read the earlier books. Consider them a prequel to a new era for Rona. She’s 55 today, so why not throw caution to the wind?

It will be good to have her back! I’ll have the link for you soon. It’s being processed as we speak, so in the meantime, if you haven’t caught up on books one through ten, now would be a great time. All are available in the HGBM Shop, on Amazon, and on Audible! http://www.highergroundbooksandmedia.com/shop

P.S. – Wishing a very happy birthday to my aunts Betty & Bonnie today! Hope they have a wonderful day! Ladies like these inspire me to keep writing empowering stories like the Rona Shively Stories. Love you ladies!

Do you remember your first time?

Reading your favorite mystery novel, that is. What did you think I was talking about? Get your mind out of the gutter and join me as I talk about the first time I read a book by one of my favorite authors, Sue Grafton.

Back in the early nineties, I was working at a home for unruly children. There’s probably a better term for this, but at the time that’s what I called it. I worked the third shift and part of my duties included sitting in the back hall at night and making sure that the girls on the unit stayed in their rooms. I occasionally had to walk around and check each room to make sure that they were, in fact, sleeping and not hurting each other. For the most part, they behaved, so it was a fairly easy assignment. We were allowed to read while we sat in the back hall, since there was really nothing else to do. So, one night I grabbed a random book from the shelf in the office before venturing back to my post. The title was, simply enough, “B is for Burglar.” I thought it sounded fairly mild and that it wouldn’t require much thought on my part, so it seemed like a good choice. Little did I know that waiting for me beyond that cover were pages of a story that would inspire me to start writing my own mystery series.

It was around 1993 or ’94 and the book had been published in 1985. The author, was Sue Grafton. One of the reigning queens of mystery (in my opinion). And after reading this book, which was the second book in the series, I immediately went in search of the first book. And from there, I later read every single one up to the very last book Grafton published before she passed away in 2017. I read them in paperback and listened to the audiobooks throughout the years, sometimes several times over. They were comforting, in the way that old television reruns are a comfort. And when I needed inspiration or just motivation to keep going, listening to Kinsey Millhone work her way through a case without the help of the internet, cell phones, or other modern-day accoutrements was refreshing. It reminds me that anything is possible no matter what it may look like on the surface.

In 2006, I actually received some advice in a letter from Ms. Grafton. Unfortunately, it was not what you’d call uplifting. It was early in my writing career and I had stupidly sent her a copy of my first book, In the Wash: The Rona Shively Stories. She had read a few chapters and then decided to let me know that my work was substandard, in her opinion. I had been so hurt by her feedback that for a time, I couldn’t even look at her books for several years after that. In the letter, she made the snap judgement that my first attempt at a hard-boiled private eye novel was something I’d not taken seriously and implied that my motivation was simply to be published quickly and get famous. She decided this without knowing anything about me and I was so absolutely deflated by her comments that I nearly trashed the whole writing thing. But I knew that my motivation had never been anything so lame or pretentious as just wanting to be published or popular, so I decided to press on. She had no idea how many hours I’d spent in the library researching all of the pieces of the plot I’d put together in my head. She had no idea that I’d been discouraged from being a writer when I was still a teenager and that I’d only just picked it back up after nearly fifteen years of not writing. She had no idea that the birth of my first and only child had inspired me to try writing again. Or that reading her books was why I had decided to write a book in the first place. She just assumed that I was another of hundreds of amateur writers who would never put in the kind of time and energy she’d put into her novels. But she was wrong. She was an excellent author, but God rest her soul, she knew nothing about me, my personal struggles, or what kind of writing I was capable of and her criticism became the number one reason why I went on to write books two through ten of The Rona Shively Stories series.

Eventually, I did read the rest of her books, as I indicated above. I read the whole series and was always impressed by how she could weave a story together so vividly and with so much detail. She was an excellent writer and I’m truly sad that she did not get to finish the Kinsey Millhone series. It’s probably one of the greatest injustices a writer can suffer; leaving a great series unfinished. But no one will ever be able to write Kinsey like she wrote Kinsey. And no other author should want to do that. As authors, we should want to write our own characters in the way that we want to write them. And we should write unapologetically, using our experiences and the skills that God has given us to create stories of our own; stories that will speak to readers as no other author’s stories can. Her words may have ripped my heart out at the time (even if that wasn’t her intention), but in that pain I found what I needed to justify writing Rona the way I wanted to write her. She was my character and my characters don’t always know everything they need to know when they need to know it. My characters are on a journey, trying to figure out what it all means and why we bother.

Ultimately, Grafton’s words did motivate me to become a better author and to help others get their stories out there (hopefully without ever making them feel as low as I felt back then). I’ve always felt that there is more than enough room on the stage for all of us. Writers who have just started and writers who have been around a while. And I never saw the logic in making someone feel terrible about their writing if they had the courage to at least try it. Everyone has a story to tell; some may not be as exciting or endearing as others, but they don’t have to be. We can all learn from one another’s experiences and if someone wants to try and share those experiences in a book, what harm does it do to encourage them to do just that? As a publisher now, I always try to look at the stories I receive through the lens of someone who is looking for advice in whatever the subject mater area presented in a manuscript may be. Some are a fit for my company, some aren’t. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t serious about writing. Or that they shouldn’t bother. We can’t all be Sue Graftons or Lisa Scottolines or James Pattersons or Janet Evanoviches (pardon the pluralization on these). It would be ever so boring if we all were. I’d much rather be Rebecca Benston writing Rona Shively and reading all of these other great authors who have given me such inspiration and joy over the years. I think that’s how it’s supposed to be.

Rebecca Benston is the owner of Higher Ground Books & Media and the author of over twenty titles currently available through Amazon and other outlets. Her books include a mystery series (The Rona Shively Stories), empowerment resources such as Wise Up to Rise Up, Don’t Be Stupid (And I Mean That in the Nicest Way), and From Judgment to Jubilee, children’s books including Grumble D. Grumble Learns to Smile, All the Scary Things, and See How Strong You Are. Benston lives in Springfield, Ohio with her awesome daughter, Mya and enjoys traveling, reading, writing, and telling it like it is. She enjoys being able to help other authors get their stories out there through Higher Ground and has recently expanded her freelance services to offer more extensive guidance as a writing coach and social media manager. For more information, you can contact Benston at highergroundbooksandmedia@gmail.com.

Some end-of-year fun…

Well, another year has passed and circumstances have prevented me from finishing the next book in the Rona Shively Stories series. Fear not, it’s on the way. I just had a few minor personal catastrophes to deal with first. In the meantimes, I wanted to share something fun here. I know many people say that you shouldn’t do these things because hackers will get your personal information, but I assure you that there is no classified information contained in my answers. So, take a look at this comparison between my 47 year-old self and my 50 year-old self. Feel free to do your own A-Z assessment. 🙂

THE ABC’S OF ME! 🖤

My answers at 47My answers at 50
Age – 47
Bed size – Full
Cat’s name – No cat
Dog’s name – No dog
Essential start of your day – some sort of coffee…
Favorite color – PurpleHeight – 5′ 1”
Instruments you played – None
Job title – Publisher
Kids – One wonderful daughter
Last ate – Grilled cheese
Mom’s name – Brenda
Nickname – Beaker
Overnight hospital stays – Maybe four or five…
Pet peeves – People who don’t take time to think about what someone else may be going through.
Quote from a movie – “I wouldn’t say I’ve been missing it, Bob,” Office Space or “Looks like I picked the wrong day to quit smoking,” Airplane or anything similar to these.
Right or Left handed – Right
Siblings – Two sisters
TV – The Good Doctor, Grey’s, The Masked Singer, New Amsterdam
Underwear – Absolutely!
Vacation favorite – Grand Canyon/Las Vegas
Ways to relax – Writing
X-rays – A whole bunch of them…
Yummy food – Pizza, lasagna, eggplant parmesan
Zoo favorites – Lions, tigers, and…I don’t know…bears.













Age – 50
Bed size – Same bed
Cat’s name – Still no cat
Dog’s name – Still no dog
Essential start of your day – Coffee, just coffee
Favorite color – Purple
Height – 5′ 1”, but possibly shrinking.
Instruments you played – Still haven’t picked that up.
Job title – Publisher/Salary Administrator by day
Kids – One wonderful daughter
Last ate – Oatmeal
Mom’s name – Brenda
Nickname – Beaker
Overnight hospital stays – Maybe four or five…thankfully no more since then.
Pet peeves – I still don’t care for people who don’t take time to think about what someone else may be going through. However, I’m more annoyed by people who choose not to pay attention to the truth. People who bury their head in the sand and just let bad things happen rather than taking action to stop it.
Quote from a movie – “I wouldn’t say I’ve been missing it, Bob,” Office Space or “Looks like I picked the wrong day to quit smoking,” Airplane, “You know I don’t speak Spanish,” Ron Burgundy,  or anything similar to these.
Right or Left handed – Right
Siblings – Two sisters
TV – Various anime series and the occasional K-drama.  Fruits Basket, To Your Eternity, Death Note, All of Us Are Dead, Little Women, The Sound of Magic, etc. 
Underwear – Again, absolutely!
Vacation favorite – I do love the Grand Canyon/Las Vegas, but any vacation would be great at this point.
Ways to relax – What is that? Relaxing?
X-rays – None for a while now.
Yummy food – Pizza, lasagna, eggplant parmesan – though nothing is really tasting all that great these days.
Zoo favorites – Lions, tigers, and…I don’t know…bears. Why would I change this answer? It’s my favorite.

While you wait for the next Rona Shively Story, check out this new short fiction on Kindle Vella! I release it chapter by chapter, so there’s always something new to read! Remember to like and follow each story for regular updates!

End of Eternity – https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09YSXN5CQ

Redemption – https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09K53DYFT

A Great Work of Fiction – https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B092MH3W5G

Do you love music?

Long time, no see! Yes, I’m back. Like a bad penny. You just can’t get rid of me. I stole this meme from a Facebook group I’m in. I thought it would be fun to share with you and see if you had any insights. For me it would be When I Need You by Leo Sayer, Only Sixteen by Dr. Hook, Too Much Heaven by the Bee Gees…but there are many more. This doesn’t even begin to include the many songs I love by Prince, Merle Haggard, some bluegrass, lots of Hip-Hop, a few hair bands, several Christian artists, and lately, Japanese bands like The Oral Cigarettes, Omoinotake, and Vickeblanka. I’m kind of all over the place, but there’s no doubt that I do love music. 🙂 What song or songs made you love music? Or worse, what song or songs made you hate music?

Can we please just not?

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

There are some phrases that have crept into the social consciousness that seem to be the only thing that people know how to say these days…and it irritates the hell out of me. As I scroll through my Fakebook news feed, I have to sip on an Alka-Seltzer so that I don’t just vomit from the amount of ignorance and value-less drivel that I’m subjected to there. Ah, yes. I’m back…and with a vengeance! I decided that after taking a good deal of time off from blogging here, I would have to return with something that would contain a few zingers for you, starting with a few phrases that really just have to go. So, without further ado,

“This …… is everything!”

If you don’t already know what’s wrong with this phrase, please exit my blog immediately before you hurt yourself trying to figure it out. Obviously, to say that anything that is happening these days is “everything” is extremely trite and ridiculous. Of course, nothing is everything. And everything is nothing. And so on and so on.  If you use this phrase, please just don’t. Stop being such a drama queen and tell us why something is good. What would we like about it? Why do we absolutely have to check it out? You have to give me more than just a generic exclamation that a thing is “everything.” Because it’s not. It just isn’t.

“This is just fire!”

No…again…no. It isn’t. I swear, whenever I hear someone say this phrase, I want to run up on them like Will Smith charging the stage at the Oscars. Hope it wasn’t too soon for that one, but really, that’s how it makes me feel. Whatever it is, unless it is actual fire, it is not adequately described as “fire.” So, can we go with something else? It just sounds ridiculous, especially from grown folks.

“It’s delish.”

Us…It’s delish-us…or as normal people like to say, “It’s delicious.” Enough said.

“A whole nother.”

There really is no such thing. It is actually either a whole other or another. There is no nother. Nother isn’t a word. So, you can’t have a whole or even a half nother. Stop trying to.

“Going viral.”

I’m surprised that I even have to say this, but you would think that in these days where so many are terrified of a virus that the last thing anyone would willingly seek out is for anything to go viral. I think it’s just in poor taste and well, stupid.

As if the phrases weren’t enough, I have to include a bit of beef I have with the actual content that I have to weed through as I’m looking for something that resembles news each day. Here are some of the things I could do without on that front:

Anything that has to do with us absolutely needing to see or hear or know what the Kardashians are doing.

I simply don’t care. I don’t need to see headlines about this family every day. I don’t care who they are dating. I don’t care who they are not dating. I don’t care what they are wearing or what events they may be attending. I don’t care about their sex tapes or their lack of sex tapes. I don’t care about seeing them with or without their makeup or clothing. I just want to know what is really going on in the world and these people are in the way of my being able to get to that.

By the same token, please stop with the Megan Fox/Machine Gun Kelly pics and stories.

For as much as I don’t care about the Kardashians, I care even less about these two boobs. They always look constipated or otherwise hindered in any real emotional expression. Do these two actually do anything other than look morose and undernourished? Who knows? All I know is that I can’t get through a day’s news without seeing them roll through my field of vision. For the love of God, can we talk about something else?

Any celebrity’s take on sex, sexual positions, preferences, partners, etc.

Just ewwwww….

For now, I think this is enough. I would have said, “I’m just going to leave this right here,” but that is also on my list of phrases I can’t stand. It’s there with “let that sink in” and a few others that I have neither the time nor patience to crack open here. I’ll save it for my next rant…which is imminent.

Thanks for playing. Stop by again soon.

Hey, who turned out the lights?

It has been such a crazy year that I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I last posted here. I’ve been hard at work on a special treat! Rona 11 will be ready by the end of September and I can’t wait to share this one with you! Rona is once again tangled up in a pretty nasty case…much to her chagrin. She can’t even get away from the crazy when she’s semi-retired! Out of nowhere, a desperate employee contacts her for help in exposing her crooked employer and before she knows it, she’s neck-deep in fraud and mischief! A few new characters and some interesting twists make this Rona Shively Story one of the best yet! I can’t wait to share it with you, but in the meantime, be sure you’ve checked out the other ten stories so that you’re all caught up. All ten are now available on Audible and iTunes as well as in paperback and for Kindle!

You can pick them up here:

Amazon

HGBM Shop

Audible

Guess what?

Photo by Olya Kobruseva on Pexels.com

I’ve added a few things for you! It had been a little while since I last updated my blog here, so I took some time this week to add some new information about the books I’ve been writing. For a long time, I wrote only fiction. Over the last few years, however, I’ve been working on several different things. I’ve written a few children’s books, a few devotionals, and some empowerment resources. And there’s more on the way! I hope you will check out all of these cool books as well as those that are now available on audio.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Reading!

Rona is now on Audio!

For those who need to hear it, Rona Shively is now on audio-book! That’s right, books 1-7 are available now on Audible and iTunes! I’ll be sharing what I can here, so stay tuned! Also, we have a private group on FB for those who are signed up for our mailing list here, so once you sign up we’ll send you an invitation to join that group so that you can be in on the special information we share there about the series! Thanks for being here!

In the Wash: The Rona Shively Stories by Rebecca Benston, Narrated by Prinna Boudreau

We’re sharing a brief portion of In the Wash: The Rona Shively Stories here! You can purchase your copy at Audible.com.

Tell everybody: Rona’s back!

rona_logo_3

No, not that Rona. Rona Shively.  Your favorite P.I.  It’s okay to get excited.  It’s been a bit since I’ve written a Rona Shively Story.  In fact, the last story in the series was titled, “I Was Here,” and it was, admittedly, meant to be Rona’s last ride.  I was certain that I was ready to let her go and that she had served her purpose for my life.  That was just a few years ago; 2016 to be exact.  And although I was sure she had done everything I needed her to do, I was wrong.  As it turns out, she’s not quite ready to hang up her trench coat.

With all the craziness that’s going on in the world, Rona Shively has no choice but to jump back into the ring.  Her last battle left her so depleted that she checked out in the middle of a case and locked herself in her house until people left her alone.  It was a much-needed break and now that she’s feeling better about things, she is ready to get out and do something.  She’s ready to mix it up.  She’s ready to pick a fight.  Little does she know that her latest opponent is connected a bit more deeply than she could have anticipated.  Can she be David to this Goliath?  Will this be the case that sidelines her for good?

The Harder They Fall: The Rona Shively Stories will be out in Fall, 2020.  Keep watching the blog for details.  In the meantime, the first two Rona Shively stories are available on audio!  And two more are on the way.  Get caught up while you wait for the new book.  And if you haven’t read all ten books in the series, they’re available in the Higher Ground Books & Media Shop or on Amazon.

So why don’t you cry about it?

Rona Shively isn’t known for her relationship prowess.  She’s often been plagued by ridiculousness and until she met Garrett, she’d been involved with a number of unnecessarily difficult entanglements.  Her sister, Jane is worse.  She tends to pick the wrong guy even when ten of the right guys are lined up in front of her.  I mostly get my inspiration for these two and their romantic shenanigans from my own misfortunes in the dating arena.  Inevitably, there’s some guy out there who claims to want to date me and then decides, after disrupting my life with his overtures, that maybe, it just isn’t worth the hassle.  And then comes the lying, the backpedaling, the scheming, and ultimately…the ghosting.  The funniest part of it all is that they always think I don’t know what they are doing, but I ALWAYS know.  I only go along with it because it’s easier than starting a big argument.  I let it fizzle out and move on.  So, as I’m writing the next book in the Rona series, I’m enjoying giving these ladies the necessary backbone to head off the drama that comes with taking too long to call a spade a spade.  Instead of sitting and wringing her hands and wondering why her boyfriend hasn’t called, Jane goes out and picks a fight.  It’s hilarious and empowering…even for me.

Another thing that has given me motivation for writing these stories is watching TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy.   After this last week’s episode, I had more than enough fuel for the raging fire of disappointment, anger, and frustration that Jane is trying to fight.  Let’s see what she does with it.  I mean, really.  Who is the genius that decided it would be great to see one of our most beloved characters (Alex Karev) completely de-evolve and hop back into a shiny, happy relationship with the very woman (Izzie) that none of us could stand for the sake of two children whom he had no idea she’d made without him.   Come on, Shonda!  Alex isn’t that stupid or shallow anymore.  And we had all just gotten comfortable with the fact that we never had to hear about Izzie again…or at least I had.   All of the news articles that said we should expect tears as we watched the final “Alex” episode were just plain wrong.  I didn’t want to cry, I wanted to slap him.  And let’s not even start on how upset I was for Jo!  I see what you’re up to, Ms. Rhimes…and I just don’t like it.

It pains me to admit that I’m so invested in the characters on Grey’s, but it’s been a decent show for the most part.  So why not?  Why shouldn’t I be a fan? Or rather, why shouldn’t I have been a fan before this unfortunate showing last week?

The point is, when we love our characters we sometimes do some really stupid things to them.  Whether the motivation comes from having made our own mistakes or having studied the mistakes made by others, we get motivation from all sorts of places.  I can only hope that what I write will motivate someone else to take action in their life or at the very least, they will be so irritated with watching someone make a stupid mistake that they will try that much harder not to do the same.  So, I’m hoping that what I just witnessed on Grey’s will keep me from letting my characters do things that are completely against the character I’ve built up in them over the years.  Grey’s may be able to recover from pulling stunts like this, but I’m not sure Rona could.

Keep your eyes open for news about the next big Rona Shively Story.  I think you’re going to like it!