Author: Brian

I studied and lived in Japan, got a Master's Degree in Sociology from the University of Oxford and an MFA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Now I write SFF novels about cerebral people suffering post-modern angst who cope by drinking lots of wine. And misusing magic.

/cast “Book Love” on Bao

I’ve made it no secret in my past several posts that I’ve been hooked — okay, I’m a junkie — on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. I think it’s some sort of validation for how hard I worked as a white mage back in the days of FFXI.

Anyway, last night I told my Free Company (the equivalent of a guild, for those uninformed) that I was a writer, and they not only showed tremendous support but several members purchased copies of Librarian! If that’s not the magic of friendship, I don’t know what is, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t join the right FC.

Thanks, everyone!

PS — on chapter twelve! Eagerly awaiting beta-reader feedback!

Magical Tree Killing

I didn’t watch the Emmy Awards last night, but had a Doctor Who marathon instead, which means that while I may have lost some gay street-cred, my geek cred is through the roof. Aw, yeah.

The autumnal air is OUT (bringing my allergies with it…) and it fills me with warm, pumpkiny feelings. I want fireplaces! Magic! Sweaters! Magic! Halloween! Magic! Did I mention I think this is the most magical time of year?

For those of you who’ve been worried about my progress, worry not! I can pretty much officially say that the first draft of Apprentice is half-way done. I’M SORRY FOR KILLING YOU, TREES, BUT I NEED SOMETHING TO WRITE ON IN RED PEN! (PS, Mister Editor, I’m expecting those annotations soon!)

Apprentice (1-11)
254 pages of tree-killing sin.

Some Cocoa Butter, Please

So, aside from the fact that my very nicely compartmentalized heart —  mended all tidy-like from a year of therapy and some really fun drugs — has been torn to shreds in less than a week when I finally decided to let it be vulnerable again, I wanted to let you all know that contrary to my previous post, not everything in life is the utter crap-show I made it sound like. Some reasons:

  • The weather is nice and I have two pumpkins. Considering from the first purchase until Halloween I average about two pumpkins a day, the tally this year will be epic. This is key to my autumnal happiness.
  • I snapped up a 4″ Shining Armor pony (he’s kind of smexy) and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Monopoly, the latter of which is sure to provide hours of drunken amusement. Pinkie Pie will be screaming, “CANTERLOT IS MIIIIINE. WITH TWO COTTAGES, 700 BITS!”
  • I go to the gastroenterologist tomorrow. That doesn’t sound exciting, but keeping all the Bao parts in prime working order is becoming a big priority post-30. And who doesn’t love a barium milkshake!?
  • iOS 7 produces effects similar to being on mushrooms. Really. Using my iPhone is now like swiping Psilocybin AND BOOM! You’re manning the helm on the newly-designed Enterprise bridge from Star Trek.
  • Oh yeah, chapter ten turned out to be CHAPTERS TEN AND ELEVEN, which is happy news, as it’s (1) one less chapter needed writing, and (2) there’s some pretty big character development, and I hope it gives the reader some insight into some of the protagonists’/antagonists’/non-tagonists’ motivations. There’s also a big WAIT WUT? clue in there, and I hope that when the beta readers finish chapter eleven, they’re wondering about certain connections. Or lack thereof. (Beta-readers will be getting copies tomorrow.)

So, okay, that was a crummy list, and I know I’m whinging… but hey, what is an author supposed to do with his blog? Still, there are some good things to look forward to, like the new Sailor Moon musical, Downton Abbey (hope it doesn’t suck like last series), Strictly Come Dancing, and getting to level 50 white mage in FFXIV. Crap, I sound pathetic.

WELL, I LOVE MY FRIENDS.

In conclusion, reinforcing my new-found calling as Drunken Enlightened Buddha (DEB), I give you all out there a big ol’ fortune cookie of advice: never sign up to be someone’s emotional surrogate; sure, it doesn’t seem like a long period of time at first, but the stretch marks will last forever.

Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey (An Emo Post)

Two weeks have passed and it feels like I’ve been in the States for aeons. I’ve been through a book signing where no siblings could or wouldn’t attend, some sort of pseudo-relationship and pseudo-breakup, and once again learned how completely batshit (pardon the language) crazy people can be. Names from the past return rather suddenly, and I’m not sure how to respond, and people I thought I was very connected to and sharing good, human bonds with turn out to be the kind that do a complete 180, or in other cases, belittle your friends and throw wine in your face. It makes me miss solid people like Megan and Henry.

Anyway, enough of the self-pity rant; I’ve got wine and pills and s’more episodes of Broadchurch to watch. Writers are supposed to write, though, so I figured putting down my thoughts, however public, would be something of a benediction or at least fodder for some book later to come. (My god, the story of my life is going to get me a movie somewhere, I promise. I’m going to call it ‘Mending Fences.’)

Drama aside, I plan on using all the weird energy around me to disconnect and focus on Apprentice, save for the odd book signing, the next of which is occurring in a pub! YAY BOOZE. Over half the first draft is done on the sequel, so hopefully within the next month, provided I focus (stay away, FFXIV…) all should be well and good book-wise.

Now all I need to do is start collecting pumpkins and figure out Halloween plans!

Back! Bold! My God, Let Me Sleep

Woaaaaah. In the jet-setting days of my youth, I used to bounce around the globe like a bad check and never suffer any overdraft fees. My body now? It’s screaming SCREEEEEW YOUUUUUUU FOR FLYING.

Work on Apprentice is slow, subsequently, though I’m excited to say I’ve worked a short story I had written about one character’s history into its own chapter, which effectively increased my word count to over my halfway mark. WOOTSAUCLES.

I had the benefit of going to one of Philly’s top 50 restaurants last night, although suffering from jet lag and not having unpacked yet, I’m not sure my tummy was physically or mentally ready for an 824802802-course tasting menu. Of course, by American standards, every course in a tasting menu is the size of my head, so needless to say, I couldn’t eat the TWO DESSERTS IT CAME WITH.

I did have espresso with TWO SUGARS (gasp), so yeah. One month and counting without a proper night’s sleep. Also, I have consumption.

zzz

PS — book signing on Saturday! DON’T FORGET; I’m giving kisses, pictures, and puppies.

Don’t Sleep Where You Weave

Consider this my PSA for the week. I’ve recently started playing Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and when I do get to play (read the internets if you want to hear about launch issues) I’ve been running around collecting various jobs and the like. Last night I became a level six Weaver.

FFXIV maintains a lovely site for the players and displays profiles of what your character is up to. Well, I was tired and logged out in a STUPID OUTFIT. *sigh* Now the world can see what a numpty poor Nivvy looks like. :/  (Check here if you want to see, too.)

In further news, or rather, moving on to proper news, after the big compilation last week and my birthday, I’ll be honest and say not much work was made on Apprentice. But that’s all right! That’s what server maintenance in FFXIV is for! Right? …right? Right… *sigh*

Also, less than a week left in Blighty, so if anyone wants to see me and grab one of the few books I have left (I think like two or three paperbacks?) let me know ASAP; I’m getting pretty booked up (no pun intended — promise)!

I am looking forward to getting home to the States, though I imagine that will wear off quickly. Happy birthday to me, because I’M GETTING MY MOTORCYCLE LICENSE. Booyaka.

xoxo

High-Waisted Jeans and Compilations

As the title suggests, yes: I’m wearing high-waisted jeans. These are, however, helpful in sculpting an absolute perfectly-shaped bum, so I am willing to suffer a little for the sake of selling more books (pics to come, I promise). In any case, when in London…

The weather has been beautiful, and despite my gamboling about the parks and imbibing all of Blighty’s ale, I actually have been productive. I’m wrapping up chapter nine of Librarian‘s sequel, Apprentice (webpage to come soon, too), and as the conclusion of chapter eight ends on quite a revelation about the NATURE OF THINGS, I figured now was a good time as any to start looking for beta-readers.

So if you read my blog and have read the first book, you know the deal. Hit me up, and I’ll send you the rough first draft of the chapters 1-8.

Anywho. Back to work (and wine). I’m getting ready for the production of an audiobook, so watch out! Soon you’ll be able to bitch about Lenna in your cars, trains, or as you drift to sleep at night with your device of choice in your ear.

Hunting for Dragons

Ah! It was so amazing to catch up with my former flatmate from Oxford, Megan! She’s my favorite dragon, and it’s gladdening to know that I can just pick up with her as though we’ve never stopped living together, even though it’s been… what, four years?

I had a very non-productive weekend (read: I did NO WORK ON APPRENTICE), but the market was lovely yesterday, and I had yet another delicious lunch. I WILL LOSE A STONE YET!

Heading back to Oxford this week, meeting up with some old friends, doing a SEKRIT SIGNING)… much excitement! I proooomise, however, to make sure I get some work done on Apprentice, as chapter eight is nearly finished and I’ll be proactively hunting for beta-readers.

Also, people are starting to finish up Librarian and the reviews are pretty nice! Check it out on Amazon!

Working Hard (Needz Visa)

Hello from Blighty!

I’m currently sitting in a local pub, drinking far too much beer and eating food less healthful than I should be. I justify this by walking over 5 miles a day, hitting up all the shops in London that I shouldn’t be blowing my royalties on.

That being said, I love pub writing, and I’ve now cleared that horrible hurdle of writer’s block that was chapter six of Apprentice. Clear sailing into chapter seven, and I’m pumping out about 3000 words a day so far (well, it’s only been two days, but stil…)!

Hopefully by the time I head back to the States (1) the first draft of Apprentice should be ready to be torn apart by my editor/beta-readers, and (2) the weather there should be less horrible.

Oh well, back to work! And to my UK fans, my short-run for signed copies of Librarian here are running out, so if you need one, make sure to track me down ASAP!

xoxo

Brian

GiveaYAY!

Get my cute pun? My Goodreads giveaway is over, so congratulations to the ten lucky winners across the US and UK! Your books are on their way!

I was told that a standard Goodreads giveaway gets about 800 entrants, but by midnight last night I had around 1400! That’s really promising!

Thanks for all the support, guys, and for those of you who will be receiving a copy in the mail in the next few days, I hope you enjoy Librarian!

Packages Out!