Today we’re joined by Ben Galley, author of the Chasing Graves Trilogy and Emaneska series. Keep scrolling to read more about his inspirations, his thoughts on self-publishing, and his writing process. Also be sure to enter the giveaway to win yourself a copy of Chasing Graves!
About the Author
Ben Galley is an author of dark and epic fantasy books who currently hails from Victoria, Canada. Since publishing his debut Emaneska Series, Ben has released a range of epic and dark fantasy novels, including the award-winning weird western Bloodrush and standalone novel The Heart of Stone. He is also the author of the critically-acclaimed Chasing Graves Trilogy.
When he isn’t conjuring up strange new stories or arguing the finer points of magic and dragons, Ben enjoys exploring the Canadian wilds and sipping Scotch single malts, and will forever and always play a dark elf in The Elder Scrolls. One day he hopes to live in an epic treehouse in the mountains.
Ben can be found on Twitter or vlogging on YouTube @BenGalley, or loitering on Facebook and Instagram @BenGalleyAuthor. Get The Iron Keys, an exclusive, free short story set in the world of Emaneska when you sign up to Ben’s Guild Newsletter at http://eepurl.com/c8F7Av Or, just go to bengalley.com for all Ben’s info.
We already have your official bio, now we want to challenge you to describe yourself in ten words or less…Go!
Incessant scribbler of fantasy. Builder of worlds. Mischievous pest.
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Who or what are your inspirations when it comes to writing? Is it a particular author or authors, art, history, culture, current events, something else? How have they influenced your work?
Inspiration springs at me from all facets of life, but primarily it comes from mythology and history. I’m always digging up some story from ages past. Film and other books of course play a huge part. Authors that have inspired me, and continue to inspire my stories, are Neil Gaiman, Joe Abercrombie, Robin Hobb and far too many others to mention that I will forever be in awe of. Recently, I find recent events sneaking into my stories. It’s hard to avoid when they impact us so widely and personally instead of being distant, stuck behind the news feed or TV. There may be a lot of political corruption sneaking into my books at the moment…
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What do you love about self-publishing and on the flipside what drives you nuts about it? What aspects of self-publishing do you excel at and in what ways do you struggle?
Freedom, plain and simple. While I have every respect for the traditional publishers and process, I do appreciate the ability to act with no restraints and decide my strategy. I can write what stories I want to write, and my own success is in my hands. That’s the flipside: the workload. It can be dastardly overwhelming on occasion, even despite careful planning. I think I need to up my cloning skills, or steal some doppels from Michael. R. Fletcher.
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What does your daily writing process look like? What do you do to get in the writing zone? How many hours do you write or do you go for a word count? Tell us everything!
My daily goal is 3000 words minimum. Every day, except maybe the odd Sunday off, or if life (/ a hangover) interferes. That normally takes 3-4 hours, sometimes faster if I can get into the flow state quicker.
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What do you think makes a good story?
The characters! Always the characters. That’s who we as readers follow between the pages, who we hate and love. If characters can bewitch us and charm us, I think it enriches everything around them, making more of a window into a world.
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When did you first learn that language had power?
The Hobbit, when I remember being terrified for Bilbo in Riddles in the Dark.
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Are you a reader, and if so, which book inspired you?
Many, many books! My all-time top of the list favourites have to be Lord of the Rings for scope and depth, American Gods for mythology in a modern world, and the Book Thief for a slap in the face lesson on description and lyrical language.
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Do you have a set writing schedule?
Usually, I find the words flow best in the early morning or late at night. I can never mix the two, but I can fall back to the latter if something else manages to distract me. As I’m a full-time writer, I am lucky enough where I can move my day around if I need to, but a schedule is a damn good way to squeeze the most out of a day.
Do current events affect your writing, or do you try and keep life and your stories separate?
(answered above :))
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If you could have dinner with any three figures from fiction, who would they be and why?
Gandalf, for the stories and after-dinner fireworks. Deadpool for the lolz. And Ellen Ripley from Alien. Because she’s an utter badass and would probably appreciate some good food over space-gruel.
Giveaway
Enter to win a physical copy of Chasing Graves by Ben Galley!
★ International ★
I’m reading Breaking chaos right now and loving it . Such a great book