Author Bio:
A playwright and poet, Doug Bentley is a “time traveler” living quietly in Vancouver, Canada.
He is the author of two books currently available online at major retailers and bookstores:
‘GO -21st Century Existentialism in an Absurdist Theme’ – a full length 4 Act play based on the landmark play by Samuel Beckett ‘Waiting For Godot’, and;
‘GRAIN -Mystical Poems’ – comprising an English sonnet sequence of 28 classic love poems and one long contemplation on death and dying.
Both books are available in paperback at Amazon websites worldwide, Barnes & Noble, Bowker Books, Book Depository, Books a Million, Indie Bound and Flipkart India. They are also available to libraries and academic institutions worldwide through the Ingram Content Group, Baker & Taylor, and NACSCORP in the USA.
In digital formats they are sold at Amazon Kindle, Apple EBookstore, Sony EBookstore, Barnes & Noble Nook, Diesel EBooks, Kobo Books, Chapters/Indigo Canada, FNAC France, Livraria Cultura Brazil, Flipkart India and Smashwords. They are free of charge to libraries worldwide through Baker & Taylor Axis 360.
To contact Mr Bentley:
Web: www.dougbentley.com
Mailto: doug@dougbentley.com
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
Hamlet: W. Shakespeare
What inspires you to write?
I write poetry and scripts for live theatre.
Poetry is perhaps the most private of all the literary forms. In writing “GRAIN -Mystical Poems” I consciously challenged myself to create poetry which is in sync with both the classic music and the evergreen content of the mainstream literature of poetry. It seemed to me that no poetic content was more “evergreen” than the mystical encounter which originates in a deep and personal layer of the soul.
In short, the discipline of the genre inspires me to write poetry.
I was inspired to write my theatre script “GO” after watching a few of the popular plays by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I am not a fan of his brand of theatre, and wrote this script partially in defiance of the trend of inane entertainment which his plays had spawned. But the project evolved into a much more serious investigation of contemporary existential angst when I learned how to turn philosophical concepts into definable and distinct theatrical characters. The project then took on a momentum of its own and I found myself filling many notepads with lines and snippets of speeches which required several months editing to sort.
In short, I was inspired to write the script because I was carried along by the momentum of the characters as they evolved.
Tell us about your writing process.
It begins as a slight but noticeable discomfort inside the back of my head, just above the top of the spine. Over a period of weeks the discomfort grows. I think of it as a tumor.
At some point, in a flash, the recognition arrives that “it is done!” That means that all the information I need has been added and sorted. At this point, I’m finished. All I have to do is write down what comes to me, organize and edit it.
This may take several weeks to months to complete. At some point, again, in a flash, I realize that it’s finished.
After that, I leave it and forget it. I move forward to the next project.
What advice would you give other writers?
For any writer I think it is most important to write for personal enjoyment first. If other people ‘get it’, then, that’s great! If they don’t, then they don’t. No harm done. Not everyone will like what you write.
In the genre of poetry I think it is most important to recognize and learn to listen to your own inner voice, and to not pay undue attention to the voices of strangers. Also, it is unfair to expect anyone else to understand your body-of-work. If you understand these two points, then you will never be troubled, or flattered, by what others say or write about your work.
I would advise aspiring playwrights to learn how to listen to their intuitions, and to trust them. Personal honesty is the essential quality for understanding human behavior. Coupled with this is the need for humor, for humor is both the gateway to creativity and the best defence against insanity.
It is also imperative to understand that the value of every human being is infinitely more than any work of art – any art.
Finally, the aspiring playwright must understand that “there are more things in heaven and earth [Horatio} than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” -Hamlet
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Firstly, I set my budget – which was $0. Fortunately, due to the digital world, it’s possible to keep to this budget and still get a lot of traction.
I first published my books in print format through CreateSpace. It’s part of the Amazon platform. I will always go to CreateSpace for my print publishing needs.
After CreateSpace I went to Kindle to publish my books in digital format. Kindle, again, is part of Amazon.
Finally, I went to Smashwords. In digital formats, Smashwords distributes to ebookstores like Apple, Sony, Kobo and many other major online retailers.
Besides the publishing, I do all the book formatting and marketing work myself as well.
I have been able to keep within my original budget!
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
The printing press made the quill pen obsolete and democratized the world, especially education. The digital world is currently revolutionizing the book publishing and reading industries. Print publishing houses and literary agents are disappearing: authors are quitting their services in droves.
The ebook still has much untapped potential in places other than North America and Europe. You can carry a library with you in your tablet, ebooks are extremely cost-effective and convenient, readers can easily contact and communicate with authors, the youth are more comfortable and engaged in the digital milieu. Print can’t compete with these benefits.
In the immediate future, I see the audio ebook gaining a lot of popularity. In the near future, I see the emergence of the video ebook, and of it becoming the medium of choice for most. When quantum computers come into vogue, then the holographic ebook will appear: at that time, most websites will be as sophisticated and complex as computer games are today.
I don’t see any long-term future for most print publishing houses.
What genres do you write?
Drama, Poetry
What formats are your books in?
Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Doug Bentley Home Page Link
Link To Doug Bentley Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7097488.Doug_Bentley
https://www.facebook.com/doug.bentley.888
