PnPAuthors Book Club Introduces Author STEPHEN L. BRAYTON~

http://pnpauthorspattimariandpeter.ning.com/?xgi=3nNjFsJT6O49jV

 

PnPAuthors book Club is pleased to introduce our very special Author Stephen L. Brayton who not only holds a Fifth Degree Black Belt in taekwondo, but is humorous and fun to have him as a member of PnPAuthors.

Stephen joined PnPAuthors in 2014 and we are very proud to have this talented Author who offers his professional talents to other authors on PnPAuthors. We were so impressed with Stephen that we requested an interview so we could learn more about him, and here is the interview. Please enjoy.

 

Stephen, would you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

 

Wait a minute...is this one of those dating site profiles where I have to say things like I enjoy camping, movies, starry night, and puppies? You know I gave up on those sites years ago because...

 

No? Okay, then. I'm a Fifth Degree Black Belt in taekwondo. I operate a club out of Oskaloosa even though I live in Carlisle, Iowa. That means I don't get to do my instructor bit, but a couple times per month, however, I have a gentleman who runs things for me during my absence. Part of the problem is my new night auditor position and taking online graphic design courses take up a lot of my time. I'm having to make time to write and read, and sleep, and eat, and all those other troublesome things. I also like puppies and movies.

 

What was the most difficult part of writing your book?

 

Finding good material with which to blackmail publishers into accepting my manuscript...

 

Actually, it was the marketing. I didn't learn until after the first two books were published. If you want to have a chance at success, start NOW with promotion, even if the book is not yet published. Even if you're still working on revisions or just the second draft. You want to start gathering a following, a fan base. You don't have to give specific dates for when your book is going to hit the shelves, but keep the people in anticipation.

 

What blogs do you belong to and are they blogs that support your book? What is the URL address of your book?

 

I have my own blogs: stephenbrayton.wordpress.com and my book review site: braytonsbookbuzz.wordpress.com. I'm also part of several ‘ning sites’ and other forum sites for authors.

 

You can find purchase sites for my books at my website, stephenbrayton.com.

 

 

When did you join PNPAuthor?

 

Within the last few months. I'm always looking for spots to promote my work and others'. To get a chance to communicate with other authors, look at their books or discuss works in progress or writing aspects.

 

When did you write your first book? What lead you to do so?

 

Well, I wrote my first story when I was a young'un. What lead to it was that I got into trouble with my parents and was banished to my room. So I wrote a story about disciplining. Unfortunately, I think my mother still has that story somewhere and brings it out to show prospective girlfriends. No wonder I can't get any dates...

 

Okay, the first part of the above paragraph is true. I've written many short stories throughout the years. When I moved to Oskaloosa in 1990, and started martial arts the writing bug hit me again and developed a character who was a private investigator and martial artist. So, I started writing Alpha around 1995.

 

Tell a little about your book?

 

This sea captain has this obsession with finding and killing this enormous white whale...

 

Wait a minute, that's been done before, right?

 

Alpha is about Mallory Petersen, Fourth Degree Black Belt and private investigator in Des Moines, Iowa. Most of her cases and clients are a bit on the goofy side, but every now and then she runs into something serious. In this book, her boyfriend is murdered outside her office and despite being told by Homicide to back off, she gets involved with the case.

 

Tell us a little about yourself and what brought you to write your first book.

 

Well, they say write about what you know. After several years' training in martial arts, I figured I knew enough to put that training into a story. I thought about using a character I had created from years earlier called Sam P. Peterson. He lived in the Quad Cities (where I lived until '75). However, after seeing all of the wonderful and beautiful women in taekwondo, I changed the character to a woman, named her Mallory and changed the O to an E in Petersen. I had never written from a woman's perspective before and I had to learn how to adjust her attitude, quirks, and her personality away from a male's. However, a lot of me is in Mallory. Similar likes and dislikes and romantic notions.

 

How long did it take you to write the book?

 

As I mentioned, I started Alpha in 1995. Around 2000, I joined a critique group and realized I had written 40,000 words of pure crap. So, I learned some writing skills by having my short stories critiqued. Meanwhile, the idea for Mallory's second mystery hit me and I started on it. It was entitled Beta and concerned Mallory's search for a missing eight year old girl. A few years later I started writing Night Shadows, about killer shadow creatures in Des Moines.

 

Years passed and I was revising Beta and Night Shadows. Finally, at a conference I spoke with an editor from Echelon and she asked me to submit not only my short stories but both novels. The two novels and four short stories were accepted. Although the shorts never made publication, Beta and Night Shadows were published in 2011. Once they were accepted, I dusted off the Alpha manuscript, threw away the garbage, added a sub-plot and more characters, and it was published in 2012.

 

Currently, I'm working on a sequel to Night Shadows, the next in the Mallory Petersen series, and another private investigator story with a new character totally unlike Mallory.