Ben Willoughby

To Write Is The Thing

This past weekend, I got a big shock, a sad shock: one of my favorite indie writers, Ben Willoughby, is hanging up his pen. He’s taking down his Twitter profile and pulling his books off of Amazon. I encourage you to get his books while you can — you won’t be sorry. He’s a doggone good writer.

Buy Ben’s Books!

For nearly 5 years, I’ve been an independent author/publisher. And I’ve had a blast. I’ve loved every day of the adventure.

However, along the way, I’ve seen writers drop out for sometimes unknown reasons. None of those writers were bestsellers, and perhaps the lack of financial reward convinced them that they had better things to do with their time. And that is a decision only they can make.

In the end, the writer himself or herself has to decide if telling stories is worth the effort or not.

In the case of Mr Willoughby, I’m very sad that there will be no more new books from him. But I have to respect his decision that his time can be spent better in other pursuits. After all it is his time and not mine.

But it is just a tad frustrating for me as a reader, when a good writer, such as Mr Willoughby, quits writing, leaving the field to writers who are much inferior. Writers who are often on the bestseller list. Which completely baffles me, by the way. How does a mediocre at best writer get people to buy his or her books by the truckload? In a world full of unfair things, that is perhaps one of the most unfair. Mr Willoughby should be on the bestseller list, and it is very sad that he is not.

For me, though, writing is the thing. I cannot imagine any other life. And at my age I have lived a life or two. I hope to heaven, I die with a pencil in my hand putting words on paper. And that after I crossover, I pick up that pencil and continue writing.

As I’ve noted before, I don’t make much money at this. Last month was the best month I’ve had in a year. I made 30 bucks and change. And there are better writers than I, who don’t even make that much. Which is a very sad commentary on those of us who are readers.

In some ways, I see myself like the old prospector in the movies panning for gold and hoping to strike it rich. If I don’t keep at it, I definitely won’t get rich.

On the other hand, is such a pittance worth all the effort? I can only answer for myself, and that answer is yes.

From 2001 to about 2013, I actively published my poetry. And I did it the traditional way, submitting to print and online magazines. I was fortunate enough to achieve a bit of renown, and to pick up an award or two, and even pick up a couple bucks.

The truth is there is no money in writing poetry. Yes, there is the exceedingly rare individual who for a short period of time is popular enough to make some money. But that popularity doesn’t last and the person fades away.

Writing poetry is truly a labor of love. You have to find satisfaction in something other than money. And for over 10 years I did. But then I felt I needed a bigger canvas on which to work, and as I was nearing retirement I wanted to live my dream of writing fiction full-time. And I am living my dream. I write full-time. I just don’t make a full-time income.

Once I realized that in order to make money at this writing gig I needed to have money, money for websites, money for bookcovers, money for various services, money for advertising, I realized that unless somebody took me under his or her wing and promoted the heck out of my work I was not ever going to get on the bestseller list. Because I just don’t have money to risk on the business end of self-publishing. I’m retired and on a fixed income.

Reality sucks, but realizing what reality is has helped me to adjust my attitude from fantasy to something more realistic.

And I am content, at least for now, at where I am at. I don’t have money to pour into advertising, I don’t have the money to get fancy-schmansy bookcovers like the bestselling guys have, I don’t have money to pay other people to do all the stuff that I don’t want to do just so I can spend all of my time writing. I am a one man band and I have to live with that reality.

And I am okay with it.

But if other writers do not want to put up with the crap and decide that they have other things they would rather do then spend hours producing work that virtually no one buys — I cannot blame them for leaving writing behind. After all who wants to do a thankless job forever, especially if you have other things on your bucket list that you want to do?

I am just sorry to see the good ones go, because that leaves me just a little bit poorer.

I wish Mr Willoughby well. I am thankful that I got to know him, that I have his books on my Kindle app, and that I can reread them at my leisure.

Now you can do him a favor by buying his books and giving him a nice goodbye present. You won’t be sorry. He’ll be gone and you will still have his wonderful books.

Buy Ben’s Books!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of – Part 7

I’m back with Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of. And today we’re not looking at one book. We’re looking at one remarkable author.

Ben Willoughby and I met on Twitter, and I’m glad we did. His horror books have provided hours of scary, spooky, and at times hilarious entertainment.

He is also the very talented artist who is responsible for the awesome book covers of my Pierce Mostyn series.

In addition to writing horror, Ben has written a high fantasy novel, Gods on the Mountain, and is working on The Zeppelin Lords dieselpunk trilogy.

It is his horror tales, however, I want to highlight in this post, for they are the books I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed. So without further ado, let’s take a look at Ben Willoughby’s Reign of Terror.

Mannegishi is based on a Cree Indian legend. The small people, the Mannegishi, play pranks on people. They’re tricksters. And at first Jonathan Banks wonders if perhaps he hasn’t had the misfortune of drawing the attention of the Little People. But then things start taking an ugly turn, and so does the story. Highly recommended.

Daddy’s Girl is a ghost story you won’t easily forget. Alex never knew her father. He died when she was very young. However, through the stories about him, she learned he was a warm and loving person, and was a devoted father who loved her very much. When she goes off to college she discovers what a father’s love truly means. And woe to those who threaten Daddy’s Girl. You don’t want to miss this story.

The House That Homed is a hilarious dark comedy. And Willoughby handles the comedy and terror with equal aplomb. You just might never want to be home alone again. Thoroughly entertaining.

Raw Head is another tale based on Native American legend. A serial killer is brutally murdering children. And events cause Susie to fear that the child she is carrying may be the next victim. Can the killer be stopped? What if the killer isn’t human? An emotionally powerful tale.

Deadly Whispers is a dark comedy that takes a whole new look at Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, or ASMR. And let me tell you, that look is both chilling, and funny. Very funny, in fact. There’s also a love story. Horror, humor, and love. A combination guaranteed to creep you out and warm your heart at the same time. And the ending? Well, I never saw that one coming! Very highly recommended.

If you are looking for horror tales that are well-written and come from a very fertile imagination, look no further than Willoughby’s books. They’re superb.

If you are a writer in need of a book cover, I highly recommend Ben Willoughby. He understands book covers. You can get in touch with him on Twitter.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

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Interview with Author Ben Willoughby

Today I have the privilege of interviewing one of my favorite indie authors, Ben Willoughby. We first ran across each other on Twitter, and since then I’ve gotten to know him and his writing. So without further ado, let’s chat with Ben.

CW: Tell us a little about yourself.

BW: First, thank you for inviting me to partake in this interview! I’m flattered to have the honor of talking on your blog!

CW: You’re welcome.

BW: My name is Ben Willoughby, and I’m a happily married husband with a beautiful wife and a lovely daughter who turned three last October. I’m an indie writer who’s mainly dabbled in fantasy as well as horror. I have a dieselpunk trilogy I’m currently working on. In my full-time job, I’m a graphic designer.

CW: You’re a bit like me. Writing in several different genres. What did you read as a child?

BW: I really got into mysteries and science fiction as a kid.

For mysteries, I ate up every single Sherlock Holmes book Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote, as well as many of Agatha Christie’s Poirot books.

For science fiction, I read a lot of HG Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, Jules Verne, and AE Van Vogt.

When I first started writing for fun at thirteen, I tried to come up with my own mysteries, but could never really finish them. Some have said you should write what you enjoy, but I’ve found I can rarely figure out how to do a straight up detective novel.

I also read heavily into military history. My dad was an officer in the army (he’s since retired), so I grew up with a lot of his old books laying around the house, and was exposed to them. By middle school I had a better knowledge on events like the Napoleonic Wars or World War II than most kids my age.

While my family was stationed in Europe in the mid-90’s, I would go to school and read Erwin Rommel’s World War I memoir Infantry Attacks, and I got to go to the Waterloo battlefield for my thirteenth birthday. I could never get into historical fiction – I think the only historical fiction book I read was The Killer Angels, which was later turned into the movie Gettysburg.

CW: Very interesting. Similar interests, you and I. Aside from writing, how do you spend your free time?

BW: I do artwork, whether it’s sketching or graphic design. My main full-time work for the past decade has been in graphic design, as well as motion design and editing. This has helped me in my writing, since I’ve been able to design my own covers. With the exception of Gods on the Mountain, where I used a freelance artist to paint the cover for me.

I also do a lot of personal study on various topics. My favorite subjects are military history and theology.

And of course, when my daughter is awake, and is in the same room as me, she always desires daddy time.

CW: Yes, there is always the requisite “daddy time”.

BW: There is.

CW: Being a writer, you’re also a reader I would guess.

BW: Yes.

CW: How many fiction books do you read a year?

BW: I read quite a bit, though I don’t know if I can really pin a number on it. If I had to “guesstimate,” I would say about two dozen a year. Part of the problem is finding the time to sit down and read – I’ll get involved in another project, or have to spend time with the family, and by the time I’ve sat down in a place where I can read, I’m too tired to mentally focus. I’ve been getting better about it recently, however.

I also read quite a bit of non-fiction on top of fiction. I recently read a book on what life in England was like at the turn of the first millennium, and am now going through a book on Martin Luther.

CW: What book do you think everyone should read and why?

BW: This is a hard question to answer, because obviously not every book is going to be for every person’s taste. Any book I say, there will most likely be someone out there to say it’s not for them, or could never, in any way, edify them.

CW: Fair enough, so tell us instead about a book that has influenced you as a person.

BW: I used to have an enormous, single volume of Matthew Henry’s commentary on the Bible.

CW: Hey, I had one of those! A great Puritan commentary.

BW: Yes, it is. His analytical way of thinking, and explaining everything as if he were writing a sermon, influenced how I read things in general, which was carefully, word for word, and with a larger picture in mind. It did way more to assist my understanding of comprehensive reading than any test I took in school did.

CW: Spot on about Matthew Henry. Okay, you are being exiled to a small island in the Pacific. You can take 3 books with you. What books would you take and why?

BW: a. The Bible, to maintain my faith and knowledge in true wisdom.

b. The Encyclopedia of Military History by the Dupuys. I used to read that for fun as a kid. There’s enough information in there to pass away eternity and a day.

c. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, because that’s good sci-fi. (Also, fudge the movie.)

CW: Very interesting choices. So now tell us about a book that’s influenced you as a writer.

BW: It’s hard to pin this down exactly on any one book, because obviously we glean from everything we read, and there are plenty of authors out there who have influenced us. If I had to point to one (in a collective sense), it might be George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.

The earliest books did a great job not only in character development, and every character feels different in their motivations and desires, but the worldbuilding was also excellent. Westeros felt like a real, functioning world. I won’t say his worldbuilding is perfect, as there are a few parts I find a tad bit contrived (eg., one house ruling the same position for thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years), but compared to other works, it’s much more polished. To step into the story is to step into another land.

It’s a bit sad for me to say all this, and I hesitated doing so, since I’ve stopped reading the series long ago. George R.R. Martin takes decades to write one book (confirming my earliest fears that he was the new Robert Jordan), and his storyline has gotten bogged down in so many subplots he’s now admitted he’ll have to write several more books. Also, it’s quite obvious he’s sold out to HBO. But that’s another rant for another time.

CW: Of all your books, which one is your favorite and why?

BW: I find myself still going back to my novelette The House That Homed. It was a lot of fun to write (about three-quarters of it was complete, on-the-spot improvisation) and it showcases my sense of humor, which admittedly is pretty unique and relies heavily on non sequitur. Whenever I pick it up and reread it, there are scenes (like Officer Bruce’s meltdown) that still make me crack up. There are also some parts that will reenter my head as I’m out and about and make me chuckle (like the “It’s the Kickstart guys again” line).

CW: Oh, yes, The House That Homed is fabulous. Superb dark humor. Now, if I hadn’t read any of your books, which one should I start with and why?

BW: In all honesty, probably one of the last ones I published, Mannegishi. I think it’s the much more polished of much of my work, in terms of development, story, and build-up. I was also pretty proud of how I developed each of the individual characters, and how they relate. This was the book where, at a pinnacle point in the romance subplot, my wife actually lamented, “I don’t even care about the aliens anymore!” It was also a lot of fun to write scenes involving exchanges between certain characters, such as the scene where Rick and Lucy have some brief convos, or all the scenes where Sam and Rick go at each other, and so I feel like those scenes really work.

CW: I haven’t read Mannegishi yet. It is, however, on my list. Thank you, Ben Willoughby, for chatting with us today.

And now here is a bit more about Ben, where you can find his books, and get in touch with him.

Ben Willoughby was born in the United States and, being a military brat, ended up seeing a lot of it (along with a foreign country or two). At a very young age, he found a love for reading. At the age of 12, he found a passion for writing. In his late 20’s, he decided to pursue publishing many of the ideas and concepts he had developed over the years. He currently lives in Ohio with his loving wife and young daughter. When not writing or reading, he spends his spare time sketching and smoking his pipe.

You can find Ben’s books at:

https://www.amazon.com/Ben-Willoughby/e/B00WV2OQI2

Ben’s website is: http://benwilloughbyauthor.blogspot.com/

And you can find him on Twitter (https://twitter.com/BenWilloughby84)

and Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13877156.Ben_Willoughby)

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Book Review: Daddy’s Girl by Ben Willoughby

Horror tales come in all shapes and sizes. They can be visions of great cosmic terror or they can be the evil wishes of a child. The story can be one of psychological torment, or one of unfathomable gruesomeness. There are some who don’t see horror as a separate genre, but as a particular effect given to a story of dark fantasy, or science fiction, or slice of life.

And whether or not we like to read stories that frighten us, or listen to them told around a campfire, many of us do. Enough so that horror has gotten its own BISAC genre code and is exceedingly profitable to publisher and writer alike.

My first foray into the realm of the horror story was by means of the tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Not much later came the stories of Saki. And then those two gothic adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles and “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb”. From there I read Dracula and Carmilla and discovered the work of HP Lovecraft and Robert E Howard’s weird fiction.

I’ve even ventured into the realm of the weird and terrible with a few tales of my own. However, there are a few writers today who write doggone good horror stories and unfortunately remain for the most part unseen. One of those writers is Ben Willoughby and I hope this review, and upcoming reviews of his work, will help to bring him a broader audience.

Mr Willoughby has five books out now in the horror genre. I’ve purchased them all and read two. (He’s writing them faster than I can read them!) Today I want to talk a bit about his novella Daddy’s Girl, which is a ghost story that is very well done.

The ghost story is perhaps the most venerable form of the supernatural horror tale. Certainly it is one of the oldest, if not the oldest within this category. The ghost story plays into our beliefs about life after death. Even today, where the Western world has moved beyond Christianity and pretty much any traditional religion, the ghost story still works. Still plays upon our imagination. I think this is because it’s primal. It taps into the core of our hopes and fears surrounding the greatest of all mysteries — death. And no matter how materialistic we’ve become, few of us want to die. Even believing in an afterlife, few of us want to end our existence here. It is what we know. We fear the unknown.

Mr Willoughby’s tale, Daddy’s Girl, plays on our emotions from two directions. The first is the child’s need for and love of his or her parents. We children may dislike our parents telling us what to do, but when they aren’t there we crave for someone to step in and take over that role. Many of us don’t ever grow out of that need for someone to watch over us. Politicians and demagogues use this to gain control. They feel our pain and tell us lies so we feel good. The bond of child to parent is ever with us.

The other bond is that of parent to child. We as parents will do anything to spare our children at the very least the hardest knocks of life. We teach them and guide them and support them. Children a visible form of eternal life. Through them we in a sense live forever.

Mr Willoughby has combined these two powerful bonds into a tale of parent-child love. The parent’s watchful eye, ever present, protecting his little girl.

I don’t want to spoil the story and so I will leave the storyline alone. Do, though, get yourself a copy of Daddy’s Girl. The book will tug your heartstrings and give you something to think about. As well as scare you into the realization your determination may be stronger than you even realize.

What I like about Ben Willoughby’s writing is that he has a simple and straightforward way to tell a story. It unfolds before us on the page and does so without a mass of purple prose. There is an economy of words in his style and to my mind that allows me the reader to participate in the story. He isn’t telling me everything. Just what I need to know. Which means he is able to paint the atmosphere and mood and generate empathy for the characters without excess verbiage. And that is the hallmark of a good writer.

I very much recommend Daddy’s Girl. I also recommend Raw Head, which I hope to review in a future post. And I look forward to reading his other offerings in the realm of terror.

Ben Willoughby is a fine example of the good things the indie revolution has to offer. If only we take a chance and are willing to read widely.

Comments are always welcome! Until next time, happy reading!

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Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

Having just published the third book in my Justinia Wright, PI series and two short stories which take us back to a time before the series begins, I’ve had mysteries on my mind. And of late, I’ve been watching Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

I find the showed delightful. The characters are superbly drawn. They have history. They have issues. They are like real people. The mystery, on the other hand, is usually light and often flawed. On one episode, Miss Fisher gets an important clue by looking at a typewriter ribbon – a carbon typewriter ribbon. Oh, did I mention the era is the 1920s? Now that is what I call I gaping plot hole. But in spite of such faux pas, I thoroughly enjoy the show because the characters are so very lifelike. And the show is really about the characters.

For me the best stories are not plot-driven, but character-driven. I don’t give two hoots for the plot. In my mind, the plot is only there because the characters do something. Where’s the plot in Waiting For Godot? The story seems to get along quite nicely without one. Or how about The Remains Of The Day? The plot, such as it is, is merely the vehicle for us to listen to the ruminations of Stevens. Or what about The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress? Lots of plot there and yet the plot is merely the vehicle for Heinlein to present his picture of a libertarian utopia. In that sense, any plot could have worked. The plot in and of itself is non-essential. It’s the characters acting (giving us a plot) that is the real story.

Another example is Raw Head by Ben Willoughby. Willoughby creates two characters, has them do their thing, and the result is a strongly character driven story. Just as Ray Bradbury said it should be.

Christine by Stephen King, in my opinion, is a case of where the plot actually gets in the way of the story. And I think it was probably due to his having to write his book to a certain length for the publisher. But whatever the reason, two-thirds of the way through the book the story was told and yet King went on having the car create more and more senseless havoc, gore, and mayhem. For me, the extended and senseless plot ruined the book. Plot to my mind is highly overrated. Follow the Bradbury formula and your story will be told. After all, that is the real point of the plot. To tell a story. And your characters will do that for you.

So if the writers of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries leave gaping plot holes, why bother watching? I think there are lots of reasons. Namely, the characters. Miss Fisher, a complex rich socialite with the past. Her companion, doc, who is in some ways miss fishers polar opposite. Inspector Jack Robinson, I somewhat stated police detective who gradually appreciates Mrs. Fisher’s talents. Constable Collins, who provides us with comic relief. And the list goes on.

Of course, this setting also contributes to the charm of the series: Melbourne in the 1920s. It is the perfect stage for larger than life liberated woman to walk apart.

There’s lots to like in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Do give the show a try.

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