Through the Darkness: Stories of Hope - D. Odell Benson

Collaboration in Motion

"First, I asked God to forgive me for doubting His ability..."

"As an author, my mind is normally flooded and overflowing with stories and ideas that I can't wait to share with everyone," explains the thirty-nine-year-old, native Philadelphian. 

"When writing, everything that is noted comes from the heart. Of course, some things are greater than others because I write in different genres, but even then, every word comes from within."

Meet D. Odell Benson, author of several titles, notably, The Ryan Matters Series and most recently, contributor to a project entitled, Collaboration In Motion-Women Doing It For Themselves.

Through the Darkness ~ Stories of Hope

A peek at Ms. Benson’s bio will tell you that she’s anything but average, holding several degrees and currently employed as a prudent fraud analyst for a large company; she still makes time to satisfy her avid reading appetite.

WADIFTS - How many books do you have on your "to read" list? What are some of them?

D. Odell Benson - “At least 50” she confesses: These are the next seven books I will be reading; in this exact order.

• The Passage Trilogy by Justin Cronin
• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
• No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering by Thich Nhat Hanh
• The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction of the Practice of Mediation by Thich Nhat Hanh
• Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha by Thich Nhat Hanh

WADIFTS - quid pro quo: If you were stranded on a deserted island, and you could only have five books with you, what would they be?

D. Odell Benson -

• Through the Darkness ~ Stories of Hope
• Living Buddha, Living Christ
• The Dala Lama's Book of Wisdom
• Lost Horizon by: James Hilton
• The Hunger Games (Don’t judge)

WADIFTS - I won’t judge… I can see how The Hunger Games would inspire courage in a “deserted Island” situation (chuckling).

D. Odell Benson - However, I must confess that if I could have only two books I would choose to read Living Buddha, Living Christ and Lost Horizon over and over again. I read them both once a year.

WADIFTS - Now I am intrigued and will be adding those books to my reading list, as well. Given the theme of your last series, your audience knows that you are comfortable writing about murder, mystery and suspense. What other genres are you interested in writing?

D. Odell Benson - Romance and drama are a few, although, I won't limit myself to just these genres because there are far too many to explore. For instance, the book we are about to release, Through The Darkness-Stories of Hope is an inspirational piece. And, I would love to experiment with comedy… The ability to make people laugh is something I enjoy, but the thought of making the World laugh is exciting! But, do keep in mind, if I had to choose one author to be my mentor, it would be Stephen King-hands down! …One of the best compliments that I ever received was, “D. Odell Benson gives Stephen King a run for his money with this book." ~ Kissablysweet1

WADIFTS - quid pro quo: Are you a pantser or outliner?

D. Odell Benson - Pantser for sure. I tried to outline but it doesn't work for me. Give me a title or genre and off to the races I go!

D. Odell Benson

WADIFTS - Have you ever had a particularly harsh critique? How did you handle it?

D. Odell Benson - No I haven't… Well, I didn’t think that they were harsh. Telling me that there are grammatical errors and maybe I need to hire a better editor is something that I might possibly consider helpful. But saying the story is too graphic lets me know they were able to see my vision. Mission accomplished!

Personally, one thing that silences all negativity for me is my family. We have a two-year-old, little girl whose favorite thing to say is, “FEET-FEET!” Anytime she would do something she wasn't supposed to, she would yell out, “FEET-FEET”! No matter what we said or did it was “FEET-FEET!” coming from her. So, I wrote a children's book just for her and her “FEET-FEET”.

WADIFTS - That is absolutely beautiful… What are you working on now?

D. Odell Benson - I'm currently focused on a drama that is outside of The Ryan Matters Series. I have yet to disclose the title, but there are short passages of this book located on my blog. Just look for the story on Eric and Rhonda.

WADIFTS - Do you have any advice for other authors?

D. Odell Benson - Never give in, never give up. If you have 1 follower or 1,000,000 followers on social media, keep writing but remain true to yourself.

In a world where challenges multiply exponentially by the second a group of women reach into their past pull out their inspirations and speak to the positive possibilities shrouded in ~ HOPE 

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OUR INSPIRATION Collaboration In Motion (#CIM) was established in 2016 by a group of women inspired by HOPE.