Location: United States
Member Since:
Oct. 15, 2018
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Ben Miller
Biography
Miller was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, graduating Nazareth High School in Nazareth, PA in 1993. Immediately after high school, he enlisted in the US Navy and attended boot camp in Orlando, FL. Miller was then trained in Naval Intelligence, where he graduated with honors and was granted a security clearance two compartments above Top Secret (SCI and TK), along with a third compartment that remains classified.
While working overseas with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two (VQ-2) during the Bosnian War, Miller began suffering crippling attacks that military doctors were unable to explain. Miller was transported back to America and based on his exemplary record, he was awarded an early Honorable Discharge. It was later determined by a team of doctors with the Department of Veterans Affairs that Miller suffered from panic disorder and PTSD. Over the years, his conditions worsened and he was further diagnosed with agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and depression.
Miller elected to pursue a college degree at Lock Haven University, where he also joined the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity. He graduated in 2001 with a Bachelors Degree in Speech Communication (later renamed Business Communications) and a Minor in Journalism. It would be four more years and a series of personal tragedies, before Miller began his literary career as a columnist with Exit Zero, a weekly magazine based in Cape May, NJ.
His initial writings were primarily historical in nature, though he also penned the occasional feature story and editorial. In 2008, Miller set his sights on a higher goal, when he created Donate My Weight, a campaign to use weight loss as a means to raise donations for food banks across America. He appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX news segments all over the country, along with a series of radio interviews and appearances on the 10! Show, Good Day Philadelphia and the Rachael Ray Show. Miller wrote pieces about Donate My Weight that appeared in the Morning Call, Express Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Exit Zero, the Quill and Scroll and USA Today.
In July of 2009, Exit Zero Publishing released Miller's first book, The First Resort, a hardcover coffee table book that profiles America's first resort town, Cape May, NJ. The book features 300 full-color pages and details the city's history from 1609 to 2009, accentuated with over 500 pictures. The First Resort has been well received by critics, historians and fans of Cape May from around the world, nearly selling out of its initial printing after only a few months. The Philadelphia Inquirer named it one of the "Top 10 Coffee Table Books of 2009."
Due to a worsening of his conditions mentioned above, along with limitations created by physical injuries that include Meniere's Disease, RA, and complications from six ruptured discs in his spine, Miller is no longer able to work full-time. The Department of Veterans Affairs has declared Miller medically retired, with a rating of 100% disabled.
Miller continues to write as a form of therapy and his children's book, In the Land of Exit Zero, was released in 2014. His newest title, Dear Billie - Salvation in the Poconos, is the culmination of over a decade and a half of writing and is a combination of his life's story and a series of profound experiences he had while staying at a Pocono Mountain inn. Dear Billie is brutally honest with regard to Miller's struggles and the way they affect his daily life, while also offering a message of hope for the future and inspiration for others. Dear Billie was released in 2018.
While working overseas with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two (VQ-2) during the Bosnian War, Miller began suffering crippling attacks that military doctors were unable to explain. Miller was transported back to America and based on his exemplary record, he was awarded an early Honorable Discharge. It was later determined by a team of doctors with the Department of Veterans Affairs that Miller suffered from panic disorder and PTSD. Over the years, his conditions worsened and he was further diagnosed with agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and depression.
Miller elected to pursue a college degree at Lock Haven University, where he also joined the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity. He graduated in 2001 with a Bachelors Degree in Speech Communication (later renamed Business Communications) and a Minor in Journalism. It would be four more years and a series of personal tragedies, before Miller began his literary career as a columnist with Exit Zero, a weekly magazine based in Cape May, NJ.
His initial writings were primarily historical in nature, though he also penned the occasional feature story and editorial. In 2008, Miller set his sights on a higher goal, when he created Donate My Weight, a campaign to use weight loss as a means to raise donations for food banks across America. He appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX news segments all over the country, along with a series of radio interviews and appearances on the 10! Show, Good Day Philadelphia and the Rachael Ray Show. Miller wrote pieces about Donate My Weight that appeared in the Morning Call, Express Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Exit Zero, the Quill and Scroll and USA Today.
In July of 2009, Exit Zero Publishing released Miller's first book, The First Resort, a hardcover coffee table book that profiles America's first resort town, Cape May, NJ. The book features 300 full-color pages and details the city's history from 1609 to 2009, accentuated with over 500 pictures. The First Resort has been well received by critics, historians and fans of Cape May from around the world, nearly selling out of its initial printing after only a few months. The Philadelphia Inquirer named it one of the "Top 10 Coffee Table Books of 2009."
Due to a worsening of his conditions mentioned above, along with limitations created by physical injuries that include Meniere's Disease, RA, and complications from six ruptured discs in his spine, Miller is no longer able to work full-time. The Department of Veterans Affairs has declared Miller medically retired, with a rating of 100% disabled.
Miller continues to write as a form of therapy and his children's book, In the Land of Exit Zero, was released in 2014. His newest title, Dear Billie - Salvation in the Poconos, is the culmination of over a decade and a half of writing and is a combination of his life's story and a series of profound experiences he had while staying at a Pocono Mountain inn. Dear Billie is brutally honest with regard to Miller's struggles and the way they affect his daily life, while also offering a message of hope for the future and inspiration for others. Dear Billie was released in 2018.
Smashwords Interview
Where to find Ben Miller online
Twitter: @BenMillerAuthor
Facebook: Facebook profile
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-miller-author
Facebook: Facebook profile
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-miller-author
Books
The Promenade
by Ben Miller
Price:
$3.69 USD.
Words: 47,890.
Language:
English.
Published: June 27, 2020
.
Categories:
Fiction » Inspirational, Fiction » Christian » Contemporary
(4.00 from 1 review)
Weary from burden and broken by loss, Luke Tomlin wanders the famed Cape May promenade, an asphalt walkway that replaced the city's boardwalk generations ago. What begins as a leisurely stroll turns into a journey of self-discovery when Luke meets a chorus of people from varied backgrounds, each with a story to tell.
Dear Billie - Salvation in the Poconos
by Ben Miller
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 43,060.
Language:
English.
Published: October 15, 2018
.
Categories:
Fiction » Christian » General, Nonfiction » Self-improvement » Anxieties & Phobias
Despite the smile on his face and confident facade, Ben hobbles through life a broken man, suffering from decades of pain and daily struggles with anxiety, panic, and depression. He plans a weekend getaway to Trakehner Inn for his wife birthday, but their Pocono mountain retreat evolves into a life-changing form of divine psychotherapy for Ben.