Hugo Negron's Blog - Posts Tagged "magic-cats"
An interview with author Brian Beam!
“With nothing to go on but a vague dream which may or may not be memory, Korinalis Karell has spent the last three years searching Amirand for his birth parents. With a Contract to fund his journey and a magic talking wizard cat named Max to keep him company, Korin has tenaciously traveled from one kingdom to the next with no success to speak of. However, after being hired by Count Galius Firmon to retrieve a stolen gem, Korin finds himself faced with revelations about his past that not only flip his world upside down, but throw him into a fight for his very survival. With the aid of a mediocre wizard on a dragon hunt, a chatterbox Kolarin thief, and Max, Korin sets out to discover the truth of his past so that he may live to see his future. Join Korin in this fantasy adventure as he faces a ruthless count, evil wizards, a furious dragon, godsforsaken creatures of death, and even worse, a sarcastic cat.”
…Thus reads the premise for The Dragon Gem (Korin’s Journal) (Volume 1)
I first came across Brian over at www.indiesunlimited.com, a great site for indie authors (and for readers too!) to showcase and share their works. Since then, I’ve wanted to learn more about his writing and his wonderful series Korin’s Journal, and with my taking a breath from a final go-around with Forging of a Knight Book Three, Prison Planet of the Mah-Lahkt, I finally had a chance!
Hi Brian – thanks again for taking the time to be interviewed! Let’s begin with telling us a little bit more about who Brian Beam is.
HN: When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
BB: I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since I was a little kid of 8 or 9 years old. My parents had these friends who had written books, and something about that gave me the inspiration to write my first real story—The Scary Halloween. Once I sat down to write it, I remember how amazing it felt to write a story outside of the context of school and how proud I was of it when I finished. Obviously, if I still had a copy of that story, it’d be an international bestseller. Unfortunately, the sequel, The Spooky Easter was never completed.
HN: How did you develop the idea for Korin’s Journal?
BB: Starting in 2011, I was a stay-at-home dad for about 18 months. Sometime in the first few months, I decided to secretly write a book during my son’s naps to surprise my wife with. The plan was to write a novella that would be the first in a series (if I decided to continue the story, that is), and find a decent on-demand printer to give my wife and family a copy of it at Christmas. After the first couple chapters, my original concept began to expand in my head. Most of my ideas come to me when jogging, and I was doing a lot more of it then than now, and that caused the story to evolve a lot as well. Before I knew it, I had a 140,000 word novel that would be the first of an epic trilogy.
HN: Which characters were the most fun to develop? Which were the most challenging?
BB: Max is by far the most fun character of the Korin’s Journal series for many reasons. He’s sarcastic and pretentious, yet one of the most loving and caring characters in the series. My main reason for making him a cat was that his personality fits perfectly with a cat’s (if you’ve ever had a cat, you’ll know what I mean). He’s been endlessly fun to develop because there’s a lot of secrets associated with his past that are slowly revealed throughout the books. Well, in the case of book 2, The Forgotten King, a lot of his past is put out there for the reader.
As for the most challenging, I’d have to say . . . Max. Yeah, I know, I just used him for the first question. Even so, the challenge is part of the fun with him. He’s a complex character. Most of Max’s actions are based on motivations that Korin knows nothing about, something I found difficult to write with the story being told in first person through Korin’s eyes. There was always the question of how much Korin would accept from Max before finally just losing it and choking his secrets out of him. It’s a bit of thin line when writing Max’s scenes.
HN: What is your plan long-term for the series? How many more stories do you have in mind for Korin and Max?
BB: Korin’s Journal will be a trilogy. There’s a definitive story in my head, and I’m not going to draw it out for the sake of lengthening out the series. I love my characters, and I’ll hate to say goodbye to them after the third book, but it’s what my story calls for. The entire story will be wrapped up completely with book 3.
I won’t completely rule out going back to Korin’s world later. If I did, though, it would likely be in novella or short story form. I promise that I won’t pull a “hey, there’s actually a more dangerous threat” or a “the bad guy wasn’t actually defeated” sequel to the trilogy.
HN: You have written other books, such as Alinor’s Shard – do you have additional/different works in mind?
BB: I have several ideas rattling around in my head at the moment. When It comes to writing, I’m pretty much only interested in fantasy. Part of my love of writing involves building worlds along with the characters, something I feel is best fitted to sci-fi/fantasy. That said, all my ideas are fantasy related. Among my ideas are a Dr. Who inspired stand-alone epic, a young adult series, a potential novelette/novella series(the first is written and just needs a heavy edit and maybe some additional scenes at some point in time), as well as a novella I’ve started that is currently shelved until I’ve finished Korin’s Journal.
HN: As a self-published author, I share the challenge of getting the word out on my works. What have you had to do to win broader exposure and branding for your books?
BB: Honestly, I really don’t do much marketing. All of my books are currently exclusive to Amazon, so I do some free ebook days(which I’ve had a lot of success with) for one. I submit my books to as many book bloggers as I can to be considered for reviews, participate in giveaways, do a little Facebook advertising, and try to connect with readers through sites such as Goodreads. I always reply to anyone who offers me any feedback(both good and bad) about my books. I know there’s a lot of resources out there I could use to do more, even some that I’m decently familiar with. Even so, I strive to meet the balance between work, family, and writing time in my life.
HN: This question will start off sounding like an old joke – a person walks into a bar (or convention or bookstore) and bumps into Brian Beam – what would be your elevator pitch to showcase your work?
BB: “Hey, wanna read a book about dragons, magic cats, and monsters?”
Kidding, of course. In all honesty, I’m horrible with elevator pitches and taglines, so I’m going to just steal this from my own blurb – After being hired to recover a stolen gem, Korin finds himself faced with revelations about his past that not only flip his world upside down, but throw him into a fight for his very survival. Join Korin in this exciting fantasy adventure as he deals with a ruthless count, evil wizards, a furious dragon, godsforsaken creatures of death, and even worse, a sarcastic cat
HN: As an author, it’s sometimes difficult to finally say a product is finished, no matter how many times you review or edit. Is there anything you would go back and change in your stories? Were there ideas you had in mind and then decided NOT to include?
BB: There’s nothing I would change about the stories when it comes to the plot or characters, but I’d make some minor editing tweaks if I could make a few more passes over them. There have been loads of ideas that have ended up on the cutting floor with the Korin’s Journal series, but I couldn’t tell you one of them. I have this strange ability to keep stories in my mind(I never plot on paper or outline), but the moment I decide I don’t like something, it leaves my brain and never comes back. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing . . .
HN: I have a 21 month old son, and structuring time around him can be challenging! I’ve lost count of the times he nearly pressed the delete button on something I was working on…how do you find time to write your stories?
BB: By not sleeping. I’m 99% not joking. Really. *yawn*
HN: Do you have a certain method you use when you write – i.e., a certain room, music, mood, etc., to help get you in the right writing frame of mind?
BB: Music helps me a lot. And really, just any band I like. The only exceptions are action scenes. I do better with them when listening to fast-paced, heavy-ish music.
HN: What are you reading right now?
BB: Funny you should ask. Forging of a Knight: Rise of the Slavekeepers by, well, you, and Tales of the Bodhisattva by Justin Dockins. I’m about to pick up Words of Radiance, the second in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series. The first one was amazing. Finding time to read another 300K+ word book right now, however . . .
HN: What’s your next upcoming project?
BB: Book 3 of Korin’s Journal (there’s an actual title, but it’s going to be secret a while longer). After that, either finishing my novella, cleaning up my next novelette, or the stand-alone epic. I’ve mostly been finding my mind going to the latter of these choices recently, so probably that. Hmm . . . with my second son due in a couple weeks, I can probably just say he’s going to be my upcoming project ☺.
HN: Where can readers go to find out more about Brian Beam?
BB: www.facebook.com/brianbeamauthor
brian-beam.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/brianbeam2
www.amazon.com/author/brianbeam
HN: Thanks Brian, for sharing some of your time!
…Thus reads the premise for The Dragon Gem (Korin’s Journal) (Volume 1)
I first came across Brian over at www.indiesunlimited.com, a great site for indie authors (and for readers too!) to showcase and share their works. Since then, I’ve wanted to learn more about his writing and his wonderful series Korin’s Journal, and with my taking a breath from a final go-around with Forging of a Knight Book Three, Prison Planet of the Mah-Lahkt, I finally had a chance!
Hi Brian – thanks again for taking the time to be interviewed! Let’s begin with telling us a little bit more about who Brian Beam is.
HN: When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
BB: I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since I was a little kid of 8 or 9 years old. My parents had these friends who had written books, and something about that gave me the inspiration to write my first real story—The Scary Halloween. Once I sat down to write it, I remember how amazing it felt to write a story outside of the context of school and how proud I was of it when I finished. Obviously, if I still had a copy of that story, it’d be an international bestseller. Unfortunately, the sequel, The Spooky Easter was never completed.
HN: How did you develop the idea for Korin’s Journal?
BB: Starting in 2011, I was a stay-at-home dad for about 18 months. Sometime in the first few months, I decided to secretly write a book during my son’s naps to surprise my wife with. The plan was to write a novella that would be the first in a series (if I decided to continue the story, that is), and find a decent on-demand printer to give my wife and family a copy of it at Christmas. After the first couple chapters, my original concept began to expand in my head. Most of my ideas come to me when jogging, and I was doing a lot more of it then than now, and that caused the story to evolve a lot as well. Before I knew it, I had a 140,000 word novel that would be the first of an epic trilogy.
HN: Which characters were the most fun to develop? Which were the most challenging?
BB: Max is by far the most fun character of the Korin’s Journal series for many reasons. He’s sarcastic and pretentious, yet one of the most loving and caring characters in the series. My main reason for making him a cat was that his personality fits perfectly with a cat’s (if you’ve ever had a cat, you’ll know what I mean). He’s been endlessly fun to develop because there’s a lot of secrets associated with his past that are slowly revealed throughout the books. Well, in the case of book 2, The Forgotten King, a lot of his past is put out there for the reader.
As for the most challenging, I’d have to say . . . Max. Yeah, I know, I just used him for the first question. Even so, the challenge is part of the fun with him. He’s a complex character. Most of Max’s actions are based on motivations that Korin knows nothing about, something I found difficult to write with the story being told in first person through Korin’s eyes. There was always the question of how much Korin would accept from Max before finally just losing it and choking his secrets out of him. It’s a bit of thin line when writing Max’s scenes.
HN: What is your plan long-term for the series? How many more stories do you have in mind for Korin and Max?
BB: Korin’s Journal will be a trilogy. There’s a definitive story in my head, and I’m not going to draw it out for the sake of lengthening out the series. I love my characters, and I’ll hate to say goodbye to them after the third book, but it’s what my story calls for. The entire story will be wrapped up completely with book 3.
I won’t completely rule out going back to Korin’s world later. If I did, though, it would likely be in novella or short story form. I promise that I won’t pull a “hey, there’s actually a more dangerous threat” or a “the bad guy wasn’t actually defeated” sequel to the trilogy.
HN: You have written other books, such as Alinor’s Shard – do you have additional/different works in mind?
BB: I have several ideas rattling around in my head at the moment. When It comes to writing, I’m pretty much only interested in fantasy. Part of my love of writing involves building worlds along with the characters, something I feel is best fitted to sci-fi/fantasy. That said, all my ideas are fantasy related. Among my ideas are a Dr. Who inspired stand-alone epic, a young adult series, a potential novelette/novella series(the first is written and just needs a heavy edit and maybe some additional scenes at some point in time), as well as a novella I’ve started that is currently shelved until I’ve finished Korin’s Journal.
HN: As a self-published author, I share the challenge of getting the word out on my works. What have you had to do to win broader exposure and branding for your books?
BB: Honestly, I really don’t do much marketing. All of my books are currently exclusive to Amazon, so I do some free ebook days(which I’ve had a lot of success with) for one. I submit my books to as many book bloggers as I can to be considered for reviews, participate in giveaways, do a little Facebook advertising, and try to connect with readers through sites such as Goodreads. I always reply to anyone who offers me any feedback(both good and bad) about my books. I know there’s a lot of resources out there I could use to do more, even some that I’m decently familiar with. Even so, I strive to meet the balance between work, family, and writing time in my life.
HN: This question will start off sounding like an old joke – a person walks into a bar (or convention or bookstore) and bumps into Brian Beam – what would be your elevator pitch to showcase your work?
BB: “Hey, wanna read a book about dragons, magic cats, and monsters?”
Kidding, of course. In all honesty, I’m horrible with elevator pitches and taglines, so I’m going to just steal this from my own blurb – After being hired to recover a stolen gem, Korin finds himself faced with revelations about his past that not only flip his world upside down, but throw him into a fight for his very survival. Join Korin in this exciting fantasy adventure as he deals with a ruthless count, evil wizards, a furious dragon, godsforsaken creatures of death, and even worse, a sarcastic cat
HN: As an author, it’s sometimes difficult to finally say a product is finished, no matter how many times you review or edit. Is there anything you would go back and change in your stories? Were there ideas you had in mind and then decided NOT to include?
BB: There’s nothing I would change about the stories when it comes to the plot or characters, but I’d make some minor editing tweaks if I could make a few more passes over them. There have been loads of ideas that have ended up on the cutting floor with the Korin’s Journal series, but I couldn’t tell you one of them. I have this strange ability to keep stories in my mind(I never plot on paper or outline), but the moment I decide I don’t like something, it leaves my brain and never comes back. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing . . .
HN: I have a 21 month old son, and structuring time around him can be challenging! I’ve lost count of the times he nearly pressed the delete button on something I was working on…how do you find time to write your stories?
BB: By not sleeping. I’m 99% not joking. Really. *yawn*
HN: Do you have a certain method you use when you write – i.e., a certain room, music, mood, etc., to help get you in the right writing frame of mind?
BB: Music helps me a lot. And really, just any band I like. The only exceptions are action scenes. I do better with them when listening to fast-paced, heavy-ish music.
HN: What are you reading right now?
BB: Funny you should ask. Forging of a Knight: Rise of the Slavekeepers by, well, you, and Tales of the Bodhisattva by Justin Dockins. I’m about to pick up Words of Radiance, the second in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series. The first one was amazing. Finding time to read another 300K+ word book right now, however . . .
HN: What’s your next upcoming project?
BB: Book 3 of Korin’s Journal (there’s an actual title, but it’s going to be secret a while longer). After that, either finishing my novella, cleaning up my next novelette, or the stand-alone epic. I’ve mostly been finding my mind going to the latter of these choices recently, so probably that. Hmm . . . with my second son due in a couple weeks, I can probably just say he’s going to be my upcoming project ☺.
HN: Where can readers go to find out more about Brian Beam?
BB: www.facebook.com/brianbeamauthor
brian-beam.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/brianbeam2
www.amazon.com/author/brianbeam
HN: Thanks Brian, for sharing some of your time!
