10 Things about me and my books by Benji Bennett

16 July 2016

1. Why I'm an Author and not a Rock Star. When I was younger I loved music and badly wanted to be a rock star and spent days on end composing songs on the piano, still a big hobby of mine today. But despite my best efforts the ability to sing was not stuffed into my talent bag when I was born so, knowing I was no Robbie Williams, I had to give up before even starting.

Benji Bennett

2. I never thought of being an author. As singing was not going to be a career option for me felt I needed a "Real Job" and my ambitions turned to running a big global multinational. So, with an eye on Steve Job's job as CEO of Apple, I thought a Masters degree in Business would be a good Idea. Eh!.... No! Imagine my disbelief and shock when Apple weren't interested in a fool with no work experience. I reluctantly had to settle for a below minimum wage role as a Telesales exec in a telecoms company. Not exactly the job I expected on the road to global success but, on the upside, it was there that I met my beautiful wife Jackie.

3. Achieving the Perfect Work Life balance. Probably one of the most difficult balancing acts to life and probably the most important. So, as marriage, new baby fatigue and the pressures of work began to blur the lines between work and family life I soon realized that a decision needed to be made to tip the balance in favour of one or the other. Having the best of both was looking about as promising as my singing career. Craving more time with my 2 little boy's Harry and Adam I ditched plans for world domination and settled for a reasonably well paid middle management job instead. Now I could allocate plenty of time to my second job, work as CEO in growing not for profit organization with excellent prospects, My Family.

4. So what inspired me the start writing Children's books? Well this is the difficult part of my journey and the reason for a career change number 3. Let me take you back to August 2007. As we had done for so many years before we were spending summer holidays in my favorite place in the world, our caravan by the sea in Brittas Bay, Co. Wicklow. After a magical day on the beach, football and building haystack made of freshly cut grass Adam, our middle of three boys, began to complain of a headache and got sick. 3 days minutes after being admitted to hospital for suspected dehydration and sever tummy bug Adam collapsed from a seizure and fell unconscious in my arms. Hours later Adam died from and undiagnosed brain tumor. He had just turned 4. In an effort to remember the happy memories I shared with Adam and remind parents of the importance of love laughter and fun in the family I began to write. Adam and my family were then and always will be the inspiration behind everything I do.

5. How did I get my book published? As I pored my emotions onto a page blurred by tears the Idea of having the book published started to become a reality. But how could I sell Adam to a publisher? How would I be able to influence how Adam would look in the illustrations? Then as if hearing the words directly form Adam "Dad If you thought you were good enough to run Apple Inc. maybe you could publish the book yourself". So with my faith in Adam that's exactly what I did. On his 1st year Anniversary Adams Cloud published Adam's 1st book "Before you Sleep".

6."And the winner is…" I could never have dreamed of the positive reaction to "Before you Sleep". I think people were so touched by emotion when they read it to their children they wanted share the magic of the book with people they knew who had children. Having completely sold out 3 print runs in the first 6 months I soon found myself receiving a standing ovation from a room filled with Publishers, Retailers and the cream of Irish writers as I made an emotional acceptance speech after winning my first Irish Book Award.

7. So, Am I happy now? It has been a difficult and emotional journey but now with the prospect of taking over the world with love hugs and kisses in Adam's memory life is good. It is busy as it is still just me and Adam's mum Jackie working in the business. We haven't sold a billion books…. Yet! But I work from our house in Dublin can walk the kids to school and feel my heart dance when I hear them pound their way up the stairs to my office give me a hug and tell me all about their day in school. So yes I am fortunate to say I am very happy with the best job I the world.

8 Why is reading with our children so important. Reading with our children at bedtime is the most important part of being a parent and of the day. It is a chance to bond with our children and snuggle under the covers and share a wonderful adventure together. Not only does it offer us an opportunity to break out and have a little chat about issues of the day but it will enhance their educational and social development. As well as improve their their communication, comprehension and vocabulary development, which all influence their behavior it is a beautiful way to bond with our children.

My Advice for life? OK! I am by no means perfect. I have my moments and have been caught many times wanting to throw the babies out with the bathwater, let's not even start on the amount of times I've yelled at them. But, My advice is to remember that children need us parents to chat to them, hug them, love them, say no, say yes, bring them places and fuel their imagination, play with them inspire them and just be their Mum and Dad. So my advice is have fun as a family and the rest comes naturally.

10. Knowing when to stop? Knowing when to stop working and spend time with the kids can be difficult. Jackie always tells me that work will be there tomorrow and everyday after that. Magical moments with our children once missed can never be reclaimed and are gone forever. So try to know when it's time to out the kids first and say yes to family fun.