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Benjamin Munday

Benjamin Munday has stopped into the Hybrid Nation for an interview, I’m sure our fans would like to get to know the right-hand man a lot better. He’s a freelance writer and aspiring novelist. He currently lives in Mexico, although he’s from Melbourne, Australia and he likes plenty of other things besides writing. As seen on his website (The Low Road) he is a hard-working author willing to pay his dues and is trying to write the best book possible. After all, isn’t that what us authors want to accomplish? Anyway, let’s quit the small talk, hehehe. Benjamin Munday, welcome and let’s get this interview started!

 

1. When did you decide to become an author/writer?

 

There wasn’t a specific point in time when I decided to become a writer, but I do attribute the fact that I took an interest to my Auntie Jennifer. As a young child, for each birthday and Christmas she would give me some great kid’s novel like Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ or Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and from that, I developed an incessant need to create my own fantasy worlds. As I couldn’t draw all that well, writing was the next best thing.

 

2. Why did you decide to become an author/writer?

 

Here’s the thing; I hate working for people. Who honestly really enjoys it? So, one day, after I quit yet another menial job that I despised and was drowning my sorrows in a bottle of whisky, my housemate Kent took pity on me and actually gave me his computer! I remember him saying ‘the only job that I can ever see you sticking to is writing, so here… write!’ I guess from that day forth I was a writer.

 

3. What genres do you plan to write for the future?

 

Basically anything that will a) provoke a raw and honest reaction from the reader, b) really piss mass sections of the religious, political and general community off to the point of trying to have me banned, and c) anything that aspires to educate, but in a kind of twisted and hilarious way. Not romance though. Never romance!

 

4. Besides writing, what else do you like to do and what are your hobbies?

 

Hmmm, where do I begin?! Music is my absolute number one passion, whether that be listening to or playing it myself. This is going to sound sad, but my records are my best friends. They heal my soul and listen to me bitch and moan unconditionally and without judgment. I love to travel and move around as often as possible. It’s a great way to learn new things all while conveniently purging myself of responsibility. I’ve always kind of been into electronics, rigging up weird audio and visual effects over music; tape loops, effects pedals, distorted lighting and projections etc. But I have many hobbies, to be a keeper of knowledge is probably the most important.

 

5. Who’s your biggest inspiration for your writing?

 

I have a two-pronged answer to this question; firstly, anyone, and I mean anyone, who through their writing challenges any form of convention, be it social, theoretical or otherwise. Anyone who has the balls enough to write with their heart and not their cerebral cortex, anyone who treats language as an experimental device rather than a dictatorial one, and anyone who can evoke real human emotion through words on a page or screen.

 

But specifically, as I am a whorish fangirl for all things beat writing, my biggest inspiration is William S. Burroughs. That guy is a lunatic! In a single sentence, that bastard will have you angry, in fits of laughter, confused, frustrated with his lack of punctuation, disgusted with his drug abuse, violent antics and serial perversions, and ultimately hanging out for an opioid hit just to be able to calm the hell down. He is one sick, paranoid individual.

 

Having said that, anyone who can actually complete a novel and have it published is a pretty damn big inspiration too!

 

6. How much time do you dedicate to writing your books/articles?

 

Oh, man! Look, we’ve known each other for a while. You know I have no discipline! I have a ripped piece of paper taped to my desk with the message 1,600 words scribbled on it as a reminder that that is all it takes per day to complete a full manuscript within two months. But I never even look at it! Some days I’ll write all day and be in my own version of heaven, other days I’ll look for any excuse not to write; my fingernails need cutting, the dog needs a walk, my pockets hurt… whatever excuse.

 

Like most people I guess.

 

7. How important do you think writing is to the young generation?

 

I don’t think that writing per se is crucially important, but I really do feel that reading is of the utmost importance to any generation. Look at the ridiculous goings on in the United States at the moment. Do you really think that the clowns that voted for Trump have ever read anything other than the Bible? Which, by the way, is a fantastic read! But now, because of a core population’s refusal to ever pick up a book, instead opting to continue to live in their own depraved conservative bubble, the rest of us on the planet Earth must suffer. What a pack of ingrates!

 

An example of my belief is this; if you are anti-religion such as myself, read the Bible! Read the Qu’ran and the Bhagavad Gita and the Laws of Manu and the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying… learn why it is that you are inclined to a particular way of thinking. Study what you despise, not to show off and spout on to others why you think you are right about a particular subject and they are wrong. That’s as irritating as religion itself. But read such things so as to learn about yourself. Your inner workings, why you are the way you are, your own spirituality, philosophies or machinations, and then, once a decent portion of self-knowledge is achieved, only then, may you go on to parent and teach a child. Then, one day, perhaps, that child will grow up and help save this planet from the impending doom that it seems to be headed towards.

 

That goes for anything, though. Don’t just read what you love, read what you hate. Being made to feel uncomfortable and angry is all part of the privilege that we call being a human. Read. Educate. Prosper. It’s pretty fucking simple.

 

Rant out.

 

8. How excited will you be when you finally publish your first book?

 

I don’t think I’ll be so much excited as relieved. Let me put it this way; remember when you were still a virgin? Never having once experienced the pleasures of the flesh? Remember that first time? The excitement lasts about three seconds, but the relief! Oh hell yeah! The pressure’s off! That’s how I’ll feel once my first novel is published.

 

9. What is the easiest part of writing in your opinion?

 

That first draft of anything when you just thrash out random words without looking back, without restriction, expectation or a notion of editing. That’s called a brain orgasm. The ultimate purge.

 

10. What is the hardest part of writing in your opinion?

 

Ha! Everything that comes afterward. It sucks. The editing, the finessing and fussing and fawning. The preening and primping. The turning out of a once pure and unhindered piece of brain download into a complete gutter-crawling word whore, acceptable enough for public consumption, but not so acceptable that it prices itself out of the market. Sheesh!

 

11. What is your favorite and least favorite part of writing?

 

Many writers treat the blank screen like an enemy. But, provided I actually have words to offer, ol’ whitey is my best friend. With the blank screen, anything is possible. A blank screen consists of all worlds and no world at all. It’s so fabulously infinite in its restriction. The ultimate contradiction. The anticipation, the tension and nervous excitement at the thought of what that first word might be is one of the purest emotions any writer can have. Embrace the blank screen, make it your submissive lover, even your bitch, because before long, it will turn on you, and that great political thriller may just end up a schmaltzy romance novel.

 

My least favorite part of writing is most probably the answer that most writers would give; promotion is a hideous bitch goddess.

 

12. What can we expect from you next in the short term?

 

Well sir, writing wise I intend to tone down the article writing and ramp up work on my novels. My main project is an eight-novel series that will hopefully be ready by 2019. It’s a global scale political thriller loaded with extreme violence, taboo sex, drug use, mass suicides and more. All good, wholesome fun. But in the short term, I am writing a three novella series about a washed up rock star with a heroin problem who can’t relate to women. It’s all very cliché in a hilarious, kitschy kind of way. Also, in the very short term I’ll be launching a multimedia type company, keeping the world domination ethic of my website and podcast at full steam ahead, and I do intend to start my own publishing company, if for no other reason than because I can, but mostly to hopefully help independent writers without actually exploiting anybody. I know that all may sound completely contradictory, but watch this space.

 

13. How do you deal with writer’s block?

 

I don’t deal with it well at all. I whinge to anyone that will listen, mope around the house and generally sulk like a bratty child. When I lived back home in Australia, I would simply jump on my drum kit or guitar and thrash the living hell out of either one. Usually, that would clear the cobwebs. But now that I live in Mexico and am not yet set up to own such things, I basically just make other people’s lives miserable.

 

14. How much more do you prefer writing articles over an actual novel?

 

I don’t prefer writing articles at all. For the most part, when I’m writing for a magazine or whatever, I find the whole process quite tedious and restrictive. I guess that goes back to the whole working for other people thing. Having said that, writing articles for my own site, whilst not completely satisfying, is nowhere near as hellish as writing for someone else. Doing so is just a means to an end. I much prefer writing fiction, be it a short story or a novel.

 

15. What is the Roadkill Podcast all about for those who might be unfamiliar?

 

Ahh, Roadkill. My catharsis in an otherwise soul-sucking universe. This is my one time per week when I can break off the shackles, indulge my number one passion and basically do or say whatever the hell I want. Basically, it’s a podcast that’s all about the music, and as the tagline goes, …anything from death metal to doo-wop, from psych to the psychotic. 2 hours per week of mostly music, with a growing list of interviewees, the occasional political rant and a hell of a lot of humour.

 

Somewhat pretentiously I guess, I would like to convert music fans away from the force-fed Beyonceisms of the world, and into the sleazy underbelly of the lesser heard.

 

16. If you’d like to say anything else such as advice, shout outs, or just whatever’s in your mind, say it now. The stage is yours!

 

You might live to regret that offer, Medina!

 

My advice goes out to fledgling writers as I am one of them.

 

When you write, leave nothing behind. Squeeze every single drop of inspiration, energy, wickedness, humour, knowledge… whatever, that you can spare and put it onto the page. With everything you write, you must take risks. Listen to your gut instinct and completely ignore the logical part of your brain. Seriously.

 

In this obscene publishing world of either multinational domination or the increasing ease and convenience to self-publish, there is a hell of a lot of garbage out there. Yet, smattered throughout the garbage are some absolute gems! And therein lies the problem. When you go to a rubbish dump, what’s the first thing you see? Surface garbage. Not what lies beneath. Often, the surface garbage is Amazon. It’s Barnes & Noble and vanity publishing, and, I’m sorry to say it, but in many cases, it’s also self-publishing. There is a distinct lack of quality control in the writing industry and the mass influx of mediocrity is suffocating the brilliance right out of it.

 

So, treat yourself as the gem that’s working its way to the top of the pile. To do that, though, sacrifices must be made. Your unwillingness to generically submit may render you only a minor hit and without riches for some time. But that’s okay, isn’t it? Your dignity will still be intact.

 

Write with flair. Take risks. Remember, rules are made to be broken. Writing rules are no different. Make up words, experiment with language and sentence structure. Make the impossible possible. Ignore the flow charts of how a novel must be, where it must peak, and how it must begin and end. Screw it! Don’t follow formulas. Create your own formula! Write like a god damn rock star and not like some drone of an accountant. I can’t believe I’m about to quote Trump here, but hey, it’s a crazy world… drain the swamp!!!

 

If everyone followed a formula, there would never be any change.

 

Rant out.

 

Well, that’s a wrap ladies and gentleman. It was nice talking to this brilliant and kind-hearted man. Benjamin, it was an honor talking to you and once again congrats on your upcoming books and achievements, that is certainly an honor to be proud of! I wish you the best on your future endeavors and may your success continue for years to come.

 

By the way please check out this man's website https://www.thelowroad.net/ it’s a really cool website and this man is an overall cool man to be friends with. Finally, give a check to his social links and his articles!

 

If you enjoyed this interview leave a comment on our Facebook page “The Hybrid Nation” or drop us an email on our Contact Us page.

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hybridnationrevolution/

Hybrid Nation Website: http://www.hybridnationrevolution.com/contact-us

 

If you’re interested in getting Benjamin’s Short Story: The Ashtray, head over to the book page on Amazon and grab yourself a copy, you’ll enjoy it!

 

Link to his book: https://www.amazon.com/Ashtray-Benjamin-Munday-ebook/dp/B01M3QWZBR

 

Social Links:

Twitter #1: @Bastards_Books

Twitter #2: @TheLowRoadMag

Twitter #3: @TheLowRoadShow   

Facebook #1: https://www.facebook.com/ben.munday.756?fref=ufi

 Facebook #2: https://www.facebook.com/thelowroadmag/

Facebook #3: https://www.facebook.com/thelowroadshow/

Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/117385799474412839424

Website: https://www.thelowroad.net/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-munday-26236a105/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_low_road_mag/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsyte2EsKsmq6OJYtDXLiBA

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