Kevin Brennan – update on a new collection of essays

Kevin Brennan has previously been featured on Reading Recommendations a number of times, as well as being an All-Star Author and on the list of
Reading Recommendations Revisited.

I don’t make any bones about it – Kevin Brennan is one of my very favourite authors writing today! So it’s always a pleasure to promote any new books he happens to publish, like this one right here …

In No Particular Order: A Memoir
by Kevin Brennan

It’s true that life is linear, but the living of it is all over the map. In this memoir-in-vignettes, novelist Kevin Brennan (Parts Unknown, Yesterday Road) examines his life the way memories occur in the wild: in no particular order. Whether it’s recalling high school humiliations, ups and downs in love and romance, or unique interactions with the human race at home and abroad, Brennan both entertains and moves the reader with moments of unexpected poignancy and full-tilt humor. In No Particular Order is a deconstructed memoir, like no other because it looks at life as it really is — a kaleidoscope of individual moments.

For more information about Kevin and his publications, as well as more about this new eBook, check out his blog, What the Hell.

Purchase a copy from:
Amazon

Kevin Brennan – an update on an update

On August 12, 2016, Kevin Brennan visited Reading Recommendations to tell us of a new novel and a new way of publishing: Kevin Brennan – update on a new novel and introducing a new way of publishing!

Now he’s back with the news that Fascination is available to purchase and download as an eBook from Amazon.

¡Fascination is live on Amazon!

Yesterday, with no fanfare whatsoever, I published Fascination on Amazon.

I know. Unexpected, right?

You can probably guess why I did it. Two main reasons: One, that after an initial blast of sales to, pretty much (no, exclusively), people who read this blog, I couldn’t give away a copy. There was no follow-up, no word of mouth, and though a number of potential readers expressed interest via comments on reviews of the book on other blogs, none of them pulled the trigger. Two, aside from the blog and Twitter, there’s no way to market the thing. I knew this going in, of course, but I’d hoped that Janey would tell Jenny and Jenny would buy it and then tell Jackie, who’d buy it herself and then tell Jill. It’s #guerrillapublishing, right? The word spreads and strangers start showing up. Six degrees of separation.

Just didn’t happen.

In the same vein, there’s also no way to attract new reviews, especially reviews by people I don’t know.

It was only after I found out that my mother and sister still couldn’t get the PDF onto their Nooks that I accepted (heavy sigh) that #guerrillapublishing has failed.

At least here. Now. With this book.

(Read more here …)

Where to purchase:
Amazon

Congratulations, Kevin! And best of luck with the eBook version of Fascination!!

Kevin Brennan – update on a new novel and introducing a new way of publishing!

Kevin Brennan has been promoted a number of times on this blog because he keeps writing and publishing great books, which is a good thing for readers like me who love the way this author writes his stories! He’s also part of the Reading Recommendations Revisited, a select group of authors who always give back as good as they get in the promotion department. Now Kevin is back to tell us not only about his latest novel, but of a whole new way to look at releasing and distributing said novel that I think is pretty nifty!

Fascination!

It’s a road picture (with pictures)…

It’s the novel you buy straight from the author …

It’s a novel about self-realization and vengeance …

It’s a novel about the pointless journey of a grieving young widow — Sally Pavlou — and a lovestruck private investigator — Clive Bridle — looking for the dead man who done Sally wrong …

It’s a novel about postponing the inevitable and rushing to conclusions …

It’s a novel about looking for love and avoiding detection …

It’s a book about doing the thing you do best and finding all the satisfaction you need in it …

There’s a ‘63 Dodge Dart convertible; there’s a magical dog named Biscuit; there’s a cult of bald priestesses and a band of brutally honest guilt-mongers; there’s a massive collection of garden gnomes; there’s cutthroat Texas hold ‘em; but most of all, there’s …

Fascination!

Since Kevin has been blogging about the release of this book and explaining all about his new attempt at publishing, one that means a direct connection between author and reader (purchaser), I’m going to let him explain by linking to those blog posts from the past week:
Fascination launch! Buy for as low as $3.99
Re #guerrillapublishing
Bottom dollar

Where and How to purchase Kevin’s book:
50 Ways to … buy Fascination (And that’s me holding up my purchased copy of Fascination already locked and loaded on my Kindle!)

So there you have it, folks! A new way of publishing and putting books directly in the hands, or rather on the devices, of the readers. And here’s somthing I’d like to ask of my readers … if you do go ahead and purchase a copy of Fascination after reading this promotion, please do send Kevin an email and tell him you heard about the book through me and Reading Recommendations. You won’t win a prize or receive a discount for this, but you will help us both better assess how our efforts are working to promote, distribute, and sell books in a different way from the norm. I too am looking at trying something different again when it comes time to “print” copies of my new novel, One Woman’s Island. So this is all in the name of research and you’d be helping us immensely. Thank you!

Kevin Brennan – Reading Recommendation Revisited

Kevin Brennan was first featured on Reading Recommendations in March, 2014, then returned with an update in Dec., 2014. I have had the great pleasure of reading everything Kevin has now published, including his most recent novel, Town Father, and I can say, unequivocally, that his writing is excellent, his stories are unique, imaginative and fresh, and he creates characters that are memorable. Kevin is experimental in his exploration of different literary genres and I believe him to be a very talented Author. He’s also been a great support of me and my blogs, and we’ve had terrific offline discussions about writing, reading and literature. And throughout the time since we “met” he has continued to write, write, write! Welcome back, Kevin!

RRR: Since your first promotion on RR, what have you been doing?
KB: Since RR first featured my novel, Yesterday Road, back in early 2014, I’ve published two more novels — Occasional Soulmates, an offbeat chick-litty story that has a little fun with the genre; and Town Father, Or, Where Graceful Girls Abound, a historical, utopian novel about a California village in the 1880s populated only by women (oh, and one man). I’ve been busy writing and revising other work as well, of course, but also managed to move from the San Francisco Bay Area to a small town “in the shadow of the magnificent Sierra Nevada,” as they put it in Town Father. My wife, Susan, and I couldn’t be happier.

RRR: What else have you been doing, outside of the writing?
KB: We are exploring the local peaks and valleys near our new digs, as a matter of fact. Recently we found ourselves on a one-lane logging road way up in the back-country, hiked for miles and miles without seeing another person, and took in panoramic views that must have looked exactly the same two hundred years ago (logging notwithstanding). We’re also shifting gears in our day jobs so we have more time to enjoy the area.

My jazz guitar playing is slowly improving too. Sometimes it’s a tough choice between practicing guitar or getting started on writing a new book!

RRR: Is there one marketing tip or trick you discovered while promoting your own books that worked particularly well and that you’d like to share with other authors?
KB: To be perfectly frank, my best bet with marketing my books is to maintain an online presence in case anyone is watching (agents, take note), and to fall back on EReader News Today when it’s time to run a promo. Nothing else has worked as well, and since I’m on a tight budget I have to be careful how I spend my marketing dollars. I am actively seeking indie bookstores that might be interested in selling the paperback of Town Father, so if any readers have a favorite, I hope they’ll make inquiries for me!

RRR: Please recommend three other authors whose work you have “discovered” or rediscovered this past year whom every reader should consider reading.
KB: I’m embarrassed to admit I haven’t had much time for a lot of reading this year, thanks to our move, but I’m interested in books that toy with form and genre in new ways, such as Rachel Cusk’s Outline. I’d like to see more innovation in novels, so her approach is refreshing. I also gave in and read Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice a while back. He’s not new by any means, but he can still bring it. Also, exciting things are being done in the realm of personal essays, and in that vein I discovered a book called Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan that was a real dazzler, and Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan.

Sometimes getting out of the fiction pool is good for perspective and learning new things. I now know more about surfing than I every thought I wanted, or needed!

For more information about Kevin, see his Amazon Author Page, Blog – What The Hell, Facebook, and Twitter pages.

And Kevin adds this incentive!
Yesterday Road is currently on sale for 99 cents (ebook), and from December 3 through 6, the eBook edition of Occasional Soulmates will also be on sale for 99 cents.

Town Father (eBook) is available for pre-order at $2.99, with instant delivery on December 8. The paperback version (and it’s gorgeous!) is on sale for $9.90.

Purchase links for all of Kevin’s books may be found here.

Thank you, Kevin!

Kevin Brennan – new novel update

Kevin Brennan returns to tell us about his new novel, Occasional Soulmates. Kevin was previously featured on Reading Recommendations in Mar. 2014.

Occasional Soulmates
by Kevin Brennan

When the thirty-eight-year-old San Francisco doctor meets her new patient, a handsome British expat with the unlikely name of Dylan Cakebread (and an uncanny resemblance to Jude Law), she’s convinced it’s the start of her own relationship novel. He’s an architect, no less — always a key piece of her most indulgent fantasies — and the heroine of a relationship novel always gets her fantasy man, right? Though their shaky start raises red flags that her oldest girlfriend, Jules, is quick to point out, Sarah can’t help it. She falls hard for Dylan and it appears to be a two-way street. But maybe meeting your perfect mate in the exam room isn’t the best opening act. Sarah thinks she’s the cure for what ails him, but soon she learns the secret Dylan has been keeping from her. Now she has to choose between happiness and the illusion of it — if Dylan doesn’t take the choice out of her hands first. It’s starting to look like this isn’t her relationship novel at all: it’s his.

Here’s the Amazon ebook link and where to buy the paperback.

**Please note that I was a beta-reader of Occasional Soulmates and I highly recommend this novel – as well as the rest of Kevin Brennan’s books!

Kevin Brennan

Kevin Brennan

What is your latest release and what genre is it? Yesterday Road (literary fiction/humor)

Quick description: In this “coming-of-old-age” tale, Jack Peckham finds himself on a journey into his distant past, helped along the way by Joe Easterday, a young man with Down syndrome, and Ida Pevely, a middle-aged waitress with her own mountain of regrets. Jack has a hundred grand in cash that he can’t explain, since he can’t remember yesterday much less forty years ago. Setting out from Northern California for “points east,” he gets lost, carjacked, abandoned, and arrested, but he’s always homing in on the one object of his inner drive — home. With humor and plenty of unexpected turns, Kevin Brennan’s second novel is a lyrical and poignant story of memory and identity, of how it is the whole of experience — pain and regret along with love and pleasure — that gives life its fullness. We all tow our histories behind us as we make our way down Yesterday Road.

Brief biography:
Kevin Brennan, author of Parts Unknown (William Morrow) has rung in the new year in Red Square, performed as a busker in the London Underground, wandered the California desert, and auditioned unsuccessfully for a chance at stardom on reality television. He and his wife live in Northern California.

Links to buy Kevin’s book:
Amazon Worldwide – eBook
Barnes & Noble – eBook
iTunes – eBook
Kobo – eBook
Smashwords – eBook

Kevin’s promo links:
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
email: kevinbrennan520 (at) gmail.com
Goodreads
Amazon author page

What are you working on now?
I’ll be publishing a new novel later in 2014, called Occasional Soulmates. It’s a bit of a departure for me, really — a literary/chick-lit story in the first person. But it’s more meta chick-lit, since my protagonist seems to be aware that she’s in her own relationship novel. Kevin did indeed publish this new novel and the update was featured here on Reading Recommendations.

Kevin’s reading recommendation:
I just finished reading The Good Son, a 1982 novel by Craig Nova. It utterly blew me away. Nova uses a number of first-person voices to examine a complicated father/son relationship in the ‘40s and ’50s, each voice carrying the character’s own slant and motives so that a fascinating mosaic emerges. I hadn’t heard of Nova until recently, but he’s been around a long time and deserves much more recognition.