Mystery author Benjamin Bradley chats with me today about his new novel, What He Left Behind.
Bio:
Benjamin Bradley is a member of both Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. He’s the author of the Shepard & Kelly Mystery series through Indies United Publishing House and his short fiction has appeared in literary magazines including Reckon Review and Flash Fiction Magazine. He works in public health and homelessness and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, their cat Fox, and their dog Harper.
Welcome, Benjamin. What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always loved small town mysteries and I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time in small towns across North Carolina listening to stories of locals. In that, I wanted to craft a story that carried some thematic elements about what “home” means and how it can change our perspectives on legacy. Eventually, I was able to combine those elements into a novel!
What exciting project are you working on next?
I’m actively working on the draft to a possible next book in the series to follow What He Left Behind. At first, I thought the story wrapped with this book, but I’ve had great interest from early readers to make it into a series, so I’m deep in drafting the second book and outlining the third!
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Oh, I still struggle with this! Even after seeing my book on a shelf, I have such strong imposter syndrome that I hesitate to tell people that I write books. My wife is helpful in that she’s unafraid to mention it, but I’m always so hesitant. In a way, I like that though. It allows me to almost feel like I’m living a double life as a secret novelist.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I write in the mornings and evenings, whenever my full-time day job and life responsibilities allow. Ideas tend to crop up when I’ve tried to take a break, so often on a long walk with my dog or a long run in the woods. My day job is working to expand access to healthcare and public health programs for people experiencing homelessness. It’s incredibly challenging at times but the work is so important.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
My quirk is that in my first drafts, I have “crutch” words everywhere. In the first round of edits, I do a search and replace for a long list of words I know I overuse when I’m writing fast. “Just” is king among them. An editor once told me that I had every character “stepping” into the room. It’s little hiccups like that which are fun to catch later in the process.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I’d always dreamed of being a writer, but I never gave it a lot of energy until adulthood. My mom recently pulled out the first “book” I ever wrote when I was eight or nine, which was… let’s just say not ready for publication. So I guess it’s always been on my mind!
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I’m just grateful for readers in general. I think the best kind of people are those that you find scouring the shelves of libraries or comparing their favorite reads. Without readers, authors don’t have any outlet for these nagging stories that occupy our minds. So, I’m just appreciative of every single person that even considers taking the time to read anything I’ve written.