About Laura Treacy Bentley
Laura Treacy Bentley is a poet, novelist, and amateur photographer from Huntington, West Virginia, who divides her time between West Virginia and the mountains of Western Maryland. SIR GRACE AND THE BIG BLIZZARD is her debut picture book. She was awarded a Fellowship Award for Children’s Literature from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts and is widely published in the United States and Ireland.
Her work has been featured in A Prairie Home Companion, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry Daily, Crannóg, The Stinging Fly, and O Magazine. In 2003 Laura read her poetry with the legendary Ray Bradbury in Venice, California. She is the author of a poetry art book, Looking for Ireland: An Irish Appalachian Pilgrimage (2017) a literary thriller set in Ireland, The Silver Tattoo (2013), a short story prequel, Night Terror (2015), and a poetry collection, Lake Effect (2006). Learn more at LauraTreacyBentley.com.
Her Latest Books
Praise for Laura Treacy Bentley & Sir Grace
“If you haven’t read Laura Bentley’s work, you should; she’s a wonderfully gifted writer.”
— Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451
“When Grace puts on her silver coat and wields her magic sword she becomes ‘Sir Grace,’ but when a blizzard that ‘roars like a dragon’ swirls around her house, she is just plain ‘Grace’ . . . until she needs to be brave once again. Author and poet Laura Treacy Bentley conjures the storm that ‘smokes the air with blowing snow‘ in this wonderful children’s picture book, while Kjersten Niskanen’s illustrations vividly convey a child’s view of this wintry experience that is both exciting and scary.”
— Anna Smucker, author of Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story
“Adventurous and charming, Sir Grace and the Big Blizzard and its lovingly-rendered artwork will give young girls and boys a delightful place to dream.”
— Zoe Ferraris, author of Finding Nouf
Potential Interview Topics
Laura Treacy Bentley is a natural and experienced speaker, as evidenced by video interviews (like this one) and poetry readings (like this one). Whether you’d like to speak with Ms. Bentley through written communication or video/audio interviews, we’d be happy to set up a time to speak.
While she’d be happy to discuss other topics, here are a few sample interview topics Bentley feels comfortable discussing on air:
- The joys of writing her first children’s picture book
- The importance of imagination as featured in Sir Grace…
- Her inspiration for creating Sir Grace and the Big Blizzard
- Reading alongside literary legend Ray Bradbury
And here are a few sample questions you might consider when interviewing Ms. Bentley:
- Why did you first begin Sir Grace and the Big Blizzard?
- What do you aim to communicate with the child-friendly themes in the book?
- What did you find particularly difficult and/or uplifting about writing for children?
- Why would you say that Grace prefers the moniker “Sir Grace” as opposed to “Lady Grace?”
- After writing primarily for adults in the past with Looking for Ireland and The Silver Tattoo, what made you make the switch to writing a children’s picture book?
If you would like to review Sir Grace and the Big Blizzard, schedule an interview with the author, or publish a feature, please contact her publicist Joe Walters at joewalters526@gmail.com.