R. Thomas Brown's Blog, page 39

Mockingbird reactions

Today I read Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig. As background, this is the follow up to his acclaimed and kick ass novel Blackbirds. You can get that most anywhere that sells books and stocks awesome. You can order it, and pre-order Mockingbird on amazon.

Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig - Pre-order

I grabbed this book, and tore through it. I tried to put it away, but there's such wonderful tension that you really feel compelled to consume the next little bit. Sometime closer to...

Do what you love?

A couple of weeks ago, Eric Beetner posted a short Q&A with me about the day job. He's got a series of those things going. Interesting stuff. You can see mine (and the others) here:

Writers with Day Jobs R Thomas Brown

One of the things he asked was about chucking it all and writing full time. The initial reaction for most writers is probably "Sure, but I scared." That was mine too. It sounds great. Spending all your time crafting stories. And it is scary. No steady income. No benefits (at...

Writing Updates and a Sample

I made some pages for the two books that I am currently submitting. There's some back cover copy and a sample chapter for each.

Past is Prologue

Confabulation

Also, here's a work in progress chapter of what I'm currently working on. Resistant Blood is post-apocalyptic story about a hobo (traveling worker, not homeless wanderer). Let me know what you think.


Chapter 1
I should’ve just let him go and get himself eaten. I mean, I’m not everyone’s keeper. Life is hard enough out here, avoiding the...

Summer Sale

All titles from Snubnose Press are 99 cents this month over at amazon. Some great stuff from fantastic writers. Among those people, is me. Yeah, I have pictures of people.

Anyway, you can pick up HILL COUNTRY for under a buck. Okay, just a penny under a buck, but it's still true.

Now, get on over there and buy it. But some of the other stuff too. You'll love it.

Hill Country Stuff (hey, my book, my blog, I likes it)

Hill Country Page

At the page, you'll find all the places you can buy it. eBook (kindle, ePub, PDF) or paper (US and UK).

You'll find the first chapter as well as some nice things that smart people have said about it.

Do yourself a favor and check it. It's fun, cures illness, swears, raises the dead, and disproves the Mayans.

Well, at least two of those things.

Some time with my dark mind

Chad Rohrbacher was kind enough to offer me some space at his blog. I took the reigns and blathered on about Hill Country and other stuff.

Oh, and there's music.

The Dark Mind of R Thomas Brown

Samenification (new and improved, this time with hypocrisy)

So, after worrying (well not really worrying so much as ruminating) over the problem of genius being sucked out of people by over coaching, I spent some time thinking about the possible down-the-line implications of the samenification (if you don't know what that means, I suggest you look up quijibo.)

Seems to me, a very tangible example is suburbia. Now, I have a love/hate relationship with suburbs. I've always lived in them, and really, probably always will. My little town is safe, convenien...

Samenification (it's a perfectly cromulent word)

I was listening to the radio this morning, and a golf analyst (don't judge) was talking about the excessive coaching that exists in the sport today. His argument was that, though it created a large number of very good golfers, it destroyed greatness. By coaching uniqueness out of young golfers, and not letting them work out the problems just by providing a foundation and allowing them to play their way to discovery, the system was crushing potential genius. Never allowing the explosion of tal...

Late night chat

Over at his place, John Hornor Jacobs posted a conversation he and I had. Nothing groundbreaking, but it was fun to talk to a writer. It's something I don't get to do often.

Check it out, and also grab the man's boom, SOUTHERN GODS. It's a powerful book. A sure hit for Lovecraft followers, or anyone that enjoys horror with a sense of place.

A chat with John Hornor Jacobs

Too many projects?

Having just finished the last pass on a novel before I get readers opinions, I find myself in that weird place where all the projects I shut out start clamoring for attention. Yes, I know they don't actually animate themselves and argue, but it's a metaphor and sounds a hell of a lot better than "I finished something and my concentration stores are too spent to pick what to do next."

So, for the past week or so, I've been splitting the time among them. Each has its own appeal and cha...