10 Questions with Benjamin Kane Ethridge
1. What was the basis for the mythos you used in Divine Scream where banshees are heralds for people when they die?
It was a very loose interpretation of a female spirit in Irish mythology, which is usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the underworld. In DIVINE SCREAM the banshee is not a spirit, but an actual living creature from a dimension that shares space with our own. Her job is to send dying people into the light, which can be an afterlife or can be nothing at all. Nobody knows. Not even the banshees. Just as with my other work, my agnostic nature guides some of my reluctance to commit to an afterlife, as well as not counting out the odd possibility we humans actually got something unknown right for a change.
2. What has been the greatest moment of your writing career?
That would have to be when I met my friend Michael Louis Calvillo at Dark Delicacies bookstore. That moment was pivotal to me, for had I never met him, I wouldn’t have been the same type of writer. Michael really set me on a path to get projects finished, to achieve things, to be passionate about creating art and darkness simultaneously. He was an enormous inspiration to me and still remains so today.
3. With Divine Scream and Bottled Abyss, much of your writing focuses on death. Why the fascination with death and what comes after?
It wasn’t exactly intentional. I always enjoyed the questions surrounding the River Styx and I always thought banshees should be more than mere wailing things you kill in role playing video games. So it wasn’t so much that the death part fascinated me, it just happened to come along with the mythological package.
4. How has being part of the Southern California horror scene helped you as a writer?
There are some tremendous writers here (but that can be said for all states). I’m especially lucky to be near Burbank where I’ve met some writers I’ve admired a long time and they’ve all helped in too many ways to describe. Lisa Morton, John Palisano, Brad Hodson, and so many others. There are also a wealth of screenplay writers in the area, with Hollywood being close, and so I’ve learned great things from them as well, without doubt.
5. How do you define success as a writer?
At one point I might have said that making a living as a writer would fit that definition, but after meeting many writers who put out book after book and still have day-jobs, I’m not so sure that qualifies these days. Being successful is different for everybody. Some go for acclaim. Some go for huge sales. I’d like to shoot big and go for both. That would satisfy my expectations for success.
6. Is Jared Kare based on any person that you know? Do you ever use people in your life as the basis for characters in your story?
All my characters are based on pieces of people, but never the whole. Jared is the exaggeration of one of my own qualities, which is to be reluctant and unsure about things, to fear change, to fear stepping outside my comfort zone.
7. What is your best quality as a writer?
I never give myself an easy book to write. I always struggle with what I write because the struggle will be more worthwhile in the end. That’s what I tell myself anyway. I’ve tried to write formulaic pieces, and I’ve gotten close on some, but that doesn’t make me want to write. The desire to write, for me, stems from uncovering something I’ve never seen before. That’s not everybody’s motivation however and I certainly don’t begrudge anybody this passion in whatever form it may take. If you want to write a thousand romance novels with the same plot and characters, and you’ve got a huge audience, and you sit down to the keyboard every day with a grin on your face, you’ve done well by yourself. Perhaps these folks’ best quality would be they don’t stress over the content of their stories. They have fun with the usual paradigm. The only fun I have with writing is when it has come to a close, and when I have something I’m convinced is new in most conceivable ways. I might be delusional about that, but I’m sticking with it!
8. Which person do you most admire?
I admire any unpublished storyteller who sits at a keyboard and believes.
9. If Divine Scream was being cast as a movie and the director allowed you to choose an actor to play Jared Kare, who would you select?
I’m so out of it when it comes to actors and actresses nowadays. Jared would have to be in his early thirties but definitely have a baby-face that indicates his immaturity. At one point I might have said someone like Shia Labeouf, but I think he’s singing Yankee Doodle Dandy off in a padded room somewhere now. For the Banshee, I would say Jennifer Lawrence or someone with her range and striking qualities.
10. What books are in your to read list?
I am quite embarrassed by how slow my reading has gone lately. I usually would finish a book or two every month and now it’s dwindled down to almost nothing. I enjoy reading immeasurably and I believe it’s the foundation of keeping the mind tuned to the narrative voice. However, the last year of my life has been a large transformative journey, and now that I’m getting past all that, I’m hoping books will follow. I really want to finish the Wheel of Time series, because I haven’t read the last one yet. I really want to read more Jeff Strand, because the man is amazing. More Jack Ketchum, Joe Lansdale, Jodi Picoult Bentley Little, Sara Brooke, Ira Levin, Sarah Langan, Rena Mason, and so many others. There are many books out there and so little time, but I need to start my reading diet again. Soon.
It was a very loose interpretation of a female spirit in Irish mythology, which is usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the underworld. In DIVINE SCREAM the banshee is not a spirit, but an actual living creature from a dimension that shares space with our own. Her job is to send dying people into the light, which can be an afterlife or can be nothing at all. Nobody knows. Not even the banshees. Just as with my other work, my agnostic nature guides some of my reluctance to commit to an afterlife, as well as not counting out the odd possibility we humans actually got something unknown right for a change.
2. What has been the greatest moment of your writing career?
That would have to be when I met my friend Michael Louis Calvillo at Dark Delicacies bookstore. That moment was pivotal to me, for had I never met him, I wouldn’t have been the same type of writer. Michael really set me on a path to get projects finished, to achieve things, to be passionate about creating art and darkness simultaneously. He was an enormous inspiration to me and still remains so today.
3. With Divine Scream and Bottled Abyss, much of your writing focuses on death. Why the fascination with death and what comes after?
It wasn’t exactly intentional. I always enjoyed the questions surrounding the River Styx and I always thought banshees should be more than mere wailing things you kill in role playing video games. So it wasn’t so much that the death part fascinated me, it just happened to come along with the mythological package.
4. How has being part of the Southern California horror scene helped you as a writer?
There are some tremendous writers here (but that can be said for all states). I’m especially lucky to be near Burbank where I’ve met some writers I’ve admired a long time and they’ve all helped in too many ways to describe. Lisa Morton, John Palisano, Brad Hodson, and so many others. There are also a wealth of screenplay writers in the area, with Hollywood being close, and so I’ve learned great things from them as well, without doubt.
5. How do you define success as a writer?
At one point I might have said that making a living as a writer would fit that definition, but after meeting many writers who put out book after book and still have day-jobs, I’m not so sure that qualifies these days. Being successful is different for everybody. Some go for acclaim. Some go for huge sales. I’d like to shoot big and go for both. That would satisfy my expectations for success.
6. Is Jared Kare based on any person that you know? Do you ever use people in your life as the basis for characters in your story?
All my characters are based on pieces of people, but never the whole. Jared is the exaggeration of one of my own qualities, which is to be reluctant and unsure about things, to fear change, to fear stepping outside my comfort zone.
7. What is your best quality as a writer?
I never give myself an easy book to write. I always struggle with what I write because the struggle will be more worthwhile in the end. That’s what I tell myself anyway. I’ve tried to write formulaic pieces, and I’ve gotten close on some, but that doesn’t make me want to write. The desire to write, for me, stems from uncovering something I’ve never seen before. That’s not everybody’s motivation however and I certainly don’t begrudge anybody this passion in whatever form it may take. If you want to write a thousand romance novels with the same plot and characters, and you’ve got a huge audience, and you sit down to the keyboard every day with a grin on your face, you’ve done well by yourself. Perhaps these folks’ best quality would be they don’t stress over the content of their stories. They have fun with the usual paradigm. The only fun I have with writing is when it has come to a close, and when I have something I’m convinced is new in most conceivable ways. I might be delusional about that, but I’m sticking with it!
8. Which person do you most admire?
I admire any unpublished storyteller who sits at a keyboard and believes.
9. If Divine Scream was being cast as a movie and the director allowed you to choose an actor to play Jared Kare, who would you select?
I’m so out of it when it comes to actors and actresses nowadays. Jared would have to be in his early thirties but definitely have a baby-face that indicates his immaturity. At one point I might have said someone like Shia Labeouf, but I think he’s singing Yankee Doodle Dandy off in a padded room somewhere now. For the Banshee, I would say Jennifer Lawrence or someone with her range and striking qualities.
10. What books are in your to read list?
I am quite embarrassed by how slow my reading has gone lately. I usually would finish a book or two every month and now it’s dwindled down to almost nothing. I enjoy reading immeasurably and I believe it’s the foundation of keeping the mind tuned to the narrative voice. However, the last year of my life has been a large transformative journey, and now that I’m getting past all that, I’m hoping books will follow. I really want to finish the Wheel of Time series, because I haven’t read the last one yet. I really want to read more Jeff Strand, because the man is amazing. More Jack Ketchum, Joe Lansdale, Jodi Picoult Bentley Little, Sara Brooke, Ira Levin, Sarah Langan, Rena Mason, and so many others. There are many books out there and so little time, but I need to start my reading diet again. Soon.
No comments have been added yet.
