Interviewing James Bennett

Helloooo!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of reading The Dust of the Red Rose Knight by James Bennett a very fun, bawdy and playful arthurian tale that also has a twist of the Princess Bride running through it. I was very lucky to get the chance to ask James some question and their other writing.

How do you like to booktempt ‘The Dust of The Red Rose Knight’?

Hello, Womble! ‘The Dust of the Red Rose Knight’ is a fairy tale for grown ups and will hopefully give folks a chuckle in these trying times. If you like old tales of King Arthur with dashing knights, witches and dragons, and don’t mind a bit of gay rumpy-pumpy, then you should give it a whirl. And it’s a short read and for a good cause, so there’s that.

Arthurian legends have gone recently for more grittier retellings. What made you choose to go in a more lighter direction?

I’ve read a few earthier Arthurian novels, but I’ve always been more keen on the magical and romantic iterations. ‘The Most Pleasant History of Tom a Lincoln’ by Richard Johnson, written around the 15th century, is a bawdy and anarchic tale, shoehorning characters like Robin Hood and Prester John into the mix and written to poke fun at the English nobility, so the theme already lent itself to humour. These days, even the olde world language is rather amusing and then we have the character himself. To be honest, the original Tom has little to recommend him, being somewhat misogynistic and louche. It’s why he was politely forgotten in the Victorian revival and he isn’t ‘canon’ as such. I thought it would be fun to keep his roguish elements, but queer him up and send him off galloping, see what happened.

Interestingly, while I was writing the story, it struck me that Arthurian legend has had quite an impact on my love of Fantasy from an early age and it inspired me to attempt a serious novel in that vein. The Red Rose Knight had become a fairy tale that belongs to that world, the sort of thing that knights joke about around the fire. It’s a fun way to explore different aspects of the myth.

Tomas feels more Trickster than our usual idea of an Arthurian Knight. How much fun did you have with his more nuanced morality?

Bags! Tomas is there to send up the themes, as was the original. There are all these high-minded ideals and flowery speech throughout Arthurian myth, but many of the characters don’t act on them. We have adultery, incest and murder on every other page. That’s a fun approach in itself, though I also wanted to write something other than queer romance. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy romance and even write it to an extent, but I feel there should be a place for a character who isn’t motivated by love or looking for a relationship. Or even, in Tomas’s case, responsibility. He’s perfectly happy as he is, wild and free in the forest, and scoffs at all that chivalrous stuff. Gay independence is a thing too and in some way, I see it as a tale of emancipation. Tomas isn’t outright wicked, but nor does he have any notable virtues. You can have a lot of fun with that.  

This tale is also designed to work for Books On The Hill Dyslexia range. How did you find adapting to the guidelines as a writer?

‘The Dust of the Red Rose Knight’ was written expressly for the Books of the Hill Dyslexia Campaign, so I tried to make it as accessible as possible (another reason why I chose humour). A fairy tale setting helped, because you can cover a lot of ground in straightforward language and I was limited to 12K words. When I sat down to think about what to write, those elements shaped the story. I have dyscalculia myself, the numerical form of dyslexia, so it wasn’t hard to empathise with the challenges and hopefully present something that all readers could enjoy. I’m grateful to Books on the Hill, because they gave me an excuse to try something different and the novelette was the result.

Can you see yourself returning to this world?

Oh yes. Tomas is still out there and the response has been great, even surprising. I reckon he’ll make a decent palette cleanser between the more serious stuff I write. I do have a loose idea for a follow up, which I’ll think about come the end of the year. The thing is he doesn’t have much of an arc though, in terms of what he wants to achieve (aside from the odd item of jewellery and the latest tasty knight), but I can see him having further adventures. The question is who’s going to publish it? Hmm.

As a writer who crosses from horror and fantasy tales what is the appeal of crossing the genres?

For me, I get to exercise my love of both genres. I grew up reading Tolkien as much as King and while the tones are quite distinct, I think there’s an element of horror in most of my fantasy and vice versa. It can also be refreshing in terms of writing and keeps me interested. I tend to switch when I want a break. In hindsight, I perhaps should’ve chosen a pseudonym for one or the other, but I think it’s too late at this point.  Hopefully readers get that I wear two hats. I’m bi-genre and fortunate enough to have had some successes in both.

What else can we look forward from you in the future and where can we find out more?

In terms of novels, I’m backlogged. I wrote a 160K word epic fantasy during the pandemic that went absolutely nowhere (it happens) and for now it’s gone into the old trunk. Then I wrote a shorter standalone novel, a dark historical/folklore outing. That’s out on sub at the moment and I’ve had some positive feedback, so fingers crossed! Then I wrote a bunch of short stories that were published in The Dark magazine, the BFS Journal and ‘The Book of Queer Saints’ anthology, among others. Last October, I sat down to write the Arthurian novel, which I’m into the last third of now. And Lethe Press recently brought a short story collection from me called ‘Preaching to the Perverted’ that I hope to see come out next year.

In the meantime, I have a novelette out this month in Tales From Between called ‘The Cicatrix’ and next up, I believe I have another one due in Occult Detective magazine, which is my stab at a Lovecraftian piece.

I’m keeping busy! I have a new website and should set it up at some point to collate all this stuff. It’s just finding the time.

If there was one book, not your own, that you wish you could get everyone to read what would it be and why?

 ‘The Wizard of Earthsea’. It’s a book I come back to time and again. On the one hand, I find it beautiful and thrilling, with something to say about ambition and power. But I also think Ursula Le Guin was a magician herself and the economy of the language is something to which we can all aspire. It’s one of my favourite books. Definitely the first that got me thinking as a kid about what the Fantasy novel could say.

Thanks so much. Lovely to chat!