Featured Author Corey Bryers
I'm featuring authors in my blog and the first one to get this chance is Corey Bryers. I asked him a series of questions about his writing and other personal things. Check out what he had to say below.
What made you want to become a writer?Reading The Druid of Shannara, and finding out that I could write long fiction as a result of reading it. But more than that, it was a lot of fun writing my own stories. Since then it's been a process of learning more about the craft, which was mostly learning by doing.
Where are you located?A suburb of Minneapolis in Minnesota. We're currently enjoyed the two weeks of the year with no snow on the ground.
What inspires you?I've found lately that music has been giving me a lot of ideas. A lot of the time it's a theme of a song or even something as abstract as how the song made me feel at that point in time that makes me want to infuse it in my writing. For instance, there's a song by a Finnish band, Nightwish, called "Storytime." I haven't sat down and read along with lyrics, but what I took from the song is a celebration of innocence. Taking that theme and running with it, I hit the 'back' button on my iPod a good few times until I had the idea for a pretty complete story in my head. It's a few books out, but I'm really looking forward to writing it.
What books do you like to read?I do most of my reading on the go, which means I do audiobooks a lot, as well as radio dramas. While I still consider myself a fan of Terry Brooks, my writing has moved away from the medieval Europe-based epic fantasy that he writes. Some other favorite books of mine would be Pet Sematary by Stephen King, Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten, Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks, and A Quantum of Solace (short story) by Ian Fleming.
Favorite authorI find it tough to imagine a day when I won't consider Terry Brooks my favorite author. Even if I do enjoy other writers more than him sometimes, I'll always be indebted to him for starting me on my path.
Favorite musicMy favorite music has been for years Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, with my favorite band being the aforementioned symphonic metal band Nightwish. Heavy, bombastic, dramatic, huge use of orchestration--I love it. Their album Imaginaerum I think might be one of my all-time favorite records. While writing, I listen to a lot of movie and video game soundtracks. Does wonders to pick out a score that complements the mood of the scenes I'm writing.
Favorite TV showThrough the years, I think there have been too many shows I've loved to really narrow it down to just one. Of the sit-com variety, I still loveFrasier, Newsradio and How I Met Your Mother. Chuck was brilliant while it lasted, and oh, Firefly...how I adore you.
Favorite foodI think my favorite food right now is probably a Sesame Chicken plate at this little Chinese restaurant I hit whenever I can. It's a few cities away, but almost always worth the trip. It's easy to do blah Sesame Chicken, but when you find one that does it with a flair that's out of the ordinary, you tend to remember it.
What time of day do you like to write?I tend to write in the evenings after work, and on weekends whenever I get the chance. Sometimes the mood and the right head-space is there, and sometimes you have to fight the lack of those elements to get anything done.
where do you like to write?I have what many guys have. Most call it a Man Cave, I call it my Batcave. It's jam-packed with things I find interesting--statues, movie posters, trinkets I've picked up at thrift stores, etc. My wife doesn't particularly enjoy going down there since it's kind of a sensory overload going down there. Way too much to look at, so I hear.
How many books have you published?Just one so far, although the second part of that series is ready to go. Just needs formatting.
Do you self publish and if not who's your publishing company?I self-publish.
What are the titles of your books?The book that's out now is The 13th Paragon Part I: Scrapper. It's science-fiction/fantasy, a redemption story of a scrapper (pirate, more or less), Salla Saar, who's been tricked into taking part in the kidnapping of a spiritual leader. Once he realizes what he's done and what's at stake, he decides to do what he can to make things right. It's available on Kindle, and the print version is coming very soon. The second book is The 13th Paragon Part II: From Ashes of Empires, which concludes Salla's first story arc. Following that will be a spinoff novella called The Hollow-Hearted.What was the first book you got published?The first one would be The 13th Paragon Part I: Scrapper.
What are you currently working on?
At the moment I'm doing the final read-through and making a couple changes to The Hollow-Hearted. After that, I'm looking forward to getting back to writing again and continuing the series, rather than editing approvals and a slew of prep work to get these three books published.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CA_Bryers
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/
How old were you when you first started writing?I'm guessing I was twelve. I'd never read novels up to that point that weren't part of a school assignment. My brother was reading Terry Brooks' Shannara series, and I'd just finished The Druid of Shannara, which I absolutely loved. The only reason I think I was twelve was because I'm fairly certain I finished writing my first novel when I was thirteen. The result was terrible, but here's hoping I've gotten better since then.
What made you want to become a writer?Reading The Druid of Shannara, and finding out that I could write long fiction as a result of reading it. But more than that, it was a lot of fun writing my own stories. Since then it's been a process of learning more about the craft, which was mostly learning by doing.
Where are you located?A suburb of Minneapolis in Minnesota. We're currently enjoyed the two weeks of the year with no snow on the ground.
What inspires you?I've found lately that music has been giving me a lot of ideas. A lot of the time it's a theme of a song or even something as abstract as how the song made me feel at that point in time that makes me want to infuse it in my writing. For instance, there's a song by a Finnish band, Nightwish, called "Storytime." I haven't sat down and read along with lyrics, but what I took from the song is a celebration of innocence. Taking that theme and running with it, I hit the 'back' button on my iPod a good few times until I had the idea for a pretty complete story in my head. It's a few books out, but I'm really looking forward to writing it.
What books do you like to read?I do most of my reading on the go, which means I do audiobooks a lot, as well as radio dramas. While I still consider myself a fan of Terry Brooks, my writing has moved away from the medieval Europe-based epic fantasy that he writes. Some other favorite books of mine would be Pet Sematary by Stephen King, Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten, Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks, and A Quantum of Solace (short story) by Ian Fleming.
Favorite authorI find it tough to imagine a day when I won't consider Terry Brooks my favorite author. Even if I do enjoy other writers more than him sometimes, I'll always be indebted to him for starting me on my path.
Favorite musicMy favorite music has been for years Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, with my favorite band being the aforementioned symphonic metal band Nightwish. Heavy, bombastic, dramatic, huge use of orchestration--I love it. Their album Imaginaerum I think might be one of my all-time favorite records. While writing, I listen to a lot of movie and video game soundtracks. Does wonders to pick out a score that complements the mood of the scenes I'm writing.
Favorite TV showThrough the years, I think there have been too many shows I've loved to really narrow it down to just one. Of the sit-com variety, I still loveFrasier, Newsradio and How I Met Your Mother. Chuck was brilliant while it lasted, and oh, Firefly...how I adore you.
Favorite foodI think my favorite food right now is probably a Sesame Chicken plate at this little Chinese restaurant I hit whenever I can. It's a few cities away, but almost always worth the trip. It's easy to do blah Sesame Chicken, but when you find one that does it with a flair that's out of the ordinary, you tend to remember it.
What time of day do you like to write?I tend to write in the evenings after work, and on weekends whenever I get the chance. Sometimes the mood and the right head-space is there, and sometimes you have to fight the lack of those elements to get anything done.
where do you like to write?I have what many guys have. Most call it a Man Cave, I call it my Batcave. It's jam-packed with things I find interesting--statues, movie posters, trinkets I've picked up at thrift stores, etc. My wife doesn't particularly enjoy going down there since it's kind of a sensory overload going down there. Way too much to look at, so I hear.
How many books have you published?Just one so far, although the second part of that series is ready to go. Just needs formatting.
Do you self publish and if not who's your publishing company?I self-publish.
What are the titles of your books?The book that's out now is The 13th Paragon Part I: Scrapper. It's science-fiction/fantasy, a redemption story of a scrapper (pirate, more or less), Salla Saar, who's been tricked into taking part in the kidnapping of a spiritual leader. Once he realizes what he's done and what's at stake, he decides to do what he can to make things right. It's available on Kindle, and the print version is coming very soon. The second book is The 13th Paragon Part II: From Ashes of Empires, which concludes Salla's first story arc. Following that will be a spinoff novella called The Hollow-Hearted.What was the first book you got published?The first one would be The 13th Paragon Part I: Scrapper.
What are you currently working on?
At the moment I'm doing the final read-through and making a couple changes to The Hollow-Hearted. After that, I'm looking forward to getting back to writing again and continuing the series, rather than editing approvals and a slew of prep work to get these three books published.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CA_Bryers
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/
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