Now that I’ve finally slithered out of bed (after recuperating from jetlag thanks to hitting both US coasts in the same week!) I’ve been delightfully surprised to discover a whole wave of great new stuff from the BranFans! It has been a thrill seeing all the wonderful people already involved in the Bran Hambric fandom — with still just under 100 days left before the full book is even out!

For starters, check out this song from the wonderfully talented Adrienne Frailey, who wrote it as a tribute to Bran Hambric and recently recorded it between studio sessions for her upcoming album:

Can’t see it? Click here.

Not only that, but a ton of BranFans have been using music from the soundtrack in their own YouTube video creations! Here is one by HideTheMushrooms on YouTube that uses my song The Box In The Bookstore (which you can download for free) to make a music video interpretation of the song (I like how since no one has read up to the actual box-in-the-bookstore scene in the preview chapters, the video makers invented their own ending ):

Can’t see it? Click here.

I’ve been using Google recently to help keep up with the Bran buzz, and I’ve spotted a whole assortment of really cool startup fansites for the book: like the BranHambricLexicon.com, BranHambricFansite, BranHambricByKN, TeamBranFans on YouTube (complete with another original song by Ethan, inspired by The Farfield Curse!), and a couple Bran Hambric and Kaleb Nation fan pages on Facebook. I’m amazed at how much all of these sites (and any I might have missed!) are doing to help spread the word about Bran Hambric!

And as for all the music: I’m so happy that there are already so many songs inspired by the book, when all anyone has read so far is the preview chapters! If you missed it, the Twilight-inspired band Bella Rocks! also has a song called “Emry’s Farewell” based on the prologue of the book. As an author, who created these characters and names and places, it feels wonderful seeing others find creative ways to take on my world.

A lot of the art that is used in these videos and websites is available for free from BranFans.com, including special computer wallpapers, buttons and widgets. Plus, at BranHambricMusic.com, you can now download four of the songs from the Bran Hambric soundtrack (and listen to nearly all of the others!). Kudos to all the great people for using their talents to make all this cool stuff

FOR THE COMMENTS: What do you think of all the great Bran Hambric music and sites that are appearing?

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Posted in Bran Hambric, Videos
Tags: Bran Hambric, music

Can’t see it? Click here.

Check out Owl City and download the song “Hot Air Balloon” for free!

Subscribe to my Youtube for more videos.

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Posted in Videos
Tags: music, Owl City

Yesterday, I was cleaning up my computer and found an old song concept from months ago that I never finished. I had been having loads of trouble with a piano line in the song and had finally just given up. When I found it again, I realized the problem with the piano was that the piano just didn’t belong — I took it out, and suddenly the song came together.

A few hours of not-studying-psychology later, I might actually have another song to add to the Bran Hambric soundtrack (I promise I’ll release Astara soon, I’m almost done mastering it). If I decide it’s worth finishing, I’m thinking this new one will be for Shambles (he’s in the preview chapters if you’ve read them). Here’s a clip from the middle:

For this one I’m going for a very emotional, brooding sound that’s different from the rest of the soundtrack: this overall feeling of a mentally alone and tortured creature who can’t escape the voices that haunt him from within.

Speaking of the soundtrack, I’ve noticed that there are quite a number of people who want a Bran Hambric soundtrack on CD. A day ago, I posted on Twitter that I was considering it, and within 5 minutes I was inundated with replies from all over the world wanting to get it somehow. (In the midst of showing a spoof of the CD art, I might have inadvertently leaked what we might be using as the Bran Hambric logo…see what unexpected insider information you get from following my Twitter?).

My original idea for the soundtrack was to give the songs away with the book somehow, but it appears that at least with the first edition of THE FARFIELD CURSE, there will be no CD attached. Sometimes, for books that sell particularly well, there will be deluxe editions with extra material, which is the most likely point when a CD would actually come with the book; but as of now, the only way I will be able to get CD’s to the people who want them is to sell it really cheap from a Print On Demand service (most likely LuLu.com). Nothing is set in stone, but my thoughts on this plan are:

-  A CD of the soundtrack with 9-10 songs available from BranHambricMusic.com for really cheap ($8 or $9),
-  Half of the soundtrack available for free download, as before with Youtube,
-  A code inside THE FARFIELD CURSE book that unlocks bonus songs and downloads that aren’t on the soundtrack.

Since Twitter isn’t really a good place to see a show of hands on who likes the idea and who doesn’t, please do comment on this below. Your feedback on this will really be the deciding factor on if a Bran Hambric CD actually does come into being, because at the moment I’m indecisive.

By the way, I’m testing out a new and improved commenting system on my blog. Now, you can reply directly to others comments, and see my replies to you all in one place! Hopefully you all enjoy it

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Posted in Bran Hambric, My Music
Tags: Bran Hambric, music, Twitter

[You can download this song for free. Click here to visit the download page.]

The idea for this song came to me suddenly while I was writing, and I had the entire thing arranged and recorded in about an hour. I left it on my computer for a month, then came back to it today, and didn’t change a single thing.

Can’t see it? Click here.

However, despite spending so little time on the song, the video took me nearly half a day to complete: mostly because I started out with a lame idea of showing my hands at the keyboard, doing each note and fading each one apart (this turned out horrible, after about 4 hours of filming, because basically all you’d see were these misty hands pressing the same keys over and over — LAME). With each beat in the song, there is a beat on the video, and I think it finally turned out right for this song.

[You can download this song for free. Click here to visit the download page.]

QUESTION FOR THE COMMENTS: What do you think of the song?

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Posted in My Music, Videos
Tags: music

This morning, I awoke to my horror to find this:

My dear, dear friend. Dearest filing cabinet. The one that stuck with me through years of writing, and hundreds of pages stuffed in its drawers. The one with at least a dozen nails holding together its frame left weak from my years of abuse. The one who finally collapsed due to being overstuffed with writing.

One might ask: how could you be such a monster, Kaleb? How, when this dear cabinet has done nothing but serve you through three homes, from Austin to Dallas, traversing the distance to be at your service. How could you just let it sit there in shambles, its own insides spilling out?

BECAUSE THIS FILING CABINET IS A BLOODY MENACE.

Do not fall for its tricks of innocence. The moment I approached this fiendish piece of furniture with my hammer and nails and intentions of repairing its broken parts, it turned on me in the most vicious of manners. Suddenly, this seemingly inanimate filing cabinet became a monstrous beast, dropping its heaviest pieces right upon my uncovered toes.

Keep in mind this is early in the morning, in the dark, whilst I am still groggy from lack of sleep. Ignoring my intention of helping mend the cabinets back together, this beastly thing fell to pieces, the metal parts of which bruised my feet and caused me to howl. Yes, howl. And kick. Yes kick. And as kicking goes, when you are in close proximity to an unmovable object (say, a filing cabinet) your toes collide with said object, and cause much pain.

My reaction following said injuries

Still, this filing cabinet has served me well for the past two years; but as the slogan goes, it is time for a change! I have been shopping Amazon.com this week for a new one, as is my custom; only to discover that shipping a filing cabinet is not cheap. Besides, I am an overly sentimental person. I have kept everything from pencils I used to draft my book to rejection letters in which my title is spelled wrong. So, don’t be surprised if I keep this old thing’s pieces in a box somewhere.

Despite now having no cabinet in which to file it in, I just completed my first-ever Publicity Questionnaire! Ever since I first wanted to be an author, this has been one of the steps I’ve anticipated the most. It’s one of those forms that nearly every author has to fill out when they are signed for their first novel, which details basic information like their date of birth and phone number, all the way to questions which might resemble:

How will your book benefit its readers/affect their lives?

Is there anything in this book that might be CONTROVERSIAL or make people UNCOMFORTABLE?

What are three hooks or ideas that might help to publicize your book?

If for some unearthly reason you were in a den of alligators, would a pen or a pencil be a more useful method of escape?

Does the chondrocyte synthesize cartilage or form the fiber found in connective tissues?

or similar. Mine was a lofty 14 pages of questions, each of which were a joy to complete.

As for new stuff that’s been happening, we finally signed on a wonderful illustrator to do the cover for The Farfield Curse. I can’t quite say who it is yet, but the signing of an illustrator means that things are really picking up pace now (plus, he just won a huge award for his last book cover, which is a good sign!). Next month I’m heading to Chicago to meet with the publishers over a day’s worth of meetings, where we’ll talk marketing and publicity and fine cheese.

Main Topic Of Conversation

Also, I just passed 20,000 subscribers on the Youtubes, which was double my goal for this entire year! This was a total shock, to say the least, but honestly vlogging is so much more enjoyable when you have people who watch. I remember when my videos used to get 12 views, all from people I personally knew. Now, I’ll certainly be putting up things on the book…and perhaps, a special book trailer I’ve been working on!

I’ve been doing lots of regular updates on what I’m doing via Twitter. If you want to know all the latest stuff before I get a chance to blog it, you can get everything if you follow me on Twitter! I also let you know about my live BlogTV shows before anyone else as well as my videos and any other big news… lots of which I’m sure will be happening in the coming months. According to my calculations, we only have about 7 more months until the book is out — but before that, we’ll have covers and pre-orders open and all sorts of great stuff.

Along that same line, here’s something new I recently put up on my Youtube channel: it’s the latest song from the soundtrack for The Farfield Curse that I’ve released for free download! Watch the video to listen, and click here if you want to download the song for free!

Can’t see it? Click here.

I’d love to know what you think of the song in the comments, or any suggestions for which song I should put up next!

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Posted in About Me, Bran Hambric, My Music, Videos, Writing
Tags: Cheese, Filing Cabinets, music, publishers