Brent's Brain

A few months ago I posted about how I had independently e-published four older titles of mine that had been traditionally published years ago, but were currently out-of-print or about to go out of print: The Last Chance Texaco, Grand & Humble, and the two sequels to Geography Club, The Order of the Poison Oak [...]

I’m rarely disappointed in a book by Ken Oppel, but his latest, This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, may be my favorite yet. Yes, it’s the story of a teenage Victor Frankenstein, and normally I’m not a fan of these “before they were famous” retellings of classic figures from myth or literature (for [...]

Ask the Brain is a column where readers can ask me advice about love, life, writing, and, well, just about anything. My massive, all-powerful brain will deign to grant an answer. Either that, or I’ll just make some s**t up. Speaking of which, do you have a question for the brain? Ask it here! (Be [...]

Two items of note: First, I’m auctioning off some signed first editions of the three books in the Russel Middlebrook series for charity (a LGBT scholarship). Check it out (and make a bid) here. Second, I have an essay in a new book, just out, called The Girl Who Was on Fire (edited by Leah [...]

As long as I can remember, I’ve divided the movies, books, and TV shows I consume into two kinds of projects: “dessert” and “broccoli.” Dessert is the kind of project I can’t wait to read or watch — and the kind that leaves me breathless and enraptured and totally entertained when I do. These projects [...]

Ask the Brain is a column where readers can ask me advice about love, life, writing, and, well, just about anything. My massive, all-powerful brain will deign to grant an answer. Either that, or I’ll just pull something out of my ass. Speaking of which, do you have a question for the brain? Ask it [...]

What’s this? The e-version of my 2004 novel The Last Chance Texaco is free? Yup, that’s right — for limited time anyway. And for what it’s worth, this is one of the most popular books I’ve ever written — at least in terms of fan letters and sales (it sold tens of thousands of copies!). [...]

If you’re a writer, you’ve heard it again and again: avoid stereotypes! And it’s really good advice. First, it’s just plain boring when your characters act in a predictable, stereotypical fashion — when gay guys are snappy dressers with bitchy comebacks, when black women are always sassy, when disabled or autistic kids are always brilliant [...]

Welcome to the first installment of what I hope will be a regular feature on this website: Ask the Brain, a column where readers can ask advice about love, life, writing, and, well, just about anything. Speaking of which, do you have a question for the brain? Ask it here! (Be sure and include the [...]

Wait. Didn’t my book Double Feature: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies (the third book in the Russel Middlebrook series) used to have a different title? It did! It was originally published by HarperCollins back in 2007 as Split Screen (with the same “zombie” subtitles). So why does it have a [...]