Dory Maust
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FAQ’s
I. Benn Mac Series
II. Blood Stained
III. M-60 Reloaded
I. Benn Mac Series
Q. How did you come up with such a strong and tight family of characters?
A. It all started with Jeff Bennington when I was around seventeen years old. Being heavily into equestrian sports, I
watched International Velvet with Jeff Byron and Tatum O’Neill. I had a crush on Jeff’s character immediately and for
obvious reasons I couldn’t use his last name too. So I searched for what I thought best defined old money in a surname.
Bennington won the vote. As for strength of family, writer’s often write about what they dream of. I never had that growing
up. Benn Mac gave that to me.
Q. How much of you is in Bianca?
A. I get asked this a lot because of the eating disorder issues. I think about all I gave Bianca of me is the Anorexia and
dark hair. I guess she is sassy from time to time which could be me too, but if her situation applied to me in real life I
would have been a lot more constructive with the fourteen year separation. (Smiling) I would have published a book calling
Jeff out.
I. Benn Mac Series
II. Blood Stained
III. M-60 Reloaded
I. Benn Mac Series
Q. How did you come up with such a strong and tight family of characters?
A. It all started with Jeff Bennington when I was around seventeen years old. Being heavily into equestrian sports, I
watched International Velvet with Jeff Byron and Tatum O’Neill. I had a crush on Jeff’s character immediately and for
obvious reasons I couldn’t use his last name too. So I searched for what I thought best defined old money in a surname.
Bennington won the vote. As for strength of family, writer’s often write about what they dream of. I never had that growing
up. Benn Mac gave that to me.
Q. How much of you is in Bianca?
A. I get asked this a lot because of the eating disorder issues. I think about all I gave Bianca of me is the Anorexia and
dark hair. I guess she is sassy from time to time which could be me too, but if her situation applied to me in real life I
would have been a lot more constructive with the fourteen year separation. (Smiling) I would have published a book calling
Jeff out.
Q. Which character do you relate the most to?
A. Deirdre hands down. It’s ironic too because she didn’t surface until Blood Cells. I guess I needed to get over the
Anorexia hump first.
Q. Who is your favorite character?
A. That’s a weird one. You might assume that if Jeff has been with me in what I call book imagination since I was
seventeen it would be him. And it was until Blood Cells. It’s been Quinn ever since.
Q. Why breast cancer?
A. My mother has fought it twice. I’m glad to say she’s still a survivor.
Q. Why the Irish Troubles?
A. I didn’t choose that; it chose me. I try with every one of my books to help and inform through entertainment. The main
focus of Blood Cells was supposed to be breast cancer, and as with Glass Windows it needed a sub-plot. So my editor
and I sat around twiddling our thumbs for a few days and I literally called him and said: “Well my father is Irish; I’ve been to
Ireland; and I have a lot of Irish friends. Let’s do something Irish maybe?” Well he’s an Air Force Vet who was in Recon so
although we were on the phone I could just see his eyes light up. The Troubles as they are meant trouble for me because
after that conversation I was no longer writing Blood Cells. It wrote me. And back to the helping and educating. What’s
happening over there isn’t about religion as so many people think. It’s about civil rights. I don’t regret tackling it.
Q. The Troubles shift the power play from Jeff to Quinn. Why?
A. Jeff is an extremely complex character who isn’t generally happy unless he’s conquering something new. “Type A
corporate mogul syndrome” I call it. I realized as I was mapping out Corporate Parliament that Jeff hadn’t really evolved
much in life. Quinn, on the other hand, was always looking for something inside that he couldn’t find. The Troubles gave
him purpose. I’d like to say here that I wrote a novel called When the Bough Breaks back in 1993 about False Eyelashes
so Quinn’s been around for awhile too. I never did anything with that book until I incorporated it into Glass Windows and
Secret Sins.
Q. Secret Sins was a shocker. Just when we really hated Shane McIntyre you made him a likeable guy. Why?
A. Because I could. My friend Steve Smith says that what he likes most about my work is my uncanny ability to twist the
plots and surprise the crap out of the reader.
Q. You took a huge leap from pragmatics to esotericism at the end of Secret Sins and throughout all of Whispers from the
Attic. What happened to cause that?
A. The answer to that is a novel unto itself. We moved into a new house for one, a very old house with a lot of ambiguous
creaks and rattles. In its simplest form I love ghost stories. In a more complex explanation every being needs to have a
purpose; souls if you will. Rigby has been the most powerful figment of my imagination. A lot happened in this house while
writing that, including unexplainable static on the phone lines, intense meetings with a priest and more. My dog freaked
out, my daughter freaked out; it was just a truly bizarre time.
Q. What does NASA have to do with Interference?
A. You’ll know when you read it. It should be out relatively soon.
Q. Nocturna is listed on your site as taking place in Western Pennsylvania. Is it any place you know?
A. I don’t write about any place I don’t know. (Smiling)
II. Blood Stained
Q. Your last name is Maust but you’re not related to David. Did you just use that to make a quick dollar?
A. Absolutely and unequivocally not. That is probably the most asked question to date. If anything, sharing the same
surname has been a hindrance and in hindsight I should have used a pen name. I was approached in the beginning of
2008 by David’s brother Jeffrey Maust to help him write a book about his brother who had been deceased for two years at
that time. After speaking with Tom Vanes while researching the possibility, I learned that Jeff’s “perception” was “skewed”.
With it being nonfiction that was a huge no-no. Plus in a lot of states relatives can’t make a profit from other relatives’
crimes which was also a problem. I’m not sure Jeff ever knew that. Anyway, the project was dropped for awhile during a lot
of discussions with Tom and Ron Johnson. There were just so many mitigating factors. First, I had never written a
biography before. I’d never even written nonfiction. Second there were families to consider. It wasn’t just about ours and
the impact something like this would have on our lives, but it was also about the victims’ families and friends. When we
finally decided to take the plunge I loaded up on caffeine and My Chemical Romance CD’s. I pretty much wore The Black
Parade out writing that.
Q. How is Jeff Maust taking it?
A. I am sorry to say that Jeff passed away on February 14, 2009 from complications of an illness he had been battling for
years. May he R.I.P.
Q. How did you get so far into David’s head and mind?
A. I didn’t; he got into mine. That was the scariest part, and I am not exaggerating the word scary at all. The year 2008 will
go down in history as the most terrifying ever for me. But we went, we conquered and we came back.
Q. Would you do it again?
A. Not sure.
Q. Any movie offers?
A. No and I am really, really wary of that. On one hand I think it would be really conducive to spreading the message I so
want to spread in terms of prevention. On the other hand, as we all know, movies rarely turn out like the books they are
based upon. I don’t know. That’s a bridge I’ll cross if and when I get to it. This question is way ahead of me in the game.
Q. Do you get any disturbing mail regarding this book?
A. Of course; that’s an occupational hazard.
IV. M-60 Reloaded
Q. When will it be released?
A. I have no clue. We’re about halfway through the first draft. We are not rushing anything.
Q. When will we get a better description?
A. I imagine when we’re in the final stretch. M-60 is an extremely complicated book.
Q. Why did you pair up with Daniel Kelly on this?
A. Because he’s cool.
A. Deirdre hands down. It’s ironic too because she didn’t surface until Blood Cells. I guess I needed to get over the
Anorexia hump first.
Q. Who is your favorite character?
A. That’s a weird one. You might assume that if Jeff has been with me in what I call book imagination since I was
seventeen it would be him. And it was until Blood Cells. It’s been Quinn ever since.
Q. Why breast cancer?
A. My mother has fought it twice. I’m glad to say she’s still a survivor.
Q. Why the Irish Troubles?
A. I didn’t choose that; it chose me. I try with every one of my books to help and inform through entertainment. The main
focus of Blood Cells was supposed to be breast cancer, and as with Glass Windows it needed a sub-plot. So my editor
and I sat around twiddling our thumbs for a few days and I literally called him and said: “Well my father is Irish; I’ve been to
Ireland; and I have a lot of Irish friends. Let’s do something Irish maybe?” Well he’s an Air Force Vet who was in Recon so
although we were on the phone I could just see his eyes light up. The Troubles as they are meant trouble for me because
after that conversation I was no longer writing Blood Cells. It wrote me. And back to the helping and educating. What’s
happening over there isn’t about religion as so many people think. It’s about civil rights. I don’t regret tackling it.
Q. The Troubles shift the power play from Jeff to Quinn. Why?
A. Jeff is an extremely complex character who isn’t generally happy unless he’s conquering something new. “Type A
corporate mogul syndrome” I call it. I realized as I was mapping out Corporate Parliament that Jeff hadn’t really evolved
much in life. Quinn, on the other hand, was always looking for something inside that he couldn’t find. The Troubles gave
him purpose. I’d like to say here that I wrote a novel called When the Bough Breaks back in 1993 about False Eyelashes
so Quinn’s been around for awhile too. I never did anything with that book until I incorporated it into Glass Windows and
Secret Sins.
Q. Secret Sins was a shocker. Just when we really hated Shane McIntyre you made him a likeable guy. Why?
A. Because I could. My friend Steve Smith says that what he likes most about my work is my uncanny ability to twist the
plots and surprise the crap out of the reader.
Q. You took a huge leap from pragmatics to esotericism at the end of Secret Sins and throughout all of Whispers from the
Attic. What happened to cause that?
A. The answer to that is a novel unto itself. We moved into a new house for one, a very old house with a lot of ambiguous
creaks and rattles. In its simplest form I love ghost stories. In a more complex explanation every being needs to have a
purpose; souls if you will. Rigby has been the most powerful figment of my imagination. A lot happened in this house while
writing that, including unexplainable static on the phone lines, intense meetings with a priest and more. My dog freaked
out, my daughter freaked out; it was just a truly bizarre time.
Q. What does NASA have to do with Interference?
A. You’ll know when you read it. It should be out relatively soon.
Q. Nocturna is listed on your site as taking place in Western Pennsylvania. Is it any place you know?
A. I don’t write about any place I don’t know. (Smiling)
II. Blood Stained
Q. Your last name is Maust but you’re not related to David. Did you just use that to make a quick dollar?
A. Absolutely and unequivocally not. That is probably the most asked question to date. If anything, sharing the same
surname has been a hindrance and in hindsight I should have used a pen name. I was approached in the beginning of
2008 by David’s brother Jeffrey Maust to help him write a book about his brother who had been deceased for two years at
that time. After speaking with Tom Vanes while researching the possibility, I learned that Jeff’s “perception” was “skewed”.
With it being nonfiction that was a huge no-no. Plus in a lot of states relatives can’t make a profit from other relatives’
crimes which was also a problem. I’m not sure Jeff ever knew that. Anyway, the project was dropped for awhile during a lot
of discussions with Tom and Ron Johnson. There were just so many mitigating factors. First, I had never written a
biography before. I’d never even written nonfiction. Second there were families to consider. It wasn’t just about ours and
the impact something like this would have on our lives, but it was also about the victims’ families and friends. When we
finally decided to take the plunge I loaded up on caffeine and My Chemical Romance CD’s. I pretty much wore The Black
Parade out writing that.
Q. How is Jeff Maust taking it?
A. I am sorry to say that Jeff passed away on February 14, 2009 from complications of an illness he had been battling for
years. May he R.I.P.
Q. How did you get so far into David’s head and mind?
A. I didn’t; he got into mine. That was the scariest part, and I am not exaggerating the word scary at all. The year 2008 will
go down in history as the most terrifying ever for me. But we went, we conquered and we came back.
Q. Would you do it again?
A. Not sure.
Q. Any movie offers?
A. No and I am really, really wary of that. On one hand I think it would be really conducive to spreading the message I so
want to spread in terms of prevention. On the other hand, as we all know, movies rarely turn out like the books they are
based upon. I don’t know. That’s a bridge I’ll cross if and when I get to it. This question is way ahead of me in the game.
Q. Do you get any disturbing mail regarding this book?
A. Of course; that’s an occupational hazard.
IV. M-60 Reloaded
Q. When will it be released?
A. I have no clue. We’re about halfway through the first draft. We are not rushing anything.
Q. When will we get a better description?
A. I imagine when we’re in the final stretch. M-60 is an extremely complicated book.
Q. Why did you pair up with Daniel Kelly on this?
A. Because he’s cool.
| © 2007- 2010 Dory Maust, All Rights Reserved |