Seven things I'd like my readers to know about me by Ben Ellis

1. How We Got To Today (Headline Accent Press) is the third novel I've written. I finished the first draft in 2015 and since then I’ve written two feature film screenplays and one sitcom pilot. I self-published my first two novels and these are now going to be re-released: In A Right State in September 2021 and Broken Branches in September 2022. These two novels are both dystopian stories but I’m hoping next year and the year after are much less dystopian in real-life than 2020.

2. I’ve already decided that my next writing project is going to be a novel. I don’t know what it’s going to be about yet but I’m thinking along the lines of a comedy-dystopia, if that’s a thing. I haven’t written a novel for five years so I’m a little nervous about it but screenwriting is great because structure is a lot more important, so I’m looking forward to actually planning it all out before I begin. Funnily enough I have a title I really like, so I’m trying to bend all my ideas to fit around this one title. I’m not sure that’s good advice, so ignore that bit.

3. I lived in the USA for three and a half years. I got a job with a software company just outside of Detroit in mid-2003 and lived there for two years then moved to Miami. I had a great time and returned with a love of maple syrup on bacon for breakfast, Cheetos, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, drive-thru cash point machines, remote-start ignitions, Cuban food and baseball.

4. I have an interest in watches and will soon be starting a watch technician course with the British Horology Institute. I'm thinking my next novel might have a watch maker in so the lessons can double up as research.

5. I dont have a literary agent but I’d like one, so if any are reading this, get in touch!

6. You may have guessed from the things I miss from the USA, I've got a serious sweet tooth. When I was a kid I'd dip a lolly stick into a tin of golden syrup, twirl it around, sprinkle sugar on top and then lose myself to that intense sugar hit. I have a good dentist.

7. I’m utterly rubbish at drawing but I love a good political cartoon. The cartoonist manages to mix together the skill of an illustrator and satirist. I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler, absolutely zero skill at all, it’s not even worth me trying, but it’s something I love to see. I follow a lot of political cartoonists on Twitter to marvel at their artistic skill and also their satirical mastery over jokes and metaphor in the most concise way as possible. They are annoyingly doubly skilled.