In the spotlight today is educator Benjamin Dancer. For the month of April, proceeds from his book will go to a local program, Lighthouse Writers Workshop, that brings local writers into the classrooms.
Thank you for your interview. Can you tell readers a little about yourself?
I’m an Advisor at Jefferson County Open School where I’ve made a career out of mentoring young people as they come of age. I’ve been writing my whole adult life, and I am am the author of the novels PATRIARCH RUN, IN SIGHT OF THE SUN and FIDELITY. I have have three kids, and in addition to the fiction, I also write about parenting and education.
April is a month-long fundraiser for a local writing program, the Lighthouse Writers Workshop, that brings authors into the classroom. What do folks have to do to contribute to this great cause?
To contribute you can purchase PATRIARCH RUN in print or ebook on Amazon or in ebook on Smashwords. Word of mouth is very effective. So you could let other people know about the book, too. The best way to help connect PATRIARCH RUN to its audience would be to write an honest review on Amazon. All April proceeds go to the fundraiser!
What does a typical day for you look like?
I get up around 4am to write every morning. These days, it’s to market the novel. I take my kids to school with me where I teach. And at about 5pm, we all get home. There’s dinner. Correspondence to catch up on. And by then I’m pretty spent. I tuck in the kids and hit the pillow myself.
Where do you like to write?
I write about fathers. Identity. Those are the themes that interest me.
What inspired you to write Patriarch Run?
I wanted to address themes mentioned above in a format men and boys would read. So I chose the thriller genres to carry the meaning I had hoped to convey.
How did you come to choose the title?
The story is about fathers. PATRIARCH. It’s a thriller, in which the rule is that the protagonist is always under threat, always moving. RUN.
How did you come up with and develop the idea behind Patriarch Run?
More than I am a teacher, I mentor young people as they come of age. I took the universal themes I witness in the lives of my students. Themes about the longing for a father. Themes about identity. And I made them literally happen in the story. Billy is on a quest to find his dad. Rachel, his mother, literally has to save herself. No one is going to save us in life. My students, you and I, we have to save ourselves. Learn to love ourselves. Be gentle with ourselves. This is Rachel’s quest.
Do you have any books in the works?
Once PATRIARCH RUN find its audience, I’ll bring out IN SIGHT OF THE SUN, a story about a White Mountain Apache boy going on his first raid into Mexico with his grandfather. Then FIDELITY, a story about a father who lost his son and became obsessed with his own grief. Followed by the sequel to PATRIARCH RUN.
What are your future goals as a writer?
I’d like to start by connecting with an audience. Then I’d like to contribute something meaningful to the lives of my readers.
What do you want readers to take away from Patriarch Run?
My hope is that you will be entertained. That you will carry the characters and themes. That they might provoke you. Maybe even help you.
Title: Patriarch Run
Author: Benjamin Dancer
Release Date: April 2014
Length: 312 pages
Series?: The Father Trilogy
Genre: Literary Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
Source: author
Find the book: Website | Goodreads | Amazon
About the Author
Benjamin is an Advisor at Jefferson County Open School where he has made a career out of mentoring young people as they come of age. He wrote the novels PATRIARCH RUN, IN SIGHT OF THE SUN and FIDELITY. He also writes about parenting and education.
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