Virtual Tour: Blood Veins, by Brian Young

  A black wave has passed over the thriving kingdom of Larista. Mysterious invaders calling themselves the Dolus have swept over the land laying waste to everything in their paths and leaving ghost towns in their wake. No one knows where they came from and no one knows what their purpose is. Tasting nothing but defeat after defeat the light of hope is fading in the kingdom; but the guerrilla forces resisting the Dolus invasion have received new information. This news has provided a small glimmer that could possibly spark into something more. Captain Maximus Rex leads a daring rescue mission deep in the Laristan forests to save the lone surviving member of the royal family.

Once freed Prince Alexander Novelle along with his friends and comrades face a perilous journey deep behind enemy lines. Their destination is Castle Varanasi. The once proud Laristan capital, gateway to heaven and salvation, lies in ruins under Dolus occupation. Mysterious assassins, underworld savages and renegade Dolus survivors stand between them the answers they seek. What they find there will shatter their perceptions and lead to unknown perils none of them are ready to face

Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, you can check out my review and thoughts here... And as promised, today we're hosting Brian Young to talk about the aspect that I liked most about his novel: the plot itself and how it came to be. I know you want to hear him and not me, so without further ado... I give you Mr Young!

Compared to other writers I believe I don’t plan very much while I’m writing. Blood Veins started out as one scene, there wasn’t really an idea for the novel and the rest of the story sprung from that one scene. I never sat down and planned out the story or the different scenes. At some point during the process I came up with an end point for the novel, but the details of the journey only materialized as I typed them for the first time. This did lead to a lot of backtracking. I had to change some things I had previously written, add characters, and plot devices. One good example is the group of assassins called the Death Stalkers. I didn’t think about them until I was half way through the first draft of the novel. I had to go back and add a couple of scenes as well as insert mention of them in existing scenes.

I think the plot as a whole came before the individual characters. I have a destination in mind and the characters are what drive the story in that direction. When I first started writing, I thought the characters would be easy. They were my characters and I could write them however I wanted, but I soon realized that became predictable. Without conflict, risk, and flaws in their personalities there is little interesting about their journey.

I can’t say much about different plotting tricks and devices I use. Like I mentioned before, I write by the seat of my pants with little organization. Also this is my first novel so perhaps I haven’t been writing long enough to come up with any tricks or devices with my plots. Maybe I am using some without realizing that is what I am doing.  The biggest challenge for me is limiting myself to the right ideas I have when I’m writing. While I write, my mind spins off in so many different directions that it can be hard to focus on what is important to the story. 

Thanks so much, Brian! But I know the readers would now like to see how the theory turns out so... Here it is: an excerpt of Blood Veins. 

"We will not survive this march. It will soon be freezing and we are not equipped for it," whined the prisoner walking besides Briah. "It is a sign from God. First, he releases these Conquerors from the foot of the mountain. Then, he brings the snow and ice while we are homeless without shelter and fire."

Briah looked at the man for the first time and immediately recognized him as a priest. His name was Brother Mable. Briah narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"You should not speak of such things. This is not of God's doing, and you will scare the other people here."

His tone transformed instantly from one of shrill despondency to authoritative strength.

"Don't talk to me that way, poor girl. You are misguided; it is of God's doing. He is upset at us for embracing technologies. It is forbidden! I recognize you. You are one of the sisters that dwell in the mountain. You think you have the right to live closer to God, and you think you have the right to dig under his mountain. It is placed there for a reason. We dug too deep. It is you and your kinds' fault for influencing the King and angering the Creator! The city has fallen to the soulless heathen invaders and our gateway to the afterlife has been taken!"

The priest was raising his voice and other prisoners were beginning to take interest in their conversation.

Briah glanced around at the other prisoners and realized she might need protection from the guards based on some of the looks she was receiving.

"Be quiet you fool." She snapped at the priest. "You will draw the attention of the guards and they do not care what your status is. Neither do I."

• About the Author: 

Brian is a graduate of the University of Oregon. He works as a banker and an editor for Rogue Phoenix Press. He currently resides in Oregon with his wife and daughter.

Find Brian on Facebook.

But wait, did you think the post was over? Nope! I still have a most important bit of info to share with you. Brian will be giving away a 25$ GC from Amazon to one random commenter from the tour. If you click the banner above, it'll take you to a list of all the stops - the more blogs you comment on, the better chances to win. 

Another 15$ GC from Amazon will be given to the blogger who hosts the stop with the most comments, excluding those coming from the author and the blogger himself, so that's another reason for you to leave your thoughts or questions: it'd be such a great help to host my giveaways!