And Bad Penny is now available in audio
Here’s the link to Audible, and as soon as I get the link to iTunes, I’ll post it here. I think Naramore’s performance is going to please a lot of listeners.
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The story behind “From the Clay of His Heart”
This story started in the Layton, UT Lowe’s on the trim isle. Read the story of how I wrote this story on Side-Show Freaks.
New series on writing coming next week
I believe that there are three things you need to know to write stories. The better you know them, the better and more stories you’ll be able to write. Those three things are:
1. What stories do, i.e. what you’re trying to do as an author.
2. The principles of how character, setting, problem, plot, and text work to do those things.
3. The principles of coming up with and developing stories.
About this time last year I wrote my series on the key conditions for creating reader suspense, which went into depth on things 1 and 2. And I’ve written a bunch of other blogs on those topics. This year I’m going to be doing one on the key principles of getting and developing killer story ideas. I’ll be presenting it in a shortened form at this year’s League of Utah Writer’s roundup on Saturday (see my calendar for more details). One neat thing about this series is that I will have a number of other authors illustrate the principles with their own work. When learning this type of stuff, I don’t think we can’t get enough concrete examples. Keep your eyes open. I think it’s going to be a good one.
Curse update: March 15, 2014
I’ve been diligently moving forward with CURSE.However, it’s not been in a straight line. While working on the ending last week, I realized that I no longer had the word limit constraints I had with Tor.
Of course, I knew that, but I hadn’t gone back to my previous draft that had been written to meet Tor’s limits and asked: should I put back in anything that I was forced to cut?
But while writing the ending last week I realized that in the last revision I had removed an awesome sequence that introduces the villain of the tale. I’d done it to save the word count. I’d written another entrance. It was good given the constraints, but it didn’t have the cool wattage that this one did.
Not even close.
I love great character entrances. Could I put it back it?
The answer was a resounding yes!
So this week was spent rewriting that entrance (and now it’s even better than it was) and fitting it into the story (and slid in so smoothly and made it so much better).
Folks, you will now get to see the naked orange-eyed priest of Mungo.
Presentation this Saturday in Bountiful, UT
League of Utah Writers Northern Area Spring Conference
I’ll be presenting this Saturday at this conference that will be held at the Bountiful Art Center, 745 S. Main Street, Bountiful, UT 84010. I grew up in Bountiful, and so this is a special treat for me to go back.
COST: Free for League of Utah Writers Members. $25 for non-members. More info at http://www.luwriters.org/.
- 8:30 Registration-
- 9:00 Jennifer Nielsen- Psychology of Characterization- understanding your characters psychologically
- 10:00 John Brown- Secrets of Story Structure
- 11:00 John Brown- How to Get and Develop Killer Ideas
- 12:00 Lunch- El Matador
- 1:00 Margot Hovley- The Nuts and Bolts of Writing
- 2:00 Marion Jensen- Using Social Media in Every Step of the Writing Process
SERVANT & Smith’s grocery, CURSE, Suspense series, My blog readers
Smith’s Grocery Goodness
Just saw the paperback of SERVANT OF A DARK GOD in a Smith’s grocery in Kaysville, Utah. What this tells me is that SERVANT sold well enough when it was in the Smith’s stores in hardback for them to bring it back a second time. I’m guessing it’s in all the stores in the state. I want to thank all of you who bought it in hardback at the time from Smith’s.Now, some of you may be wondering–why is Brown getting so excited about his book being in a grocery store? Here’s why.
Barnes & Noble is one of my favorite places in the world. But there are only 10 stores in all of Utah. There are 50 Smith’s stores in Utah. There are probably 30-40 Fresh Markets in the same area. There are 10 Maceys. When a book gets picked up by a grocery store, that ususally means it’s going to sell a LOT more copies. Why? Because more people can see that the thing exists. Furthermore, those displays put the cover face out. A huge draw for buyers that like to browse. So this is great news. And SERVANT might even be in some stores outside of Utah since Smiths’ and Fresh Market are national chains. If you see a copy in your local grocery store, please let me know.
And here’s to the day when these books show up in Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Costco as well.
Curse of a Dark God Status
A lot of people have been asking about the release date for CURSE. The short answer is that we don’t have a date yet. I will be writing a long entry about it next Monday or Tuesday. Just know that I’m working my keister off to deliver more great entertainment to you.
Suspense Series Status
I’m working on the post on structure. It’s about half way done. I hope to publish it over the Thanksgiving weekend.
You JB blog readers
I get a few thousand folks coming to this site each month. Most leave very little trace. But there’s nothing like meeting someone new who mentions they found a blog useful or entertaining. I had a great time at the Dragons & Fairy Tales book signing and at the dinner afterwards with the other authors. One gal who came by mentioned she enjoyed the recent post on cauliflower, even though she hasn’t read SERVANT yet. That made the whole evening. Of all the posts . . . Anyway, I’m so glad to hear from my readers. Even if it’s the veggie lovers 🙂
Positive Review from James Maxey on Orson Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show
James Maxey is a writer I admire. For his work ethic. For the quality of his prose. For his imagination. His story “To Know All Things That Are In The Earth” is one of my favorites. So you can be sure I was pleased to find and read this today.
I will say, in utter candor, that Servant of a Dark God is a work that truly stands out from other fantasy books on the market. What makes this book work so well is that it’s a story about family first, and a fantasy adventure second. Full review.
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🙁 no whisper sync
Yoo Hoo! Checked the sample @ audible -you are spot on: Mr. Naramore has a great reading style and voice; very engaging. I was sold. So i immediately got the book.
** The terrific reviews didn’t hurt any 🙂
As i’ve not read Bad Penny yet, I am looking forward to a great story -read to me- during breaks, lunch, at night, etc.
Thanks for continuing to keep us up-to-date re progress during this journey, John. Regards.
Awesome.
Hum. I’ll look into that.
Here’s Amazon’s statement on it.