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Since I don’t have a real definition of the term “urban fantasy, the genre bending favorite of many young adult authors, I thought I’d look up what a few other writers thought. My favorite is Susan Sizemore’s definition: Weird stuff in the real world. This was at one point called magic realism, but I guess that’s…

I am glad to introduce readers today to a little of the field research behind my new release, LAERKA, an urban fantasy and mermaid tale retelling. A large part of the pre-writing of this story involved research in and around the city of Savannah. I would be curious to know who out there in the…

It’s finally here. My second novel is available TODAY via Amazon. Though it’s only in e-book today, the print version should be available by the 15th December. The link is https://www.amazon.com/Laerka-Laura-Matthias-Bendoly-ebook/dp/B01N0J4F7E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481225415&sr=8-2&keywords=bendoly The novel gets its name for the runaway character. The name Laerka is Danish for lark. She is the victim of human trafficking in…

I’m excited to announce that Laerka, my follow-up novel to The Estate, will be available via Amazon, Kindle, and local retailers on December 15. And, in anticipation of the reveal, I’d love to get readers’ ideas of what will be on the cover. As you may have read, my theme is human trafficking. The setting…

This Thursday, November 10, I’ll be at Cover to Cover Bookstore in Clintonville to talk about being an independent writer. From 6-8 pm I and seven other children’s and young adult writers will talk about the independent version   of publishing fiction. We’ll also have door prizes, including free books, singed books, cover art posters,…

So I just spent the last hour nerding out about Gothic fiction in a virtual party! Who knew? Fellow fantasy authors April Aasheim and Marsha Moore, that’s who. They put 20-odd others of us up as MCs, and for an hour and half we got to jaw about ghosts and witches to our hearts content,…

  Welcome Samhain revelers! This is the location for the answer to my part of the Samhain authors’ literary scavenger hunt. My scavenger hunt question was — In the excerpt (to be provided the day of my hosting session), where does the Rutherford family bull, Caedmon, chase main character, Eileen Morgan? A. Into a well…

In preparation for my Facebook Samhain celebration (October 31, noon to 1:30 at https://www.facebook.com/events/212026942547190/) I have made a  Scotland blog tour based on the travels of my literary character, Eileen Morgan, heroine from my first thriller, The Estate. Eileen will feature as my alter ego on the 31st, and I’ll be doing a raffle and several…

So I was invited by two guru fantasy authors to help ring in Samhain this year with a fantasy hour.5 via Facebook. You can tune in on Oct 31st at noon Eastern at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1539332339707019/?fref=nf Coolio, no? Only thing is, I’ve, like, never MC-ed anything on-lineish before. I haven’t admitted this ’til now, but I figured…

This weekend was Labor Day. Last day of summer, except in Ohio, where it’s still in the 90s with no dip in sight for a week. And, though I don’t usually opt for standing in line with festival goers when it’s at 78 percent humidity, we decided to the Labor Day Art Festival a try.…