Like coffee, sometimes mint tea goes a long way. Meet indie author, and fact master, Bryan Quinn. A neighbor to my North, Bryan lays out how he came up with his most recent story and how you can discover what is in The Package.
This fellow indie author and historian, Bryan Quinn hails from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is approximately 30 years old according to our interview, and holds a degree from McGill University in American History and Politics.
Photo of Author Bryan Quinn
His is a thriller type of genre mixed with mystery, suspense, urban, historical and contemporary leanings or both. Bryan's favorite genres to read are historical and legal thrillers. Among his favorite authors of the genres are Ken Follet and also one of mine, Steve Berry.
Bryan told the blog at the moment he was reading Fields of Grace by Wendy Waters. When asked what his favorite author quote was Bryan said it was this quote by Kurt Vonnegut. "It was emblematic of one of the themes in The Package," Bryan stated in our interview.
"So, in the interests of survival, they trained themselves to be agreeing machines instead of thinking machines. All their minds had to do was to discover what other people were thinking, and then they thought that, too." ~Kurt Vonnegut from Breakfast of Champions.
Bryan admitted that Montreal, Quebec, is famous for two things, "Jewish bagels and Quebecois poutine" Which he explained, "is made with French fries, cheese curds, and gravy." Sounds appetizing honestly.
Even more appetizing, or rather inspiring, has to be mint tea. "I started writing mid-July, 2014, on a lark. One evening, my wife, her nephew and I were drinking mint tea in our living room, discussing the topic of writing. I told them I knew how to write. So off I went to my laptop and pumped out two paragraphs. An hour later, my mint tea now cold, I showed my fictional composition to them and they told me I possessed talent. Those two paragraphs became the genesis of The Package. Mind you, only a word or two of those paragraphs remain in my novel."
Writers always convey something of themselves into their books. However, Bryan confessed that although he did not base his leading character on anyone his MC does share the author's sense of humor. Bryan enjoys writing in his favorite spot: his home office or in his grandfather's La-Z-Boy chair.
Good news! If you read The Package and enjoyed it, Bryan is working on another book but it is not a sequel. This one will be a noir urban thriller set in New York City. In his spare time though this indie author is reading, tweeting, exercising, and going for walks with his wife.
"You don't need a literary agency to succeed in this business," Bryan said as he offered some advice to writers thinking about self-publishing. "All you need is great writing and marketing skills and the perseverance to succeed. Effort equals success."
In case you wanted a sneak peek at the book before you purchase it, here is an exclusive excerpt given by the author from The Package;
With flashlight in hand, Father Marco returned to the archive room, chock full of excitement and with a spark of adventure in his eyes. He knelt before the void and shined the powerful beam of light into the darkness. Dust floated on the conical beam of light which illuminated large chunks of rock on the floor of the cave directly below him. Deciding they were unworthy of further scrutiny, he swung the light beam to his left but failed to discover anything of special interest over there. His initial excitement began to wane. He played the flashlight in the opposite direction, ever hopeful that something of value would be captured in its beam…Nothing…Wait a sec. He ducked deeper into the cave.
“What the hell!”
Without warning, he reeled backwards, almost dropping the flashlight into the hole. Bug-eyed with fright, Father Marco frantically crossed himself, more out of reflex than conviction.
“The legend is true,” he murmured aloud. “By God.”
To learn more about Bryan Quinn and his upcoming book be sure to follow him on Twitter using the handle @AuthorBryan. Visit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NV4ZVBQ to learn more about how to get your copy of The Package.
A new Writer of the Week will be featured every Monday. Be sure to also follow The Writing Wall on Twitter @TheWritingWall, or on Instagram @writingsonthewall85 for the latest. You can also listen to the podcast every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month. Just search for The Writing Wall on Spotify, Google Cast, Breaker, and more.