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A New Beginning

For those of you who have been following me over the years (since 2005!) this space has been devoted to providing you a free short story every month.  It's kept me sharp with my writing skills and you guys have been instrumental in helping me become the writer I am today.

A couple of weeks ago, I released my first book and my first collection of short stories into print.

The book, Lost at the Con, tells the tale of Michael Cobb, a scotch-soaked political journalist who has given up on life and his dreams.  He's assigned against his will to cover a sci-fi/fantasy convention in Atlanta, Georgia and his life will never be the same afterwards.  Huffington Post called it "Required Summer Reading" and of the book they said, "Young's style is terse and crisp. He writes in a way that compels you to keep flipping pages as you delve deeper and deeper into what is either the strangest of cultures you will ever enjoy or something warm and familiar to all geeks who go to these types of cons... If I had to compare it to anything else, I'd call it Hell's Angels meets Breakfast of Champions meets Amazing Spiderman."

The collection of short stories, Man Against the Future, collects 17 tales of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.  16 of which have appeared on this site and one that is brand new for the collection.

You can order signed copies from me by going to their respective websites. (Lost at the Con and Man Against the Future) You can also get them for the Kindle or the Nook.

For those of you local to Salt Lake City, the books are being carried by the following stores:
The King's English
Dr. Volts Comic Connection
Ken Sanders Rare Books
Black Cat Comics
Hastur Hobbies

(The King's English and Dr. Volt's are both hosting me for reading and signing events this month.  Check back for more information about those.)

The mission of this website is going to be changing as my career as a writer has entered a different phase.  I will no longer be offering new free fiction every month.  I will, however, be posting new stories up as singles for Kindle and Nook (and other eReaders) as well as converting my backlog of stories into those singles as often as I can.  You can expect between 1 and 4 singles from me per month.

Starting with July 1, 2011, the first story being offered as a .99 cent single is The Colossus.  It is a steampunk adventure story and was my contribution to Michael Stackpole's Chain Story project.  You can download it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Goodreads.

Aside from that, I'm also working on more novels.  As much as I love short stories, my first novel has taught me that people want novels more.  I've completed a second novel and am almost done with my third.  At least one of them should be out before the end of the year.  Depending on how fast I work, maybe both of them.

Through this site, I'll also be giving advice to writers, or at least guiding them to the places where I glean advice.  I'll also be answering any questions you might have.  You can email me at editor (at) bigshinyrobot.com.  (Yes, I'll still be fulfilling all of my duties as editor in chief of Big Shiny Robot!).

It is my firm belief that in today's digital world of publishing, there is no reason I can't be making a living writing.  And one of the most important things to make that happen is A) having an audience (all of you), B) having a wealth of material people want to read, and C) the motivation to make it all happen.  And I think I have all three in spades.

So, thank you for your continued support over the years, and I hope that this moment can be the beginning of a new relationship in the post-paper world of fiction.

Comments

Bryan,

Best of luck in your endeavor to make a living writing. I agree that this age of digital publishing is quite an opportunity for authors!

--- Chuck

PS. I enjoyed The Colossus when it came out in The Chain Story.

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