Welcome Brynn Stein and Ray of Sunlight
This is the seventh stop on my blog tour. I’m having such fun, as I always do on these tours, talking about various aspects of writing in general, and Ray of Sunlight in particular and getting to know all of you. Thanks so much for following the tour. If this is your first stop, feel free to go back and comment on the others, listed below, to be entered to win one of five prizes. More about that later.
Thanks so much for having me on your blog today, Lex.
Research and the fiction story.
I absolutely love to research. I always have. Back when ‘Google’ was a set of dictionaries, I used to keep them prominently placed in my room. Anything that caught my interest, I’d come home and research. If nothing new had caught my interest that day, I’d close my eyes, spin around and point. Then take the volume I was pointing to off my shelf and open it at random. Then just start to read.
Yeah, I was a weird little kid.
But I guess I’ve grown into a weird adult because I still love to research. It’s just easier now. But still, any time anything catches my interest, off to Google. One really cool thing about Google is it sort of does my random point and pick for me. Every time I research something, all those other somethings are there to be clicked upon. I can spend entire nights just researching.
Now, as fun as random research is, it’s not real conducive to writing. I’ll go to research one fact I need for my story and see something else and think “oh that looks interesting” and I’m off and gone. Three hours later I emerge, victoriously clutching my new mental treasures and realize, “Oh damn, what was I supposed to be looking for?”
So yeah, Google is a double edged sword, but I wouldn’t trade it. It’s fun.
For this story though, I didn’t need a lot of research. Russ reminded me a lot of my students. And CJ…well, I’ve had a lot of experience with cancer. (More on that in a future post in the tour). So all the medical stuff and side effects of chemo, etc…I researched it to make sure I was remembering correctly, but I didn’t have to start from scratch.
But I still researched details. What kinds of car might Russ be able to save enough to buy? What are typical names for art institutes? What is the full name of that blasted One Direction song that absolutely refused to get out of my head, and more than that, insisted it needed to be in the story?
So this story didn’t need nearly the research as did Living Again, (about an amputee and a little boy with no legs, and a man who had to leave medical school and became a nurse – yeah, lots of research right there), and Through the Years (which spanned five decades – when did they start using this or that word or this or that product). Nowhere near the research. But I still had fun.
What about you? Do you enjoy research? Be it for a story or just because you found something you’re interested in and want to know more. Do you Google for hours?
Comment below for a chance to win.
Here’s how the giveaway will work. Visit as many sites as you want, as often as you want. Each comment will enter you to win one of the following prizes: 1st) An autographed paperback copy of Ray of Sunlight, 2nd) An electronic copy of Ray of Sunlight, 3rd) Your choice of audio or electronic copy of Living Again, 4th) An electronic copy of Through the Years, and 5th) an electronic copy of Haunted. The takeovers for Harmony Ink’s blog and Facebook page will be part of the tour, so comments on there will count. I will draw the winners during the FB takeover and will announce them then, but will come back and announce it to all the sites too. So, you don’t have to leave your email address here if you don’t want to, just remember to check back. You’re also welcome to leave your email in the comments if you’d rather or email me at brynnstein2@gmail.com with the subject heading of “just in case”, so I can contact you if you win, if you don’t want to have to stop back by the blog sites. You don’t have to be present at the FB takeover to win.
Thanks for playing.
Blog Tour Stops
3/3/2015 – Bike Books Review – http://bikebookreviews.blogspot.com/
3/4/2015 – Grace Duncan – http://www.grace-duncan.com/
3/5/2015 – Susan Laine – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
3/6/2015 – Jo Ramsey – http://www.joramsey.com/blog/
3/7/2015 – Alicia Nordwell – http://ciasstories.blogspot.com/2015/...
3/8/2015 – Jana Denardo – https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
3/9/2015 – Lex Chase – http://lexchase.com
3/10/2015 – Sean Michael – http://seanmichaelwrites.blogspot.ca/
3/11/2015 – Charley Descoteaux – http://cdescoteauxwrites.com/
3/12/2015 – Anne Barwell – http://anne-barwell.livejournal.com/
3/13/2015 – Karenna Colcroft – http://www.karennacolcroft.com
3/14/2015 – Anna Butler – http://annabutlerfiction.com/2015/03/...
3/15/2015 – Nic Starr – http://www.becausetwomenarebetterthan...
3/16/2015 – Shae Conner – http://shaeconnorwrites.com
3/17/2015 – Jessica Davies – http://jessicaskyedavies.blogspot.com/
3/18/2015 – Aidee Ladnier – http://www.aideeladnier.com.
3/19/2015 – Emma Tett – http://emmy-j.blogspot.co.uk/
3/20/2015 – Harmony Ink Blog – http://harmonyinkpress.com/
3/21/2015 – Harmony Ink Facebook Page – http://facebook.com/harmonyinkpress
Ray of Sunlight
Russ Michaels has his whole life ahead of him but no plans beyond dropping out of school as soon as he turns eighteen. He’s been in and out of juvenile detention for the last four years and thoroughly expects to end up in an adult penitentiary at some point. He hates life and everyone in it, especially this latest community service that he earned in lieu of juvie yet again.
CJ Calhoun has big plans. He wants to bring joy and happiness to sick and injured children for as long as he can by performing as a clown. The problem is, he has stage-four cancer and a horrible prognosis.
When circumstances throw these two polar opposites together, they find they have more in common than they imagined. CJ discovers Russ’s talent for art and arranges for Russ to create a mural in the hospital foyer, which leads to a tentative scholarship to the Art Institute. As life changes in ways neither of them could have expected, Russ must work harder than ever to better himself as CJ struggles with his deteriorating health.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6176
http://www.harmonyinkpress.com/books/ray-of-sunlight-by-brynn-stein-261-b
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25005560-ray-of-sunlight
Brynn Stein
Brynn Stein has always loved to write. Fan fiction, original fiction, whatever. While Brynn wrote in numerous genres—everything from mystery, to contemporary, to supernatural—she had always tended toward strong male characters. And then she discovered “slash,” male/male romance, and all those strong male characters were finally allowed to express their love for one another. It seems that there are always at least two characters clamoring to tell Brynn their story.
Brynn lives in Virginia near her two grown daughters who encourage her writing and provide a sounding board for fledgling stories. When she isn’t writing, Brynn teaches children with special needs. In free time, when such a thing exists, she reads anything she can get her hands on, and haunts bookstores. She draws and paints, and enjoys the outdoors—especially if she can get to the beach—and is always thinking about her next story.
Please feel free to contact Brynn at any of the following:
http://brynnstein2.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/brynn.stein
brynnstein2@gmail.com
