Interview With Author Ben Cass
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a longtime educator who writes fantasy novels to help relax and escape the stresses of teaching teenagers. I’ve currently got 4 books published. The first three were a trilogy: The Lost Tayamu, The Uncrowned Queen, and The Shattered Earths. The fourth was the start of a new, completely unrelated series.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book is “The Elf Who Knows A Guy”, and the inspiration behind it actually came from my wife. She left teaching a couple years ago to take a job in a public library in the Florida Keys. A few months in, she made an offhanded comment about how she often felt like her library would be a great setting for a sitcom or a lighthearted novel.
I’d already created the character of Moonspeckle the Book Dragon, who hoards books the way most dragons hoard treasure, and my wife’s comment got me to thinking how I could put Moonspeckle in a library.
One of my wife’s coworkers, who shall remain nameless, was always the one to have an answer to anything about the area. Restaurant recommendation? She had them all. Need somebody to fix the plumbing? Just ask her. Need to find a good nursery to buy fruit trees? She’s got you. I started joking that she was either some kind of underground mob boss who ran the whole area, or that she somehow just “knew a guy” for everything.
That led to the creation of Sharian Brybella, the titular “Elf Who Knows A Guy”. Sharian is actually a supporting character, not the main character, but the book is named for her because she plays the biggest supporting part. (A fact I am using to write and name the other books in the series.)
Her other coworkers inspired–mostly in small ways–other characters, and I took my wife’s journey from math professor to library worker and created the main character, Dr. Archie Dauphine, a divorced single dad who is the first and only human working in a magical library amongst Faekind races.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Teaching is mentally exhausting, especially when you teach five or six completely different courses every year, so I don’t have a lot of brainpower left for writing during the school year. So I guess my “unusual” writing habit is that I do most of my writing when I’m on breaks. During the work week, not much gets done.
I guess it’s also unusual that I don’t drink tea or coffee while I write. I’ve never tried coffee and I think tea is disgusting. I’ve been told that breaks some rule of being an author. LOL.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m a huge fan of Arthur C. Clarke, Rick Riordan, Robert Jordan, and several others. I love that their characters all feel like real people I might have met somewhere. When I write, I focus more on the characters and their relationships with each other than I do on anything else, because if the reader’s not invested in the characters, the plot is meaningless.
What are you working on now?
I have a few things in the pipeline. I’m working on the second book in the Curiousium series, “The Dwarf Who Gives It A WHIRL”. I wrote my last book in only two weeks, and then spent a month editing and tweaking before publishing, but that’s not going to happen with this one. I’d love to have it done by spring, but I just don’t know if that will happen.
I’m also dabbling with an actual middle grades book, at the request of my sister. It’s called “The Vampire Next Door”, and is set in the world of my Curiousium books.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Believe it or not, I’ve only just started trying to promote my books. I published the first one seven years ago, but I really haven’t done a whole lot to market. Now that I have a completed series, and have another series on the way, my wife has been pushing me to market. I’ve started going to book fairs and conventions.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice is for people trying to write fantasy novels. Don’t try to write like Tolkien. A lot of people–myself included–find his writing terribly boring. (One of the few times where the movies were far better than the books!) Find your own style and your own voice. Get critique partners who will make you better while also cheering you on.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“It’s not as bad as you think it is.” Every writer I’ve talked with has some kind of impostor syndrome, yet they’ve all had readers who loved their stories. Clearly, the story wasn’t that bad if somebody loved it!
What are you reading now?
At the moment, nothing. I used to be a voracious reader, devouring dozens of books each summer, but once I started publishing my own, my reading slowed down. I need to read the last couple of Pendergast novels, which are sitting on my shelf, and re-read the first couple Percy Jackson series so I can get through the Trials of Apollo. (I tried it once, but found Apollo unlikable and didn’t finish the first book. Gonna give it another go.)
What’s next for you as a writer?
Working on the Curiousium series and putting myself out there even more by attending more conventions and book fairs.
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?
First, “The Mysterious Island” by Jules Verne. I first read that probably 20 years ago, and accidentally grabbed the annotated edition, which had comments from historians, scientists, and other professionals. That book was basically a “how to survive on an island” guidebook.
After that….there are a lot of books I have re-read in my lifetime. I’d probably take the collected edition of Narnia, as it’s one of my all time favorites. And I’d probably take one or two of my own books, just to help me make up other stories while I’m there.
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