Dianna Torscher Benson is a 2011 Genesis Winner, a 2011 Genesis double Semi-Finalist, a 2010 Daphne de Maurier Finalist, and a 2007 Golden Palm Finalist. In 2012, she signed a nine-book contract with Ellechor Publishing House. She’s the author of The Hidden Son, her debut novel. Final Trimester is her second release.
After majoring in communications and a ten-year career as a travel agent, Dianna left the travel industry to earn her EMS degree. An EMT and a Haz-Mat and FEMA Operative since 2005, she loves the adrenaline rush of responding to medical emergencies and helping people in need. Her suspense novels about adventurous characters thrown into tremendous circumstances provide readers with a similar kind of rush.
Dianna lives in North Carolina with her husband and their three children.
Website: www.diannatbenson.com
Dianna was gracious enough to answer a few questions for me.
Hi Dianna,
Let's start with...
Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been writing? Why suspense?
For the best answer…view the WRITING page on my website: www.diannatbenson.com
I noticed Final Trimester is set in Myrtle Beach. I love coastal Carolina. How did you pick this setting? (We try to vacation in NC every year. We love Holden Beach.)
Myrtle Beach, SC is only three hours from my house in North Carolina, so we often visit the area. I love Holden Beach, Carolina Beach and Sunset Beach, which are all in the same area at the southernmost tip of North Carolina, but Final Trimester needed a large beach city setting and Myrtle fits that description. I know a few people who grew up in Myrtle (they now live in NC), and I learned from their personal perspectives what life is like as a Myrtle Beach resident. I enjoy Myrtle’s diverse options for dining, activities, etc., especially Broadway at the Beach. July 2001, while my husband and I (along with our three small children) were enjoying Broadway at the Beach with another family for the evening, a tornado formed over the ocean in the near distance. Ridiculous, but we four adults – and hundreds of others – stood there watching the funnel grow while it barreled on the beach, heading inland. The destructive nature was so beautiful it was easy to ignore my inner terror recognizing the danger. So we tagged-team with our friends, taking turns: Two adults stayed with our five kids inside a safe area in the IMAX Theater, while the other two adults watched the tornado outside. When a bolt of lightning struck the ground nearby, the hundreds of observers – us included – took cover inside. Myrtle sustained minimal damage from that tornado, but the events of that day inspired me to write a book with Myrtle as the setting.
Tell us a little about Final Trimester, Book One in the Quigley Triplets Series:
Paramedic Jodi Duncan recognizes the work of a serial killer before the Myrtle Beach PD even suspects a connection between the deaths of two pregnant women. Despite the vast differences in the two cases, Jodi urges Detective Nate Quigley to think outside the box. After digging deep into the separate investigations, Nate finds no evidence to support a serial killer theory, and he warns Jodi to back off police business, which only fuels her passion for the cases.
When a third pregnant woman is murdered, Nate is named lead detective on the case and works to link the deaths in order to unmask and stop the serial murderer, a disturbed man who believes God and the devil battle inside his head to bend him according to their wills. As he fights both voices, his interest fixates on Jodi when he discovers her obsession with ending his rampage.
Do you use some of your experiences as an EMT for your stories?
Being an EMT and a Haz-Mat and FEMA Operative for nearly a decade, I naturally integrate my firsthand medical and rescue knowledge and experience into all my books. The medical and EMS scenes I write are a combination of fictional and a ton of real-life EMS scenes I’ve worked throughout the years. The idea for the killer’s character in Final Trimester sprouted to development the first month I worked in EMS due to something I’d seen on an EMS call.
What would you like the reader to take away from this story?
Life is hard; relationships are super hard, but that’s that point – through our trials and tribulations, God is building our souls so when our flesh dies, our souls are developed to where God wants them to be for our life in eternity. In Final Trimester (and in all my books), I want readers to see how my characters don’t just “get through” or try to “get over” the difficult stuff in life; instead, my characters accept the pain difficult events in their lives cause and they move forward with a renewed sense of understanding in themselves, in life, and in God.
I saw you got a nine book contract with Ellechor Publishing House. Congratulations. What can we expect next from you?
I signed a nine-book contract in 2012. The Hidden Son, Book One in the Cayman Islands Trilogy, released March 2013. Final Trimester is my second release. Persephone’s Fugitive, Book Two in the Cayman Islands Trilogy, will release this November. Illusion of Safety, Book One in the MCI Series (Mass Casualty Incidents) will release in 2015. My fifth release will be the third and final book in the Cayman Islands Trilogy. I will release a new book once to twice a year from there.
What unique things can you tell us about yourself?
As a scuba diver, I’ve dove nearly 150 feet in the Caribbean Ocean in Grand Cayman. As a climber, I’ve reached the summits of thirty-three Fourteeners (in Colorado there are fifty-four mountains over fourteen thousand feet in elevation). In addition to scuba diving and climbing, I love to cycle and run. My father was a triathlete; he was killed in a bicycle accident when I was in high school. My oldest daughter competed at the 2012 US Olympic Swim Trials for a spot on the team that went to the 2012 Summer Games in London, but the Trials were only seven weeks after she endured scoliosis surgery (thirteen-inch spinal incision to insert two titanium rods and twelve screws), so she was unable to swim anywhere near her best.
Here's a blurb on Final Trimester:
Paramedic Jodi Duncan recognizes the work of a serial killer before the Myrtle Beach PD even suspects a connection between the deaths of two pregnant women. Despite the vast differences in the two cases, Jodi urges Detective Nate Quigley to think outside the box. After digging deep into the separate investigations, Nate finds no evidence to support a serial killer theory, and he warns Jodi to back off police business, which only fuels her passion for the cases.
When a third pregnant woman is murdered, Nate is named lead detective on the case and works to link the deaths in order to unmask and stop the serial murderer, a disturbed man who believes God and the devil battle inside his head to bend him according to their wills. As he fights both voices, his interest fixates on Jodi when he discovers her obsession with ending his rampage.
Where can we find Final Trimester?
My releases are available wherever books are sold. Below are the links to Final Trimester at the three biggest booksellers:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Books-A-Million
Here's a review by Heidi...
Grab your oxygen mask, you just might need it as you turn the pages of Dianna Benson’s latest novel, a fast paced and psychologically thrilling suspense story with an unexpected twist. In Final Trimester, a pregnant woman dies from an unknown cause, but this doesn’t sit well with EMT, Jodi Duncan. So she contacts Nate Quigley, a local police officer, with her concerns. Together, Duncan and Quigley unravel a sordid string of serial slayings of pregnant women. With a hurricane looming, Duncan races to stop the serial killer—a twisted villain with an arsenal of disguises at his disposal—before he can claim Duncan as his next victim. Though a dark tale at times, the story contains elements of hope and faith and points readers toward the Light (of the World).
This book should appeal to fiction readers of all ages, especially those who enjoy suspense novels and thrillers.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review; however, I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.
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Good interview, Jackie. Dianna, I enjoyed reading about you. The book looks very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jeff and Becky, for reading and for your kind comment. All my best, Dianna
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure getting to know Dianna and to work with her on this interview.
ReplyDeletePre-orders for the print book of Final Trimester are available wherever books are sold. The e-Book format on Kindle and Nook is available now. The print book releases June 19. I enjoyed my time here on Sleuths and Suspects. Thank you, Jackie, for the interview, and thank you, Heidi, for your kind review.
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