Today we have author Gardner Browning visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* Gardner Michael Browning is an award-winning author and professional wrestler. In addition to receiving a New Hampshire Literary Award, two of his novels were part of an international English literacy program for middle grade readers. Browning enjoys classic literature, fishing, playing guitar and spending time with his family.

Today Gardner Browning will be talking about the best and worst pieces of writing advice he’s ever received.
* The worst advice that I ever received was when I was a young man and fledgling writer, an English teacher told the class that the most important part of any story is the protagonist (hero). The students spent a lot of time drafting up cool heroes and layering in the “character flaws.” It made me cringe then and it makes me cringe now.
* The most important part of commercially competitive fiction is not the protagonist, but antagonist (villain). The bad guy drives the plot! Without a good bad guy, you can’t have a great good guy! The antagonist is the source of the primary conflict, the troubles in the world and most importantly, he/she is the reason the reader sympathizes with your protagonist. We care about our hero because we become a good villain will make us emotionally attached.
* Good stories are the ones that contain the great evils that give rise to legendary heroes. Simply put, without a well thought out, compelling, and powerful antagonist—one who has his/her own goals and views him/herself as the rightful hero — you don’t have a story at all.
* The best advice I ever received in writing was, “You gotta sex it up, man!”
* That’s right! Though, that doesn’t mean a writer needs to have his characters dive into the sheets every other chapter. Sometimes, there just isn’t time when the heroes are dodging bullets.
* I’m talking about a love tension. In Karma City, the reader finds Jameson and Luna each keeping feelings for one another but unable to come forward and voice them. The stakes rise. The love rises. The tension builds. The reader is turning pages now because he/she is emotionally connected. Finally, there comes a time when they can lock eyes and accept that they have a love that allows them to love themselves.
* So, my advice to any writer, if you want your story to pull the heart strings and get readers emotionally invested, build a love tension that feels organic, natural to your characters, and let it rise with the elevating stakes that drive up the plot.

A look into…

~ Blurb ~

* A microscopic parasite has crippled humanity with night terrors and paralyzing anxiety. In this world of increasing dystopia, hope yet remains in Karma City. But when mercenary drifter, Jameson Shoals, learns that a famous scientist has created a stronger parasite to kill the original, it isn’t until the bodies litter the streets that he realizes the horrifying truth: the new parasite is a killer with a mind of its own, and upon dominating Patient Zero, this killer acquires legs, hands, and eyes. It falls upon Shoals and his partner, a deadly female mercenary, to stop PZ and his mob before they can overcome and supplant humankind.

~ Excerpt ~

* Though the degradation in society perpetuated by the Malady parasite crippled advancements in industry and commerce, coal mining prevailed in the mountains and parts beyond Karma City, producing abundant fuel for steam engines and thermal power plants. As a result, the railroad had become the people’s last lifeline. Two 4-8-4 steam locomotives, antiquated yet reliable engines, wheeled along cardinal tracks transporting people, medicine and goods back and forth from Karma, Rime, Lobos and many other unnamed stops in the endless Void Lands. The masters of these locomotives were the rifle-bearing men and women sworn to a life on the tracks— the cold-hearted, Iron Tribe.

Buy Karma City here…
The book will be on sale for $0.99. Amazon – US

Find Gardner Browning here…
Amazon Author Page | Facebook Page

Thank you for joining us here today, Gardner Browning! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Gardner Browning will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! So be sure to leave a comment AND use this RAFFLECOPTER LINK to enter the drawing. Also, visit the other tour stops for a greater chance of winning!