Brian Christopher Shea's Blog

The launch of book two in the Nick Lawrence series took place on July 4th, 2018. As an author new to the writing game completing and releasing The Lion's Mouth brought with it an interesting blend of emotion. With the first book I was excited to make my mark on the writing world. I kept my fingers crossed that it would be well-received...and it had.

With book two I became nervous prior to its release that fans of The Camel's Back would have a preset vision for the direction of the story. I wanted to take the series into deeper into Nick's life, but I knew that there was a fairly big fan interest in the Declan Enright character. I tried to justice to both while maintaining the integrity of the story.

I also wrote The Lion's Mouth with the design that it could be read out of order and readers could go back to number one.

I am truly grateful for each and every reader that I have and I enjoy hearing from them.

With the launch complete I will do a better job of updating my blog. Thanks again. Happy reading!

So, I find that one of the challenges in writing thriller fiction is taking the realistic aspect of the "job" and tweaking it for entertainment value. As a detective and former Navy officer, I find that the biggest challenge is my direct knowledge of the way things really work. In writing a fictional story I am forced to take liberties.

The day in and day out grind of an investigation would for the most part be considered boring by any entertainment standards. My goal is to intertwine characters that might not normally interact in the real world. I take my experiences and build the scenes up so that the pacing is more dynamic.

I have made every effort in my stories to create a fast-pace to the event sequencing so that my readers stay in the moment. In the end, my books are designed to entertain with the hope that I've managed to maintain an underlying reality to the characters.

So, now that my book has been out in the world for almost two months and it has stretched its legs. Readers are reaching out and many ask where my characters came from.

My answer...every personal encounter that I've had in my 44 years of life has in some way, shape or form contributed to the characters in my story. Some people watch birds. I'm a people watcher. I've always been fascinated by the human dynamic. Hopefully, I've done well by capturing those observations and transferring them into enjoyable characters.

No one person or one experience is built into my stories. It's a delicate blending of many people and many experiences that are behind each character's make up. The goal is to have multi-dimensional creations that ebb and flow, grow and adapt, to the situations that I put them in.

Back to writing...deadlines are fast approaching! The Lion's Mouth is "roaring" to life

Every writer hits a wall or block to a scene or character's story. The doomed "writers block" which so many authors have talked about. I'm a problem solver. My day job requires that I find solutions to cases that may seem otherwise unsolvable. To that end I have found that whenever I encounter a temporary derailment in my train of thought I separate and re-attack the problem.

Walking seems to be the most therapeutic remedy for removing any blockage from my plot line. Today, I woke up with a dilemma facing one of my characters. A critical scene that will change the flow of the rest of the book's narrative. I found my self stuck. Conflicted by the potential new direction and I stopped writing.

I walked my littlest two girls to school. Only about a ten minute walk. On the way back, with signs of Spring bursting around me the solution came to me. My mind caught fire and I quickened my step so that I could return to my story.

The Lion's Mouth is well on its way to completion and I look forward to sharing this with my readers this July...

So, I had a unique offer yesterday. I was contacted by a small publishing house that had read my book and was very interested in taking on the series under their press. I was excited by the prospect and was immediately conflicted by it as well.

When I set out down this writing path I had originally planned on taking the book the traditional route. After the frustrations of "the agent search game" and research into the indie publishing movement I took a chance.

I've been blessed with some great support and the local media outlets showed interest. The story of my book's launch ran in four papers and garnered me an exclusive evening news interview spot. I've done my best to learn the art of advertising and marketing. My social media game was weak at best, but I've made strides in that arena. Although, my teenager has bluntly pointed out that my Instagram is pathetic. Baby steps.

If you're still reading this, then thank you. I wanted to let you know what I absolutely love about self publishing. It's the creative expression that I have. I love that I get to have total autonomy in the cover design, titling and character development.

As soon as the traditional publishing house contacted me they told me that for the discussion of publication to take place I would have to agree to a title change and new cover design. I felt a pang of sadness as I have been working with an amazing designer out the UK and she really has captured my vision. I'm not stubborn, but the titling of the books in this series are based around idioms. The meaning of which is directly tied to each of the plot lines. The good thing is they loved the story, characters and pacing of the book.

It turned out that it was all for not because I advised the publishing house that my book was already contracted with Blackstone Audio for the audiobook. Apparently this publishing house has a standing contract with them and the conflict ended the offer. I was told that the fact that Blackstone selected my title for audio conversion is a bonus in an of itself.

So the long and short of this blog. I'm going to ride this self publishing train a little longer. Good thing is that nothing will interfere with my second book's release this July.

I used to love to sit and read on a lazy, rainy morning. Now, I find that the same mental juices that helped me dive into the lives of those characters are the same ones that help me create mine.

I awoke this morning and could feel the cool breeze carried in by the overnight's rain. It woke me gently. Date night with the wife last night meant that there were no little ones running around this morning.

In the quiet the pace of thought regarding a twist in my book's plot line became clear. Got me thinking...I wonder what life would be like if writing was my sole profession and not just my passion.

Back to The Lion's Mouth I go...

It's been a huge learning curve, like drinking from the fire hose. I enjoyed the writing process. Loved it! Editing and re-writes phases I tackled with mixed emotion. But publicity and advertising has proven to be its own beast.

My goal is to reach as many readers as I can prior to the release of book two, The Lion's Mouth.

To my readers! I will do my best to keep you posted. Never really blogged before. So, this too will be a work in progress.

Stay tuned...