Benjamin Percy

Benjamin Percy – Life, Career & Memorable Quotes

Learn about Benjamin Percy — American novelist, short-story writer, comic book writer, and essayist (born March 28, 1979). Explore his major works, themes, style, and some of his most striking quotes.

Introduction: Who Is Benjamin Percy?

Benjamin Percy (born March 28, 1979) is an American writer whose work spans fiction, short stories, essays, and comics.

He is known for blending genre, literary ambition, and philosophical undercurrents. His novels often engage with nature, identity, myth, and human fallibility. Beyond novels, he has written for major comic franchises (DC, Marvel) and published essays on writing and craft.

Early Life, Education & Background

• Percy holds degrees from Brown University and Southern Illinois University.

• He grew up in western Oregon, near Eugene, on a 27-acre woodland property—this early immersion in nature has influenced much of his writing.

• He is married to Lisa Percy.

• His sister, Jennifer Percy, is also a noted writer.

Career & Major Works

Fiction & Novels

Percer has published multiple novels, each often treading the boundary between literary and genre fiction:

Some of his notable novels include:

• The Wilding (2010)

• Red Moon (2013)

• The Dead Lands (2015)

• The Dark Net (2017)

• The Ninth Metal (2021)

• The Unfamiliar Garden (2022)

• The Sky Vault (2023)

He also has collections of short fiction and essays: Refresh, Refresh, The Language of Elk, and Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction.

Comics & Script Work

Percy has a robust presence in the comics world:

• He wrote Detective Comics #35–36 under DC’s New 52 branding.

• He was the writer for Green Arrow (DC), including Green Arrow: Rebirth.

• He has also written works for Marvel, contributing to titles such as X-Force, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and crossover titles like Predator vs. Black Panther and Predator Kills the Marvel Universe.

Themes, Style & Literary Signature

Benjamin Percy’s writing is characterized by:

1. Genre blending & hybridity
   He often merges speculative, horror, thriller, or mythic elements with deeper emotional and philosophical concerns.

2. Nature, wilderness & environment
   Many of his works evoke wild landscapes, ecological tension, and the relationship between humans and the natural world.

3. Darkness, transformation & mythic strain
   His stories often probe identity, the uncanny, internal and external monsters, and metamorphosis.

4. Empathy & point of view
   In interviews and essays he emphasizes that “writing is an act of empathy,” inhabiting perspectives that may be alien or challenging.

5. Craft consciousness
   He reflects openly on writing: structure, voice, the relationship between writer and editor, suspense, and the tension between message and character agency.

Notable Quotes by Benjamin Percy

Here are some memorable quotes from Benjamin Percy, reflecting his literary mindset:

“Writing is an act of empathy. You are occupying and understanding a point of view that might be alien to your own—and work is often the keyhole through which you peer.”

“I typically spend a year thinking about a book before I begin writing it.”

“People like to pigeonhole. People like to label – not just books and movies, but everything in their life. If people want to call me ‘literary horror,’ I guess that’s fine. What I’m trying to do is be both thrilling and thought-provoking.”

“Yes, I grew up with guns. For my 16th birthday, in fact, I received a .357 instead of a car. But there was nothing playful about them; they were tools.”

“It’s still incredibly hard. Not just honing my craft but kicking down doors, getting my work published. Early on, I could have wallpapered my house with all the rejection letters sent my way.”

“I grew up in western Oregon, just outside Eugene, on 27 wooded acres that served as my playground.”

These quotes show his introspective attitude toward craft, his personal history, and his ambition to transcend genre labels.

Lessons & Insights from His Journey

1. Be patient & let ideas ferment.
   Percy’s practice of thinking long before writing suggests that time in incubation is a vital part of creation.

2. Don’t shy from darkness—but use it with intention.
   He is drawn to darker themes, but with self-awareness about tone, genre, and what to emphasize.

3. Resist easy classification.
   His refusal to be boxed into “horror,” “literary,” or “fantasy” underscores that art can sit between boundaries.

4. Lean into what you know.
   His childhood in nature, familiarity with wilderness, and early experiences with tools, guns, landscapes—all inform his narrative texture.

5. Be open about craft struggles.
   His candidness about rejection and difficulty humanizes the writing process and encourages persistence.

6. Cross disciplines to expand your reach.
   His work across novels, comics, essays, and genre demonstrates that a writer’s voice can be expressed in many formats.