CHARACTER INTERVIEW: Ben from Jumpers

Tell me a little about yourself (where you live, who you are, what you look like, what you hope to achieve, etc.)

They call me Ben. That’s not who I am though. Thing is, I don’t remember my real name. So I make do with Ben. I live in Davor City, one of the biggest cities on post-Spasm Earth. I’m rather ordinary looking—blonde hair, hazel eyes, medium build—just like a hundred other guys you come across every day.

What I hope to achieve? World peace. No, seriously! With the government clamping down on super-powered, the supervillains on the rampage, and ordinary people caught in the crossfire, I really hope for peace. And I wish I could find out my real identity.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I scan databases. Mostly the missing persons' list. Someone, I’m sure, is out there looking for me. And perhaps . . . maybe they’ve had me listed as missing. I can’t seem to give up on finding my real family, so I keep looking. Any chance I get.   

What is your favorite color and why?

White. It reminds me of snow. It’s weird because I've never seen real snow, yet, just thinking about it makes me happy.

What is your favorite food? Why is it your favorite?

Nothing fancy, just a bowl of steaming rice, fish, and veggies, with a dash of pimento sauce on top. It’s called a donburi, Eric style. Why I love it? It’s the first food I tasted since my memory was wiped clean, and the one taste I’ll remember until the end of my life.  

What would you say is your biggest quirk?

I like to sleep, especially when I’m worried or upset about something. I call it ‘sleeping through problems’ and it does wonders. Usually, I wake up with a brainwave and things just kick into high gear right after.

What is it about your antagonist that irks you the most, and why? Share a line in the book where this irk is manifested.

I hate it when bad guys are blessed with super good looks. Take Simon Brill, for example. All he has to do to make a girl swoon is flash that lopsided grin. Wish it were even half as easy for me, the hero.

A quote from Jumpers:

“It was unfair that a man as vile be blessed with such good looks—dark hair and sharp eyes, a craggy face that was peppered with the right amount of boyish charm, and that swagger—things I’d heard girls tediously croon about far too often.”

What or who means the most to you in your life? What, if anything, would you do to keep him/her/it in your life?

That’d be Shilpa, of course. Smart, beautiful, mysterious and a Jumper like me, Shilpa is one woman I would do anything to keep in my life. Problem is, she’s barely in my life to begin with. How do you hang on to people who are not even yours?

What one thing would you like readers to know about you that may not be spelled out in the book in which you inhabit?

Davor City, that cold and heartless maze of giant concrete buildings, is actually a 200-year-old man-made island. Like spokes of a wheel, five bridges—the longest nearly 10 miles in length—connect Davor City to the mainland.

If you could tell your writer (creator) anything about yourself that might turn the direction of the plot, what would it be?

Good one! Well, sometimes I wonder, am I really a hero that she wants to make me? Who was I before the Spasm took my memory? I could’ve been a serial killer for all she knows.

***

 Question for Kathryn:

I often wonder if my writer is anything like me. What about you? Are you similar to any of the characters you’ve written?

Let's just say that I am at least pieces of the characters I write about, and if not like me, I pull character traits from those I know or wish I didn't know. My first published book, A River of Stones, is the most like me, but I hear that most writers bring out their true selves or qualities they would like to have in that first book. For me, A River of Stones was a book of healing. It is still the book that when I speak to others about it, I usually get teary eyed.

***

Website: www.sgbasu.com

Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/S.-G.-Basu/e/B00I86EM9S