Periodically, you come across a personality that just pulls you in; draws you out and generally, just intrigues you. During the past couple years, I have run across one such person. His name is Brandon Hale. I 'met' Brandon, sort of, a couple years ago. We are both authors and would come across each others posts in a chat room for authors on Amazon. Unfortunately, those forums can turn ugly and we both withdrew. But I have kept in contact with him through a different group.
Brandon is the author of several books, including his flagship work, Day Soldiers.
If you are a sci-fi geek, and love the vampire and werewolf stories, I urge you to check out the Day Soldiers series or some of his other works, including The Man from Newella He is a superb story-teller with a writing style that is easy to read. Now, Day Soldiers isn't your fluffy, sexy vampire read. It delves into the world of humans versus werewolves and the struggle to survive. Forget the glossy, sexy starlets on camera. This ain't that kind of read.
So, why am I bringing this up now? Well, Brandon is a young man, much younger than yours truly, and a year ago decided to make writing his career. And he's damn good at it. Unfortunately he has run into a setback and has recently been diagnosed with cancer. I feel for him as my family has recently dealt with this issue. It is a struggle both for the patient and for the family. We as family, struggle to maintain a brave front before our loved one. And as with Brandon, he is the source of our own strength for our fight in the supporting battle ahead.
He has several rules in life, even in the face of this struggle that lays before him. The first is pure Brandon: "Everything is funny". In a nutshell, that is his life's motto. Now, I'm not much of a music kinda guy, but I think this verse from Bohemian Rhapsody sums it up fairly well:
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see. I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy, because I'm easy come, easy go, little high little low, any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter, to me.
In the past, I have not done much for featuring other authors I carouse, uhm, I mean socialize with, because we are all about making each other better at what we do. I think I will begin to regularly feature authors from my writing family. They cover all styles and genres, so nearly everyone will find something, or someone they enjoy. Who knows, you might even find your next 'favorite author'.
But for now, as a measure of support for my fellow author and friend, I urge you to pick up a copy of his work. What will he get? Support from a world that many feel is often self-centered and distant. What will you get? A damn fine good book to read.
Oh, and one day if you ever see a picture of me with someone else's face plastered across it, well, I've been photo-bombed by the best 'face-shifter' there is. That, is Brandon Hale.
NIce Blog Robert...I like your site very much. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that, Cleve. That means a lot to me.
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