Author Archives: Bryan Chaffin

Scattershot: The Doctor, Bitcoins, Moving Forward

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Bitcoin

Things have been pretty busy in these parts (while I eagerly await feedback from more beta readers), which makes it a good time to write a Scattershot post. The Doctor First up is Doctor Who, and the 50th Anniversary episode (also the 799th episode) called “The Day of the Doctor.” It aired this past Saturday, and it was very cool. No spoilers outside of trailer-level stuff, but the gist of the episode is that the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) get all up in each other’s business. Crossed time streams ensue, and Jenna Coleman’s delightful smile Continue Reading →

Off to the Beta Readers…

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It’s weird. Really weird, but I don’t have anything that I can—or even should—do to my book, and that’s because I’ve sent it to a few beta readers. While I still have 1,000 more words to cut, I need to let it sit before I go through it for what is probably the 50th time. And with that last pass, I was pretty pleased with it. I feel like it’s close, but as I mentioned last week, no one but my trusted critique partner has seen 70 or so percent of it, so now it’s time to find out what Continue Reading →

Buried in Words

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Counting Words

I got yelled at on Twitter for not having updated my blog since…July. That was in October, and here it is November, so I might be doing this wrong. Never you mind! Onwards and upwards! Storm the castle! Hip! Hip! Hooey! No time like the present, said Bryan. Never. So what have I been doing with my time? Lots. And lots. For one thing, I’ve been tink, tink, tinkering away at my manuscript. Back in July, I mentioned I was done, but had 35,000 words to cut. since then, I’ve added another 3,000 words in the process of rewriting and Continue Reading →

I Finished Writing My Novel (Again)

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Mason Truman. He has a fork.

I finished writing my novel last night. I should say that I finished writing it again, because technically I thought I finished it about a year ago. This time is different, though, because I finished what was originally going to be the second novel, which means the full story is complete for the first time. There are caveats, of course. The last chapter is only in a first-and-a-half draft state, and the last two chapters haven’t faced the withering scrutiny of my critique partner, let alone my bank of awesome beta readers. Also, it’s sitting at 155,000 words. That means Continue Reading →

Inching Inexorably Closer

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It’s been a little more than two years now since I began working on my first novel. I started it two or three weeks after Black Friday. I thought I had finished it a year ago, only to realize that I needed write it differently last fall. It seems that I’m inching inexorably closer to that goal. I’ve rewritten the prologue and a completely new beginning to the novel. I’ve pored over the middle, cutting big chunks out of it out in the process, and am so near the end of the story I can taste it. In fact, I’m Continue Reading →

‘Indigo Meadow’ by The Black Angels, an Insanely Great Album

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Indigo Meadow by The Black Angels

I am obsessed with this album. Utterly obsessed. Indigo Meadow by The Black Angels is one of the five best albums of the last ten years, and I can’t stop listening to it. I’ve had it for two weeks, and I’ve listened straight through it 14 times, and I’ve heard my favorite tune, “You’re Mine,” 23 times. And I can’t stop. :) Indigo Meadow by The Black Angels The Black Angels are an Austin, TX band, and they are part of the modern psychedelic movement that probably owes it existence to The Brian Jonestown Massacre‘s burst of creativity in the mid Continue Reading →

Five TV Shows I Am Really Enjoying

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I’ve caught a few new shows of late that I’m really enjoying. I thought I’d mention them. You know, since The Game of Thrones can bite my ass. Yes, I’m still all cranky about that. There are spoilers ahead, but I designed my writeups not to reveal more than you might learn in the opening minutes of each show. Orphan Black This is a new show from the BBC; it airs on BBC America here in the States. The show stars Tatiana Maslany as Sarah, a young ne’er do well trying to sell a big brick of stolen cocaine so Continue Reading →

Review – ‘Amplification’ by Dragonfly

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Corey Tamas - Dragonfly

Dragonfly is a new band  years in the making, that recently released its first album, Amplification. Industrial-influenced metal with Turkish, Moroccan, and Indian themes, this 14-song album gets in your head and stays. Powerful writing, amazing musicians, heavy riffs, insightful lyrics, and musical themes that take you to several corners of the world combine to make great music. This band is comprised of serious professional studio and live musicians who formed Dragonfly as an “Internet experiment” under Corey Tamas, singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the band. Aaron Ferrera (drums) is a composer in addition to his work as a drummer, while Olga Zoubkova (backing vocals) has Continue Reading →

Something Goes Wrong

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Something Goes Wrong

In writing, sometimes you just have to get back to basics. I’ve been banging my head against the wall for some time. It turns out that the answer to my problem was pretty simple. In fact, I posted it to my Instagram feed: Courtesy of My New Dry Erase Board Something Goes Wrong! Of course! That’s just what I needed. It seems so obvious now, but the truth is it took my friend and fellow writer Dmitri Del Castillo to help ferret it out. He’s great at that sort of thing.

Dave Hamilton & Schrödinger’s Amp

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Macworld/iWorld 2013 took place last week. In case you’re unfamiliar, this is an annual trade show and conference for users of Apple’s Mac and iOS products. It’s a ton of fun, and one of the highlight of the week is the party thrown by The Mac Observer and Back Beat Media called Cirque du Mac. This year marked the 10th Cirque du Mac event, earning it the moniker Cirque du Mac X. See what we did there? Anyway, I really look forward to it. Not only is it the biggest party of the week, it’s not a schmooze event like Continue Reading →