Laura Benedict

Female

United States

Profile Information:

Hometown:
cincinnati and louisville
About Me:
Still a thriller writer-chick. My second novel, Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts, is now available from Ballantine Books and Brilliance audio. I also co-edit Surreal South, a series anthology of short fiction, with my husband, writer Pinckney Benedict. My work as appeared in EQMM and other anthologies. I occasionally still review books for The Grand Rapids Press in Michigan. I live in Carbondale, IL, which is nowhere near Chicago. I hope you'll check out my website to learn more about me and my work--also my blog, Notes From the Handbasket. Thanks for visiting my page!
I Am A:
Writer
Website:
http://www.laurabenedict.com
Books And Authors I Like:
Joyce Carol Oates, Patricia Highsmith, Dean Koontz, Oscar Wilde, Angela Carter, Stephen King, Fay Weldon, Allison Brennan, CJ Lyons, Kelli Stanley, Jordan Dane, Lee Child, Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson, Dashiell Hammett, Neil Gaiman, all the Brontes, that clever person who wrote Beowulf...so many more!
Movies And TV Shows I Like:
Dexter, The Tudors, Rebecca, Project Runway, Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Cinderella (Korean Horror Film), The Abandoned, Dirty Jobs, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Audrey Rose, Rosemary's Baby (do I see a flora theme here?)...again so many more.

Comment Wall:

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  • Laura Benedict

    I knew that "bottom of the pile" comment was going to get me into trouble!

    Mar 19, 2007

  • Thomas O'Callaghan

    Hi Laura! Thanks for the add. Nice to meet you, too. Carbondale? Did someone say Carbondale?

    Mar 20, 2007

  • Thomas O'Callaghan

    I don't believe you should fret about being in Carbondale. Unless, of course, it's the Carbondale in New York where I've set a good portion of my next book. Damn! I shoulda' paid more attention in Geography class. In what state is your Carbondale?

    Mar 21, 2007

  • Tim Maleeny

    Hey Laura. I love your dog's name, though I have no idea how to pronounce it.

    Mar 21, 2007

  • Brian Thornton

    Any woman married to a fellow with a distinguished old southern name like "Pinkney" is A-OK in my book, Laura. My dad's family is from Arkansas and he wanted to name my brother "Theron," another fine southern name, until my mom pointed at that with a name like "Theron Thornton," the kid would need therapy by the time he hit junior high school. So they settled on "Paul." Speaking of names, "Hrothgar" is cool, too. Nice to see the whole "Beowulf" crowd represented! Congratulations on your success so far, and wishes for continued hoopla and fanfare on your behalf!

    Mar 23, 2007

  • Morgan Mandel

    I take the train to get downtown. I'm a lousy driver.
    Morgan

    Mar 24, 2007

  • Thomas O'Callaghan

    Hi again, Laura! My friend in Carbondale. A read on a "now" mutual friend's chatterwall that you profess to be a chronic enabler. Great! Just what I need. Here I am, a chronic procrastinator, inside crimespace, where there's a bar. If you find me sidled up on a stool, I'm counting on you to tell the barkeep to cut me off the first time I say martoonie. Please!

    Mar 26, 2007

  • Pari Noskin Taichert

    Is that a black lab? We've got a yellow one. Six degrees of doggie separation.

    Mar 26, 2007

  • Simon Wood

    Yo, yourself. :-)

    Mar 27, 2007

  • Newt Love

    Web friends like you make cyberspace fun!

    Mar 28, 2007

  • Evelyn David

    Hi - Many thanks for the warm welcome and good wishes for "Murder Off the Books." Love your dog's name. What's the origin? I confess that my dog, Clio, is more than a tad miffed that she's not on the cover of the book!
    Your publishing year sounds BUSY! Congrats on all your projects.
    And by Rebecca, do you mean the original Laurence Olivier/Joan Fontaine movie and, of course, the book? I was literally skimming it again when I was in a bookstore on Saturday!
    Evelyn

    Mar 29, 2007

  • Newt Love

    Hey! Good luck on ISABELLA MOON. Ballentine's a good house! I just got my 1st book published (two more under contract after that). Today, I saw my sales rank jump! Books are selling! After 15 years of hard work, I'm going to make a dollar or two. I hope you sell many thousands of copies of ISABELLA MOON!

    Mar 30, 2007

  • Evelyn David

    I too wish I could write like DuMaurier.

    Talk about the power of the book. My daughter's third grade teacher was an avid reader. Always had a book in her hand - and instilled that in her students. She told me that she never read a book until she was 29 - and it was Rebecca! She so loved the book that it literally sparked her interest in reading.

    Mar 30, 2007

  • Rhonda

    Hi and thank you for the invite

    Mar 31, 2007

  • Lori

    A dog named Hrothgar...love it! Hopefully, he is not man-eating. Thanks for the friend add.

    Apr 2, 2007

  • James

    Hi Laura, thanks for the friend-add!

    Apr 3, 2007

  • Miss DaMeaner

    Thanks for recommending JCO's/Rosamond Smith's Double Delight. Bad girls are my fave. But I still don't see why you don't like orange when as anyone can see, it goes so well with my tan and Parisians think it's chic. Oh well. No accounting for taste (just ask Jeffrey Dahmer or maybe Hannibal the Cannibal). Thanks again for the advice and Cheers!

    Apr 6, 2007

  • RJ

    Have a great weekend & thanks for friending on myspace! I look forward to talking to you soon!
    Have a great weekend.

    Apr 6, 2007

  • Dennis Venter

    Hi Laura, thanks for the befriending. Love the sound of Isabella Moon. Look forward to it reaching our shores.

    Apr 7, 2007

  • Patti McCoy Jacob

    My ladybug wings are delightful?

    Um... what ladybug wings???

    Okay, I just went to your website and watched the trailer for your book. Gonna need to sleep with the lights on tonight, thank you very much. Seriously, Laura, I look forward to reading Isabella Moon come September.

    Cheers,
    Patti

    Apr 10, 2007

  • Patti McCoy Jacob

    Oh yeah, and The Other? Oh my gosh, what a deliciously creepy film. That and The Nanny, but the bathtub drowning scene was too disturbing for me to list it as a favorite. However, for years I was nervous about opening closed shower curtains to take a shower or bath for fear of what I would find.

    Don't worry - I did bathe. I just made my mom give me the all clear before entering the tub.

    Apr 10, 2007

  • Patricia

    Laura, nice to meet you also..been reading your posts on the forum and visited your website..very neat site and your book sounds right up my alley.

    Apr 13, 2007

  • Patricia

    Well...really as a reader that is why I am here...to meet with old friends and make new ones...The Devil's Redhead is a great read..I have 50pages left...and I want to wait to savour the last bit when I have the time to read it properly and way too many things to do today and no time till later to read.

    Apr 13, 2007

  • LJ Roberts

    Hi Laura,

    My original copy of Jane Eyre is definitely ragged but still hanging in there. Of course, that's no longer the copy I read. It was the beginning of my love for buying books. After all, I just might want to read it at 3 a.m.

    Apr 13, 2007

  • Michael W. Sherer

    Thanks for the chatter. Hope your book sells smashingly.

    Apr 14, 2007

  • Simon Spurrier

    Hi Laura - thanks so much for the add. And best of luck with the novel: I'll be keeping my eyes open for it on this side of the pond.

    Apr 16, 2007

  • Kevin Helmold

    Hi Laura,
    It's always nice to meet another novelist from Illinois. Do you get to Chicago often?
    Good luck with your new book.

    Apr 16, 2007

  • Donna Moore

    Hi Laura - thanks for the chatter - nice to see you!

    May 2, 2007

  • Kate Pepper

    Laura, I love the US book jacket for Isabella Moon!

    May 2, 2007

  • Anne Brooke

    Nice to see you here too, Laura - and thanks for the add! Hugs!

    A
    xxx

    May 3, 2007

  • Tom Cain

    I'd be thrilled to join your friends-list. What man in his right man would say no to a beautiful blonde with a black labrador and an international book deal? Let's hope we meet on that New York Times list next year!

    May 26, 2007

  • Alafair Burke

    Thanks for introducing yourself (and thank the heavens for Sarah Weinman!).

    May 30, 2007

  • Amanda Stevens

    I thought the original guy was funnier on MST, but it's still great.

    Jun 3, 2007

  • Karyn J. Powers

    I came to SIU after five years as a civilian in Morale, Welfare and Recreation for the US military. My last two years were in Iceland (where a temperature of 50 degrees meant women took their shirts off and sunned in their bras and skirts at lunch) I started at SIU in August. It was 100 degrees and 100% humididty, w/out rain. I slogged through that month and the fall, feeling like I was stuck in a perpetual monsoon of perspiration.

    Jun 6, 2007

  • Karyn J. Powers

    It was nice to wear shorts in December, though.

    Jun 6, 2007

  • Babe King

    Hang in there, Laura. When we're deeply into our characters and give them a true black moment, it always wrenches at our hearts. That's often when we write our best stuff, when it is almost too painful to go to the keyboard.
    and thanks for dropping by. :-)

    Jun 15, 2007

  • Amanda Stevens

    Thanks, Laura! I haven't been on here much, either. My July 15 deadline is coming way too fast. I'm glad you like my trailer, but you have upped the bar with yours!
    Amanda

    Jul 1, 2007

  • Robert Fate

    Hey, Benedict - whazup?

    Jul 17, 2007

  • Scarlett Dean

    Nice to hear from you Laura!
    Let's keep in touch.

    Jul 21, 2007

  • Jeannie Holmes

    Hi, Laura

    Glad to see you made it back safely as well. I really enjoyed the paranormal panel at ThrillerFest. I only wish I'd been able to hang around and talk for a bit afterwards, but I was needed elsewhere. However, I did pick up a copy of your book, and I'm looking forward to reading it soon. It sounds great!

    Thanks for the friendship here and on MySpace. :)

    J. K.

    Jul 23, 2007

  • Cornelia Read

    Hey there, thanks for the Anthony congrats, Laura! Hope all is going great for you....

    Jul 28, 2007

  • Tom Barclay

    Yeah - we became ballroom dancing enthusiasts just a little too late in life, but we do enjoy watching people improve from week to week - I'm always looking at the musicality, Mary Lynn is always looking at the wardrobe.

    When I was at Actuality Productions in Santa Monica, we shared the floor with America's Next Top Model's production office and staff. What's Her Name (the host) is rude and Klum can't be bothered with basic civility. Not impressive.

    Mary Lynn is doing garment and accessory design, now, so she watches Next Top Designer - but it's no news that talent and good manners are often exclusive of each other.

    Aug 6, 2007

  • Tom Barclay

    When I think of something better for an avatar . . .

    Tolkien's elves and the Icelandic Saga elves are tall, but even that would be relative. You would have been tall during the Medieval and Rennaissance; and I always thought you somewhat elfin, especially when your hair was so short.

    Honestly . . . some people can't take a compliment, or even a metaphor.

    Aug 13, 2007

  • Rick Mofina

    Much appreciated Laura.
    Rick

    Aug 22, 2007

  • Robin Burcell

    You're a better woman than I, Laura! I just now cleaned off my desk and found my Thrillerfest name badge holder, where I've stuffed all my collected cards, thinking: yeah, I should get to that soon.

    So, back at you! Great to meet you, and I enjoyed your panel as well.

    Best,
    Robin

    Aug 22, 2007

  • joe miller

    Laura,
    I'm new to the site and saw your profile.
    I'm working on a RS project. Hrothgar reminds me of my Lab Hank.

    Check out my fan club... All three of them, Hank, Gracie, & Daisey...LOL

    Joe

    Aug 24, 2007

  • ITW Debut Authors - First Kill

    I got you added to our page, Madonna. (Like a virgin...pubbed for the very first time) Sing it with me.

    Sep 10, 2007

  • ITW Debut Authors - First Kill

    Unfortunately...I CAN hear you...from here.

    Sep 10, 2007

  • Kelli Stanley

    Hey, Laura-Girl!

    We are going to have a blast, whatever brand of bubbly we decide on!! :)

    (I might even start getting primed for it now--should make the airport a more pleasant experience!) ;)

    See you soon!

    Kelli

    Sep 23, 2007

  • jedidiah ayres

    Great to see you the other night. Mr. Lonely Hearts is some spooky shit.

    Jan 16, 2009