Ben Spencer

Just a reminder: I'll be signing copies of Temperance Unraveling this Saturday, April 14th, between 1:30 and 3:30 at BrewBake's Coffee and Cake in Asheboro.  Copies of the novel will be available for puchase at the signing, or bring you own copy to be signed.  I look forward to seeing you there.  Click here to see the write-up for the book-signing in The Courier-Tribune.

I'm proud to announce that Temperance Unraveling is now on sale at Charlotte's premier independent bookstore, Park Road Books.  If you live in the Charlotte area and wish to support independent bookstores, head down to Park Road Books and pick up your copy of Temperance Unraveling.  I plan on arranging a booksignng at Park Road Books for this summer - watch the website for details.

As you may have noticed, I've updated the web site design.  Hope you enjoy it!

These last few months have been a book reading bonanza.  Among the standouts were The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson.  It's rare that an author combines compulsively readable prose with a fascinating subject matter, but Johnson's story about a North Korean man who rises to become Kim Jong Il's rival accomplishes both.  Another standout was Jeffrey Eugenides' The Marriage Plot.  One of the best pieces of writing advice I ever received was to adhere to the maxim "character is plot," and Eugenides is a master at this.  Highly recommended.  Next week Lauren Groff's long-awaited Aracadia hits the bookshelves.  I'm working hard to finish the novel I'm on now so I can dive into Aracadia without distraction.  The Monsters of Templeton is one of my all-time favorites, and, from the reviews I've read, Aracadia is a worthy follow-up.

Well, that's all for now.  Don't forget the booksigning at at BrewBake's coffee and cake in Asheboro on April 14th!

I'll be signing and selling copies of Temperance Unraveling at BrewBake's Coffee and Cake in Asheboro on Saturday, April 14th, from 1:30 to 3:30.  Hope to see you there!  Temperance Unraveling will also be on sale at BrewBake's Coffee and Cake between now and the book signing.

There's a very nice article about Temperance Unraveling on the front page of The Courier-Tribune's February 2nd edition.  If you live in Asheboro/Randolph County be sure to check it out.  If not, I'll post links if and when they're available.

1.  Temperance Unraveling is a novel about, among other things, alcohol, religion, small-town politicians, sex, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, squirrel hunting, textile moguls, promiscuous behavior, pasture parties, southern women, small-time drug dealers, stereotypes about Hemingway novels, interior design (as it relates to contemporary log cabins), one-on-one basketball, fine dining, skateboarding, and proselytizing.  (There's even a reference to Jake Delhomme!)  Christmas themes all.

2.  The cover is red.  You know, for Christmas.

3.  What better way to waylay your friend/relative who claims he/she's read everything?  Haha, sucker, bet you haven't read this!

4. You missed out on the Black Friday sale for the $50 HD TV.

5.  No more discomfort trying to avoid the topic of why you haven't bought Ben Spencer's book the next time you run into him.  :)

Merry Christmas!

I'm a little over halfway through my next novel.  It's quite a bit shorter than Temperance Unraveling, so it's moving at a much faster pace.  The book is divided into three parts.  I recently finished up Part II, the shortest section of the book.  Part III will take a while.  Although it's hard to pinpoint these things, I imagine I'll finish up sometime between August and December of 2012.   After that I'll take a year or two to try to get it published, and if that doesn't work, I'll self-publish like I did with Temperance Unraveling.  The way the book industry is changing self-published books are increasingly challenging traditional publishing models, so it's impossible to predict what the situation will be at that time.

I hate to give too much away, but the book is about a brick mason and his three sons.  I'll leave it at that for now. 

Thanks again to everyone who has read Temperance Unraveling.  I've really enjoyed hearing people's thoughts as they finish the book.  If you're ever so inspired and would like to write a review on Amazon.com I'd forever be grateful.

Ben

I'm currently reading The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach.  October looks like one of the best book-buying months of the year.  Alan Holinghurst is releasing The Stranger's Child, Haruki Murakami's IQ84 is finally making its way to the States, and, most exciting of all, Colson Whitehead is releasing his apocalyptic zombie novel, Zone One.  Can't believe I'm on pins and needles awaiting the release of an apocalyptic zombie novel, but hey, Colson Whitehead will do that to you.  Genius can write about whatever it wants. 

Thanks to all who have purchased and/or read Temperance Unraveling.  If you've read the novel and are interested in sharing what you thought, I could use a few customer reviews on Amazon.com.

Temperance Unraveling is now available as an e-book for the Kindle.  Check it out on the Buy The Book page.

Thanks for visiting my website.  If you take a look around you will find information on my novel, Temperance Unraveling, a sample chapter from the book, links to where you can purchase the book, and a list of my favorite literary works.  I’ve also included photographs of the book’s cover design on a couple of the pages.

I started writing seriously in 2002.  After a couple of apprentice works, I began work on what would become Temperance Unraveling in December of 2006.  The idea at the time was to write a character-laden novel in the style of Tom Wolfe or T.C. Boyle, but with an overarching political theme, a la Salman Rushdie.  It was then that it occurred to me to use the subject matter of a dry town as a means for tying the novel together.  Having grown up in a dry county, I had a point of reference from where to draw inspiration.  Although the city in my novel, Ridge City, is not based on Asheboro or greater Randolph County, my experiences growing up in an area where it was illegal to purchase alcohol certainly provided a jumping-off point for writing the book.

It took me three and a half years to finish Temperance Unraveling.  After finishing the novel in August of 2010 I immediately began work on a new novel, which will probably take the better part of two to three years to complete.  Over the years I’ve also written a number of short stories.

That’s it for now.  I hope you’ll give the sample chapter a read, and, if you like it, consider purchasing the book.