How I Met Your Magic Talking Wizard Cat

How I Met Your Mother is one of my favorite television shows...er...off and on at least.  The most recent seasons have made me question why I still spend 22 minutes with characters that are barely shades of their earlier selves, back when the show was truly something special...I better stop before I get to rambling.  No one wants that.

Now, this may seem like a random topic, but I feel that this show has taught me something about writing and should be a little bit of a lesson for other writers out there. 

 

Do not do this with your books...please

The OCD Writer

When I write, I tend to subscribe to the "letting the story flow" school of thought.  Writing outlines does not work for me, even if my ideas are basically outlined in my head.  Most times, though, I have an idea for the beginning, end, and a couple stopping points on the way.  As I make my way through these points, my mind tends to start doing its own thing and taking me down paths I didn't expect(usually with good results.)

Ask a Question, Get an Answer

Hello all,

Not that I like to show my son off or anything...

So, I find myself heading back into the world of...gulp...employment.  After a nice, extended length of time as a stay at home dad, I will once again be out in the world of work.  

Why am I blogging about this?  Well, naturally my writing time will take a hit.  As you may have noticed from my progress bars to the lower left of the blog(I'm just pimping 'em cuz I love 'em), I've got the vast majority of the first draft of Book 2 of Korin's Journal wrapped up.  I still plan on finishing by the end of the year with a release before March 2013.  Mid December at the earliest, March at the latest.  

Chapter 9 Excerpt

In celebration of finishing another chapter as well as the first short-story for the collection I am working on, here's yet another excerpt from Book 2 of Korin's Journal.  Enjoy!

Brian Beam

Progress Bars!

For anyone interested in my progress for Book 2 of Korin's Journal(which admittedly has and will be moving at a slower pace for a while), I have now included a progress bar on the lower left hand side of the page here.  Notice that I have progress bars for two other current projects as well.  Those will definitely be moving at a snail's pace(or slower), but are both projects that I am 100% invested in completing and releasing at some point(more details to come later).  Since I do not fully outline my writing, the percentages are solely estimations, but will still be a good indicator of where I stand on them.

I have just wrapped up the first draft of Chapter 37 of Book 2 of Korin's Journal and am about to get to all kinds of excitement, revelations, and a healthy dose of action.  Someone(s) may even die(gasp!)  Or...maybe I'm just messing with you .  You'll just have to wait and find out ;).

Have a great week, everyone.

Until next time,



Brian Beam

National Buy A Book Day: Part 2

Well, it's National Buy a Book Day in which book lovers are encouraged to go out to their local bookstore(independent or otherwise...as long as it's a BOOKSTORE and not Wal-mart or something) and buy a full priced book to support bookstores, publishers, and authors.  Bookstores, especially independent ones, are struggling in an age of Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and low-priced online retailers, so I fully support this concept.

Today, me and my 22 month old son  to Literary Bookpost, a local independent bookstore here in Salisbury, NC(http://www.literarybookpost.com/).  First of all, I was thoroughly impressed by what they had to offer and their support of indie and local authors.  That, and they had a slide in the kid's section that Jonas focused all his attention on...even though he has the exact same slide at home.

Anyway, I picked up a book called Not So Random from local author, N.J. Simpson ( http://www.njsimpson.com/, http://www.amazon.com/N.J.-Simpson/e/B00501K0DQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1) though it's outside my preferred genres.  I also got Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, the first in a children's series by my favorite author, Brandon Sanderson.  At night, my son actually likes having books without pictures read to him, so I'm going to use it to introduce him to Brandon Sanderson's genius early on :).  Lastly, I got Jonas a picture book called Dragons Love Tacos, because, come on, who doesn't?

National Buy A Book Day - Sept. 7, 2012

I had never heard of National Buy a Book Day until today - probably because it's only been around a couple  years  and hasn't become fully recognized yet.  However, I love the idea of it.  The gist is that on September 7th, you are encouraged to buy a new book at full price from a local bookstore.  The purpose is to promote the publishing industry as a whole: the authors, publishers, and bookstores who provide us with the books we love.  Buying a new book at full price ensures full profit for all involved.

Book 2: Chapter 1 Excerpt

Alright, as I promised, here's an excerpt from Book 2 of Korin's Journal(official title coming soon, I swear!).  I really, really wanted to keep spoilers from The Dragon Gem to a minimum, but I also wanted to post a little more than what I'm about to.  Therefore, if you have already read The Dragon Gem, don't plan on reading it, or you just don't care about spoilers, I have put a link on the left side of the page leading to the full first chapter of the next book.  Be warned, there is a literal recap of the whole first book in the full chapter.

Remember this is the first draft.  Things may change.  They may not.  I may just decide to rewrite it as a musical with dance numbers and audience participation(the first 3 rows may get wet)...okay, maybe not.  My point is that there may be some editing needs that haven't been addressed, mainly because nothing in book 2 has been properly edited yet.  If you see an issue, feel free to point it out, but the purpose of this post is simply to reveal a little of what's to come in the story.

So, here's an excerpt from Chapter 1: Recaps And Broken Kneecaps.   Enjoy!

Brian Beam

Book 2 Info

So, as I continue through the final third of the first draft of Book 2 of Korin's Journal, I'd like to start posting more information about it.  To start, here's the titles of the first 19 chapters comprising the first major story arc in which Korin  makes his way to Tahron with some little(read: catastrophically major) hiccups including being kidnapped, hunted down by a tattooed Contract Holder, enslaved, and confronted with disturbing revelations about his father and the war in Gualain.

Remnants of the Past

(Because sometimes we hang out with peacocks and emus)

It's been a little while since I posted a blog.  Seems life has a funny way of getting in the way.

Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to post the prologue to an abandoned book I started back in high school over ten years ago now(hm...does that mean I'm getting old?).  The book was going to be called Secret of the Kolari: Book One of the Broken Cycle Saga.  Ten chapters in, I shelved it, but I found myself looking back at it tonight and decided to share a bit of it.

If you have read The Dragon Gem, you  probably noticed from the name alone that I carried over ideas from Secret of the Kolari to it.  Mainly, I just recycled a bunch of names.  Korin, Menar, Geeron, Kolarin, Ingran, and Kipp are just a few names that made the transfer.  Korin was the name of the protagonist for Secret of the Kolari, though he had a twin brother named Kris.   

Next time, I'll post some information on Book 2 of Korin's Journal.  I'm still a few months away from finishing the first draft, but I'm ready to post some longer excerpts, chapter names, and maybe even a title reveal in the near future. I'm also hoping to find some beta readers to check out the first story arc of it soon to get some feedback, so if you have any interest in participating, drop me a line here, www.facebook.com/brianbeamauthor, or at bbeams32@gmail.com.

I'll end by reminding everyone that I have posted a giveaway for a signed copy of The Dragon Gem on Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/31584-the-dragon-gem.  It runs until the end of September.

So, without further ado, and no guarantees on grammar,  here's the prologue to the abandoned Secret of the Kolari.

Best wishes to all,

Brian Beam

Moving On

Well, got all moved into our house in North Carolina(if huge stacks of packed boxes counts as moved in).  Looking forward to getting back to writing on my book over the next few days.  With all the unpacking ahead of us, watching the little guy when my wife's at work, and looking for work myself, my free time will be few and far between, but as any writer will testify, you've just got to make it work.

Anyway, we've moved to Granite Quarry, NC which is strange in that many yards randomly have huge chunks of rock just jutting out of the ground.  It's a beautiful area, though, and I appreciate being a little closer to the ocean(4+ hours, but it sure beats the 10-12 hours from where we lived before).  

I'm just going to keep this brief since I have a good million priorities I should be seeing to over writing posts!  Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

Brian Beam

Feet Back on the Road

So, went for my first run since my appendectomy three weeks ago.  If any reading this are joggers, then you know how frustrating it can be when something keeps you from running.  Runners are of a special stubbornness-the kind where even after surgery, you think "Maybe if I just go for a mile or so, my intestines won't spill onto the pavement..."

Anyway, being a licensed nurse(which brings about a whole other special breed of stubbornness), I tried to be good and wait until at least after my follow-up MD visit before setting back out for a run.  My follow-up went well and with my move to NC coming up this week, this was my last chance to get out there and test the waters, so to speak.

I set out for a slow one-miler in an effort to take things slowly and ended up with two just over my pre-surgery pace!  

For me, this is not just a huge thing for just getting back into the joy of running, but also because running plays a major role in my writing(and writers have yet another unique stubbornness).  When I feel like my plot has run into a wall(or down into a deep, dark hole for that matter), that I'm in a rut, that my creativity has run dry, or I have good ol' fashioned writer's block, a good run is all I need to dig myself out.  Most of my plots points originated during a good run.

So, hopefully this will help keep me a little more focused on my book.  Thirty minutes to an hour of running may take away that much time from writing, but more than makes up for it in inspiration.

Have a great week, everyone!

Brian Beam

The Dragon Gem Book Trailer

Thanks to a handy-dandy(that's right, I said handy-dandy) Animoto tutorial on Indies Unlimited( www.indiesunlimited.com ), The Dragon Gem: Book One of Korin's Journal now has a nifty(yep, nifty) book trailer.  Check it out at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW1qAgbS2Bo

Special thanks to Pluto Revolts for allowing me to use their song, Suffer No Delusions for the trailer.  Pluto Revolts is a great band from the Cincinnati, OH area.  Check them out at http://www.plutorevolts.com/ and show them some love!

Hope you enjoy the trailer!  

Brian Beam