Pulling Out the Hidden Worlds and Recreating Them
In THREE DAYS (March 13), a special volume of short stories is hitting virtual and physical bookstores. The International Association of Media Tie-in Writers is publishing a collective anthology called Turning the Tied from some of the tie-in writing industries’ prolific and sublime authors; all of the book’s proceeds are being donated to the World Literacy Foundation.
One of those authors is, well, Ben H. Rome. Perhaps you know him? It’s okay if you don’t. Go check out his publication list; he’s one of those under-the-radar writer types.
Anyway, after interviewing Will McDermott, Marcy Rockwell, and Rigel Ailur, I figured I should pin down the elusive Mr. Rome and pick his brain. Surprisingly, he wasn’t all that hard to find.
The Elusive One
Ben’s been at the writing game for more than twenty years, writing all kinds of things for money. He got his media tie-in to start writing for the BattleTech game line, bringing stories and products to the Jihad and Dark Age eras from 2002 to 2016.
Ben’s published stories and articles across multiple genres, formats, and media, a multi-award winner in marketing, communications, and tabletop gaming. His two crowning achievements – so far – are the publication of Games’ Most Wanted (with Chris Hussey), an Origins Award for his Wars of Reaving plot book, and 13 awards garnered for his IH Heroes comic series.
Ben’s contribution to Turning the Tied is a fascinating (and sad) take on the world a few decades after H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds novel.
As per usual, I posed three questions (and a bonus) for him to answer and get all writerly geeky about.
What is it about media tie-in fiction that you enjoy?
When I first started, it involved a licensed universe so much bigger than I could build myself. It remains a lot of wonder and awe that I contributed to such an established world, especially one I enjoyed gaming in.
It’s a total thrill to see people talking, arguing, sharing, discovering all the cool content you inject into an established world. Because you’re listening to all this and thinking, “Yeah, this is so cool, I created that, and they’re engaging with it!”
Honestly, these days, because I write full time, I have the luxury of picking my projects now. I really love worldbuilding, and I’m excited to be working with a new company in crafting a whole new universe for the once-languid Renegade Legion property. It’s been pretty fun so far, and I’m eager to see it unleashed on the world later this year.
When writing, what influences your journey through the project?
It depends on what I’m writing. If it’s serious work or something in the multimedia space like scripting and storyboarding, I tend to gravitate to various music blends. For more ‘fun’ projects – such as when I was writing BattleTech – I typically pop in a great action movie or series to run in the background. The combination of sequences and music tends to energize my subconscious.
I’ve been told that the closer to the deadline I am, the better I write. Probably because back in college, my best work was those done literally hours before the class deadline – especially when I had an entire semester to write!
Tell me about your story in the anthology. Why did you pick War of the Worlds?
Wells’ original WotW novel was one of my first ‘adult’ novels I read, back when I got bored of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. I was obsessed with Star Wars as a kid (still am!) and pivoted into space adventures.
I re-read the novel a few years ago, and at the end, I realized Wells left a lot of questions unanswered. I started spinning out various cause-and-effect situations, which I wrote down. When offered the chance to participate in this project, I happened across those notes and went from there.
One of the novel’s biggest themes that stick out to me even today is how Wells surmised what a species’ craving towards all scientific knowledge would do, what the consequences of a ‘science over all else’ drive would bring about. This story is a spin on that, meshed with the idea that one’s actions can truly have a major impact on the world – which is another theme I really love to explore.
Bonus question: What media properties would you absolutely love to write for? Why?
Hands down, Star Wars. I mean, sure, I wouldn’t turn down other opportunities if they came up. But I’ve been obsessed with Star Wars since seeing it as a kid in 1977. If I ever have the opportunity to work on a Star Wars project in any capacity, I will be thrilled beyond words.
Look for some new gaming work from Ben in the upcoming Renegade Legion product line. He also reminded me of his self-published short story Training Day, which he wrote for IAMTW’s Infinite Bard free story project. Follow him on Twitter or check out his other hobby, toy photography, on Facebook.
Blog Tour
The contributors to Turning the Tied are on tour and spreading the word far and wide on our fantastic new tome for charity, the World Literacy Foundation. The wonderful contributors to Turning the Tied are sharing their experiences and inspirations regarding their anthology stories. Makes the rounds and join the fun!
https://blog.jeff-mariotte.com/2021/01/my-western-journey-part-1-hoppy-and-me.html
https://mrockwell.dreamwidth.org/197464.html
https://emotionalrationalist.blogspot.com/2021/03/i-am-member-of-iamtw-what-you-say.html
http://www.jenniferbrozek.com/blog/post/2021/02/19/Tell-Me-Marsheila-Rockwell
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