VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

From Dennis Milam Bensie (Chapter 1 from Shorn: Toys to Men) Novelist James Jones enlisted in the Army and left his hometown of Robinson, Illinois in 1939. His experiences during the attack on Pearl Harbor inspired his first published book, From Here to Eternity . For his second book, Some Came Running , he used Robinson as the backdrop. This semi-autobiographical novel centers around a failed writer named Dave Hirsh, orphaned as a child, who comes home after serving in World War II to a fictionalized version of Robinson (renamed Parkman, Indiana) to find family divisions, sexual repression, and other unsavory vices. The book was described as shrill and bitter by its critics. The 1958 Oscar-nominated film was a scandal when it played at the Lincoln Theater, a few blocks away from Jones’ childhood home.   My dad was a local hero similar to characters in any of James Jones’ war themed novels. He returned home to Robinson from the Korean War allegedly the most decorated soldi

Dennis Milam Bensie grew up in Robinson, Illinois where his interest in the arts began in high school participating in various community theatre productions. Bensie’s first book,  Shorn: Toys to Men was nominated for the Stonewall Book Award, sponsored by the American Library Association. It was also a pick in the International gay magazine The Advocate as “One of the Best Overlooked Books of 2011″. The author’s short stories have been published by Bay Laurel, Everyday Fiction, and This Zine Will Change Your Lifeand he has also been a feature contributor for The Good Men Project. One Gay Americanis his second book with Coffeetown Press and it was chosen as a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards and the Indie Excellence Book Awards. He was a presenter at the 2013 Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans. Dennis lives in Seattle with his three dogs.   VS: Dennis, I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. What do you do to he

Author VS Grenier will be at Sunset on the Square at the Heritage Writers Guild (HWG) booth each event night to sign books, talk about writing and joining the HWG League of Utah Writers Southern Utah Chapter. ST. GEORGE, UT –    Sunset on the Square (SOTS), Friday night FREE family movies on the Town Square in the City of St. George is a huge success with more than 2000 attendees per event.  The event is hosted by Write It Up! and the City of St. George.   Now in its 7th year, SOTS features family oriented films the second and fourth Friday of the month, May 24, 2013 through August 23, 2013, Town Square Park will host local residents for a FREE movie in the park.   Movies will start at dusk, but the fun will begin around 5 with food, games, AAA Water Balloon Challenge, booths, prizes and dancing. This year there are many great movies and special events scheduled, including BOOK SIGNINGS by HWG AUTHORS!    “Sunset on the Square has been a great event to work with th