Introducing My New Blog Contributor, Brad Leach

It is my pleasure to introduce you to the incredible ____ (fill in the blank after you've read his post) mind of Brad Leach, who is on the career path of an Indie Writer.  

He'll join us, hopefully once a month, but certainly whenever the twists of his mind flow to his fingers and onto the keyboard. 

The Tree Sloth Gets Tennis Shoes.

Have you seen the romantic comedy where the guy or girl longs for a loving relationship, then has to help a friend struggling with their romance?  That bittersweet irony as someone else’s dreams are fulfilled?  That’s me when it came to writing.   Always the bridesmaid....  But I wasn’t even the bridesmaid; I was the tailor’s apprentice, holding the gown while the cloth was cut. 

Why was writing such a struggle, you ask?  I had a 9 to 5, at which I wasn’t very good.  A family I loved.  A bank mortgage, utility companies, and a supermarket I supported.  Holidays and hikes, home-schooling, sporting lacrosse,  health and auto insurance, cars for teens.  Church needed an elder, Sunday school needed a teacher.  Throw in aging parents to help, and if I had a little time for writing, I had no energy.  Enter a tree sloth in the decathlon, watch him finish each event last, just as the next race kicks off, and you get a picture of my writing life. 

I don’t want to be a complainer.  Hey, God provided.  As tree sloths go, I’m one of the healthiest sloths out there!  I just didn’t have much time and energy to write.  I did study the craft, joined groups; I helped two or three writing friends with encouragement, plotting help, proof-reading chapters – enough to keep my hand in.  But never the bride....

So I quit my day job!  The cardinal rule writers are not to break.  The big ma-moo.  After 25 years, I’ve busted out.  I’m grabbing the tailor, the dress, and storming the church.  This dress-wearin’ tree sloth is holding the parson at gunpoint, demanding his gold medal.  (There will be a slight pause while I battle this mutated metaphor back into its cage.)

Alright, let’s continue this article with the grace and dignity L.A.’s blog always merits.  I am now writing a fantasy story that I hope to self-publish on Amazon.  Why self-publish? 

Having gotten quite a late start in the writer’s venture, I’m hoping to short-cut my way past those 20 rejections.  You know, where the publishers have you change the characters gender, rewrite in a different point of view, remove any killings,  and make all supporting cast Amish.  Then they will reject it because they have 5 others just like it, and that sort of stuff isn’t selling now.  (They won’t even send the cost of a wig to replace the hair you’ve pulled out!)

I understand they are a business and trying to make money.  But while they “committee” up reasons to reject me, I’m trying to catch up on a dream here.  Why wait years for crappy sales when I can get crappy sales from Amazon now? 

BLURB: So here’s the first glance of my fantasy novel!  It’s about a teenage boy who receives news that his father is missing in the distant goblin wars.  His step-mom decides to pull up tent-pegs for a new life of fun in the sun down in the desert south.  Without him.  He’s also gotten crosswise with the local sheriff who’s better at knocking heads than solving mysteries.  Things couldn’t get worse – or could they?   The young lad has unknowingly run afoul of an unpleasant witch-hag who changes men into horses and rides them to death under the cold moon....

Check back next month for a further glimpse of The Dragon’s Mist Chronicles: The Last Ride in the Moonlight.

Editor's insert :)  Brad has a co-authored book on Amazon under the name of Elliot Leach. 

And for fun, here is a list of names Brad came up with for his blog.  You can vote in the comments if like one better than what I have come up with. Won't hurt my feelings...much.

Revealing the Mind of a Screwball Writer.

Revealing the Mind of a Sideways Writer.

Revealing the Muse of an Unhinged Writer.

Exposing the Mad Muse of a Mental Writer.

Mad Scribblings of a Screwball Scribe.

Uncovering the Mind of a Crackpot Writer.

Exposing Crazy in a Different Kind of Mind.

The Mind Revealed - a Different Writing Perspective.

Wanderings of a Tortuous Pen.

Caging the Mental Flutterings.

Capturing the Mental Flutters.

The Brain Unfolded - a Different Writer.

Mental Can Openers and Writer’s Hash.