reader questions

10% of Book Sales to LGBT Youth Charity

August 28, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

As of September 1st, 2012 ten percent (10%) of ALL book sales will go to two LGBT Youth Charities

As most of my regular readers already know, it was previously set up so that 50% of the proceeds from The Value of Rain went to two charities working with LGBTQ youth. Unfortunately, that has turned into an accounting nightmare in which the end loser is the charities themselves. With two books out, another coming out in September, and several more planned for next year I can see this getting worse.

Changing how I raise funds will allow all my readers to know that their money is going to a solid cause (getting homeless LGBT kids off the street) and broaden the choices for those readers while at the same time giving me/us the ability to send more money to the nonprofits involved. (10% of multiple books is more than 50% of one). [Read more…] about 10% of Book Sales to LGBT Youth Charity

The Value of Rain – Year One

July 23, 2012 By Brandon 1 Comment

Who would have thought we’d be sitting here one year later? Not me that’s for sure. As most of my regular readers know I was prodded into publishing by some of my few, but very close, friends. J.S., who you met on my social sites while I was away, simply chuckles at this because he was one of those people. He’s the one that dug through manuscripts saying What about this one? Or Do you remember that one you wrote about…?

I specifically recall the conversation we had about dipping my toe into this publishing pond. How adamant I was about my own privacy, the lack of time I had to devote to it, and a million other excuses; anything I could think of that would take this ridiculous idea from his head. I know I told him that I had never allowed him to read my writing for this. And of course his question was Why did you then? I was stumped, my tongue a rogue little knot that could not find an excuse. Damned thing. [Read more…] about The Value of Rain – Year One

On Writing: Beginning with the End

April 13, 2012 By Brandon 2 Comments

writing, fiction, the hook The hook in music is the riff that captures the listener and pulls them into the song, the beat and the experience of the music. It’s what gets you humming the tune days later and what brings listeners back to the artist and the memories they experienced when that particular song was playing. It’s one of the things I love about music.

In writing it’s a little different, but no less important. Creating a hook is built on sentences, one leads to another, and another, and another. From my perspective, it’s more like a maze, the further a writer can get you into the maze, the harder it is for you to get out until you reach the end. [Read more…] about On Writing: Beginning with the End

Questions from readers

April 11, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

I’m getting more and more questions from readers so I thought I would create a blog post that answered some of the most common. If you have a question, please feel free to contact me via my website or one of my social media sites. I may answer you personally, or make a blog post about it, or both.

You stated in an interview that some of the characters in The Value of Rain were based on real people, can you tell me which ones?

Many of the characters were based on real people, the character Snow was one of them and the real person he was based on had a literal pelt of scars from his shoulders down to his wrist. Snow was a stark, beautiful young man whose voice haunted me until I gave him a voice in Rain.