Awaken Hope PM Edition with Ben Lemans talking about his book Between the Tines

0:00Are you tired of feeling hopeless? Or do you feel as though you carry around an invisible ball and chain? If so, you are in the right place. It's time now for a wicked hope with Candy Campbell. Candy is a therapist and grief counselor that works with women to help them process and heal from emotional events that can keep them feeling stuck. Let's take this journey together. And now here's your host, Candy Campbell. Welcome back to Awakened Hope. I am so super grateful that you are choosing to tune in. I have a fabulous guest with me today. His name is Ben Lehman and he is a businessman, a rancher, and a fourth generation sexist. His craving for adventure has been, has taken him on extended trips to remote parts of Alaska, al-Kunting in mountain wilderness, flying as a licensed pilot and on travels of all over the world,

1:00of Scottish descent, then has spent years studying the clashes between Highland Clans and particularly the content of this story. His quest to understand their complexities has taken him to many of the locations in Scotland mentioned in his debut novel between the times. Welcome Ben. I am so super grateful. I look forward to learning more. I mean, we've had a conversation before about learning more about your novel between the times. Thank you, Candy. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Thank you so much. Or to the conversation. So you are a fourth generation taxant, CEO. You have quite the resume of attributes, I guess you could call it. And tell us more. I mean, you went from doing entrepreneur, business like stuff to becoming an author. Yeah, it's been quite the journey.

2:01So I guess, you know, started off a launch per neworship. I was in business for 16 years, started a company in my mom's garage and grew it to over 100 employees. We had 25 stock locations around the world. I traveled a lot around the world. And so that was a great run. And then after that, I switched gears and went into public service for 10 years as a county judge in Texas and also as a state representative. And after 10 years of that, I switched gears again back into going to as an entrepreneur to go into business again. And currently that's is currently what I'm doing as well. Building a family business, my kids are involved. And life is great, life is good. It's a challenge. But in between all that, I lived the life of the adventure. As the rep there, I was a, you know, all over the country, the United States hunting and fishing in rural, very rural areas, remote areas.

3:01And pilot as well. So yes, right. Wow. You need one more thing on your resume there. But I did. Now I can say I'm an author too. Yeah, an author. Oh my goodness. Public speaker all over the place. That is truly impressive. I mean, you know, you've done a lot. You've done, you were a CEO, entrepreneur, hunter, my goodness. So tell us about between the times. I want people, I would love for you to share your book. Not the whole thing. We want people to go and purchase it. But give us just a brief overview of the book. And what, what it was that kind of inspired you to write this? Yeah, that is a pretty interesting story. So it started with my mentor who was, who was on his deathbed, John Denson. He was dying of pancreatic cancer,

4:02did not have much time left. And it was my last time to see him. And I went to visit him at his home. And at the tail end of that conversation, that visit, he was going in and out of consciousness and faded away. And I said, my goodbyes. I started to walk out of the room. And he yelled after me, hey, Ben, between the times. He just yelled, blurted that out. And I didn't understand at all what he said the first time he said it. So I turned around and came back to his bedside and asked him to, you know, what did he say? He repeated it. I said, John, I don't know what you're talking about. What do you mean between the times? And he goes, Ben. And he was real alert at that point. He set up. He was real alert. And he said, Ben, between the times, that's what you're going to call it. That's what you're going to call your first book. So yeah. And it was quite shocking. It was out of nowhere. I had never discussed writing a book with him before. And I tried to follow up on that and ask him a little bit more about what

5:03is he talking about. And he faded out of consciousness again. And he didn't wake up in a reasonable amount of time. And you know, so my visit ended. I never got to have that conversation, that follow up conversation with him. And so he died shortly thereafter. So that's what brought on, you know, what the idea of me writing something. So that was in 2013 was when that happened. And initially, I thought it was going to be something about leadership. I think that fit my background pretty well. And but then I, over a little bit of time, I decided, no, I want to do something different than that. And so I really tried to find some stories. And I got hooked on my favorite genre, which is historical fiction. And through investigating some family history, that's where I discovered this story. This family history took on some roots that spread. And it went to a lot of different places

6:04and ended up in a much larger story, much more encompassing than just my family history. And as I started to connect those dots, it hit me one day that this is the story that people haven't heard that I really want to bring to life again and share with this world. And because I feel like in particular in North America, in particular, our country, United States of America, we all share this thread where we all are descendants from our ancestors that came from somewhere. We have Native Americans, which are an exception to that rule. However, so much of our population didn't no matter what country they were from, their ancestors, those people were leaving something for some reason and trying to seek a better life or get away from something or for whatever reason. So there's a common thread there. And it binds us all together, always has.

7:07And in today's world, we kind of forget that little bit that we focus more on the differences between ourselves instead of the similarities. But this is just one thread. This is a story about Scotland in the 1640s. It's an island clan, the main characters, the son of the chief of the clan, and they're drawn into a conflict with a neighboring clan at the time. The time was the most confusing and vicious time in Scotland's history. And through that process of being drawn into that conflict, the main character goes to an evolution of thought and begins to consider life and the colonies as an option. And so this is a story about that journey. And there's a lot to it. It's deep, it's thoughtful, it's exciting, it's gripping, it's not all just battle and axes, you know, battle axes blood, there's a lot to it, there's a love story, there's a lot of characters

8:08that go through a significant amount of development. It's just the one, kind of story that draws you in. Wow, that's powerful. I love it. And you got your title from your mentor in that few seconds that he just told you, that's what you're going to name it. Not even, you're not even really having thought much on that topic, but it was like prophetic, in a sense, he's like, this is what you're going to name it. And you know it. And when, after I, as I wrote the book and considered various ways, the title fit this, I feel like I couldn't have picked a better title, but between the times as it relates to my novel, is a reference to first of all, the red stag is a native animal of Scotland, right? And it was a big part of how they fed themselves back then. And so, but the times represent the dangerous moments

9:09in life, right? They're the peaks of life, the highs and lows, but the highs are the most, the times where we, where it's just a climax moment, right? The times are, and that's how the animal defends itself and attacks, it's, you know, it's enemies, whatever. And, and so this story is similar in that the climactic moments in this story are, are, you know, the times of the, of the red stag, but between the times is where the, the thoughtfulness occurs, right? The considerations of the surroundings and, and their way of life and that's where the evolution of thought comes into play, but as a result of those dangerous times, the battles, you know, things like that. Wow. Well, this is going to lead us to a perfect segue for a small break and then we'll be back and we'll continue this conversation. There's something you need to know about nursing homes.

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11:13Welcome back to Awakened Health. Again, I have Ben here and he's been talking about his novel, his book, Between the Times. And I was telling him over the break, he is so right when he says, as a nation, as a people, we really do need to look at what are our commonalities, not what our differences are. We all are different. We all show up different. We all have differences. But instead of looking at that, looking at what brings you together, we'd be a completely different society. And this is just my belief, but I really do believe we'd be a completely different society if we looked at what brought us together and not what you were so part. So Ben, please share how people can acquire your book, how they can, you know, should they have questions, get in touch with you, learn more, and all that.

12:13And we'll make sure it's in the show notes. All right, well, thank you. Yes, the best way is to just go to my website. It all, you know, splits off from there. It's BenLamanAuthor.com, and that's B-E-N-L-E-M-A-N-A-T-R-D-D-C-M. From there, you can select which social media you prefer to follow and get updates on. And so also you can send an email and get on the email list and ask me questions, any questions you have about the novel. This is book one of a trilogy, so you can get updates about the next books that are gonna be coming out for this trilogy. So yeah, BenLamanAuthor.com, and from there you can click on links to Amazon.com and purchase the book on Amazon.com of many other places as well, but pretty much anywhere. Well, we're excited. We get to, you know, ideally, if you're a meanable, I'd love to interview you when those other two,

13:16your other next few books come out, and anything else that is up to pipeline in your primitive world. I think that what you're doing is so admirable. And you know, you're taking history, you're taking a little bit of romance, a little bit of a focus on, you know, what makes between the times so special, meaning you focus like, like I said, on the strengths and not what draws someone apart. Yeah, the question that I always focused on and thought was so fascinating is, what was it that was going on in so many people's lives across this world in so many different countries that in the 1600s compelled them to take whatever belongings they could carry with them and make that treacherous journey across the Atlantic and start in a colony, start over,

14:19rather than a colony that had no infrastructure, no, nothing to begin with. It's like us going to the moon or something, you know, it was a very difficult and decision, I'm sure, but this is just one way to pull back that curtain and experience with some of the people that experienced in a visceral sort of way, where you're feeling with those people felt, you're seeing what they saw and it's just a fascinating story. Yeah. Wow. I look forward to reading it. I admit I'm not ready yet, but I look forward to reading it. And I just love, I mean, I love books. I'm definitely very fascinated when it comes to historical fiction and I love to imagine what life would be like in various countries, situations, scenarios, because I have quite the vivid imagination, so I can go deep diving into a book and go, oh, I wonder what it was like, you know, picturing it, the people, the sounds, the smells,

15:22and I get lost in books. So, yeah, me too. Wow. Okay. So just briefly, when do you believe or anticipate your next book in the series may unfold into today's world? So it's, I would say within about a year to a year and a half, it's a, this type of book requires a lot of research. I spend about six months just researching before I've even started writing this first book. And then throughout the writing, the novel, of course, there's all research that occurs. And so it just takes a good while. It's not just creating it out of your mind. I'm trying to stay very historically accurate for the basic facts, you know, and needs. And but also about the motivations for those events. That's another deep dive into at a time

16:24when it was very difficult to find record where it is very difficult to find records that look back and capture what, what make people do what they did, you know, is connecting dots and kind of seeing some events that occur that you can do that. But so it takes a good while. So about a year and a half is what I think it would take. So we look forward to it. So what popped into my mind when you were talking about it, you know, you said it takes about six months. Do you stay in whatever environment or country or location for those the whole six months or just a period of time? And the other question is, you know, this is a lot of historical data. You're, where are you finding your information and the detail that you take and kind of incorporate within your novels? Yeah, so starting off with the research, for this I started off reading some,

17:26I had some family history books that, you know, branched off and then I purchased and acquired several large and in-depth history books on clan layment, the being clan of that is the centerpiece of this novel. And that it found a lot of other resources to find and read. I also traveled to Scotland and spent quite a bit of time there traveling around the area of Kalponencela in Southwest Scotland along the coast and visited a lot of the very sites that are in this novel, that are in this novel or where this novel takes place. Sorry. But so that's kind of how a lot of that research occurred initially and then it also from there expands the course to the internet as it splinters off and gets into other clans and you're trying to learn more about the bigger picture and the broader history. I was able to use the internet a lot on that.

18:28Yeah, so that's more or less the research side of it. Yeah, got it. Well, the internet's an amazing tool. I mean, you know, it's the tips of our fingers and we can learn so much about generations and groups and environments and locations that, you know, 30 years ago when the internet was just starting to come out, we didn't have, you know, you had to go actually either travel to the location or read books and hope that the library had all the information that you were seeking. And then the writing side, I found that I did that in various places, you know, and some places I feel like were more effective for me. I find that in a remote location where there's absolute quiet and no interruptions allows you to stay focused and get into character a little more

19:31as you're writing the story and when I say getting to character, I mean, into the times that you're writing, you know, in those thoughts that are happening in that time. As opposed to, you know, I've done this too, you know, you're writing and here comes, you know, I've got, I have a beautiful, wonderful wife who has blessed us with four children and, you know, but with those wonderful children come interruptions and at times you don't desire them to occur. And so, you know, in an interruptions your thought process and I'm happy to have that as well, but it does have an effect on your writing a lot of times, you know, it breaks your temptation, of course. And so I found that I did my best writing when I was alone in a room. Now I can imagine that plus, you know, the thing that I was thinking about is like, you are creating quite the legacy for your kids.

20:35You're showing them that, you know, you can deep dive into history and learn about a culture, learn about a timeframe, I mean, not timeframe, a period of time that was well before you came, you know, either a robust came into existence and yet you can bring it to life and you can create with your writing, with your imagination, with the history and the research, a picture, a book, a novel that can in fact accentuate what time was like back then with that clan and what they went through, I love it. I truly love it. I honor that and I truly love, I look forward to reading between the times and I just say, you know, ladies and gentlemen, ah, feel love to read, I highly, highly recommend you go and you purchase this. If you love history, you love stories, you love romance,

21:35you love to learn about a different timeline and I say it's a timeline because it is. It was well before any of us were around, go acquire the book, reach out to Van, you will, you will be blessed and you will learn so much and you learn and what I've learned and this is me speaking, I learn about myself through the eyes of the author and I honor you as an author, I honor you for what you've created and what you did. You have, like I said, you have quite the résumé of things that you acquired and did prior to becoming an author and now you are a published author. Who knew? I'm sure, before you started, maybe being an author wasn't white and you were a junior radar. Right, I, you know, I, the, I actually wrote one book, a novel prior to this one,

22:36just to, ah, practice, just to learn my writing process. You know, establish it, see what changes I needed to make. Once I figured out this book was what I wanted to write, I didn't want to write this as my first book, you know. And so, ah, I wrote a, I wrote a different one to do that, but, but yeah, it, it's been an adventure. It's been quite, quite a learning curve, but it's been amazing. It's a wonderful experience. And, and the one thing that I hope that the readers can take away is that they can learn from it, not, not from me so much, but from the people at the time, right, the thoughts they had, what they were going through. I'm trying to just peel back that curtain and let the reader make an observation about what was going on at the time. And, and it's something that impacts everybody in, in our country and really around the world, because people left various countries and went to other countries all over the world, not just to the colonies, so.

23:36That's true, but you use your writing, your, your talent to bring that to life for others, to learn from, to cherish, to go, oh my gosh, you know, get lost in the world of Scotland. I have always been fascinated with Scotland, so I look forward to, again, I look forward to diving into this and I, I am so super grateful. Before we conclude today's conversation, then I look forward to our future ones. Are there any last minute words of wisdom or thought you would love to impart with the listeners before we say, Aloha. Go get life, go grab it by the horns and living, you know, a lot of people say don't, you know, live life to the fullest. I just, I always try to tell people, you know, don't forget to live it, you know, don't, don't, you know, people get so busy to try and to do, do various things, they, they kind of forget to live life, you know, get the experience that you can grab from this wonderful life and opportunity we have.

24:38There's so many wonderful experiences out there, just, just go do it. I love it and it is perfect wisdom to, you know, to conclude today's conversation. We will have Ben LeMonde back in the future for his other books and any other things he wants to impart to you. But thank you Ben for being my guest today. I am truly grateful that you came and shared your amazing wisdom and knowledge and novel with us. Thank you, Candy. It was an honor to be on your program. I really appreciate the invitation and enjoyed the conversation very much. Well, we look forward to future conversations with you and you will learn more. And as things unfold with his future books, he will be back. But we look forward to having another conversation with Ben soon. Take care of yourself, ladies and gentlemen. I am grateful. You're listening to this and it's resonating. You want to learn more. Reach out to Ben, go to his website, all his information. I will be in the show notes.

25:38But if you, if you're driving in here like, I didn't get it. You know you can reach out to me here at the network. I will gladly send you his information your way. You can listen on FreshwoodMediaNetwork.com, Flash Awakened Hope everywhere. Everywhere Apple has a presence as well as I heart podcasts. Thank you, Ben, for your amazing expertise and wisdom and being my guest. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being amazing guests. I am amazing listeners and allowing me to bring you amazing guests. I am super honored and I am super grateful. Continue to listen. And as you always hear me say, you're listening to this is resonating. You want to buy the book. You want to, I say, go do it. If someone's popping into your mind while you're listening, there's a reason why they're popping into your mind. You always hear me say that. So share the information with them. Buy the book. Have a conversation. Share Ben's information with them.

26:38Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Keep listening and take care. Thanks for listening to Awakened Hope with Candy Campbell. If you find yourself struggling, just know there is help. Please take the first step in contact Candy. To learn more, go to CandyCample.net. If you like our show, please tell your friends and family to listen. Join us again next time for Awakened Hope with Candy Campbell.