An update and a Vlog...

In my latest livestream, I tackle how I name characters, how I keep my daily life separate from my writing, what resources I've found to hone my craft, and how I deal with influences from a variety of sources.

As I gear up for Salt Lake Comic Con (I'll be posting my schedule this week) I find that I'm having far less time than I'd like for blogging. I'll be back in a regular pattern as soon as the convention is over. It's a big one. I'm doing 18 panels, including interviews with Famke Janssen and Jeremy Bulloch.

I hope to see you there. In the meantime, feel free to leave questions for future videos or blog topics.

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I finished today my next Patreon story, the first draft anyway. If you're so inclined, you can kick in a buck to the Patreon and get the stories as their released. The one this month is a story about Twelve and Zeke, the two main characters from my novel The Serpent's Head.

I also published a new piece at StarWars.Com. It's all about Darth Maul and his post-Phantom Menace appearances.

I've also been toiling away on that sci-fi story I've been working on and prepping hard for SLCC.

It's been a crazy week, but I'm excited for what's coming. I've been working on some nibbles from agents as well, so we'll see how that goes.

There's also a new episode of Fauxthentic History out I'd love for you to check out and spread the word about. It's about the lost culture of Alderaan. Be sure to listen and rate it, like you would any podcast.

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As a reminder: You can join my short story Patreon here.

The Aeronaut and Escape Vector are still out and still need your purchases and reviews. If nothing else, they can use you telling people about them. If you want signed copies, visit the shop here on this page.

Also! here's the full list of "rules and guidelines" I've been collecting over my years of studying writing advice and process.

As far as my work outside of all this: There's a lot of great stuff on Big Shiny Robot! and Full of Sith for you.

And please, please, please don't forget to check out any of my books, drop reviews of them on Amazon or Goodreads, and follow me on twitter and Facebook!

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The Missed Opportunities of Days Gone By

“Hello?” I said into the phone, accepting the call from a number I didn’t recognize. “Hey,” the feminine voice on the other replied, as though I should know the sound of her voice. At a loss, I said, “Can I help you?” “It’s Brooke.” Her name stopped me. It couldn’t possibly be her. We hadn’t spoken in years, a decade perhaps. “Brooke?” “Yeah, Brooke Baker. This is Mark, right?” Jesus Christ. It was her. “Yeah, it is Mark. Brooke. Wow. How are you? It’s been a long time since… well… since anything.” “I know.” “So, how are you doing?” “Okay, I suppose…” Her voice belied her words, though. Something was up. “I… It’s just been so long and I guess I wanted to hear your voice.” “I don’t think I had a number for you. Ever. I offered a couple of times, but…” “I was a brat back then.” And that’s how a random phone call turned into a two-and-a-half hour catch-up session. We spoke of everything under the sun: people we still knew, how different we were, h

Anatomy of a Scene: The Third Man

It's time again to break down a classic scene. One that's well-written and, in my view, a fine example of excellent craft. I've done some of these articles from books (like The End of the Affair and Starship Troopers ) and other movies (like Citizen Kane , City Lights , Raiders of the Lost Ark , and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ), but now it's time to take a look at a scene from The Third Man . It blends the best of Orson Welles (as he's in the film and drives this scene) and Graham Greene, who wrote this particular screenplay. Before we get to the scene, we need some context. The Third Man is a tale of the black market in Vienna, just after World War II. It's about a cheap, dime-store Western novelist named Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotton) and his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles.) Lime offered Martins a job in Vienna, so Martins leaves America and arrives, only to find that Harry Lime is dead. Penniless, without a friend or reason to be

Anatomy of a Scene: All the President's Men

All the President's Men is one of those perfect movies. Based on a stunning true story with a brilliant screenplay from William Goldman (we've already gone through one of his scenes here with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ), it's a movie that brings all of the elements of character, plot, and drama together in a way that makes me really love and admire it. The scene I want to go through is one that comes during a particularly trying time in the film. For those unaware, this film tells the tale of Woodward and Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who cracked the Watergate story. And now, looking back on it, it all feels like one big victory, but it was marked by a number of defeats. This is them reporting to their skeptical editor, Ben Bradlee (played brilliantly by Jason Robards) about where their investigation is at. Immediately preceding Woodward and Bernstein walking in, a salesman is trying to sell Bradlee on features his papers doe

The stories of Bryan Young

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