Greetings and introductory post

[pbray]

Hi, I'm Patricia Bray and welcome to my livejournal. In here you'll find my musings on the writing life and whatever else strikes my fancy. You can use this post to introduce yourself, or if you find a topic that interests you, please feel free to chime in. I'd be interested in hearing how you found this livejournal, and what you like about it. You can find out more about me by checking the "user info" option on the left or visiting my website at www.patriciabray.com.

LJ-Friending policy: Anyone is welcome to friend me, but please don't be upset if I don't friend you back. I have a limited amount of time to spend reading my friends list, so I keep the list small to avoid having to keep skipping over large numbers of entries.

Comments

[hildy.livejournal.com]

Er, hi, I found you through the writing essays you and jennifer_dunne posted and have stuck around.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Hi Hildy! Glad to have you.

general

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to comment on this or if it's saved for a particular subject, but I was turned on to you by my bookstore guy, small store not one of the evil chain stores that have no knowledge of authors or their works, i hope you support the little stores they rock. Anyway he turned me on to your devlin serious and you made me read three books in 2 days, thatsa how good you are. I am hoping you will continue the serious because i can see atleast 10 or more in that serious if you so wished. Hope you respond. not sure how this works but my email is bpatmc9999@aol.com

Re: general

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Hi! Thanks for posting. I sent a reply to your e-mail address.

hi!

[fireun.livejournal.com]

its april from the Johnson City Waldenbooks. been skulking about for a bit, and decided i might as well actually friend you and drop a hullo!

Re: hi!

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Hi April, thanks for dropping by. I love your icon.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Hi Adele, so glad you stopped by! Always glad to see a new face here, especially a Bray :-)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'm a relation. My father's family came over from Cork, Ireland and settled in Connecticut in the late 1800s. Years ago I did some digging and found out that Bray is one of those names that crosses countries and ethnicities. I've run into English Brays, French Brays, as well as other Irish Brays who were from completely different parts of Ireland.

There's a Libba Bray here in the States who is a very successful author writing for young adults--also no relation, but simply another sign that the name Bray stands for "talented author" :-)

Life is Good!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Patricia,
This is a really important question. Lives hang in the balance here. Where did you find that Life is Good "Write On" shirt? If it is a shirt... I tried their website but I couldn't find it. I have to have it! You can e-mail me at robinettes2002@yahoo.com or just answer here. Thanks a bundle!

Madeline

Re: Life is Good!

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Madeline,

Isn't it cool? It's my favorite shirt that I wear when crunch time comes.

And yes, it's a Life is Good longsleeve t-shirt that I bought at Dick's Sporting Goods store a couple of years ago. I haven't seen it in a store since, but if you go to Google and type "write on" "long sleeve" "life is good" as your search arguments, you'll see a few listings of stores that may still have it in stock. You'll want to be sure you have "write on" and "life is good" both in quotes to narrow down the field.

Good luck!

Re: Life is Good!

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks a bundle! I love Life is Good stuff, it always makes me grin. It helps to know that it's a long sleeve. Off to search now...

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Adele, glad to have you here! I don't mind at all. Though I'm a bit slow to add friends back since my LJ time is fairly limited and I always feel bad when I'm hitting "skip 20/skip40/skip 400" when trying to keep up with everyone on my friends list.

Yay!

[origamilady.livejournal.com]

Hi there :)
I found your lj through rolanni 's friends page and must admit Im absolutely tickled pink to find so many of my favorite authors herebouts. I hope ye don't mind if I 'friend' ye and *shrug* feel free to do the same (or not) with me.

Re: Yay!

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Hi! Welcome aboard and glad to have you here.

Bray = talented author

[(Anonymous)]

the name Bray stands for "talented author" :-)

Thanks! I'd have to agree. I wrote "The Dissociative Identity Disorder Sourcebook," published by McGraw-Hill.

Deborah Bray Haddock

Re: Bray = talented author

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Cool!

Waves "Hi!" Always nice to see another published Bray.

your books

[(Anonymous)]

i love you books your writeing is exelent and i have read the first of develin and am reading the first betrayle

Re: your books

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much!

[bosstweed.livejournal.com]

Hi there! I was commenting on matociquala's journal that if she really hated the Chosen One, there was this book she had to read... and so I found your LJ. A couple months ago I read Devlin's Luck, and it was the first "traditional" fantasy novel I'd read in ages that didn't make me want to tear my hair out due to boring uses of old fantasy wheezes. In fact, I really enjoyed it and have recommended it to others! I like the way you think about fantasy.

I'm a reader and writer (as yet unpublished) of F/SF/H, and I really enjoy reading about the day-to-day doings of professional writers. Following writers' journals/blogs is more useful than a decade of Writers Market!

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Hi! Welcome and thanks for the nice words.

I saw matociquala's post, and agreed with much of what she listed-- it's a list of things that other writers have often done poorly. But as with any of those lists, in a perverse way it's inspirational. Knowing that there is a glut of badly written "Chosen One" stories can inspire you to write a story that shows what it would really be like to be the Chosen One, by turning the entire concept on its ear.

One of the plot bunnies that I have tucked in my to-be-written-someday file is an empathic healer story--another trope that's been misused and abused. I haven't written it yet in part because the story is so dark that I don't think it would find an audience.

Anyway, enough babbling for a Saturday morning when I ought to be finishing up the WiP.

Good luck with your writing.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello,

Just wanted to intro myself. I love to watch the journals of published authors as motivation and wisdom. So, if you don't mind, I am going to friend you so I can read your posts in the future. Thanks. Bryan

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Bryan, hi, happy to have you here!