Bryan Young's Blog, page 17

Finding Time to Write

For the first post of the New Year, with everyone eager to set New Year's resolutions they'll keep, I wanted to chime in on something I hear all too much of. I love seeing people who enjoy writing use that talent just because it feels good. For them and for me. I know far too many people who write because the act of doing so makes them happy, but they don't do enough of it (or let it fall by the wayside entirely) and they're plagued by a hundred different excuses.



If writing makes you happy,...

Writer's Rules Revisited #10

I've been doing a lot more thinking and artistic soul-searching this holiday vacation than writing. It's been irksome, but there's a reason behind it. If you read my last post, you'll know the reason for it.



 But the year is winding down and a number of things have some things have come into sharp focus. After you lose a friend, loved one, or colleague, you take stock in what people will have of you after you're gone and you realize you have so much more to say.



I have so much to say t...

IN MEMORIAM: David Fetzer

Jitterbug from travis on Vimeo.

Posted above is a short film starring David Fetzer. The best word to describe him would always be adorable. Or kind. Or caring. Or incredible.

David had a way of making everyone feel like he was your best friend, but not in a way that was disingenuous. I'd never call myself David's best or closest friend but he went out of his way to make me know he cared. He might well have been the warmest, most caring person I've ever met in my entire life. I've never met...

Writer's Rules Revisited #9

I've made all of my current deadlines, and story ideas are biting at me like no one's business. Plus I have that novel to finish (I'm sooooo close.) But, since I submitted the last piece I had on a major deadline this morning, I wanted to take a moment to bring you another edition of "Writing Rules Revisited."



And I'd like to say the kind words about this series really help. A good friend and excellent writer whose opinion I quite respect told me that she thought this series was invaluable a...

Writer's Rules Revisited #8

This month has been crazy with the Redditgifts marketplace monopolizing a lot of my time. Shipping and customs forms are a pain, but it's a pain I'm glad to have. It's great to see my books flying to all corners of the globe at such an alarming rate.



But that's a bit of a sidetrack, we're here to talk about writing.



For those new around these parts, a brief explanation is in order. A long time ago I posted a list of rules and guidelines I've been collecting in my notebook over the years as...

The Importance of Story Workshops

I just returned from a weekend workshop with a number of fellow writers (including Aaron Allston and Janine Spendlove). It's something we've been doing for years now and it's something I look forward to every bit as much as I dread in some small way.



Every year, we all submit between 7k and 10k words of prose and have the others hit us with both barrels of their notes. It's an all day thing, with at least 5 or 6 people sharing stories and notes around the room. We all come having read all t...

RedditGifts Marketplace

For any of you who are aware of Reddit, it's a massive community and every year they have the world's largest Secret Santa gift exchange. More than 50,000 people are participating. I'm participating this year and it's a lot of fun.



One of the ways the full time staff makes its money is through the RedditGifts Marketplace, which is new this year. They're curating a collection of merchants and artists to sell items through their Marketplace to help support the exchange and artists like mys...

Holiday Sales

In the spirit of the holidays, I'm going to be putting signed, print copies of my books on sale between now and the end of the holiday season. If you've wanted to grab copies for yourself or as a gift for friends, they will never be cheaper.



The sales are as follows:



Novel bundle:





Lost at the Con and Operation: Montauk - both of my published novels will be available for the low price of $20 + S&H. That's $10 off the suggested retail for the both of them. They'll be signed and personal...

Triumph Over Tragedy

In the next few days I'll be submitting my third short story in as many weeks for an anthology. This one, though, might be the one I'm most proud of. Not the story, per se, though I do think it's really good stuff, but it's the most important anthology.



Put together by my friend and author R.T. Kaelin, Triumph Over Tragedy is an anthology that includes more than 40 authors and every cent of the proceeds are going to the Red Cross and relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Sandy.



I won't...

Operation: Montauk: The Book Report

A young fan of Operation: Montauk read the book and liked it enough to do a book report/movie poster.



It's one of the coolest things I've seen and made me very, very happy.









If you, too, want to experience this "Awesome Fantasy," you can grab it in the store.  It's also available digitally (links here).