Blog Tour: Interview with Cindy C. Bennett

Cindy C. Bennett is the author of Geek Girl. (You can see my review and my teenage daughter's review here.)

About Cindy:
Cindy C. Bennett was born and raised in beautiful Salt Lake City, growing up in the shadows of the majestic Rocky Mountains. She and her husband raised two daughters, two sons, and a plethora of pets.

In addition to writing YA fiction, she volunteers her time working with teen girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen, all of who she finds to be beautiful, fascinating people who constantly inspire her stories. She developed a love of writing in high school English when a teacher introduced her to the joys of escaping reality for ten minutes each day in writing.

When she's not writing, reading, or answering emails (notice there is no mention of cleaning, cooking, or anything domestic), she can often times be found riding her Harley through the beautiful canyons near her home. (Yes, she rides a Harley.)

What has been your most rewarding experience since you began writing?

Definitely my interaction with my readers. I love hearing from them. I’ve gotten some amazing emails from people who maybe have gone through a situation similar to one of my characters, or who just relate to something in the books. I’ve gotten to know some people who have become something of friends through our email exchanges, and I have two readers who write to me fairly regularly who are both so amusing that I look forward to hearing from them. So that has definitely been a most rewarding experience.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, but it always seemed like a pipe dream—an impossibility—I think because I wanted it so much. I wanted to be a mom more than anything (done) and I also wanted to be a teacher. I haven’t ever had the chance to be an official teacher in a school, but I’ve had chances to teach in other settings, and I always enjoy it very much.

What was your favorite book when you were younger?

As a teen the thing that I remember reading most that I thoroughly enjoyed was Romeo & Juliet. I’m such a sucker for romance, and it’s the ultimate in romance. I also very clearly remember reading Forever by Judy Blume. I don’t know that I’d call it my favorite, but it made an impression because it was somewhat forbidden due to some of the content. I read a lot of VC Andrews and Stephen King as well.

What is your favorite quote?
“Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.” ~Author Unknown

If Geek Girl was made into a movie, who would be in your dream cast?

I don't really have specific actors in mind. I do have actors that the characters looks are based on, but they are all probably a little old to play high-schoolers. I always imagined Jen looking like Rachel Leigh Cook, and Trevor as Zac Efron-esque, especially after I once saw him describe himself in high school as "cool-geek." A younger Topher Grace would be Brian, and a younger Dakota Fanning would be Jane. It’s clear that I picture Trevor’s mom as anyone who looks like Carol from The Brady Bunch, but his dad would be someone more like Pierce Brosnan. Jen’s foster parents might be Mimi Rogers-esque and John Travolta-ish.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Don’t give up. Be persistent. It takes an amazing amount of persistence and hard work to succeed. It also takes the ability to withstand rejection, never an easy thing to be given. Most of all I would tell them to learn the craft, make sure to understand grammar, punctuation, spelling. I’ve been on some sites where authors are writing comments, or whatever, and their spelling or grammar is horrible (mixing up then and than, for example), let alone not using capitalization correctly, and I just think as a reader if I saw that I would be turned off by them as a writer because I’d be afraid their writing would reflect that. Everything you write anywhere, even on Facebook, should be written sort of as if it were a test of your writing skills.

What is a fun, random fact about you that most people don't know?

I am the holder of a concealed weapons permit, and I quite enjoy going out shooting (targets, not animals). I have a .38 Special revolver that I shoot most of the time, but my husband has quite a gun collection and I think I’ve shot most of them. I prefer revolvers over pistols after taking the skin off the top of my hand once by not moving it out of the way of the slide (my bad).

You can find Cindy on her website, on Twitter, and Facebook.