Tag Archives: novel

Let’s Get Serious

Photo by Ananian

Photo by Ananian

*September fades into October and with it any last traces of the frivolity and mindlessness of summer. We make our last fart noises of the season and then lock away childish things inside the vacation home that is our immaturity. When the temperature drops and the leaves change and Jean-Luc Godard has a new film coming out, the time has come to get serious.

Time to reengage the intellect and flex the brain, challenge ourselves away from the intravenous drip of unreality, from the quick easy morphine shots of J.D. Robb and “Sing Your Face Off.” We are no longer glazed doughnuts passively gazing through the cellophane window of our doughnut box. We are thick, layered pastries out of our cages; we are thinkers and we are brooders; we start using semicolons in our sentences, and that can only mean we are getting very, very serious.

Seriously.

No, really. For example: I’m getting serious and putting on my business hat with one novel and my deep sea diving gear in the creation of another. And of course continuing to work on my treatise concerning the vagaries of quantum foam theory.

How about you? What are you getting serious about this very serious Fall season?

 

*Hooray, we’re back online! BryanHilson.com settled its case with Internet and has been reinstated on the World Wide Web. And all of us here are getting along famously with our new intern, Irwin Chattendale. When he’s not bored with the Kim Kardashian: Hollywood app or writing “Outlander” fan fiction, Irwin makes a mean cinnamon raisin bagel breakfast sandwich. Great to have you aboard, Irwin!

Responding To My Readers

An exciting new opportunity with my novel has me spending my summer revising like crazy, leaving me little time to attend to the blog or respond to the messages that have been coming in via my Contacts page. But I’ve finally forced myself to take a break from the manuscript and kill two birds with one post–a blog post that is, with apologies to those sensitive about our fine feathered friends being harmed in even a figurative sense.

First up, a message from Dettor4410@yahoo.com:

“Heya i’m initially right here. I stumbled upon this particular panel and i also find It genuinely helpful & that taught me to be out and about a whole lot. I hope to offer one thing again as well as help other people like you assisted myself.”

Dear Dettor,

I know what you mean. I’m initially right here, but very often find myself going over there or even over there, and all of a sudden I’ve totally lost my point of origin. But it seems you appreciate the value of being out and about on a regular basis regardless of whether you’re here or there or even if you’re stumbling over a particular panel at the time. By the way, you don’t specify if the panel came out of a ceiling or wall, but either way, good luck out there.

Happy to be of assistance to yourself,

Bryan

And here’s a thoughtful message from peqljgpgu@gmail.com, aka “Mandy”:

“We have decided to open our POWERFUL and PRIVATE web traffic system to the public for a limited time! You can sign up for our UP SCALE network with a free trial as we get started with the public’s orders. Imagine how your bank account will look when your website gets the traffic it deserves. Visit us today…”

Dear “Mandy,”

As someone with a public blog, boy do I understand about the public’s orders. In fact, don’t get me started on the public’s orders, CEASE AND DESIST and the like.  I’ve never thought about responding back with my own words in all caps. THANK YOU FOR THE IDEA. Oh, and my bank account thanks you too as we both prefer a free trial rather than having to pay someone to represent me in court.

Thanks for reading,

Bryan

P.S. And absolutely don’t get me started on traffic. I once spent 3 days on the 405 trying to get home from work.

Finally, this came in recently from Ukosata1619@yahoo.com, who when not reading my blog apparently runs an adult dating site.

“Hello there, i read your site every so often and that i individual an identical one and i also was just asking yourself if you achieve lots of unsolicited mail comments? If so how will you reduce it, any wordpress tool or perhaps whatever you can easily recommend? I purchase so much of late it’s driving me nuts consequently just about any assistance is very much treasured.”

Dear Ukosata,

You’ve raised an interesting existential question. How can one be both an individual and identical to his fellow man? Unfortunately there aren’t any tools to reduce the difficulty of the journey one must embark on to find this treasured answer. And yes, consequently, “nuts” might end up being the perfect description for your state of mind. However, if you do decide to go for it, a little bit of advice: this sojourn isn’t like an adult dating service; I would generally accept any and all unsolicited advances along the way.

Bon Voyage,

Bryan

Well, what a relief to cross off another item on the t0-do list! Now it’s back to the novel for me. Have a great rest of the summer everybody.

Interview With My Doppelganger

Photo by Psychopoesie

Photo by Psychopoesie

So I’m writing this YA novel that’s heavy on the supernatural, and I’ve had doppelgangers on the brain lately because my main character’s double plays a significant role in the story. Well, I must have been putting more than just mental power behind it because a few days ago I was in the grocery store checkout line and suddenly there “I” was at the same time jamming a hand up the Redbox dispenser trying to steal DVDs.

The resemblance between us is pretty uncanny, although the DG doesn’t chew his fingernails and my eyes don’t go dark and dead like a shark’s when I feel threatened.

Anyway, there was the store manager calling the cops and I felt this intense, familial obligation to save “myself” from the police. And so while we hid inside a burned-out car in the alley I had a chance to ask my doppelganger a few questions. Here’s the transcript from our interview:

Me:  What movie were you trying to steal?

My Doppelganger: laets ot gniyrt ouy erew eivom tahw?

Me: Wait, that’s my question repeated to me backwards. Is that how doppelgangers really talk?

My Doppelganger: No, I’m just messing with you. Next question.

Me: Do you know how or why doppelgangers exist in the first place?

My Doppelganger: Hmmm…well, I don’t know how to put this delicately, but basically you get a man and a woman and you connect them via their sexual organs and then–

Me: Never mind, I got it.

My Doppelganger: You sure? Want me to draw you a picture? I’m getting pretty good.

Me: So you’re like my evil twin, is that it?

My Doppelganger: Evil? You tell me, bro. I pretty much do all the things that you secretly want to do.

Me: I don’t secretly want to molest Redbox machines.

My Doppelganger: Fine, but what about the Fifty Shades of Grey fan fiction? The PB and whipped-cream sandwiches for breakfast?

Me: Oh, that’s a great idea! Christian and Anastasia would love PB and whipped-cream sand–I mean, that doesn’t…none of that…are you sure you’re my doppelganger?

My Doppelganger: Come on, dude.

Me: Yeah…

My Doppelganger: And you know exactly what movie I was going for in there.

Me: Crazy Enough.

My Doppelganger: Starring Chris Kattan–

Me: –and Chris Kattan.

Me and My Doppelganger: “It’s Twin-sanity!”

My Doppelganger: Hey man that could be us. We could be Twin-sanity every day.

Me: Um…yeah. Every day.

My Doppelganger: Yeah man, bring me home, introduce me to your wife, let me sleep on your couch. We’ll make matchstick sculptures of your favorite escalators and sell them at county fairs. Don’t keep it a secret anymore!

Me: Uh-huh, excuse me a second. Officer! Officer! The man you’re looking for is right here! Here he is!

It’s The First Post Of 2013!

Happy New Year everyone!

So here it is, my very first post of 2013. Look at it, glistening in all of its newborn juices.

Okay, okay, let me clean it up a bit…there we go. Hello first post of 2013, what have you got for us?

Thanks Bryan, what we’ve got today is–wait, can you catch that dribble off my chin? Thanks. What we’ve got today is a little preview of what your blog’s going to bring us this year. According to my sources, Build A Story With Bryan will return with some new twists, and there will be posts about finding a book agent and film projects coming to fruition and a second take on your second novel. And word on the street is there will be more guest bloggers, including a new video from another neglected sibling of a powerful celebrity.

In addition, and no offense intended by the way, but there’s a strong possibility that the blog will have to write itself at least once or twice this year. But that’s actually a good thing, isn’t it, Bryan?

Indeed, first post of 2013, that is a good thing. Means that–

–hold on, Bryan, a bird wearing a green eyeshade just landed on my shoulder. Apparently, the odds are good that a new look for the home page is coming this year. Is that accurate?

Yep, I think you may want to bet on it, first post of 2013. And you may also want to lay your chips down on the possibility there will be a post about the correct type of lacquer finish to apply to a wooden lazing bureau.

Dynamite! Okay, well that’s it for me, time for a nap. Anything you want to add, Bryan?

Just that I’m looking forward to sharing the year with everyone out there. And I’d love to hear what you have planned for yourself in 2013. Maybe a few more hours a week spent inside your own lazing bureaus?