Author Interview: Dayo Benson

Every once in awhile, you find a series that hooks you and drags you along on an adventure you never want to end. I discovered Dayo Benson’s Crystal Series a while back and let me tell you, I’ve lost a lot of sleep staying up reading them. She’s a master story crafter with a slew of books published and ready for you to dive into. She’s agreed to let me pick her brain a bit, so let’s get started!

I’m a big fan of your Crystal Series. About a week ago, my oldest daughter and I were having a conversation about how people can change because of fame and fortune. She was less convinced of it being simple to sway a Christian with fame, so I introduced her to your series and she’s read ten books over the last week. Because of the Crystal Series, her views on so many things have changed! Where did you get the idea for writing about the celebrity cult, the S.O.T.? 

Thanks for having me on your blog, Kelli 😊. I’m glad you and your daughter are enjoying my books.
The idea for the Crystal series was swirling around in my mind for years before I actually sat down and decided it was time to write it. I have always been fascinated by the way
some celebrities have these epic meltdowns, or suddenly start acting really out of character. I always like to ask ‘what if’. What if it isn’t really them? What if something deeper is going on behind the scenes? I watched a lot of videos and did a lot of research about celebrity cults. It was pretty fascinating (and horrifying) stuff—great material for writing Christian thrillers. I wanted to tell a story about standing up for what you believe, never giving up, and God’s power being supreme. Having a celebrity cult trying to forcefully recruit a talented Christian teenager seemed like the perfect premise.

What is your writing process like? 

My writing process has evolved over the years, and it always changes. At the moment I wake up between 4am and 5am and dictate for 3 hours. I basically destroyed my fingers and wrists from so much typing so I now dictate my books. After the 3 hours are up, I use transcription software to transcribe my spoken words into text. It’s actually a much faster way to write as I can speak about three times faster than I can type.
Before I was a full-time author I wrote whenever I got a moment: early in the morning before work, on my lunch break, then another few paragraphs before bedtime. I thought being a full-time author would mean writing from 9am at my desk, but I find that in this season of my life, early mornings are best. It always changes, though.

I find it most difficult to write when the weather is nice. I want to be outside playing! Do you have a writing Kryptonite? 

I love walking so nice weather is definitely my Kryptonite too. Especially because I live in England and we hardly get much nice weather. My other weakness is YouTube!!!
At the moment, I’m lucky because I write early in the morning, so these things don’t get in the way of my writing per se. But after 9am I spend my day plotting new books and outlining the next days’ scenes. I also do research about storytelling, structuring novels, etc. That’s when the urge to go outside for a walk or watch stuff on YouTube is strong.

I see a theme of spirituality in your books. Though they have a few mild profanities and non-graphic sexuality necessary to the plot of the story, they are overall clean reads and extremely well-written. I could see believers and nonbelievers alike loving your books. What is your target audience for your books, and what do you hope they gain from reading them? 

I started writing for young people who grew up in church but never really connected; Christians with questions. Or people who would say they’re ‘not quite Christians’ despite having quite a lot of knowledge about God, the bible, etc. I wanted those people to read my books and have a reason to connect. Now I write for anybody who wants something a little different from the vast majority of the Christian fiction out there. I’ve had a few nonbelievers get in touch with me (even a teenager who became a Christian while reading the Crystal series and decided to find a local church and learn more). I’m over the moon that a nonbeliever could pick up one of my books and enjoy it.

Your writing is so easy to follow. It flows smoothly, the characters are well-developed, and you keep your readers wanting more with each chapter. If you had any advice to offer aspiring authors, what would it be? 

Thank you so much.
I guess my advice would be to learn how to tell a story. Study it. It’s an art with rules. Of course, the rules can be innovated and even broken effectively, but it’s always good to know what the rules are. For example, when I started writing the Crystal series, I had no idea I was writing thrillers because that isn’t a genre that I read or watch. A reader pointed out to me that the books were thrillers, so I went and learned about the thriller genre and what makes a good thriller i.e. the villain must be immensely more powerful than the hero/ine. There must be a scene, usually near the end, where the hero/ine is literally at the villain’s mercy. These things are what keep readers on the edge of their seat. And if you can fill your book with ups and downs and twists and turns, you just might be able to keep readers hooked to the very end.
Something I’ve also found useful is studying movies and reading books for screenwriters. Then there are the storytelling basics that I didn’t know when I started e.g. using a three-act structure, having an inciting incident early in the story, having something momentous happen at the book’s midpoint, ending act two with an all is lost moment, etc.
Not every writer wants to concern themselves with these things, but learning about them has taken my writing to new levels (and I’m in no way an expert. I’m still learning every day).
There’s so much I could say, but I’ll summarize by saying learn about story structure, learn about the genre you’re writing in, read the best books in your genre, and of course pray, pray, pray. Writing is an honour that I don’t take for granted. I’m always asking God for new ideas and ways of taking my readers on a thrilling adventure that will result in them feeling in awe of Him.

Other than writing, do you have any hobbies? 

I love music and writing songs. I don’t get much time for writing songs these days, but I’m planning to get back to doing more of it. I also love walking, eating (yes, eating is a hobby for me 😄) and hanging out with my super cool husband.

Romance and intrigue seem to be your writing specialty. Are these the kind of books you read as well or is your reading pile full of varied genres? 

I’m a hopelessly cheesy romantic, so yes, I love a good romance novel. I read nothing but romance for years, but ever since I started really trying to improve as a writer I will now read anything that is well-written. I also read a lot of non-fiction now, which is surprising to me. I used to find it way too boring, but it keeps me motivated now that I’m a full-time author and I don’t have a boss helping me to stay focused.
I don’t really read anything too dark because I get scared way too easily, lol. I honestly have no idea how I managed to write the Crystal series, with some of the dark scenes in it, but that’s something for me to ponder sometime when I have a spare moment.
My favorite author at the moment is Denise Hunter. She’s an expert in sweet Christian romance.
My favorite series is still Dee Henderson’s O’Malley series even though it’s pretty old now. It taught me how to write a blended genre since they’re all romantic suspense.
The book that inspired me most as a Christian author when I was starting out was Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. I was green with envy when I finished reading it. I really wanted to be able to write that well someday 
Some of my favourite nonfiction books are:
- The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
- Living a Life of Fire by Reinhard Bonnke
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard.
My favourite writing-related books are:
- The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne
- Stealing Hollywood: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors by Alexandra Sokoloff

Something awesome I’ve noticed is that you really interact with your readers. You answer emails and respond to comments on your blog all the time. Is this interaction a good motivator for you to keep regularly putting out books? 

Definitely. Knowing that people are expecting the books makes me work harder and want to do my best. It also has me determined to make each book at least a little bit better than the last one.

When will your next book release? 

I don’t know for certain yet, but it will be next year. I have a whole load of books lined up to release next year. So excited.

Random question of the day: What’s your favorite song? 

It always changes, but recently I’ve been listening to Oceans by Hillsong a lot. I love the message of that song.

Thank you so much for taking the time to fill us in! Where can we follow you & buy your books? (Give us all the links!) 

Thanks for having me, it’s been fun!
You can find my website at www.dayobenson.com
All my books are available on Amazon:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dayo-Benson/e/B005CI7H06/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dayo-Benson/e/B005CI7H06/