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 - City Lights

We're going to break down another scene this week, and it's one of my favorites in cinema history. It comes from the ending of City Lights by Charlie Chaplin, which I think is the greatest romantic comedy ever made. It's a touching film from 1931 and I would make it mandatory viewing for anyone who wants to learn to tell a story. The scene we're going to be breaking down comes from the very end of the film, so if you haven't seen it, I don't want to spoil it for you. Go watch the film. You can rent it for $3.99 in HD on Amazon or for free on Hulu with a free trial or plus subscription. You should just buy the Blu-ray, though. You're going to want to revisit it. For those of you familiar with the movie, or for those of you who are going to ignore my pleas to watch it and go ahead with this post anyway, I'm going to set this clip up a bit before you watch it. City Lights tells the story of Chaplin's Tramp and how he falls in lov

The stories of Bryan Young

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