Hi everyone.
My name is Ben!
I’m an IT professional by day, a writer by night, and a traveller whenever I can find an excuse to hit the road, often ending up in some unusual and wonderful places. Join me as I share my publications and my globe-trotting experiences across over 70 countries that I hope will entertain and inspire you.
Hi everyone.
My name is Ben!
I’m an IT professional by day, a writer by night, and a traveller whenever I can find an excuse to hit the road, often ending up in some unusual and wonderful places. Join me as I share my publications and my globe-trotting experiences across over 70 countries that I hope will entertain and inspire you.
25+ YEARS IN THE CONTENT CREATION SPACE
It feels like I have been in the content creation space for a lifetime, going back over 25 years now to mid-1990s when I founded a video game development and publishing company, Spectrum Pacific Publishing. During the course of the next ten years, I worked with numerous developers, publishers, and distributors world-wide, having produced and published over 30 games for the PC platform, starting out in the days of the good old MS-DOS.
Some of these games have now reached cult status among retro gamers such as the top-down racer Slicks ‘N’ Slide and the RPG classic Yendorian Tales.
We also saw international adaptions in various European and Asian countries of some of our other classics such as Bubble Pop and Case Closed.
Some of the other titles include Interpose, Inner Worlds, Fatal Fumes, Escape from Delirium, Metal Knights, Assault Trooper, and many more.
In mid 2000s, however, I shifted towards web and app development, which would ultimately lead me to building a digital comic book platform, Cloud 9 Comix.
In 2009, on the back of acquiring the rights to adapt a classic Italian comic series La Compagnia della Forca (The Fellowship of the Gallows) into English, Cloud 9 Comix was formed. Initially built as a digital distribution/publishing platform for independent comics from all corners of the globe, Cloud 9 Comix has since moved towards being a boutique publisher and production studio focusing on creating high quality, original content.
About the same time I was close to completing my Masters Degree in Egyptology and headed off to Egypt for several months to take part in fieldwork along with my professor and the team from Macquarie University. We were stationed in Luxor and worked on several tombs from the New Kingdom period just outside the Valley of the Kings. History has been a passion of mine since early childhood, and in particular Egyptian history, so this was certainly a dream come true.
Apart from the fieldwork, I took the opportunity to travel extensively throughout Egypt visiting historical sites both well and lesser-known, which I ended up capturing in a beautifully presented 240-page book titled The Beloved Land.
Combined with the adaptation of La Compagnia della Forca, the transition from a video game company to a publishing company was well and truly on its way and my focus at that point had entirely switched to producing and publishing books and comic books.
writing my first
comic book in 2014
It was 2014 when I combined my love of travel and wandering the globe, history, pop culture, and visual arts in form of comics and graphic novels. At the time, I had been researching Marco Polo’s travels from Europe to Asia and came across a little-known legend relating to the biblical Three Kings, which I weaved a story around and wrote and produced my very first comic series, Trail. Soon after, I followed up with a spin-off series, Trail: New World, following the trail of the Vikings and their voyages to North America around the year 1000 A.D.
BRANCHING OUT
TO OTHER GENRES
I’ve since expanded to other genres including science fiction, historical, and all ages, and have written a number of stories that have been published over the past few years or are currently in different stages of production.
Exilium
My sci-fi epic Exilium has proven extremely popular with the readers, so much so that I am now writing and producing the second season (following the six-issue first season), and also producing a spin-off series, Exilium: Vanguard, which is coming soon. I’m very excited to be expanding the Exilium universe!
Ahmose and 1566 a.d.
My historical novels, both still in production, set in ancient Egypt and Croatia/Hungary respectively, are based on events that I particularly find fascinating and I look forward to finalising both in 2021, with Ahmose coming to Kicstarter late March.
Other projects
These include the recently-released all-ages fantasy adventure series The Mapmaker; the upcoming sci-fi adventure series Mechanix; sci-fi tale Fisherman; a historical fiction story called Li-Jien; and many more!
Action-adventure, sci-fi,
historical, all-ages...
There's something for everyone!
TRAVELLER AND WANDERER
"
SAIL AWAY FROM THE SAFE HARBOR. CATCH THE TRADE WINDS IN YOU SAIL. EXPLORE. DREAM. DISCOVER.” – MARK TWAIN
I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to wander around the globe and explore some truly amazing places over the years. I’ve certainly missed being able to travel since the Covid-19 pandemic, but I continue to dream that one day I’ll once again set sail and explore.
Even though my last international trip was in 2019, when I returned to Egypt, I have amassed a huge amount of content from the many countries I have visited over the years.
I’ll be looking to share some of my favourite places of interest on a regular basis on this website, which I hope you will enjoy.
FROM THE ARCTIC
TO THE DESERTS OF EGYPT, TO THE PEAKS OF THE HIMALAYAS
The more remote, the greater appeal a destination has for me. Some of my favourite trips include the serene icy landscapes of the Arctic, endless seas of sand in Egypt, and the captivating peaks of the Himalayas.
I’m equally drawn to natural, unspoiled regions as well as historical locations as I always seek to better understand our environment, our past, as well as ancient civilisations.
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