Interview with author Ben Meeks

New Author Joins Bearded Bard Inkworks

We’ve interviewed Ben Meeks, the author of the forthcoming ‘Them Outside Cranny Hounds,’ which will be the first novella in the Trials of the Black Walnut Warlock series. Set in the universe of the Jubal County Saga it follows ‘Fish’ Halloran as he encounters eldritch horrors in the mountains of north Georgia.

• Q: You’re the author of The Keeper Chronicles and the Paxor 7 series both your original (and excellent) works. Them Outside Cranny Hounds is your first foray into writing in a shared universe. What has that been like for you?

Its been great! I'm very detail focused in my writing and will often get sidetracked by questions that are relevant adjacent. Meaning they arent relevant right now but if I know the answer I can set up some really cool things for the future.

Writing in the world of Jubal County, most of the things that would stall out my process are answered already. If I have a question I dont have to make the decision. I ask, give my thoughts, and move forward with the answer. Its been so much easier than coming up with a new world on my own.

• Q: You’ve stated that this Jubal County Saga series is going to be more eldritch horror oriented. You haven’t published horror before, what made you want to take the series in this direction?

Because I haven't published horror before but I think I'm well suited to it. I actually was never into horror. My wife loves the spooky October vibe. Years ago we watched nearly every horror movie out there. We wrote them down and drew names out of a jar to see what we'd be watching. The experience was definitely outside of my comfort zone. It also got me to a place where I appreciate the genre and want to participate in it.

• Q: Talmer ‘Fish’ Halloran is a great character, and having him be a black walnut farmer is a neat element. Knowing that you also turn pens, and have made some using black walnut shells, is that where the idea for him to be a farmer came from?

Where I live now I have access to 33 black walnut trees. Most of them are on a single hilltop that we call "walnut hill." Black walnuts are my favorite nut. They're so good and where I live i can collect all I want in fall. I still have 9 bags, about 60 pounds from last year's harvest, that I need to shell. If I ever have to move again I'm going to have a couple black walnut trees there. I love em!

The idea for Fish to be a farmer came from the experience of researching the trees and collecting large amounts of nuts. It gave me plenty of time to think.

• Q: 'The Hallorans use ‘whispering’ as their magic. What inspired that?

Whispering burns is old southern magic. The premise is a person "talks the fire out" of an injury/burn. The words they use are a secret so they whisper them to the injury. I've been told my great aunt could do it but she quit because she thought it wasn't Christian. I've always been interested in folk magic so I used whispering burns, with a twist, as my inspiration.

• Q: Without giving spoilers, early on in the book we meet an entity called The Crooked One. It’s such an amazingly creepy character. What twisted part of your mind did it come from? Are there any real world inspirations?

No real world inspirations for him really. I needed a creature with certain powers for the story so he was built out of necessity. I started with what I needed him to do, then picked an animal for him to look like, came up with the name, and rounded out the personality.

• Q: Is there something about the mountains of north Georgia that you think lends itself particularly well to eldritch horror?

The Appalachian Mountains are 480 million years old. They're old enough that I just can't wrap my head around it. Being unknowable is one of the characteristics of cosmic/eldritch horror as well. Folks in rural areas of Appalachia are the kind of people that handle problems themselves. I love the idea of a horror showing up and some dude called Critter (or whatever) handling it.

• Q: This book uses the Hounds of Tindalos, or as Ma called them ‘Them Outside Cranny Hounds.’ They are such a hard creature to write due to their nature (that we won’t spoil here, for those who are unfamiliar). What drew you to them? There were a lot of different directions you could have taken to start this series off, why where they how you kicked things off?

From my research I was really drawn to the Hounds of Tindalos. There was a lot there I felt I could work with. I knew they were going to have to catch people and what the consequences of being caught would be. Because of those consequences, I felt it would be a better start to the series. But it's hard to talk about without spoilers!

• Q: You’ve already begun work on the next in the series. Any hints you want to give readers about what it might have in it?

An agent with the CCC shows up looking for help with a body that is drained of blood. They investigate and track down something that's been contained for decades.