Hero Interview from Dreams of Caladria by Joseph Bentz with a Giveaway

» Posted on Mar 19, 2015 in Blog | Comments Off on Hero Interview from Dreams of Caladria by Joseph Bentz with a Giveaway

This week I’m hosting Marta Perry with Where Secrets Sleep (US and Canada only) and Joseph Bentz with Dreams of Caladria (US only). If you want to enter the drawings for the books, please leave a comment on your post with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (Mar. 22nd) evening.

 

Dreams of Caladria

Interview with the hero from Dreams of Caladria by Joseph Bentz:

1. Jeremy, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

On the most momentous night of my life, I fell through the ice in a lake and sank like a stone. It should have killed me, but it didn’t. I kept falling deeper and deeper, and when I finally emerged, I broke through to a whole new world. I was wrapped in swirls of light and sound unlike anything I had ever seen or heard. I had no idea what I was doing there, but I would have plenty of time to figure it out.

2. What do you do for fun?

I love music. Playing it, singing it, and dancing to it are the greatest joys in life to me.

3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?

I hate to disappoint people, so I put off any decision that I know is going to make someone angry with me. My tendency is to try to rationalize my failure to act. Sometimes I wait until circumstances give me no choice to but move forward and make the tough call that I know will alienate someone I wanted to please.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?

I am afraid of losing everything I love. At the same time, I am afraid of holding on so tightly to the things I love that I lack the courage to risk it all in order to do what is right. My life has been a tug-of-war between fear and courage.

5. What do you want out of life?

I wish I could say my answer to that is always the same, but I haven’t been consistent. Sometimes I am willing to settle for comfort and the affirmation of others in whatever forms those come. But at a deeper level, I sense God’s Spirit pursuing me, and I want to follow him no matter what the cost. I want my life to count for something. I want to find my purpose and fulfill it. But at what price? I want love. I want thrills. I want accomplishment. I hope my desires don’t undermine my idealism.

6. What is the most important thing to you?

Survival has been my top priority on some days. In other moments, the love of my girlfriend has been meant the most to me. God’s call on my life has been my guiding light on my best days. On my worst days, I have longed for revenge on my enemies.

7. Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?

When I was in college, I read books on business, finance, and economics, but early in my career I became disenchanted with all that. Then I switched my reading to novels, especially fantasy novels, which now seem much more realistic to me than any book about money.

8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

If I could change one thing about myself, I would put away fear and indecision and be the kind of person who makes the right choice the first time around. Many of my mistakes have come about because I have allowed myself to be pushed in one direction and then another by people who have competing agendas for me and who don’t always have my best interests at heart. Usually I manage to stumble into the right course of action eventually, but by the time I do, I usually have complicated my life so much that I have to spend twice as long disentangling myself from my mistakes.

9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

I have no pets. It’s all I can do to take care of myself.

10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

If you read my story, you will see that I get taken far from home and far from everything that is comfortable and familiar. If I could travel back in time, I would go back to my own life in my own home. I would learn to love all the things that were so easy to take for granted before—my girlfriend, my friends, my music, my job, and the privilege of being alive on the greatest planet I know.

Check out Dreams of Caladria on Amazon