Brynn Barineau

Author: Brynn

  • A Wonderful Launch for Jaguars and Other Game

    A Wonderful Launch for Jaguars and Other Game

     

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to everyone who came out to the launch of Jaguars and Other Game. We had a wonderful night at Buteco in Grant Park with Brazilian salgados and caipirinhas. We raffled off some Haviannas, Garoto candy and coffee fresh off the plane form Brazil curtesy of my husband. The amazing Kendra, of Bookish in East Atlanta, completely sold out of books. My dear friend and I had a blast doing a Q&A. Nothing makes two former high school thespians happier than being handed microphones and people’s undivided attention.

    It was a wonderful evening and I can now officially say I’m a published author. Jaguars and Other Game is available wherever books are sold! Your local indie bookstore, Barnes&Noble, and of course Amazon. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story this time. I’ve got no more words except a final thank you!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Jaguars and Other Game is out today!

    Jaguars and Other Game is out today!

    It’s official! Jaguars and Other Game, my debut historical fiction, is out today! I’ve been writing and working toward the goal of being a published author for more than a decade. This is literally a dream come true.

    You can buy Jaguars and Other Game wherever books are sold! Your local indie bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Target, directly from my publisher at Orange Blossom and of course from Amazon. EBooks are available from Amazon for only $4.99 so if you want to check it out before you purchase 10 paperbacks for everyone in your bookclub or if you happen to live in Brazil (Oi, gente! Tenho saudades para minha familía e meus amigos no Brasil!) you can buy a digital copy!

    Over the many years-long journey to getting published, I’ve learned the idea of solitary author working alone in his cabin with kind only for his dog is a myth. No author works alone. It takes a team to make a book. A good one anyway. Many people have helped create Jaguars and Other Game, from early beta readers to my agent to my editor to the cover designer to every member of my launch team who scoured the manuscript for typos and early reviewers who helped spread the word. If anyone outside my immediate family buys this book, it’s due to all the help I’ve received during the process.

    Of course I’m thankful for my husband and daughter who never complained about my hours spent working behind a screen with very little to show for it. This is what I was working towards, and I hope it’s only the first of many books to come.

    If you have the chance to read Jaguars and Other Game, please leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon! Word of mouth and reader reviews are the lifeblood of independent publishers. And there are so many ways to support authors without spending money. Ask your library to purchase a copy of their book. Share posts about the book on social media. Follow the author on social media and sign up for their newsletter. And of course, leave ratings and reviews for the book.

    I’m so proud of Jaguars! Thank you to everyone who helped make it into the dazzling adventure and romping good story it is and thank you to my readers for your support and spreading the word.

  • Enter the Giveaway! Win a Free Signed Copy of Jaguars and Other Game!

    Enter the Giveaway! Win a Free Signed Copy of Jaguars and Other Game!

    It’s giveaway time! Jaguars and Other Game comes out two weeks from today, and to celebrate the launch, my publisher is giving away five signed copies to US residents on Goodreads. The giveaway runs until debut day, November 22, so don’t miss your chance to win a free copy. You can cross-off a book lover from your Christmas shopping or keep it for yourself and escape the winter chills with an armchair trip to Rio de Janeiro.

    On Goodreads, you can also check out the fabulous, early reviews for Jaguars! Only a couple are from people who’ll see me at Thanksgiving dinner.

    “Five swashbuckling stars for this action-packed (and I don’t use that lightly) adventure! As a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Princess Bride, and using historical fiction as a jumping-off point to learn about people and places, Jaguars and Other Game was right up my alley–and just a TON of fun! ” -Sarah

    “What a fun read! Action-packed, lots of twists and turns, and badass females! This read like one of those action-packed movies, think Pirates of the Caribbean but in Rio and with female leads – I loved it!” -Catherine

    “This book kept me wanting more. I did not want to put the book down. It has action, passion, and drama. The author describes each scene so well that you can feel like you are in each of those scenes.” -Jeanette

    “Bad ass female characters that actually come across like real women, not just sex-symbol super-hero style caricatures. Laugh-out loud funny (the bakery scene! My favorite!)…But also really thoughtful (but not pretentious) commentary on social constructs. Plus a healthy dose of villains you love to hate getting their comeuppance.” -Melissa

    “Brynn Barineau was able to combine grit, awesome adventure fight scenes, suspense at every turn and genuine heart all into one story inspired by the beautiful background of Brazil in the 1800s.” -Allie

    “Despite being about characters in the early 19th century, the dialogue feels fresh and the tone is upbeat and fun! This book is packed with action and energy with a mystery at its heart, and it always left me wanting to read one more chapter before bed.” -Kelli Marie

    …and so much more. I’m blown away by the support and enthusiasm for Jaguars and Other Game! For so long these characters existed only in my head, and it is absolutely wild that other people are professing their love for these figments of my imagination.

    Thank you to everyone who has reviewed Jaguars! Don’t miss your chance to get in on the action. Enter the Goodreads Giveaway and win your free copy!

  • You’re Invited to the Debut Launch Party! (Also my 40th birthday)

    You’re Invited to the Debut Launch Party! (Also my 40th birthday)

    Mark you calendars. Hire a babysitter. Schedule your Uber. It’s time to celebrate the launch of Jaguars and Other Game! November 22 at 6pm at Buteco Bar in Grant Park!

    This is not your typical book launch. My debut novel comes out four days before my 40th birthday. When your dream comes true, you’re turning 40 and your book is set in Rio de Janeiro, you celebrate! Buteco at the Beacon in Grant park is a Brazilian bar owned by São Paulo native and fixture in the Atlanta live music scene, Rafael Pereira. His team is going to be serving Brazilians salgados (heavy appetizers) such as pão de queijo, coxinhas and quibes. He’s fixing a Bossa Nova playlist for the night, and there’ll be a cash bar with a bar tender who knows how to make a good caipirinha.

    We’re going to have raffles drawn throughout the night with goodies my husband is bringing back from Brazil especially for the party. I’ll do a short Q&A but mostly we’re going to be eating and mingling. Oh, and there will be cake. It’s a birthday too.

    Anyone who pre-ordered a copy for pick-up will be able to get their books at the party. I’ll have some copies available for sale at the event.

    You can also pre-order from any of the many indie bookstores across Atlanta. Want to pop in and say hi to Kendra at Bookish? Want to pick-up your copy at Charis Books? Want to support Virginia Highland Books? Would you prefer to buy from Little Shop of Stories? You can order your copy of Jaguars and Other Game from any of these stores.

    Of course, eBooks are available from Amazon or Barnes&Noble. Thank you so much to my friends and family in Brazil, France, Croatia and around the world who have already ordered their eBooks. I know there are purists who only want print books, but eBooks make stories accessible on a global scale. When I lived in Brazil, I got all my books through Kindle, so I don’t throw shade on eBooks.

    I’m so excited for people to finally hold a copy of Jaguars and Other Game. I hope to see lots of you on November 22 at Buteco. Come support debut author and a neighborhood bar. It’s going to be a lot of the Brazilian salgados will be delicious!

    See you on the 22nd!

  • Pre-Order Jaguars and Other Game! A Rousing Historical Adventure!

    Pre-Order Jaguars and Other Game! A Rousing Historical Adventure!

    It’s finally happening! After more than a decade of writing, I can finally answer the dreaded “Oh, you write novels? Where can I buy your book?”

    At your local bookstore! That’s where! Jaguars and Other Game, my gender-flipped, Three-Musketeers-style adventure set in 1809 Rio de Janeiro, is available for pre-order from any local bookstore. (Shout out to my indie, Charis Books!) Or if you prefer, buy digital copies from Amazon or Barnes&Noble! Grab a signed first edition directly from Orange Blossom Publishing!

    I have inwardly cringed at the “Can I buy your book?” for years. Writers constantly share memes “If you write, you’re a writer,” but let’s be honest. If you constantly talk aloud to yourself without an audience, you’re not an actor. You’re the person at the coffee shop no one sits near. And a writer without readers is a prolific diary keeper with delusions of grandeur. An author requires an audience.

    Of course, we’re always warned to be careful what you wish for. Once your book is out in the world, it’s fair game for readers to interpret, critique, review and judge. Despite desperately wanting people to read my book, I was also terrified of people reading my book. I carried around a knot in my stomach from the moment my publisher uploaded Jaguars for early reviews on NetGalley until the first review came in 48 hours later. 5 stars. From a stranger. This person was under no familial obligation or threat of causing a super awkward PTA meeting. They could trash my book without consequence to themselves, and they gave my book 5 stars.

    I know you’re not supposed to read reviews. It’s the one piece of advice all authors give to debuts. Don’t read your reviews. But…who actually does that? Who possesses the stone-cold, borderline sociopathic indifference to others’ opinions required to avoid reviews? When you take your kid to a doctor, you don’t leave the check-up without hearing some feedback. This is my book baby. I love it, but maybe I’m delusional. Honestly, after line edits I have no perspective whatsoever where Jaguars is concerned. I need a second opinion. I want to know what readers think.

    Currently, they think it’s a 4.9 out of 5 stars!

    I even got 5 stars from a librarian! *screaming* Take that agent lady who read an early query and said for Americans to read a book set in Portugal it would “have to be exceptional, and this is not it.” (Also, Rio de Janeiro is not in Portugal.)

    This is very stream of consciousness post is to say, I’m an author. My debut novel, Jaguars and Other Game, is available for pre-order through your local indie bookstore, Amazon, Barnes&Noble and directly from Orange Blossom Publishing. You can get signed first editions from Orange Blossom. Check-out early reviews on Goodreads then order your own copy and see for yourself. Jaguars and Other Game comes out on November 22! I hope you love it!

  • Journey to a Book Deal: By the numbers

    Journey to a Book Deal: By the numbers

    “How long did it take you to get a book deal?” I’m rarely asked that question when I have enough time for a complete answer. Or when people really want an honest answer. Nobody at Thanksgiving wants to hear “Well Aunt Hattie, it took me thirteen years from first book idea to book deal, so if you’re think about a memoir, you probably want to get on that.”

    Full disclosure, I haven’t actually published a book yet. My launch date is November 22, 2022, and at the rate other debut releases are getting pushed back for production and shipping reasons, I might not have a book before Stacey Abrams is president. So the numbers I’m going to give are subject to change depending on the existence of paper nearer my launch date.

    These numbers are also specific to my publishing experience as a fiction writer. Publishing is different for non-fiction. Even within fiction, picture books have different practices and expectations than novels. And none of this is applicable in anyway for self-publishing.

    But for what it’s worth here are my numbers.

    2009

    I had my first idea for a novel and went so far as to write a detailed outline. I wanted it to be a graphic novel. Meaning totally illustrated. Basically a 200 page comic book. That I imagined a publisher would print in color. For my debut novel. Oh starry-eyed, sweet, naïve 2009 Brynn. That girl makes me laugh.

    Still I will love this story until I die because it’s the idea that made me a novelist. That idea became the first book I finished in…

    2015

    Six years form flash of inspiration to complete, edited manuscript. In that time I had a baby, and I’m convinced I would never have developed the self-discipline to finish a manuscript without parenthood. But that’s for another post.

    You know what, let’s summarize this or we’ll be here all day.

    Book 1 Completed June 2015: 2 editors hired, 3 full revisions, 62 agents rejections, shelved early 2017

    Book 2 – Started August 2015 completed March 2017: YA speculative fiction, 5 Beta Readers, 1 editor hired, 3 full revisions, 4 competition submissions, 54 rejections, shelved March 2018

    Book 3 – Started June 2016 completed March 2018: YA historical fiction, 4 Beta readers, 1 competition submission, 39 rejections, 1 Revise & Resubmit, 1 rewrite to change from YA to Adult, Signed with agent November 2018

    While signing with an agent is a huge deal if you want to traditionally, it is NOT a book deal. Because Book 3 still had to go on submission to editors at publishing houses. That’s a whole new level of rejection!

    Book 3 continued: 1 revision with agent, Sent on submission May 2019…

     

    Pause for a global pandemic, an international move and emotional havoc

     

    …Sold to Orange Blossom Publishing Sept., 2021

     

    Book 3 is Jaguars and Other Game. It comes out November 22, 2022.

    That’s how long it took me to get a book deal. Was anyone keeping count? That’s a total of 13 years and 155 rejections. I didn’t even include the editor rejections during Jaguars submission. I honestly don’t know that total. I just assumed every editor employed in the U.S. save one, but as everyone in publishing says “One ‘Yes!’ is all it takes!”

    Depending on the paper situation I will have an actual book this year. (I’m keeping my fingers crossed.) I just sent Book 4 to my agent, which I started during Nanowrimo 2018. Honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever finish it, but turns out I do have more stories in me.

    So Aunt Hattie, if you want to traditionally publish that memoir about growing up on a radish farm with your pet opossum, my advice is to start writing. Be patient. Get a thick skin and working knowledge of em dashes. Write something else. Repeat.

    Now I’m off to start drafting Book 5. I really feel like I’m starting to get the hang of this writing thing.

     

     

     

  • My First Author Event!

    My First Author Event!

    After more than a decade of writing with the intention of building a career, I’m participating in my first author event! Corner Cup on Mainstreet in Tucker, GA from 10am-2pm Sunday, February 27. I’m going to show up in public as a writer. Not just a writer but An Author. With a novel coming out. I really want to be the cool, chill writer, rocking a blazer and sneakers. But I’ll probably be crying through the event. Or talking way too loudly at a million words a minutes. I have trouble using my indoor voice when I’m excited, and I will be very excited this Sunday.

    So if you’re willing to hear me shout about my book, come out to the Corner Cup this Sunday. I’ll be selling copies of two amazing anthologies about living abroad that I contributed to and handing out my very first book swag! A little teaser for Jaguars & Other Game coming out in November 2022.

    Before I began writing fiction, I wrote creative non-fiction about my experiences living in Brazil and I’m looking forward to sharing these anthologies and talking to people about how I used writing, specifically humor, to process and adapt to life abroad. In Once Upon an Expat, I talk about gym culture in Vitoria, Espirito Santo and the importance of rock-solid quads and a fabulous unitard. Giving birth prematurely in a foreign country wouldn’t seem fodder for comedy, but I’m believer in laughter as  a painkiller. My essay in Knocked Up Abroad Again takes readers through my emergency c-section at 33 weeks and the 28 days my daughter spent in the NICU. Both anthologies are filled with heartfelt and humorous accounts of women from all over the world with the common experience of building a life and family in a new country and culture.

    I’m also happy to talk about my experience with traditional publishing, finding an agent then going on submission (for a painfully long 28 months) and ultimately signing with a small indie press. I’ve hired editors and sensitivity readers and networked to find beta readers. I have an extensive collection of rejections from agents and editors and am always up for a good gripe session about how absurdly slow the publishing industry is. A global pandemic was able to play out in the time it took to go on submission. So if you’re looking for a fellow author to talk shop or are thinking about writing your first book, come stop by Corner Cup! I’d love to chat and make more local writer connections.

    Also by buying a coffee and bagel, you’ll be supporting local businesses. Corner Cup is locally owned and operated and they give a ton of support to the community by selling the work of local artists. Their baked goods are also locally produced and delicious, (Shout out to Emerald City’s everything bagel!) so you can feel good about buying that chocolate croissant.

    If you’re around Tucker this Sunday, I hope to see you. We can talk writing, swap book and pastry recommendations, and I promise to try and use my indoor voice.

  • My First Book Deal!

    My First Book Deal!

    It finally happened!

     

    Seven years after I finished the first draft of my first novel, I signed with a publisher. I have dreamed of holding a copy of a book I wrote and seeing my name on the cover. My debut novel, Jaguars and Other Game, comes out November 22, 2022 with Orange Blossom Publishing!

    Assuming my small publisher stays on track with the other books coming out earlier in the year. And assuming the supply chain is mostly back together. And let’s hope for an in-person launch event but who knows when the next Covid variant will hit. But I live in Georgia so I’m probably on for an in-person event. Florida would be more of guarantee but even then, bookstores are getting good at hosting virtual book launches. But if all stars align, there will be a launch party in-person with physical copies of my book in November.

    No matter what happens, I am NOT going to worry about the nature of my book launch. I am going to be happy and celebrate for all of 2022. A professional book person who is a complete stranger to me read my words and said “Yes, this should be printed. It is worth people’s time and money.” So I’m just basking in the glow of a dream achieved.

    Ha. I wish. It’s my nature to plan things out thoroughly in advance then lay in bed sick with anxiety when those plans have to change. It’s one of my adorable personality quirks being unable to chill and go with the flow.

    Over the years, I’ve heard several published authors say that getting your first book doesn’t lessen the stress. It just replaces the fear of never being published with a hundred other fears. And that’s been true, especially with a small publisher. All the early marketing is on me. There’s no marketing intern in New York making my promotional graphics for social media. I have a hundred more professional to-dos than before the book deal.

    2015! My first Decatur Book Festival as an aspiring author. DBF 2023! I’m coming for a local author spot.

    But…BUT all the new worries rest on a foundation of “I did it.” I feel as though an enormous weight has been lifted off my soul that not even signing with my agent relieved. I don’t dread the extra work. Even while the stress knot between shoulder blades grows tighter every minute I spend integrating Mailchimp with my webpage, I’m happy to do the work. I’m absolutely thrilled that I NEED to do the work. Because it’s “for my book”! I will make the damn subscription button work no matter how long it take because I have proof that working hard will pay off. The workshops and contests and style books and years of writing will not all be in vain as I dreaded they would for so many years.

    No matter what happens. In-person or virtual launch. Five attendees or a hundred. 3 Goodreads reviews from my writing group or dozens of four star reviews from strangers. Ten copies sold or five hundred. No matter what happens, by the end of 2022 I will be a published author. When people ask my daughter “What does your mommy do?” She can say  “She’s an author. You can buy her book.”

    And I am damn proud of the book I wrote.

    Jaguars and Other Game is a historical adventure in the spirit of The Three Musketeers that follows three women as they work together to track down a murderer to save a friend wrongly imprisoned for the crime. There’s romance, diamond smugglers, corrupt officials and a mad queen. It’s a story about found family and the lengths we’ll go to save those we love from injustice. And it will be available through your local bookstore, Amazon or Target on November 22, 2022.

  • Brynn Is Not In Brazil

    Brynn Is Not In Brazil

    Hi. So…it’s been a minute. I’d ask how you’ve been the last few years, but I don’t think I could take an honest answer. You’ve either been like me. You’re barely keeping it together and looking in the mirror has been like watching a time elapsed video covering a few decades. Or you’ve managed to thrive and find yourself in adversity in which case, I assume you own a supply chain software company and I don’t want to hear that shit either

    But it’s January 2022 and I’m ready to confidently say I feel like myself again, albeit with thinner hair and a thicker waist.

    What have I been up to? Not writing blog posts obviously. You’d think a writer would process events through writing but whenever I did sit down to write, it felt like someone had taken a shotgun to my attention span. I got fragments of ideas, slivers of thoughts. Piecing together anything sensible, let alone enjoyable, was painful and tedious.

    I’ve over the last 18 months most of my energy has gone to building a life from scratch in Atlanta.

    Mercedes Benz Stadium in the ATL. Home to the Falcons, Atlanta United, & mass vaccinations.

    That’s right. Brynn is officially NOT in Brazil! We moved to my hometown of Atlanta in June 2020. Yup. 2020. A transcontinental move with a child in the midst of a global pandemic. And my husband stayed behind in Brazil because job and money. As risky life changing decisions go, we were open to international flights and furniture shopping during a pandemic but drew the line at no one in the house earning an income. We saved that for 2021.

    I’ll write a whole series of posts on moving from Brazil to the US soon. Getting my daughter registered for school was an odyssey in itself. The Dekalb school system is not set up for an English-speaking, foreign born American citizen with a social security number but only Brazilian school transcripts. The automated messages never tell you what number to push for that.

    Moving back to the United States isn’t the only thing that’s happened. We adopted two dogs from a local rescue. I reconnected with friends I hadn’t seen since high school. I started a book club with two of them and joined a writing with another. That group helped me finish a fourth draft of a historical fiction that I started writing for Nanowrimo 2018 and will finally go on submission to editors this year.

    And I sold my first book!!!!!! (Maybe I should have led with that?)

    After years querying and being on submission, I signed with a small idependent publisher, Orange Blossom Publishing to release my historical fiction, Jaguars and Other Game. It will be my debut novel, launching on November 22, 2022. Just in time for my 40th birthday.

    I have high expectations for 2022. I say that despite having been conscious for the last two years. My husband has joined us full time in Atlanta for the next year. We’re together, vaccinated, and I’m going to launch my debut novel.

    There’s a lot happening. A lot has happened. I’ll write about everything. Keep checking in for updates on the publishing process and fun announcements like the cover reveal and pre-order campaigns. I’m so excited to share this process with y’all.