Interview with Harper Bentley

 

 

Harper Bentley

 

 

Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you. I enjoyed all your answers, I truly did. I have to start by saying you are so sweet, talented, and simply amazing. I so loved Being Chased, Discovering Us, and Finding Us. I took forward to reading more of your book. You are truly gifted. Thank you!

 

 

1. What inspired you to write Being Chased? (I freaking loved this book)

Well, don't cringe, but I started out as a Twilight Fanfiction writer. I know, but, hey, if it's good enough for E.L. James... ;) Being Chased was originally Guarding Bella Swan & it started out as a one-shot for a contest and it won a place (can't remember if it was 1st, 2nd or 3rd). It's been so long & I wrote several, so I can't remember, but it's winning is what encouraged me to keep writing past the one chapter. I'll never knock fanfiction because it's where I got my roots & courage to "put myself out there" and let others judge my writing, which was tremendously frightening! But I was hooked from the start :)


2. What is your favorite color and why?

Oh, man, green is my first answer, because it's such an awesome color (my sectional couch is dark green & my recliner is almost a sea foam), but honestly, I love lots of purples & red too (I have a deep red curtain in the living room w/ the green couch & chair. Christmas, anyone? *snorts*)! My wedding colors were burgundy & forest green so you can see I've loved green for a long time since that was almost 20 years ago. Too bad the marriage didn't last that long LOL

　

　
3. What do you do to fill your time, when your not writing?

When I'm not writing, I'm usually reading! And when I'm not reading, I'm watching basketball or football on TV (switching channels to watch all the women's conference games going on right now, as I write!). I LOVE college basketball & football. BOOMER SOONER! hehe

　

4. If you could describe yourself with one word, what would it be?

Um. Crazy? lol That word incorporates all kinds of goodies--silly, nuts, wacko--which all pretty much fit me. I teach high school freshmen & coach high school basketball, so yeah, crazy just about sums it up. I'd love to say patient & kind, but that'd be pushing it ;)

　

5. What is your favorite food and why?

Jeez, there are so many. I love my steaks (medium rare), but I also love lobster & crab & shrimp & pasta & Mexican (usually seafood enchiladas). I'm a real health nut, can ya tell? O_o

 6. How were you feeling emotionally when you were writing the ending of Discovering Us and Finding Us?

I knew what was coming at the end of both books, so as the endings approached, I was just pissed off LOL! In Discovering Us, I was SO in El's head & was just livid with Jag like she was. At the end of Finding Us, vice versa. I think Jag had every right to say & do what he did & I lived it, you know? Authors have to be in their characters' heads, obviously, or we'd never get out what they're thinking. I'm working on the next CEP book right now, Unbreakable Hearts, which when basketball season hit, I got so busy, I had to put it on hold to write Finding Us (which had a more urgent deadline), so now I've had to go back and read it all over again to get back into each character's thoughts, which has been fun!


7. What is your favorite vacation spot and why?

Vacation? What's that? Let's see, the most I've done vacation-wise over the past nine years is take my daughter to AAU basketball tournaments during the summer to various places, so I guess New Orleans would have to rate up there as the best so far :)

　

8. Out of all the books that you have written, who is your favorite character?

So far in my published books, it's probably Ellen because she's funny & quirky, although I'm still a little put out with her right now lol In Unbreakable Hearts, I'm really liking Quinn, Tilly's best friend, because she has no filter and just lays it out there. She'll be the lead in an upcoming CEP book when she butts heads with Gunner, Chase's brother :)

　

9. What is your favorite music genre?

Rock!! Classic, new, most all ROCK! If you've noticed, I've mentioned Metallica in Being Chased, Three Days Grace in Discovering Us, and Finding Us had several: Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Silverchair and although he's more of a jazzy-type artist, Ryan Adams was in there too. Soundgarden shows up in Unbreakable Hearts. I LOVE my rock lol My sixteen-year-old daughter gets SO tired of being in the car with me because I'll play "Name that group" with her. She'll answer, "It's Puddle of Mudd, Mom" or "That's ZZ Top, Mom" "Gotta be AC/DC, Mother" and roll her eyes when I fist pump because she got it right *snorts*



10. What kind of movies do you like and why? Such as action, drama, or romance.....

Man, Cecily, you're limiting me here with these favorites lol I LOVE all kinds of movies! Looking at my DVR'd movies right now, I've got The Hangover (Parts I&II), The Hurt Locker, Date Night, Despicable Me, Tangled, A Christmas Carol (the 1938 version with Reginald Owen & Gene Lockhart. So cheesy, but I LOVE that one), Easy A, Stigmata, Dirty Dancing, She's the Man, Jack Reacher, Pitch Perfect, Titanic, Bridesmaids, Love Actually, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Hunger Games, Argo, The Departed, Beastly, Under the Tuscan Sun, Capote, Les Mis, etc. Sorry, got carried away, but there are SO many more I could list LOL (I'm sure this interested you beyond all bounds lmao) But movies are an awesome escape for a couple hours!



About the Harper Bentley

 

Harper Bentley has taught high school English for 21 years. Although she’s managed to maintain her sanity regardless of her career choice, jumping into the world of publishing her own books goes to show that she might be closer to the ledge than was previously thought.
After traveling the nation in her younger years as a military brat, having lived in Alaska, Washington State and California, she now resides in Oklahoma with her teenage daughter, two dogs and one cat, happily writing stories that she hopes her readers will enjoy.

 

https://twitter.com/HarperBentley

 

http://harperbentleywrites.com/about/