Recently, I interviewed Dianna T. Benson.
Dianna T. Benson is the
award-winning and international bestselling author of The Hidden Son and Final
Trimester. Persephone’s Fugitive
is her third release. An EMT and a HazMat and FEMA Operative since 2005, Dianna
authentically implements her medical and rescue experience and knowledge into
all her suspense novels. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and their
three children. www.diannatbenson.com
What made you want to become a writer?
I was in fifth grade the day President Reagan was
shot. From that real event that day, I developed all sorts of fictional
scenes and dialogue, something I did on a continual basis daily. When I
asked friends and teachers what scenes and stories they created because of the
attempted assassination, none of them had a clue what I was talking about.
At that moment, I realized I was the only person I knew who did this sort
of thing every day.
As time passed I recognized my zeal to write suspense novels,
and like my respiratory system inhales and exhales, each day throughout
the day my mind instinctively creates scenes and dialogue, always suspenseful
in nature. Being an EMT, being a mom, and being blessed with this writer brain,
the stories never stop flowing. Developing a good story, however, is where the
real writing occurs. Fortunately, I love the arduous revision process, as it is
where I take my shell of a story and make it worth reading (hopefully).
Tell me about your latest release.
Persephone’s Fugitive,
Book Two in the Cayman Islands Trilogy
When a routine 911
call turns deadly, Paramedic Sara Dyer finds herself held at gunpoint
by Jason Keegan, an injured psych-ward patient charged with murder. The
situation spirals out of Sara’s control when the confrontation
becomes a tense standoff between Keegan and the Royal Cayman Islands
Police Service.
As
Keegan’s hostage, Sara fights to save them both before
he blows them up. She realizes his warning to the Cayman police is no
empty threat since he’d rather die than spend the rest of his life in
a prison cell. Sara soon discovers Keegan is just as determined to survive
as she is - provided he can escape Grand Cayman and disappear forever. As she struggles to
trust in God’s protection, help from an atheist turns her struggle into a
lure away from her faith.
Your latest release is based on a true story. How can fans
find out more about the true story on which the novel is based?
With HIPPA and other privacy laws,
I’m unable to reveal the true story about that day during one of my EMS shifts.
But I can share that on one of our calls that day, my partner and I were
treating and transporting a handcuffed and injured psych-ward patient to the ED
(Emergency Department), and per protocol, a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) was escorting
him. I can thankfully report that no one was injured and the situation ended
well and quickly—not the makings for good fiction; however, my writer brain visualized
the possibilities in that situation and took off writing a fictional story,
thus Persephone’s Fugitive was born.
How many books have you written?
The Hidden Son
(released 2013) is my fifth completed book—I signed with my first agent in 2007
with this book. Final Trimester (released
2014) is my sixth. Persephone’s Fugitive
is my seventh. I’m currently writing my next book. Someday I may revise at
least one of my first four completed books. I also started writing an Amish
suspense trilogy and a western suspense trilogy, but neither the Amish nor
western genres fit my writing voice.
How can fans connect with you?
All my books are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble,
Books-A-Million, etc. (anywhere books are sold).
I’m on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – all the links are
on my website.
If interested in viewing the book trailer to Persephone’s Fugitive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyn2vxPh8zE
Thank you for featuring my
newest release, Persephone’s Fugitive.
I enjoyed my time here on Sleuths and Suspects.
Persephone’s Fugitive
Book
Two
Cayman
Islands Trilogy
By
Dianna T. Benson
***
SPOILER ALERT ***
Reading Persephone’s Fugitive
(including the book blurb) before The
Hidden Son (Book One in the Cayman Islands Trilogy) will ruin the ending of
The Hidden Son. However, both books
are standalones.
When a routine 911 call turns deadly, Paramedic
Sara Dyer finds herself held at gunpoint by Jason Keegan, an injured
psych-ward patient charged with murder. The situation spirals out of
Sara’s control when the confrontation becomes a
tense standoff between Keegan and the Royal Cayman Islands Police
Service.
As Keegan’s hostage, Sara fights
to save them both before he blows them up. She realizes his warning to the
Cayman police is no empty threat since he’d rather die than spend the rest
of his life in a prison cell. Sara soon discovers Keegan is just as
determined to survive as she is - provided he can escape Grand Cayman and
disappear forever. As she struggles to trust in God’s protection, help
from an atheist turns her struggle into a lure away from her faith.
Hyperlinks for Persephone’s Fugitive
Nice interview, Heidi. Love getting to learn more about other suspense writers!
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