Audely Bensen Writes

As almost everyone is aware, 2021 was a strange year. My husband and I (I get to say that now!) signed on our first house on December 31st, 2020, and spent 2021 learning what it means to be homeowners. We befriended neighbors, paid taxes, suffered through the repair of our air conditioner and an electrical outage, and bought couches during a supply shortage. We learned the way the sun shifts through our windows during different phases of the year. We also god married!—and I am so grateful that we never have to get married again. On top of all of that, I read 100 books in a year: 51 romance novels, 28 fantasy books, 9 other works of fiction, and 12 non-fiction books.  Despite the lack of routine, I managed to do a lot of writing during 2021:  Winter : Drafted a 10K short story (which I think could eventually be revised into something more meaty), and finished the third draft of The Wedding Crown.  Spring : Took a couple weeks to rest, and then finished draft four of The We...

It took me two tries to finish The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow.  Three chapters in to the first try, I knew this book needed me to wait until I had the time to enjoy it. After my second attempt, I'm glad that I waited. The Once and Future Witches is the kind of story that you savor.  Similar to Wake of Vultures, this book took elements of real history and seamlessly morphed them into something magical. The book deals with women's power, and was a delight to read. More than the world building, I adored the three main characters. Alix Harrow's characters always have that special something that makes you think of them long after you've finished reading. They are flawed and angry and real because of it. This is a book to read for a master class on creating lovable characters.  I also loved the romantic B-plots in this book. Would we have made it to the end of the story without the romance? Sure. Did the romance add an extra-satisfying dimension to the ending? Def...

  Setting up a dedicated writing space was one of my goals for 2021. Over the past few months I've debated sharing the "final" set up. However, it hasn't ever felt finished. As I'm adding another couple books to my shelf, I realized that it never will be. As long as there are new books to add to my shelf, this room will never be finished. So, I might as well write about it now! My husband and I are lucky in that we own a house with more rooms than we need, so I was able to claim the tiny bedroom above the garage as my writing room. It holds 2 short billy bookcases, a writing desk with space for all my craft books, and comfortable chair. Along the other wall we squeezed in a couch that looks like a chaise, a wooden chest my grandfather made for me that holds all my old journals, and my oldest Plant Baby.  The window has a deep ledge that the previous homeowners installed for their dog to sit on (which I know by the amount of hair plastered to my arm when I made the...

I picked up Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen from the library on a whim. While this book is much darker than I anticipated, it was an engaging read, and the start to a series that I will definitely be picking up the sequels to.  Wake of Vultures opens with what could be interpreted as trauma-porn if it was handled with less humor: racism, sexism, assault, with a side of conquest, this book takes a fantastical approach to re-writing the history of the "wild west." For a relatively short book, Bowen combined tropes of epic fantasy and westerns over the classic heroes journey.  And I loved it. For the last few months (evidenced by the silence on this blog) I've been struggling to stay engaged by a book. Wake of Vultures changed that. I read this book in two days flat. I attribute this to an engaging character that you want to root for and a world that is just slightly familiar that makes you need to know more.