Interview with science fiction novelist Brian Young

Today's guest is sci-fi novelist Brian Young. He's touring his novel Blood Veins with Goddess Fish Promotions AND has a great giveaway during his tour. Details are below about the giveaway.

Bio:
Brian was born in Salem, Oregon and currently resides in Eugene, Oregon with his wife and daughter. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a BA in English. He squeezes in time for writing in the early hours of the morning and during lunch breaks at work.

Welcome to Reviews and Interviews, Brian, please tell us about your current release.
Blood Veins is a science fiction novel about a young prince thrust into kingship after his father and older brother are killed. Prince Alexander is tasked with freeing his occupied homeland from the mysterious invading forces of the Dolus, a task which he has difficult focusing on because of his obsession with finding out how his father and brother died. Mysterious assassins, underworld savages and renegade Dolus survivors stand between him and the answers he seeks. What he finds along his journey will shatter his perceptions and lead to unknown perils he isn’t ready to face.

What inspired you to write this book?
I have always enjoyed reading and given a lot of thought to writing. One thing I struggled with was concentration and I would find myself daydreaming and making up stories in my head. One day I just decided to write an idea down. It was a rescue scene that I had kept thinking about over and over again. It is actually the first chapter of Blood Veins and once I wrote it down, my writing took off.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I am working on a sequel for Blood Veins. I didn’t plan to make it a series, but the story just kept growing and I found that I had too much to tell for it to fit in just one novel.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I considered myself a writer when everything started to really get moving for my publication of Blood Veins. I had never given it much thought but once I started to promote it and people started to share their excitement for the release I realized other people were going to be reading my work. Before this it was just for me but now that others are going to enjoy it is very exciting.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I do not write full time. I am a banker for Sterling Savings Bank. Finding time to write is a real struggle. I use to write in the mornings before I would go to work but I have a two-year-old daughter and I find that I would rather spend most of my free time with her. By the time she is asleep she usually has exhausted me to the point that I can’t do anything requiring higher thought process. I can’t imagine ever having as much energy as a two-year-old! Now the only time I really have to write is on my lunch breaks at work. It is the only uninterrupted hour of time I have during the day.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I’m not sure how interesting it is, but it is probably quite funny to see me writing at work. We have a break room that is probably the size of a small walk-in closet and a tiny little chair. I’m a fairly large person so I sit hunched over in this small room on this small chair typing on my tiny iPad. One of my hands is as big as the screen so you can imagine how difficult it was to get used to typing on it. Another thing is I don’t really plan out my work. I have heard all sorts of different ways that people plan out their novels from outlines to scenes on flash cards, but that doesn’t really work for me. It makes me feel restricted. When I’m writing I have a general idea of where I want to go, but so many new ideas come up as I’m writing that I often end up doing something completely different from what I originally planned. A good example is the group of assassins in Blood Veins. I was more than halfway finished with the novel before they occurred to me and it was a lot of fun going back through the novel to find different ways to add them in.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I spent too much time playing when I was a kid and even as a teenager. One of my problems in school was I never thought about what I wanted to do when I was “grown up.” I loved playing football in high school and would have like to do that at least in college. Right now I love being a husband and a father and wouldn’t give that up for anything.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Just thank you for taking the time to read this blog. If you decide to pick up Blood Veins, and I hope you will, I believe you will enjoy it. It is a science fiction novel but more than that as well. It is a coming of age story with a little bit for everyone; action, humor and great characters. Thanks again.

You're quite welcome. Thanks for sharing some of your day with us.

Readers, Brian is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card to one randomly selected commenter during the tour, so you'll want to comment here and at other blog stops. The more you comment, the increase your chances of winning.