Blog Tour: A Buzzar Twist By: Jeff Bennington + Giveaway Opp!
May 10, 2011
By Jeff Bennington
I love writing thrillers. The suspense, the fear factor, the chase and the excitement make it not only enjoyable reading, and fun to write. For me, what really makes writing exciting is the twist. And if I can come up with more than one twist…even better!
When I set out to write Reunion, my supernatural thriller, I had a basic outline of what I wanted to accomplish, but there were no twists—zilch, zero, nada. I had planned for several frightening moments, and key figures that would bring valuable and necessary information, but I didn’t have a twist; you know, the kind that throws you on the floor so hard that your ribs hurt for a week.
It was halfway into the rough draft when two major twists wrapped themselves around my head and squeezed until I agreed to install them. As you can imagine, it took very little coercion on their part because I loved the ideas. I can’t tell you what they are for obvious reasons, but if you’ve read any of my reviews you know that there’s a twist about two thirds of the way through that has floored my readers. And that is so exciting! That is the ultimate rush for me as a writer. Knowing that I not only creeped out my readers, thrilled them with the suspense, and made them fall in love with the cast would’ve been enough. But the twist seems to be the thing that clutched the victory, the five star reviews and the buzz.
It’s the buzz that is the real accomplishment. Why? Because I would probably sell a few copies if the book was good. I’d sell a few more if it was excellent. But if a book creates buzz…if people talk about it when they finish reading…if they start recommending a book because they are so excited about it…then you have created buzz. And that’s what I’m starting to see. As a newer author, it’s encouraging to know that people are talking about my book and referring it to other readers. In fact, I went on a trip to Ohio this last weekend to attend a book signing/wine tasting and I ran into the most interesting person.
Her name is Liz.
Here’s what happened… I stood behind my stack of books, signing copies for the curious readaholics as they waited to fill their thirsty wine glasses. The line moved forward and one of the guests lifted up my book and began thumbing through it with a curious look in her eyes. When she lifted her head, she looked at me and said, “My reading group is planning on reading this in June.” I stammered through my words for a moment until I finally said, “R-really?” Her comment totally took me off guard. “How?” I asked. “I mean, who’s idea was that?” I needed to know who the point person was. I needed to know which of the members found my book and recommended it to their club. She couldn’t remember. I rattled off a few names of people I knew in the area, but none of them rang a bell.
“No big deal,” I said, and then I had my wife take a picture of the two of us so she could show off to her reading group!
In truth, sales don’t matter as much to me as I thought they would. What matters is, that the book is starting to create a buzz, selling by word-of-mouth. What’s funny is, the thing that seems to come up in most of the reviews is the tWisT…the buzzar twist. And no, I’m not spelling that wrong. Buzzar. It’s my word for a twist that generates buzz. And that’s what’s happening with Reunion.
Are you ready for the twist in Reunion? I hope so. Check out my reviews at Goodreads and Amazon and then go get your own copy. You’ll be glad you did. And be sure to comment and follow Jo Jo’s Book Corner!
Author of Reunion and the blog, The Writing Bomb
Print: http://www.amazon.com/REUNION-Jeff-Bennington/dp/0615450865/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
Nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/REUNION/Jeff-Bennington/e/2940012369024
The Writing Bomb: http://thewritingbomb.blogspot.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10803673-reunion
Follow the REUNION Blog Tour and WIN a FREE KINDLE!
Contest Rules:
#1. Buy REUNION and email your receipt to reunion.kindlegiveaway@yahoo.com by May 13th.
#2. Comment on one or more blogs on the REUNION Blog Tour.
I'll video the drawing and have one of my children pick the winner. The video will be posted on my blog, The Writing Bomb on May 15th. Good luck!
To Win a Signed Copy on May 15th, Click the Cover to the Right -------HERE
REUNION BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE
Be sure to visit as many blog stops as possible. Read the different interviews and each unique guest post that pertain to the characters, the supernatural, what went into to writing REUNION, etc, etc, etc. I can't wait to see you there! - Jeff
Please visit Jeff's Website for all the links for the below Tour stops:
http://www.jeffbennington.com/#!blog-tour---contest
April
1 - Candace's Book Blog - "The Story behind the Story." (REUNION available to eReaders.)
2 - The Cajun Book Lady - "Meet the Survivors."
3 - Julia Madeleine's Blog - "Why write fiction about a school shooting?"
4 - Bewitched Book Worms - "Why ghosts make great antagonists."
5 - Indie Paranormal Book Reviews - "Creating back story: David Ray's dark past."
6 - The Creative Penn - "Got Story? - Get Edited."
7 - Pinnacle Writing - "Author Interview."
8 - Jemima Valentino's Blog - "From story to Book...Making it happen."
9 - Swamp Dwellers, Dark Fiction Book reviews - "The Dark in Fiction."
10 - Jennifer Wylie's Blog - "Author Interview."
11 - Kait Nolan - "Supernatural, Love, and Fear."
12 - The Writing Bomb - "Character Interview with Lana Jones & Noah Berkley."
13 - Reading Without Restraint - "Twenty years after the shooting."
14 - Good Choice Reading - "Jeff's onlylive interview 0 open questions"
15 - Preternatural Primer - "Building Suspense one Ghost at a Time."
16 - 100 Stars or Less - "Author interview"
17 - Readaholic - "My experience with blog tours....so far"
18 - Lost For Words - "Interviewing Tanner Khan: The Lost Survivor."
19 - I Am a Reader Not a Writer - "Author interview."
20 - The Writing Bomb - "Remembering Columbine: April, 20, 1999."
21 - Go YAY Reviews
22 - Reena's Blog - "Making a story go from scratch."
23 - Wakela's World
24 - You Wanna Know What I Think? - "The Motivation Behind Reunion."
25 - The Book Tree
26 - My Reading Room - "Author Interview"
27 - My Neurotic Book Affair - "Character Interview with Nick Tooley: The cRaZy One."
28 - Courtney Conant's Blog - "Questions about REUNION."
29 - The Writing Bomb - "Character Interview With Kate Schmidt Tooley: ."
30 - Paranormal Haven - "I'll have a Love, Ghosts and Fear Martini."
May
1 - The Writing Bomb - "Character Interview with Maria Vasquez: The Lonely One" (REUNION Available in Print!)
2 - My Eclectic Bookshelf - "My life as a Guest Blogger!"
3 - Fang-tastic Books - "Why I write Supernatural Thrillers."
4 - Bookhound's Den - "Proofing REUNION, what the Bookhound discovered."
5 - Patricia's Vampire Notes - "The story of Earl: My real ghost experience."
6 - AOBibliosphere - "Getting the story into Print and the Passion behind it."
7 - Book Noise - "How to Make a Book Read Loudly!"
8 - TzhaBella's Book Shelf - "Thoughts on Bringing Life into Paper."
9 - Rex Robot Reviews - "Thoughts on Plotting: How to pull it all together."
10 - JoJo's Book Corner - "WoulA Buzzar Twist!"
11 - Paul Joseph Writes - "Why Bullies Suck!"
12 - Frugal Family
13 - OPEN: Last day of The REUNION Blog Tour!
14 - The Writing Bomb - Tour Wrap Up...Packing for Vacation.
15 - Announce Winners of Kindle Giveaway
Posts
3 Hottie Follwers Thoughts:
As one of Jeff's newest followers, I am finding it hard to wait until the day's end, and my Quiet Time, when I can finally hunker down with REUNION. I recently discovered something amazing about the book I hadn't expected; now I can't wait to turn the next page! Seriously, check out his books!
I am about 45 percent of the way through the book. I'll review it on my blog when I'm finished.
Thanks for the nice comments, Sandra.
George, thanks for investing in my book. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think.
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