BEN HOBSON
THE AUTHOR BRINGS US ANOTHER GUT WRENCHING TALE
Ben Hobson is a busy man. When he isn’t working as a music teacher, he is the proud father to two young boys who are 10 and 8. Carving out just 30 minutes a day to write, he has managed to create a new piece of work – The Death of John Lacey. “I originally wanted to write a western, but then I got really interested in looking at people in positions of power,” Hobson tells WHO. “I thought of the gold rush and started to read about it.” Set in the gold elds of Ballarat, the plot is a dynamic story of greed, power and violence. “I get feedback on my books sometimes that they are too dark,” he shares. “But I would rather the things in our history that are dark be really dark in our art.” He adds, “I want someone to say, ‘You should read this because it’s important’. It can be upsetting to read about and live with all these horrible things that have happened in the history of Australia. It was uncomfortable for me to write.”The author adds,
“I love the land and being here in Australia, but I’m riding on the back of strife and murder. It’s really confronting. I wanted my book to be confronting.”
There is a softer edge to the story too though, with an account of the love between brothers, and will have readers contemplating the de nition of justice. Hobson tells us that he doesn’t have a “concrete process”, but a “scattered” one when it comes to writing. He adds that while he only writes for 30 minutes each day, it’s always on his mind. Now, Hobson is working hard at maintaining some balance in his life. “In my downtime, I play video games with my kids, I play guitar and I Iove to barbecue!” he adds. “Sometimes I think I collect hobbies. Once I get good at one, I’ll move onto the next thing. Throughout my life I’ve tried nearly every single creative thing – except dance!” (Out Now)