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Brandon Shire

Author of Contemporary Gay Romance

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    • The Love of Wicked Men
    • Afflicted – Gay Romance Series
    • Cold – Gay Romance Series
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You are here: Home / Archives for the value of rain

the value of rain

Music in the Writing Process

September 9, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

music, fiction, writing tips, writing processIt’s always been my practice to have music playing while I write, but then again, there is always music playing in my home so that shouldn’t seem odd. For me, the written word, like a musical score, has a certain syncopation to it, a vibratory tone that underscores what you read as you read it.

Often my writing is described as lyrical, and this is something I (unknowingly) have striven for over the years as I put words down. The writing always had to not only sound right, but feel right too, and that feeling wasn’t just from word choice but from sentence & paragraph structure which lent itself to a vibratory undertone. [Read more…] about Music in the Writing Process

Filed Under: Brandon's Musings, Gay Fiction Tagged With: afflicted, gay literature, listening to dust, the value of rain, writing, writing tips

What does writing LGBTQ literature mean to me?

August 23, 2012 By Brandon 53 Comments

Rain Book reviews Blog Hop

Welcome Blog Hoppers

This is actually a tougher question than it seems.  When I first signed on for this blog-hop I said, Oh that’s easy! I know why I do it. But the question wasn’t Why? It was what does writing LGBTQ lit mean to you?  I spent many, many days tossing this around because writing has been such an intricate part of my life for so long that it has never really had a singular meaning. [Read more…] about What does writing LGBTQ literature mean to me?

Filed Under: Brandon's Musings Tagged With: afflicted, blog hop, Homophobia, LGBT, listening to dust, the value of rain, writing

The Value of Rain – Year One

July 23, 2012 By Brandon 1 Comment

gay fictionWho 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

Filed Under: Brandon's Musings, Gay Fiction Tagged With: award winning gay fiction, Homophobia, reader questions, the value of rain

On the Whimsy

April 30, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

dont rain on the paradeSo when I started this out I was being convinced by friends that I ‘just had to publish.’

It won’t be much, new book tech, kindle, nook and all that… Yeah, right. I had to figure out a whole new language, find book marketing bloggers that weren’t trying to pedal me some bullshit scheme about how they were going to make me the next NYT bestseller, and then there were all those querky tech problems  that I still have no clue about. [Read more…] about On the Whimsy

Filed Under: Brandon's Musings Tagged With: gay literature, humor, listening to dust, the value of rain, writing

On Writing: Beginning with the End

April 13, 2012 By Brandon 2 Comments

writing, fiction, the hookThe 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

Filed Under: Brandon's Musings Tagged With: gay authors, listening to dust, reader questions, the value of rain, writing, writing tips

Questions from readers

April 11, 2012 By Brandon Leave a Comment

questions, answer, writing, authorI’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.

[Read more…] about Questions from readers

Filed Under: Brandon's Musings Tagged With: author interview, listening to dust, reader questions, the value of rain, writing

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