The stories of Bryan Young

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that the trailer for the new Star Wars film came out. I wanted to talk about the trailer in the context of storytelling. The trailer says so much without saying anything at all really, it implies things and lets you infer so much information that you wonder if you're even coming to the right conclusions. This is one of the things the Star Wars films does the best in the first place, but perhaps none was better than Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope .  You're thrown into a world and given bits of context that you don't understand completely, but understand enough to keep up with the story. For Example: "The Emperor has dissolved the Senate permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away." Think about seeing that movie for the first time and the images that statement conjures. It says a lot, sure, but it implies even more. All of the Star Wars movies have this quality. Think ab...

As much as you might think otherwise, you're not actually in competition with other writers. I know sometimes that might seem counter-intuitive, but there's nothing that says you're in a rivalry with other writers vying for shelf-space. Or for a publishing deal. Or for column-inches in a print publication. You shouldn't do anything but try to lift up other writers as best you can. It does no harm to be kind and help as much as you can. It doesn't matter if they're getting the gigs you want. Be happy for them. They'll remember it. You won't be that petty person who made snide remarks or got jealous that they got a job you wanted. You'll be that supportive one who offered nothing but gracious applause and the warmth of making them feel like it deserved it. No one wants to deal with the other sort of writer. Trust that if you're nice and easy to work with that you'll get what's coming to you. Don't be a jerk. Your path migh...

As many of you are aware, my collection of short stories, Escape Vector , and my new novel, The Aeronaut , are both coming next month. Escape Vector is a dozen stories of science fiction, all of them space opera, and it's a collection I couldn't be more proud of. The Aeronaut is a literary steampunk tale that I've poured my heart and soul into and tells the tale of Robert Preston. Preston is an American expatriate who joined the French Aeronautic Corps during World War I. Through his adventures on the battlefield and in the hospital, he meets a woman who cures his death wish, but French Intelligence has other plans for him. I'm incredibly excited for both of these and hope you are, too. I will be having signing events and readings local to me in Salt Lake City and there will be some more in other places through next year, but many have asked for a way to get signed physical copies directly through me. This is how to do that. All you need to do is use the Pay...