About Ben
Having initially trained in design, Ben has enjoyed a
diversity of creative disciplines down the years including graphic design, animation, garden design, photography, song writing, the performing arts and illustration, yet above all these he enjoys writing fiction the most.
When Ben began writing, the genre was fantasy. He later worked on a series of (as yet unpublished) early-medieval whodunits before beginning the Tyler May project.
The Tyler May fantasy encompasses several key areas of Ben’s interest, namely, history, mystery and crime/detection.
In addition to his written work Ben is an illustrator and graphics designer. He is married and has three daughters who have partly been the inspiration for the three main characters in the Tyler May books.
Ben on Writing
“I started writing many years ago, having read a couple of books that truly inspired me. It was a way of using my time constructively when I was prolifically writing too many songs for the band I was in. Seeing new songs constantly shelved for later review was a personal frustration, so I made a conscious effort to write fewer, which left me with a little down time.
Writing fiction was the answer, though I didn’t take it that seriously back then. These days it’s all I want to do!”
Ben on Tyler May
“The idea for Tyler May’s story came about after a conversation, in the car, with my eldest daughter, who’d recently devoured the Harry Potter series. I was wondering, ‘What would be good for her to read next? What would she really enjoy?’ and the seed of a story began to take root.”