Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
For over thirty years I have been an avid reader, though mostly I focused on my visual art style. Though I always considered myself an artist first, part of me itched to write a novel in a bucket list-esque desire. A few years ago, I said screw it, and started writing out the first draft of my premier novel, The Bannerman’s Blade. Once started on the process, I found I absolutely loved creating a world and exploring the relationships within it. Now, with two books published and a third on the way, I find myself shifting towards being a publisher. My background in illustration and commercial art lends well to handling all of the design and cover art for my publications. My fuel of choice is copious amounts of black coffee.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, Wandslinger Wylie’s Merlinesque Marvels and Mayhem Show, started, like most of my works, with an image in my mind. I pictured two men, facing each other down across a dusty street, wide-brimmed hats shading their eyes from the burning Texas sun. With a sudden movement, they slap leather and draw down on one another. Only, this time, instead of a gun, they bear down with pistol-gripped magic wands to fire blasts of energy. With that image in my head, I developed a world based around cowboys and wands, Vikings and legendary beasts, mythology and the desire to tame the American frontier. Throwing together a string of short stories and a novella into an anthology, I opted for the stories to be part of a show inspired by Bill Cody and P.T. Barnum.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not so much unusual, but I use variations of my name depending on what I’m writing. When the subject is fantasy, I go by Benjamin H. Blankenship, my Weird West persona is B.H. Blankenship. Typically, I’m just Ben. I love listening to Celtic music as I write, especially while working on fantasy.
I do, however, paint my own covers and illustrations. The cover to Bannerman, I did in acrylic on canvas board. Wylie’s, with the cover and nine internal illustrations, were all done with oil on canvas.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Robert Jordan for sure, that man’s attention to world building and his characters should be stuff of legend. I’ve read Salvatore and his Drizzt books for decades now. There are so many fantastic authors I’ve absorbed through their works that it would be hard to name them all.
Though I did work a lot with Christie Golden on the editing process of the first few chapters of Bannerman. I learned many valuable lessons from her notes, and I am entirely grateful for her time and attention, which shaped me to be a much better author than I was going in.
What are you working on now?
Currently I am working on The Worldshapers’ Song, which is the sequel to my first book, The Bannerman’s Blade. It presents a new set of challenges in writing, but when I started out with Bannerman, I wrote with sequels in mind, so there is also the satisfaction of seeing elements placed in the first book come to fruition in the second.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still figuring that much out, this is all still a new aspect to me and I’m learning as I go.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Plenty of it. Large amounts of advice that I had gotten from Christie Golden during editing. The first line is crucial. Pacing is everything. Be deliberate in your execution of action sequences. Be ready to “kill your darlings”. A lot of this advice I pass on through my new YouTube channel, you can search it under B.H. Blankenship.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That is really hard to narrow down. I’ve received a lot of really good advice over the last couple of years. But to sum up a lot of the advice: be exceptionally mindful of story flow.
What are you reading now?
I’m between books at the moment. I just finished Brief Cases by Jim Butcher and haven’t yet selected my next read from my TBR stack.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Finish writing and editing The Worldshapers’ Song. After that, write out two or three novellas set in my world of Magewood, U.S.A. (from Wandslinger Wylie’s). From there, it’s off to work on the sequel to Worldshaper.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
That would be completely unfair. Most books I enjoy are part of a larger series. Practically speaking, I’d grab books about survival, boat building, navigation, etc. That way, I could get the hell off of that island and back to where my book choices aren’t so severely limited.
Author Websites and Profiles
Ben (Benjamin H. or B.H) Blankenship Website