10 Questions With Benjamin Kane Ethridge
Dungeon Brain is a departure from your other novels incorporating a science fiction setting. What made you want to use that type of setting?
Originally I wrote this book set after Earth’s devastation, but back then the novel was very different in scope and theme. I wrote about a quarter of it and then stopped, feeling I hadn’t established the appropriate vision. Later I went back and thought some of the ideas were still interesting and wanted to have another go at it. The post-apocalyptic Earth had to go though. That setting is found in a variety of other narratives and it didn’t interest me anymore. I didn’t want overt Science Fiction with different flora and fauna and all planetary baggage though—I wanted a clean slate. What if this alien world could not only sustain human life, but what if previous human colonies had cultivated it to look like their beloved Earth? You still get the starkness of a low population scenario but I still had my heart set on some kind of devastation. So that’s when I decided a war needed to be going on, to add grittiness to an otherwise pristine planet.
2. Where did you get the concept for Dungeon Brain?
It began with research on electroshock therapy. After reading several books and watching a horrifying documentary on the subject, specifically about the resulting amnesia induced by the therapy, I thought it would make a great story. Already mentioned, my first draft didn’t feel right. The ideas weren’t captivating to me—I didn’t know if a story like it had been done before but I didn’t care either. I wanted something different, so I started looking at the concept of multiple personalities (another hackneyed concept) but from a different stand point. These other personalities are created by a broken mind—what if they weren’t? What if the personalities actually had once belonged to living, breathing people? Then I thought—okay, now this person is multi-possessed then—I also didn’t want to go to demons or ghosts for my answer either. I wanted the reason to be associated with the person’s brain and its own psychic gift to reap personalities or souls from other people.
3. How do you juggle handling a day job and life as a writer?
Whenever I have a break or take a lunch, I do something writing related. It helps to bring a lunch because eating-out takes too long and uses up a big chunk of your break (I have brought notebooks with me on occasion, but you have to transcribe that stuff later). I can write 1500 words in about an hour. I try to go for 3K, so I need to get the other half done either in the morning before work or in the afternoon at home. It’s difficult to work at home though because I have my responsibilities there as well. My awesome wife is good enough to give me free time on the weekends if I’ve fallen behind.
4. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?
I could choose a different person for a different aspect of my writing. James Joyce inspired me to write from a direct tap in the mind. Stephen King inspired me to write an engaging story. Nabokov inspired me to write with color. Michael Louis Calvillo inspired me to do all of those things with a relentless passion. It’s impossible for me to choose one.
5. You have a busy schedule with four releases over the next two years. What are your immediate and long term goals as a writer?
I’m going to continue to release two novels a year, but I think I’ll regulate the genres. One horror book and one Sci-Fi, Fantasy, or other. I don’t want to burn out on horror, and I want to give a good reason why people should buy a second Ethridge book, if they’ve already bought another. I have several new projects that include an epic fantasy, a spy novel and revisiting a middle grade novel I wrote a couple years back. There is much to do; that is for sure!
6. Who is your favorite writer?
I can answer this one much like I did with my influences, but I’ll be definitive and say Stephen King, just because of the number of novels I’ve read and enjoyed. I haven’t, however, read anything since his last Dark Tower book (not the recent addition either).
7. Have you ever thought about writing a series? From an author’s perspective what do you think is the difference in approaching a stand-alone novel versus a series?
Not only thought, but have begun. I’ve written a sequel to my first novel Black & Orange and have three more novels in mind. My most recent project NIGHTMARE BALLAD will be part of a forthcoming trilogy. Unlike the Black & Orange books, which I want to be standalones, I’ve tried to tackle this new trilogy as one large story. You have to keep the conflict immediate though and not spend an entire book going nowhere. There has to be a reason why someone would want to read the first, second and third novel. The author’s job is to keep increasing the stakes and create a need to complete the entire story.
8. How do you use social media to promote your writing?
Facebook is my hub, but I’ve learned to keep the first few sentences very topical, so when it connects to my Twitter account, the tweet will perhaps get some clicks. Google+, bless its heart, I’ll post as often as I remember. There are people inhabiting its lands, but a sea-change has not occurred, that is for sure.
9. Is there an overall theme to your writing?
Humanity has an inherent mental illness, but the individual human has a choice to accept or reject the malady.
10. If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?
Conan the Barbarian, John Lennon, Crow T. Robot, Jimmy Stewart and Batman.
Originally I wrote this book set after Earth’s devastation, but back then the novel was very different in scope and theme. I wrote about a quarter of it and then stopped, feeling I hadn’t established the appropriate vision. Later I went back and thought some of the ideas were still interesting and wanted to have another go at it. The post-apocalyptic Earth had to go though. That setting is found in a variety of other narratives and it didn’t interest me anymore. I didn’t want overt Science Fiction with different flora and fauna and all planetary baggage though—I wanted a clean slate. What if this alien world could not only sustain human life, but what if previous human colonies had cultivated it to look like their beloved Earth? You still get the starkness of a low population scenario but I still had my heart set on some kind of devastation. So that’s when I decided a war needed to be going on, to add grittiness to an otherwise pristine planet.
2. Where did you get the concept for Dungeon Brain?
It began with research on electroshock therapy. After reading several books and watching a horrifying documentary on the subject, specifically about the resulting amnesia induced by the therapy, I thought it would make a great story. Already mentioned, my first draft didn’t feel right. The ideas weren’t captivating to me—I didn’t know if a story like it had been done before but I didn’t care either. I wanted something different, so I started looking at the concept of multiple personalities (another hackneyed concept) but from a different stand point. These other personalities are created by a broken mind—what if they weren’t? What if the personalities actually had once belonged to living, breathing people? Then I thought—okay, now this person is multi-possessed then—I also didn’t want to go to demons or ghosts for my answer either. I wanted the reason to be associated with the person’s brain and its own psychic gift to reap personalities or souls from other people.
3. How do you juggle handling a day job and life as a writer?
Whenever I have a break or take a lunch, I do something writing related. It helps to bring a lunch because eating-out takes too long and uses up a big chunk of your break (I have brought notebooks with me on occasion, but you have to transcribe that stuff later). I can write 1500 words in about an hour. I try to go for 3K, so I need to get the other half done either in the morning before work or in the afternoon at home. It’s difficult to work at home though because I have my responsibilities there as well. My awesome wife is good enough to give me free time on the weekends if I’ve fallen behind.
4. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?
I could choose a different person for a different aspect of my writing. James Joyce inspired me to write from a direct tap in the mind. Stephen King inspired me to write an engaging story. Nabokov inspired me to write with color. Michael Louis Calvillo inspired me to do all of those things with a relentless passion. It’s impossible for me to choose one.
5. You have a busy schedule with four releases over the next two years. What are your immediate and long term goals as a writer?
I’m going to continue to release two novels a year, but I think I’ll regulate the genres. One horror book and one Sci-Fi, Fantasy, or other. I don’t want to burn out on horror, and I want to give a good reason why people should buy a second Ethridge book, if they’ve already bought another. I have several new projects that include an epic fantasy, a spy novel and revisiting a middle grade novel I wrote a couple years back. There is much to do; that is for sure!
6. Who is your favorite writer?
I can answer this one much like I did with my influences, but I’ll be definitive and say Stephen King, just because of the number of novels I’ve read and enjoyed. I haven’t, however, read anything since his last Dark Tower book (not the recent addition either).
7. Have you ever thought about writing a series? From an author’s perspective what do you think is the difference in approaching a stand-alone novel versus a series?
Not only thought, but have begun. I’ve written a sequel to my first novel Black & Orange and have three more novels in mind. My most recent project NIGHTMARE BALLAD will be part of a forthcoming trilogy. Unlike the Black & Orange books, which I want to be standalones, I’ve tried to tackle this new trilogy as one large story. You have to keep the conflict immediate though and not spend an entire book going nowhere. There has to be a reason why someone would want to read the first, second and third novel. The author’s job is to keep increasing the stakes and create a need to complete the entire story.
8. How do you use social media to promote your writing?
Facebook is my hub, but I’ve learned to keep the first few sentences very topical, so when it connects to my Twitter account, the tweet will perhaps get some clicks. Google+, bless its heart, I’ll post as often as I remember. There are people inhabiting its lands, but a sea-change has not occurred, that is for sure.
9. Is there an overall theme to your writing?
Humanity has an inherent mental illness, but the individual human has a choice to accept or reject the malady.
10. If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?
Conan the Barbarian, John Lennon, Crow T. Robot, Jimmy Stewart and Batman.
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