Book 2 Excerpt

Here's a (very)small excerpt from Book 2 of Korin's Journal to A) prove that I'm actually working on it and B) prove that some answers about Korin's past will finally be revealed in this book.  I had to reword the first sentence to avoid a major spoiler from The Dragon Gem.  I'm still a long ways from finishing the story and even further from having it fully edited and ready for publishing(still shooting for Dec 2012 release if possible).  If anyone is interested, I would love to put up more excerpts every now and then just to give clues as to what to look forward to in this book.  Maybe I'll reveal the title one of these days too :-P Enjoy!

Brian Beam

Max stared solemnly across the waters..  “You know, a part of me thought I would never tell you all of this.  There was a time when I lost hope, when I truly believed that my life would be spent watching you grow up on that farm.”  He shook his head and looked up at me.  “I must start this with a heartfelt apology.”

I licked my dry lips to work up some moisture.  My nerves had dried out my mouth.  “It’s okay, Max.”

“No,” he replied, staring back out across the lake.  “I told you before that it was for your own good.  When I really think about it, it was actually more for my own.”  He paused for a moment.  The chilly breeze picked up as if to prod him to speak.  “I just ask that you allow me to speak this out.  I know you will have questions, but I just ask that they wait.”

Useless Body Parts

So, for anyone who doesn't know, one of my birthday presents this year was appendicitis. Went in, got it taken out, had to stay an extra day because of a high white blood cell count, and am now back at home. Fun stuff. What better way to ring in the big 3-0.

 Appendectomies are fairly routine and they caught my appendicitis early, so it wasn't anything too major. Just lots of pre-op pain followed by some post-op soreness. My wife has gotten on me about how instead of focusing about recovering, I have been getting on myself about my lack of writing. You would think that surgery would be a great excuse to just lay around and write, but instead, I find the nausea and pain-med loopiness does not lend well to writing. The worst part is that I'm at a place in Book 2 of Korin's Journal that I've wanted to get to from the very beginning. It is a pivotal point in not just this story, but the series as a whole. I don't want to screw it up by thinking, "Wow, this sounds great" while on Vicodin only to look at it the next week and see that I actually just wrote a short story about bunny rabbits from Venus or something. 

Complaints aside, I have officially started on a couple other writing projects as I work on Book 2 of Korin's Journal. I have some ideas I am really loving, so I hope something comes out of them. Anyway, if any of this came across as whiny, feel free to hunt me down and give me a good smack and say "Shape up, wuss!" or something along those lines.

 Have a great week, everyone!

 Brian Beam

Some Hometown Love

So, I gave a couple freebie copies of the Dragon Gem to my hometown's independent bookstore just for the fact that my book could A) Be available in a bookstore, and B) Be available in a bookstore I spent so much time at as a kid(well, in their old location at least).

Anyway, since the bookstore also doubles as a candy store, my wife stopped by the bookstore to get me some chocolate covered gummy bears(shut up, they're delicious!) and took this pic of The Dragon Gem displayed in the front of the store.  I'm not sure how I feel about Fifty Shades Darker trying to rub up on it, though...

In all seriousness, as a writer, seeing my book displayed like this makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...even if they were giveaway copies that I won't see a dime for. A special thank you to Bardstown Booksellers in Bardstown, KY for stocking it and already selling one of the copies I gave them!

Brian Beam

You Might Be A Writer If...

You have nightmares about getting bad reviews.

Last night I dreamed that I received a scathing review for The Dragon Gem on Amazon.  The reviewer stated that after the first couple of chapters, they saw absolutely no reason why anyone would want to continue reading the rest.  Then they attacked the length of my book, saying it was way too short for the price, though my book is a healthy 140,000 words.  Anyway, this actually woke me up with my heart speeding.  Sad, huh?


Coincidentally, this morning on my favorite indie author site, Indies Unlimited, there was this great feature that listed one-star reviews for some of the most classic literary works of all time. Be sure to check it out at http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2012/07/06/one-star-reviews-of-the-hundred-greatest-novel-100-76/.It was an eye-opener in that it helped me realize that, as with all books, whether my book is good or bad, eventually, someone is going to dislike it enough to want to let the world know that they felt it was a nice big pile of...


That day hasn't come yet, but I think when it does, I think I'll be better prepared now.


That said, The Dragon Gem just received a good review from The Ink Puddle!  It can be found at http://ink-puddle.blogspot.com/2012/07/review-dragon-gem-book-one-of-korins.html.  It's a great review blog, so give it a look!


Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!


Brian Beam