Your Chance to Win a Signed Copy of Gun Runner

ByJohn Brown

Gun Runner, the action-packed sci-fi novel I wrote with Larry Correia, comes out in February. But we already have copies.

And I’m happy to announce that this week you have a chance to WIN A STACK OF FIVE SIGNED SCI-FI AND FANTASY NOVELS that includes Gun Runner.

Sign Up to Win!

Even if you don’t win, you can still get copies at Uncle Hugo’s that were signed by both Larry and I! You can pre-order one now, and get it shipped to you as soon as they’re available in February.

Uncle Hugo’s is one of those rare indie bookshops that specializes and knows their customers. They’re the oldest independent science fiction bookstore in America.

Order Signed Copy From Uncle Hugo’s
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    John Brown will keynote at American Fork Arts Council writers conference

    ByJohn Brown

    The city of American Fork is putting on what looks to be a great writer’s conference. I’m very pleased to announce that I’ve been asked to present the keynote speech.

    Keynote: The 3 Things You Must Learn to Write Killer Stories
    When: Saturday, April 25, 2009, 9:00 AM
    Location:
    American Fork City Arts Council
    31 N. Church Street
    American Fork, UT 84003
    (801)763-3081

    This looks like a great opportunity if you’re a writer. Here’s what the organizers envision.

    We have editors from Desert Book, Covenant and Cedar Fort coming to speak as well as National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr, Kristen Langdon, Ginger Churchill, Linda Bethers, Anita Stansfield and others. The goal is to provide a space for local writers to interact with local editors and local authors for inspiration, motivation and guidance in the tricky world of writing and publishing. To that end, the editors will be holding a query letter clinic using query letters from participants, which I think will be super useful. The editors are also speaking on what they want and don’t want as far as submissions, and the state of regional publishing in 2009 given the world upheaval. The authors will all be speaking on how they got an agent, how they got a book deal, what they have learned about writing.

    More info: American Fork Arts Council

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  • United Authors Association Conference Oct 24th!

    ByJohn Brown

    UAACon1.5

    The United Authors Association is holding a fiction writing conference October 24th in Springville, Utah, and it’s free to the public!

    The conference schedule has some great presentation topics on it by authors who are delighting a lot of readers as well as an editor, agent, and a magician.

    I’m going to be presenting on the fundamental core of story–“Scene and Sequel”–expect we’ll be replacing those two terms right off that bat. Hope to see you there.

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  • Awful Intent: copy edit finished

    ByJohn Brown

    I finished the updates for the copy edit today. Now it’s time to finish the cover, format the ebook and paperback, and then publish. I thought folks might be interested to see the blurbs I received for the book.

    “An engaging story about law and order in the west, complete with gun battles, aerial stunts and a hero just out for a hike.” ~ Police Sergeant Louise Speth

     

    “Grabs you by the throat until the thrilling ending. All too true of what can happen in rural law-enforcement.” ~ Deputy Sheriff Jared Johnson

     

    “WOW! Brown has outdone himself on this one. His books are always interesting and entertaining, but this one added a current twist to a captivating plot.” ~ Sheriff Gary Ogilvie, Ret.

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  • Halfway finished with 10% trim of CURSE

    ByJohn Brown

    I’m at the 51% mark with my trim and have cut 10,000 words. Right on target. And I haven’t cut any story, just flab in the writing. Usually when I revise, I add words. I thought I wrote lean, but that’s clearly not the case.  Strangely enough, I have to say that I’ve enjoyed every hour of this. I’m loving this edit,  improving the flow and immediacy, cutting out redundancies and superflous lines. Who would have thunk?

    For those of you who are numbers geeks, here’s a peek at the spreadsheet I’m using to track my trim goals and actuals. “Var” means variance. “CTarget” is the target to cut from the chapter.  

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  • Servant is here!

    ByJohn Brown

    ServantSpeadForWebsite

    Folks,

    Servant is now officially released! And for those who have stuck with me I’ve put it on a super sale this Tuesday and Wednesday: 99 cents for the ebook, $12.99 for the trade paper, which is almost right at cost (this is a nice fat book, clocking in at over 500 pages).

    eBook (Amazon)
    Trade paperback (Amazon)

    I love the ebook, but I must say the trade paperback version is gorgeous. The color and illustration at that size by Victor Minguez is just awesome.

    Enjoy!

    And Merry Christmas.

    P.S. Bad Penny is right around the corner.

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  • Bad Penny Update – 2 Chapters to Go

    ByJohn Brown

    I just typed the last words of the climax!  The last 15,000 words have been a blast to write.  Heck, the whole thing has been fun. 

    If you look at the progress meter, you’ll see I’m at 83,384 words.  It’s weird writing something this “short.” I figure I’ll end up around 90,000 words.  I did some analysis of the size of some other thrillers.  You can see it below. It’s not super rigorous, but BAD PENNY falls well within the range.

    AUTHOR AVERAGE WORDS BOOKS
    Dean Koontz 93,500 2
    Harlen Coben 130,500 2
    JA Konrath 77,667 3
    James Lee Burke 153,000 1
    John Grisham 148,000 1
    Ken Follett 140,000 1
    Lee Child 149,000 4
    Michael Connelly 145,000 1
    Ridley Pearson 114,000 1
    Robert Crais 80,667 3

    The average of all those books is 117,000.

    So I have about two more chapters to go.  I’d finish them next week, but we’re taking some vacation for the 4th.  This means I expect to type “The End” in the second week of July. Then I’ll set it aside for a few weeks, revise it, and send it out to first readers, including my agent.  Here are the characters:

    • Frank Shaw – Ex-con trying to go straight
    • Sam Cartwright – Friendly neighborhood Mormon who’s trying to make Frank feel welcome
    • Dan Meese – A man with snakes in his soul, Frank’s former cellmate
    • Tony Shaw – Frank’s nephew and hacker
    • Carmen Escobar – The woman found tied up in the trunk of Dan’s car
    • Pinto Correia – Bearded gun nut and Sam’s go-to guy
    • Jesus Goroza – Zombie for a drug cartel & Dan’s employer

    I really think folks are going to enjoy this one.

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