S.G. Browne

The Big Egos Share-the-Love Giveaway

Would you like a chance to win a signed/personalized copy of my latest novel Big Egos? Would you like to help spread the word about Big Egos and give a shout out to your favorite bookstore?

You can do all three. Here’s how!

Word Bookstore1) Go to your local brick and mortar bookstore, find Big Egos on the shelves, and take a photo of it out in the wild. (*If you don’t have a local bookstore, you can still enter the giveaway. Keep reading.)

2) Post the photo to your Twitter stream or Facebook timeline, mention Big Egos and the name of the bookstore, and mention/tag me. (On Twitter, my handle is @s_g_browne. On Facebook, tag me using my S.G. Browne Author Page. I believe you have to Like my author page before you can tag it.)

It’s important to tag/mention me using my Facebook author page and Twitter handle; otherwise, I won’t know that you entered the giveaway.

That’s all there is to it. And yes, you can enter twice: once on Facebook and once on Twitter.

Now, if you don’t have a local bookstore you can still play along. Here’s how.

1) Go to your favorite online bookstore, search for Big Egos, click on the link to the order page for the book, then copy and paste the link for the order page on to your Facebook timeline or Twitter stream and mention Big Egos and the name of the bookstore, while tagging or mentioning me as indicated above.

Boom. That’s all there is to it. Again, make sure to tag/mention me so I know you’ve entered.

The idea of the giveaway is to share the love both for Big Egos and for your favorite bookstore. Ideally that favorite bookstore is a local independent. But if you enjoy shopping at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, the Apple iBookstore, or someplace else, those count as valid entries, too.

If you don’t have a local bookstore but have a favorite independent bookstore you’ve visited, feel free to link to them. I have a few of my favorites listed on my info page for Big Egos.

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For every 10 entries, I will be giving away 1 signed/personalized copy of Big Egos.

Giveaway open to U.S. residents only. Don’t hate me.

Giveaway will be like Fight Club: It will go on as long as it has to. Or until the end of Burning Man, whichever comes first.

Any questions? Feel free to ask in the comments. Otherwise, good luck. And thanks for sharing the love!

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Filed under: Big Egos,Contests,Summer of Bastards and Egos — S.G. Browne @ 9:00 am

Updated BIG EGOS Signings

Tuesday, August 6 – San Francisco, CA
7:30pm – 8:30pm
The Booksmith
1644 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA

Friday, August 9 – Alameda, CA
7:00pm – 8:00pm
Books Inc.
1344 Park St.
Alameda, CA

Thursday, August 15 – Pleasanton, CA
*NEW DAY!*
7:00pm – 8:00pm
Towne Center Books
555 Main Street
Pleasanton, CA

Saturday, August 24 – Roseville, CA
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Barnes & Noble
Creekside Town Center
1256 Galleria Boulevard
Roseville, CA

Thursday, September 12 – Petaluma, CA
*JUST ADDED!*
7:00pm – 8:00pm
Copperfield’s Books
140 Kentucky Street
Petaluma, CA

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Filed under: Big Egos,Summer of Bastards and Egos — Tags: — S.G. Browne @ 6:32 pm

The Writing Life: The Making of Big Egos

Big EgosWhen I started writing Big Egos more than two years ago, I envisioned something along the lines of American Psycho meets Slaughterhouse-Five. At least conceptually. I’m not going to make any claims of being Bret Easton Ellis or Kurt Vonnegut, but I knew I wanted the story to be told in a non-linear framework and narrated by an unreliable protagonist who gradually loses control of his ability to separate fantasy from reality.

My initial drafts began with the ending, or one chapter removed from the ending, and each subsequent chapter that followed was a memory triggered by the end of the previous memory, eventually taking the story back to the beginning. Or, in this case, to the ending.

Fun Fact: Big Egos is the first novel I sat down to write knowing exactly how the story would end. In my previous three novels (and novella), the ending evolved from the progression of the story. But this time I knew the ending and couldn’t wait to figure out how to get there.

But once I was finished, I discovered that the non-linear format I’d chosen to tell the story didn’t provide enough clarity for the actual story, so I had to reorganize the chapters in a way that provided a present through-line of the narrative while allowing the story to jump back and forth in time as a function of the main protagonist’s triggered memories.

This involved creating a color-coded list of chapters based upon their time-frame and reorganizing them on a spreadsheet before moving around the actual chapters in the novel, which led to additional editing as the beginnings and endings of numerous chapters required minor to significant rewrites.

I did this about half a dozen times before I finally found the right mix and order. Even then, I continued to futz around with several of the chapters during the final editing and copy editing stages. As an author, you know that invariably you’re going to miss something. I can go back through Breathers, Fated, and Lucky Bastard and find things I would like to fix. But eventually you have to stop fixing and trust that you’ve told the right story in the best way at the time you told it.

With Big Egos, I wanted to get it as close to perfect as possible.

Whether I succeeded or not, that’s a matter of opinion, but I felt a great deal of satisfaction with how the novel turned out. And while I would say the same of my previous novels, for me, this one was a bit more of a challenge while at the same time being an absolute blast to write.

Of all my novels, Big Egos is without a doubt the darkest of the four. It also contains its fair share of social commentary on our society’s infatuation with celebrity and what happens to your identity when you’re constantly pretending to be someone you’re not.

So if you’re expecting a romantic comedy with a happy ending or a playful romp through a field of daffodils with a family of fluffy bunnies, you’ve come to the wrong place.

Big Egos is on sale August 6 and available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, and wherever books and eBooks are sold.

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Filed under: Big Egos,Summer of Bastards and Egos,The Writing Life — Tags: — S.G. Browne @ 6:19 am

Lucky Bastard $1.99 Ebook Sale

Lucky Bastard - trade paperbackWhile I’m still a stalwart holdout of fully caving into the digital age when it comes to books, I realize there are others out there who have managed to unshackle themselves from their Luddite ways.

It is to those of you I am heralding the news that Lucky Bastard is now on sale as an eBook in all formats for $1.99. That’s McDonald’s Extra Value Menu pricing. Though I like to think the quality is a little more nutritious.

So whether you have a Kindle, Nook, iPad, or Kobo, you can order Lucky Bastard for less than a bottle of Two Buck Chuck from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, or your favorite independent bookstore, many of whom have partnered with Kobo to sell eBooks. So you can get your digital fix while supporting a brick and mortar bookstore.

I’ve included links to a few of my favorite independent bookstores below that sell eBooks, along with the usual suspects. The sale is only for a short time, so get it while it’s cheap. Or give it as a gift and spread the luck.

Barnes & NobleAmazoniBooksCopperfield BooksBooks IncMysterious Galaxy Bookstore

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Filed under: Lucky Bastard,Summer of Bastards and Egos — Tags: — S.G. Browne @ 6:58 am

Comic-Con Schedule and Big Egos Signings

San Diego Comic-Con is just around the corner, and not long after that, the release of Big Egos on August 6. So I’m here to give you the scoop on my Comic-Con schedule and a handful of signings for Big Egos.

First, prior to Comic-Con, I’ll be at the Barnes & Noble in Fullerton, CA, where I’ll be signing Lucky Bastard as well as my other earlier titles.

Tuesday, July 16
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Barnes & Noble
Amerige Heights Town Center
1923 West Malvern Avenue
Fullerton, CA

Next at Comic-Con, I’ll be appearing on a couple of panels with signings to follow on Thursday and Saturday. Details are below.

Thursday, July 18
PANEL: Geeks Gets Published – and Paid
4:30pm – 5:30pm
Room: 26AB

SIGNING: Mysterious Galaxy Books
6:00pm – 7:00pm
Booth: 1119-1123

Saturday, July 20
PANEL: Apocalyptic/Zombie: It’s the End of the World as We Know It
12:00pm – 1:00pm
Room: 23ABC

SIGNING: Autograph Area
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Autograph Area: AA09

NOTE: Although Big Egos doesn’t officially release until August 6, it will be on-sale at Comic-Con for early release, courtesy of Mysterious Galaxy Books (Booth 1119-1123).

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As for my regular signing schedule for Big Egos, at the moment it’s limited to a handful of northern California venues. If that changes, I’ll be sure to update my Events Calendar and mention it on my blog, as well. But until then, these are my only scheduled appearances.

Tuesday, August 6
7:30pm – 8:30pm
The Booksmith
1644 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA

Friday, August 9
7:00pm – 8:00pm
Books Inc.
1344 Park St.
Alameda, CA

Thursday, August 15 (*Rescheduled from August 14*)
7:00pm – 8:00pm
Towne Center Books
555 Main Street
Pleasanton, CA

Saturday, August 24
1:00pm – 3:00pm
Barnes & Noble
Creekside Town Center
1256 Galleria Boulevard
Roseville, CA

I hope to see you in San Diego in a couple of weeks or at one of my signings in August!

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Filed under: Big Egos,Comic-Con,Conventions,Summer of Bastards and Egos — Tags: , — S.G. Browne @ 11:17 am