The Nutshell Version
Husband, father, son, brother, friend, youth leader, aspiring author, project manager/software developer, avid skier, soccer coach, runner, amateur musician…life’s too short!
I write to inspire, move, enthrall, and entertain along the way. I strive to write stories to deepen the way readers feel, expand the way readers think, and takes readers to new, exciting worlds. I’ve been working on a sci fi/fantasy series of novels ever since college (thanks Prof. Thayer!). Over the last few years I’ve taken the journey seriously enough to devour writing books to learn and improve and get closer to publication. Thanks to the professional editors who have been a huge support in recent efforts!
A few more details for the brave:
Earned a BA, English, Brigham Young University, after a counselor said “So…how old are you, Benjamin? You need to pick a short major and graduate.” What I thought was curt, self-serving capitalism forced the best scholastic decision I ever made. Took me a while to land on English but the writing classes were a revelation. I realized that my life long desire to write stories should actually be taken seriously.
To fund my writing endeavors (among other things), I have spent years in senior level project management and software architecture/design/development. Along the way, I attended grad school and earned an MS in Technical Communication at the University of Washington.
I‘m still up here in the Pacific Northwest with my wife/best friend and our four children. We love the outdoors, mountains, islands, and rural atmosphere north of Seattle. However, we still head to Utah and the Canadian Rockies every winter to ski (sorry Washingtonians, despite my love for Mount Baker, Utah really does have the greatest snow on earth). Banff/Canmore/Jasper in Alberta are my other favorite places on the planet.
I also spend a lot of time as a church youth leader and as a coach of youth premier club and high school soccer teams (I hold a US Soccer National B Coaching License).
So what‘s inspired my writing all these years? Tolkien, Robert Jordan, Brooks, Weis & Hickman, and even a few gems from James Joyce, John Milton, and WB Yeats. Also Star Wars (episodes IV – VI, Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, Obi Wan Kenobi), Gladiator (“What we do in life echoes in eternity” — I get chills just typing those words!), The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings, Serenity, K-Pax, The Matrix (the first one; in my world the sequels were actually good), and other great science fiction and adventure movies.
Lately the limits on my discretionary time often permit only the occasional viewing of shorter things (a forty-five-minute TV episode fits in a lot better than a two-hour movie), which fuels my appreciation of The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica (though I wasn‘t quite thrilled with the ending), Firefly (every time I re-watch the episodes I am left in a stupor of disbelief at Fox executives), and the Star Trek (pre-Enterprise) and Stargate series. Liked Dollhouse until the last few episodes, and Fringe for the most part.
My favorite current TV series is, by far, The Expanse. I’m holding out hope for some form of season 7!