Ben Berwick

I am Ben, I was born in the 80s, and formed by the 90s. I grew up watching Star Trek: TNG, and I also watched a lot of Formula One motorsport. I fell in love with The Lion King when it first came out, and have often found myself drawn to a lot of things Disney. For my sins, I support Liverpool Football Club.

I am fortunate to have several guiding lights in my journey through life, not least of all my parents, brother, and extended family, and especially my wife and daughter. I am eternally grateful to all the love and support they, and the rest of my family and friends, provide me with. I would utterly lost without them.

Ben can be found at:
Website: meerkatmusings.co.uk
Bluesky: @darthtimon.bsky.social
Twitter: @BenBerwickGB
Threads: @darthtimon

Tell me what inspired you to write your (debut) novel?
My very first published book, The Awakening, drew motivation from a couple of sources. Firstly, it was an escape mechanism, whilst bored in a previous job. I turned to writing small chunks via my WordPress app on my phone. I had been speaking to my brother about Warhammer, and took inspiration from the concept of space orcs.

I also stumbled across a book in Forbidden Planet, a book I enjoyed, but if I was being brutally honest, it struck me that if this book could end up on a bookstore shelf, I was capable of doing the same thing. Then the covid pandemic struck, and I had time to write, with no excuses. From there, I originally self-published, but sought out a publisher as well.

How hard was it to get your first (debut) book published?
I had a couple of publishers completely ignore me, and one came back to say they didn’t feel my story was worth pursuing. However, by the time I received that rejection, I had found a publisher willing to nurture me! Jumpmaster Press and their lovely people gave me ideas, focus, and direction. It took a couple of years of rewrites and edits, but in the end, I had something that they were proud to put their name on.

Do you take notice of online reviews?
I do to a point. I am more grateful to receive any reviews, good or bad! I tend to view negative reviews as being subjective, just as positive reviews are also subjective. No one will like everything, and so their opinion reflects that. A bad review doesn’t make my book bad, just bad to that one person. There’s no point in fretting over it.

Would you ever consider writing outside your current genre?
My chief focus is sci-fi and perhaps a bit of fantasy, but that said, I once wrote something for a fiction site that was full of sex and violence. It was inspired by the TV series Spartacus, and I have toyed with rewriting it. I fear I’d be biting off more than I could chew at the mo.

What did you do before (or still do) you became a writer?
I currently design and sell bathrooms for a living, and have spent the last 18 years in some form of retail sales role. From laptops and PCs, to sofas, to bathrooms, I have a lot of experience in that arena, but it doesn’t satisfy me the way writing does.

What can you tell us about your next book?
My work-in-progress is Part Three of The Chon’ith Saga, which will probably conclude the story I began on my phone at work back in 2019! The tale has dramatically evolved from the original incarnation, and all I can say about the finale is that I intend to throw in some shocks!

How much (if any) say do you have in your book covers?
I entrust these to my publisher, though they present me with a few options. They have the experience with this sort of thing, so I place my faith in their judgement.

Were you a big reader as a child?
Very much so! I love books, and cannot imagine a world without them. I would read for hours, and could finish a book in a day. This leads on to the next question…

What were your favourite childhood books?
I embraced a lot of Roald Dahl books as a kid. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was terrific, and the sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, was to me even better. Fantastic Mr Fox was, well, fantastic, and Matilda was hauntingly beautiful.

What is your current or latest read?
I’m working my way through Sunbringer, by Hannah Kaner. The first book in her series, Godkiller, was really compelling stuff, with a vivid, warts-and-all world brought to life, and the sequel continues this, right where the first book left off.

Any plans or projects in the near future you can tell us about?
My big plan is to develop a sort of multiverse among a varied group of stories. I have the first book of this potential series in the hands of Jumpmaster Press, and I am at various stages of other projects, including one with my brother-in-law, which may or may not get folded into this multiverse idea. It’s ambitious, and may not even work, but I hope I can create something bold and fun out of it.

and finally, what inspired you to write the genre you do?
I love sci-fi. I am an absolute geek, and I wear my geekdom like a badge of honour. I have tattoos that can testify to my nerdy nature, which dates back to watching TNG with my mum, waaay back as a kid. Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Stargate, you name it, I love it. This made it virtually inevitable I would write sci-fi.