ajbrownstoryteller

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Do You Have A Minute to Help a Guy Out?

Good morning everyone. I know I’ve been irregular in posting content over the last handful of years. Today’s post is twofold. One, it’s to say, “Hey, I’m still here.” And, Two, to ask for your help. No. No. No. There is no money involved. Read on. I’m not a fan of Amazon. It has been a necessary evil, but still an evil. The issue has become that I make nothing with my books on Amazon. Literally.…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Sleeve of Hearts

Hey. Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening wherever you are. This is my first post for 2025. It’s a bit late, but I’ve been fairly inconsistent with these over the last couple years. Or, maybe I’m consistently inconsistent.  I want to talk about a project I was a part of at the tail end of 2024. It’s called Sleeve of Hearts, a poetry anthology.  “Poetry?” you asks?  Yeah, poetry. I…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

AMA #1

I’m trying to start a new series here on Type AJ Negative based on the Ask Me Anything premise. You ask a question and I answer it, either honestly or sarcastically or both. I will shoot for honesty every time, but sarcastic questions deserve sarcastic replies. To do that, I need questions from you, the readers of Type AJ Negative. If you have a question, feel free to drop it in the comments…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

10/22/2024 Back in April of this year, I submitted my first piece in a long while. It was a nonfiction piece that was sent to Memento Mori Ink. In complete transparency it was a requested piece, so submitting it might be a stretch, though it could have still been rejected. I also sent a story to a contest around the same time. The story didn’t win, but it was nice to send a story out with hopes…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Deep Dive: The Scarring

I leave notes at the end of all my books (except for Beautiful Minds, because the notes are at the end of each story). They are generalized notes about each story, just a little something for you, the readers, giving you some insights on them. I’ve been wanting to go more in depth on some of those stories for several years. This is the first of those deep dives, and it’s about a story that was…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

A Conversation With Lindsey Goddard

In the many years I have been in this business, I have met a lot of writers. Many of them have passed out of my life through time. It’s the nature of things. Some of them have become like family. Again, the nature of things. Some of them have left horrible impressions and I have helped them exit my life. Yes, it’s them, not me. Then there’s people like Lindsey Goddard. Lindsey and I go way back…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Climbing the Wall

10/06/2024 A couple years ago, I hit a wall. Not literally, but definitely figuratively. The wall was tall and thick and made of all sorts of things, the biggest of those being heavy bricks called DOUBT. The mortar between those bricks was called DISCOURAGEMENT. I tried climbing the wall, but fell several times. Man, bruised ego, bruised confidence and just bruises happen when you fall from a…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

I'm A Hobo, She's A Vampire (Podcast)

Good afternoon, y’all. I’m stoked to announce my story, I‘m A Hobo, She’s A Vampire is up at he Weird Wide Web Podcast. Lindsey Goddard is the host of this podcast and it is clear she had fun with this. My story is the first one on the podcast. Please, listen through to the end if you have time. It’s good and Lindsey did a great job with all of the stories. You can click the link below to…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Book Spotlight: Along the Splintered Path

Along the Splintered Path was released in 2012 by Dark Continents Publishing. It was my first experience, as a writer, having a publisher take a chance with my stories to the extent of releasing a short collection of them. For me, it was a massive learning experience. Sure, I had worked with editors and publishers before but on a single story basis, not a book focused solely on me. It was, to be…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Duality and Napalm Psalms

Last week I posted about the magazine Memento Mori Ink coming in August. You can read about that here: It’s Coming. My article The Hook of Relatability will be in it.  But that’s not all … My story, Duality, will appear in the collection, Napalm Psalms (by Lisa Vasquez). I am honored to be one of the guest writers for Lisa. This collection comes out sometime in the fall.  Duality is based off…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Kool and the Gang put out a song in 1980 titled, Celebration. It’s the ultimate Raise Your Beer song. It’s the ultimate Look What Amazing Thing You Did song. And it should be the song we sing when we succeed, even with the little things … especially with the little things. Did you get out of bed this morning? Celebrate it.Did you get dressed this morning? Celebrate it.Did you make it to work or…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

It's Coming

Good morning. I’m really excited to announce the coming of Momento Mori Ink Magazine, presented by the duo of Crystal Lake Entertainment and Lisa Vasquez of Stitched Smile Publications. What’s even more exciting is I get to participate in this with a new series about writing and what I know so far. The first issue is slated for the end of August. Check out the cover art below. I hope you will…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Sometimes I Wave Goodbye

I sat at my desk, quietly leaning back in my seat. I didn’t face the desk, the computer or the papers that sat beside the keyboard, the many emails I had printed out that outlined tasks I needed to do for the day. I can’t say I was looking at anything—I wasn’t. I just … stared at nothing, my thoughts on a slow train running circles around my brain.  …  … Before continuing, let me back up a…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Back In The Saddle

A couple years ago, I quit the business of publishing for a while. I even wrote a letter and posted it here and on social media. I was frustrated with the way the publishing world treated people, the way many authors treated other authors, with the amount of plagiarism I saw in this business, with the amount of … I don’t know … hate I saw in the writing community.  When I left everything behind,…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Human Touch (Cover Reveal)

A couple years ago I was in a rut with writing. A couple? Seriously, A.J.? It’s been five years. Back in 2019, I was in a rut with writing. My editor, Larissa Bennett, challenged me, literally, to write a story I didn’t want to write. I told her about an idea I had but was hesitant to write because it was a ~GASP~ love story.  “You should write it,” she said.  I said, “I don’t want to,” like a…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

The Concepts: Chuckie

On June 29, 1993, I wrote my first short story. If you were a member of my Patreon page, One Step Forward, then you know that story is called, Chuckie, and was based on a nightmare I had multiple times. You also know how the story came about. But here, at Type AJ Negative and this thing I call The Concepts, you probably don’t know anything about that. Today, I give you the story—the full story…

[ajbrownstoryteller]

Just What's Going On Here 1/03/2023

One thing I want to do this year is promote my work more. I’ve done a poor job of it over the last few years. Sure, I post stories here, and occasionally, I post information about a book but those have been sporadic at best. That means information about new books, old books, reviews and goings on. That also means more posts, some of them that will simply read like this one with a title similar to…