Saturday, June 30, 2012

Shameless Plugging

Thanks to B&N offering the print version of The Dragon Gem for 28% off, Amazon has it price matched.  You may now pick up your physical copy for $11.51(as opposed to 15.99) from either site (or $2.99 for Kindle or Nook).

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Dragon-Gem-Korins-Journal/dp/1477610006/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341030534&sr=8-2&keywords=korin%27s+journal

Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dragon-gem-brian-beam/1111603924?ean=9781477610008

Today I dropped off a couple of free printed copies of The Dragon Gem to be sold at the independent bookstore in my hometown.  It feels weird, yet awesome, to have my book available at the same bookstore I used to walk to on countless days after school many years ago.

Anyways, have a great weekend, everyone!

Brian Beam

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The Doctor Is In

Be forewarned, this will not be the most original blog post, nor will it be the last of its type.

So, as I was getting my little guy ready for a nap today, I read to him as I usually do.  Today's book was Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss.  Now, I've read plenty of Dr. Seuss through my life and the meanings and morals so cleverly hidden in his fun books have always had a major effect on me.  I've been so happy to pass along the magic of Dr. Seuss' words, pictures, and worlds with my son(even if at 19 months he's not quite able to understand the wonder of Dr. Seuss).   Today, though, when reading Yertle the Turtle, the last line really hit me: "And the turtles, of course...all the turtles are free, As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be."

Maybe it's the fact that Mr. Ted Geisel(Dr. Seuss) was able to write such powerful sentiments in only a couple lines of rhymed metric verse.  Any writer would be hard pressed in writing, or even finding, more effectively written and powerful messages.

Though Dr. Seuss' stories carry wonderful messages from the Lorax's conservationalism message, to The Grinch's commercialization of Christmas, to The Sneetches equality message, I solely want to focus on a couple two-line quotes that I feel embody his ability to pack such deep, thoughtful messages in so few words.

"And the turtles, of course...all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be." -Yertle the Turtle

"I can't put it down.  And I won't!  After all
A person's a person. No matter how small." - Horton Hears a Who

"'Maybe Christmas,' he thought, 'doesn't come from a store.
'maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!'" - How the Grinch Stole Christmas

"The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beeches." - The Sneetches

"You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose." - Oh, The Places You'll Go

And maybe most of all:
"Who sees who sew whose new socks, sir?
You see Sue sew Sue's new socks, sir."  - Fox in Socks

Okay, that last one was just for fun.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is this:  Dr. Seuss was a master of words.  Sure, he wrote books aimed towards children, but can you name another writer as proficient in embodying the massive amount of meaning and thought provocation as Dr. Seuss was able to in two rhyming lines?  Scratch that.  Two lines of any kind?   Two paragraphs of any kind?

I am proud to pass on Dr. Seuss' stories to my own child.  Though I write stories geared for adults, I hope that maybe one day I will have the a millionth of Dr. Seuss' brilliance with words.

Have a great week, everyone!

Brian Beam


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Dragon Gem Free Today!

The Dragon Gem is free all day today, 6/21, for Kindle on Amazon!  Be sure to get your free copy!

Also, welcome to my new followers from IU!  Great to have you here!

Brian Beam

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Here, Have Some News

So, Book 2 of Korin's Journal is coming along nicely(will be closing in on 100k words in the next few days on this first draft so far).  So far, I think the sequel's going to be a fair bit longer than the first book(especially, just like with Book 1, I'm finding myself taken down paths I didn't expect).  There's going to be three major plot arcs to the story and I'm getting close to ending the second.  Though I'm having lots of fun writing this book, I'm really looking forward to this third part.  

I just made The Dragon Gem available in paperback.  It's on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/The-Dragon-Gem-Korins-Journal/dp/1477610006/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1339894222&sr=8-1 and will soon be available on B&N as well.  The eBook will still be exclusive to Amazon for now, though.

I would like to write more, maybe something witty or poignant, but I'm running on little sleep given my 18 month old has taken a habit to waking up in the middle of the night pretty much every night and I got up early for a 5K(that part's completely my fault).  Maybe I'll have something more interesting to say next time.  Until then...

Brian Beam