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Before we get to her current interview, treat yourself to the first interview to get to know her:
Rachel Brune Interview with Musings of a Manic Blonde - part 1
Rachel Brune Interview with Musings of a Manic Blonde part 2
BGP: Introduce yourself to
the readers.
RB: I am a 13-year Army
veteran, former combat journalist, and current full-time mom and freelance
writer. Readers can get to know me through my books, or at my blog, The
Infamous Scribbler. In addition to
writing, my husband and I foster Basset hounds through the local Carolina
Basset Hound Rescue (CBHR).
BGP: How was the
transition from Army girl to full time mother?
RB: It was a little scary.
I was going from something that had its challenges, but that I had been doing
for the past 13 years and so had a measure of confidence in my ability to
handle those challenges. In fact, the main reason I got off of active duty was
not because I was going to have a baby, but because I just needed to do
something different with my life, pursue some parts of me that had been lost. I
was leaving a secure paycheck, 100 percent health care, and a situation where I
didn’t have to hustle for my next job. Now, I spend every day pretty much in a
constant state of discovery at how little I really know. I am the oldest of six
siblings, so babies used to not make me so nervous, but of course all that
changed once I had one of my own! My rock and support through this transition
has been my husband. We wouldn’t be able to go on this journey without his
support. He loves LauraJean, or LJ as we call her for short, and it’s
incredible just seeing them together. That’s when I know I made the right decision.
BGP: You worked full time
before you had the baby, but babies tend to keep their own schedule. Is your
writing schedule any different than it was when you were working?
RB: Absolutely! And in a
way, it’s actually become easier to work. The times when LJ is asleep or
sitting happily in her bouncy chair are discrete and finite opportunities for
me to sit my butt in the chair and get to work. For example, I’m typing this as
she takes her early morning nap, and typing as fast as I can before I hear her
wake up. Having that circumscribed period of time to get words down (or pages
edited) gives me that little bit of deadline panic that seems to work so well
for me. Then, when I’m feeding her, I’m either reading or using my smartphone
to do some social media work or send and answer emails… And I knew that typing
that would be tempting fate, so now I’m typing this with LJ on my lap. :D
BGP: Does being a mother
open your mind up to wanting to write children’s stories or other genres?
RB: Well, I’ve actually
always loved children’s stories. My husband and I have collected some our
favorites for years – Walter the Farting Dog, Ladybug Girl and Bingo, Charlie
the Ranch Dog, and many more. I believe there is a very specific art to writing
a good children’s book, and although I’d like to try it, I don’t know if I have
it in me. On the other hand, I’ll never say never – the future is wide open.
BGP: What made the two of
you decide to become a Basset Hound foster parent?
RB: When we moved to North
Carolina, we already had our two rescue dogs (Captain, a Basset hound, and
B
BGP: What first inspired you to become a writer?
RB: I can’t remember when
I wasn’t writing. When I was in college, studying film, I concentrated on
screenwriting (my recent feature-length screenplay was chosen as a finalist in
the 2014 GI Film Festival in DC). When I joined the Army, shortly after
graduating college, I chose the MOS of print journalist, which effectively
meant that for the next five years I was getting paid to write full-time.
Eventually I went back for a graduate degree and commissioned as a military
police officer. Around that time I started getting back into fiction writing. I
wrote my first novel (still unpublished – and it needs SOOO much work – but a friend
of mine texted me yesterday, told me he finally got around to reading it and
that he REALLY liked it, so maybe I’ll go back to it.) Right before I got out
of the full-time Army (I’m currently still a Reservist), I began freelancing
for the military-interest Web site, Task & Purpose, as well as a local
magazine, CityView NC. I also published my second novel, Cold Run, with Untold
Press. I’m currently working on two or three more novels … and a story for
CityView that has a deadline of Saturday and I should probably be working on it
right now.
BGP: So I have this debate
with someone close to me who is a screen writer. Since you do both, which one
is easier?
RB: Oh geez … It really
depends on how you frame the question. I definitely think that the novel form
(word count, genre tropes, plot conventions) is easier to pick up than the
mechanics of writing a screenplay, many of which are incredibly specific, not
outlined anywhere, and change depending on what’s going on in Hollywood right
now. Also, as a new or independent writer, it’s definitely easier to get away
with bending novel fiction rules, whereas with screenwriting, if you try that,
you’re toast. However, when it comes to plotting and writing story, I think
that the amount of creative work involved in the process is about the same. You
need to figure out how to keep the story moving forward, write well-rounded
characters, and maintain the reader’s interest. All of the tools for that are
in the writer’s toolbox, it’s just a matter of picking out the medium you are
going to be working on.
BGP: Tell us about your
screen play and the contest it won.
RB: Babylon Tide is an action adventure feature-length screenplay about a military
police soldier deployed to Iraq during the waning days of military operations
there. The Army brass task him to investigate a break-in at the National Museum
at which thieves stole precious ancient artifacts and killed several guards. As
he investigates, he begins to realize that there are many influential people
who have a powerful stake in making sure that he doesn’t complete the
investigation.
So far, I haven’t actually
won any contests, although I have been on the semi-finalist and finalist
circles in a few. The GI Film Festival occurs annually in Washington, DC (as
well as a few other locations), and 2014 was the first year they accepted
screenplays into the festival. Nine screenplays were chosen, and mine was one
of them. With that came an invitation to attend the festival as a filmmaker, so
I had the opportunity to go to DC for the week and spend it watching films and
talking with other filmmakers, as well as touring DC. That was an amazing
experience, and also provided some of the first articles that I wrote for Task
& Purpose. Although my screenplay didn’t win the grand prize, it was an
honor to be chosen – and in a lucky turn of events, I actually did an in-depth
interview with the gentleman who actually did
win the grand prize, and was able to include that in an article. So, good times
all around.
My next screenplay,
tentatively titled Jokers, is the
story of an ex-secret agent whose daughter is kidnapped, and she has to round
up the team to get her back. It’s Taken
meets The Expendables, only with
women in all the main parts. I don’t know if anyone will be interested, but I
have fun writing it and imagining Linda Hamilton, Geena Davis, Sandra Bullock, Angela
Bassett, Felicia Day, and all the other awesome women actors out there getting
together to make this film. I would totally pay money for that.
BGP: What do you
do to prepare for a story?
RB: It depends on what I’m
writing. If it’s non-fiction or journalism, then there will be some Internet
research, then an interview, and then probably some more research as I’m
writing the article. When I’m writing fiction, there will likely be some
research. For example, for Soft Target, I think I read my way through the
entire shelf of terrorism and crime non-fiction at Fort Leonard Wood, as well
as bookmarking several resources online. Even for urban fantasy, I’ll do
research. I’ve read a huge cohort of literature for Cold Run, everything from
German Army manuals on sabotage and guerrilla warfare, to the history of the
anti-Soviet partisan post-WWII, as well as global crime trends, country
studies, etc. Then all of this research and information jumbles around in my
brain, and comes out in the form of extensive notes. Finally, I’ll get to the
point where it’s time to organize the notes and get to writing. So, I’ll do a
lot of prep for writing, but a lot of it won’t actually look like writing prep.
BGP: Who is/was
your biggest support for your writing career?
RB: I’ve received amazing
support from my fellow author friends, most of whom I have met through writing
workshops. They encourage me, beta read for me, and beat me about the head when
I am slacking. (OK, I’m exaggerating on that last part, but not very much.)
I also receive a huge
amount of support from my spouse and my family. Rob (my husband) thinks it’s
great that I’m starting to get published, although I think that he wishes I
would get paid a little more. I do tend to refer to writing as my “full-time
job that pays me on a part-time basis.” J
BGP: What genre do you write and what lead you
there?
RB: I write journalism, urban
fantasy, suspense/thriller, fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, and whatever else
strikes me, in both long-form, i.e. novels, as well as short stories, articles,
commentary, screenplays, etc. (In fact, much of my work tends to be mash-ups of
genre, and I’ll sometimes joke that I write “transgenre” fiction.) I’m working
on a category romance, as well as a non-fiction book proposal. I also have a
list a mile long of things that I would like to explore that I just haven’t
gotten around to yet.
BGP: Tell us about your books.
RB: Echoes &
Premonitions is a collection of black and white photos, poems, and essays, many
of which came from my first two deployments in Iraq. I am proud of this
venture, which was also an experiment in self-publishing, and I learned a lot
from it. I’ve had many people connect to this project, but I don’t really
promote it any more, although it is still available.
Soft Target is a suspense
thriller, which takes place in NYC. I wrote, revised, and was querying this to
agents when I received a “lightbulb” reply from one publisher. He stated that
the premise – that terrorists attacked the media in order to get more attention
– sounded really interesting, but that he was getting so many terrorist-in-NYC
stories that he couldn’t take it. So I thought, well, in this case I’m probably
my own best advocate. Thus, Soft Target ended up being my second experiment in
self-publishing. Between the two books I learned a lot about the state of
publishing, the sorts of things that will work, and what I need to concentrate
on to get the word out about my stuff.
My third book, Cold Run,
is a shifter urban fantasy, with a main character who is a werewolf secret
agent – or rather, was a secret agent
and is now comfortably retired in the woods of Vermont, until they pull him
back in for one last job. I had a lot of fun with this book, and when I was
done, I considered publishing it again myself; however, I wanted to try
something different, and so I submitted it to a number of small press
publishers. Untold Press picked it up, and it’s been great to be a part of
their family. It was great to publish
with a team, instead of trying to make everything happen by yourself. Don’t get
me wrong – I’m not living the life of Richard Castle having supernova book
sales and lots of extra time to solve crime on the side – but I’ve learned a
huge amount not only about my craft, but also about the business of publishing.
As I mentioned above, I’m
working on a category romance and a non-fiction book proposal, as well as
another urban fantasy about an itinerant blues musician and combat vet who
begins to encounter the American Fae on the road. It’s heavily influenced by
writers such as Charles de Lint, Jim Butcher, and Tanya Huff, who are some of
my favorite fantasy writers.
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BGP: So tell us about the
journey from being self-published to being published. What made you decide to
go for a publishing house?
RB: I’m the sort of person
who likes to move around and try different things. Once I had self-published
two books, I wanted to try something different, and see if I could get a
publisher interested in what I had to offer. There is a certain amount of
satisfaction when someone else believes enough in your work to take on the
enormous task of publishing it. Working with Untold Press has really been a lot
of fun, especially in how they have believed in my work and helped me launch it
out there. My next step is to keep refining and improving my craft, and maybe
even one day to get an agent to help me get my work out into the world.
BGP: Give us advice on how
to start down the road of becoming published.
RB: Everyone says, “Just
write a lot!” And true, you do need to put your butt in your seat and your
words on the paper. But there are some other things you need to do. What worked
for me was years spent in various writing workshops, getting and receiving
feedback. Also, I did a lot of research, reading everything I could on the
state of modern publishing. I met as many other writers as I could, especially
ones who had contracts with publishing houses and agents, and I picked their
brains shamelessly. Finally, I was lucky to meet people who were willing to
share their time and hard-earned wisdom in the form of reading my work and
giving me honest assessments so that I could improve.
I can’t stress enough that
there isn’t a magic secret, as well as the fact that the process of becoming a
published author takes time. I was writing fiction for two or three years
before I had my first short story accepted by a publication. I told myself, I
wanted to get six stories published, and then I would have some credits to put
on a query letter. So I spent another year writing and polishing short stories,
until I had enough accepted to give me the confidence – and publishing credits
– to start querying Cold Run. I also had my Web site and blog and Soft Target.
So everything comes together – you just need time. And good networking skills.
BGP: Give us advice on how
to handle the dreaded rejection letter.
RB: Sometimes the
rejection letter is just a simply form letter, and when I get those I just
trash them and move on. There’s no use obsessing over rejection. Sometimes,
like the reply I got for Soft Target, there will be some wisdom to glean. So
I’ll take it, think on it, and then incorporate it into my learning process.
And sometimes you get a rejection letter that says something along the lines of
“I just didn’t feel the magic.” In that case, there’s nothing to do but
continue to query the story until someone does find the magic. And then you can
go, Na na na na na!
Or not. If you happen to
be more mature than I. :D
BGP: So what’s next for
Rachel Brune? World Domination? More children? Disney World?
RB: I am about to start
querying a manuscript I just finished editing, and working on another novel
that is half finished (I had to take a break to finish plotting.) Also, I am
working on starting a coaching and editing business for writers who are looking
for someone to help them improve in a positive, mentoring manner.
February 6 also marks the
launching of a feature on my blog where I post writing exercises and invite
other writers to sketch something out, post it on their blog, and share by
linking in the comments, or Tweeting with the #WriteFridays hashtag. There’s a
great community of writers out there, and I think that the opportunity to share
what we can do is going to be a lot of fun.
BGP: How can we get your
books or stay in contact with you?
RB: Check out my blog, Infamous
Scribbler, or follow me on Twitter. I’d say come by Facebook, but I’m too cheap to pay
for ads so no one ever sees what I post there.
This is the part of the
interview that I call rapid fire. Or at least it would be if we were on the
phone. So give me the first answer that pops in your head.
What’s your favorite Bon
Jovi song?
BAD MEDICINE! \m/ (Side
note from BGP: And this is why we’re friends)
Starbucks or Tim Hortons?
Starbucks. (Does that make
me a horrible person? I hope not …)
What’s your favorite
color?
GREEN
Favorite comfort food?
Panera’s pesto tortellini
– OMG SO GOOD!
Other than cats or dogs –
what’s your favorite animal?
Otters. They are so furry
and cute and sleek and friendly and I love them.
Thanks for having me by!
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