B.C. Lienesch - Navigating the Twists and Turns of Self-Publishing and Mystery Writing
Apr 18, 2024
Alimond Studio
From the relentless grind of the gig economy to the gripping world of mystery thrillers, B.C. Lienesch, or Bryan Lienesch to his friends, spins a tale you won't want to miss. With the wisdom only a self-published author can offer, Bryan walks us through his transformative journey, detailing how his wife's encouragement led to the creation of his debut novel, "The Woodsman," and a bold leap into full-time writing amid the turbulence of a global pandemic. His story isn't just about penning novels; it's a testament to the resilience needed to form a personal LLC, wade through the complexities of the publishing world, and find that spark of inspiration that breathes life into every page. Listen in as Bryan peels back the curtain on his carefully crafted characters, drawing inspiration from crime fiction icons like Robert Crais, and the happy accidents that gave rise to his subsequent works.
Buckle up for an episode that's equal parts masterclass and heart-to-heart, as Bryan Lienesch shares not just his creative process but also the softer side that nurtures it—like his love for Lego and the therapeutic value it holds for him. He offers up hard-earned wisdom for budding authors, urging them to push past self-doubt and embrace the fulfillment of seeing a project through to its end. Bryan's compelling narrative reminds us of the kindness that still thrives in the competitive literary world, and the importance of lifting each other up. Get a sneak peek into his upcoming audiobook, and let his conviction that ambition need not be ruthless inspire you. Whether you're a die-hard mystery fan or a writer in search of a sign to start your next chapter, this conversation with B.C. Lienesch is sure to ignite your passion.
From the relentless grind of the gig economy to the gripping world of mystery thrillers, B.C. Lienesch, or Bryan Lienesch to his friends, spins a tale you won't want to miss. With the wisdom only a self-published author can offer, Bryan walks us through his transformative journey, detailing how his wife's encouragement led to the creation of his debut novel, "The Woodsman," and a bold leap into full-time writing amid the turbulence of a global pandemic. His story isn't just about penning novels; it's a testament to the resilience needed to form a personal LLC, wade through the complexities of the publishing world, and find that spark of inspiration that breathes life into every page. Listen in as Bryan peels back the curtain on his carefully crafted characters, drawing inspiration from crime fiction icons like Robert Crais, and the happy accidents that gave rise to his subsequent works.
Buckle up for an episode that's equal parts masterclass and heart-to-heart, as Bryan Lienesch shares not just his creative process but also the softer side that nurtures it—like his love for Lego and the therapeutic value it holds for him. He offers up hard-earned wisdom for budding authors, urging them to push past self-doubt and embrace the fulfillment of seeing a project through to its end. Bryan's compelling narrative reminds us of the kindness that still thrives in the competitive literary world, and the importance of lifting each other up. Get a sneak peek into his upcoming audiobook, and let his conviction that ambition need not be ruthless inspire you. Whether you're a die-hard mystery fan or a writer in search of a sign to start your next chapter, this conversation with B.C. Lienesch is sure to ignite your passion.
Speaker 1:
My full name is Brian Lenish. On my books I go as BC Lenish and I write mystery thrillers, crime fiction, and that's what I offer If you're into that sort of thing. I've written three books. I've written the Woodsman, country Roads and Chasing Devils. Okay, can you tell me a little bit about how you started your journey in writing these books? How did that come about?
Speaker 1:
Dot com was kind of trying to go out on my own and I was pretty frustrated by the opportunities out there in the quote unquote gig economy and it had been something always at the back of my mind and it was actually my wife who really pushed it to be like. You know, you've always wanted to do this. I've got us. If you want to, you know you should really pursue it full time. And after she twisted my arm a little more, I did and I wrote the Woodsman in 2019. Got a polished manuscript towards the end of 2019, early 2020. If you're a history buff, you might remember a global pandemic hit right around then, shut down all the publishing industry and I kind of wasn't content to wait around and I just chose to do it myself and I formed my own LLC and put the books out myself.
Speaker 2:
Wow, that is impressive. How did you go about with publishing and everything? Were there any resources or anything?
Speaker 1:
A lot of networking, a lot of just Googling stuff. It's amazing what you can find on the Internet if you don't know a specific answer. In terms of printing the books, I contract that out. In terms of designing the books, I also had help with that, but in terms of laying it out and all that, I've had an editor that has given me a really affordable rate as a self-published author. So that's helped and he's also a terrific friend and so he was able to beta read.
Speaker 1:
My second two. Beta reading is when you get a couple of people who know your writing to look at sort of an early version and not working on proofreading so much, but what works plot wise and that sort of thing. So he's also been great at that and offering insight to that. And then I just I did what I needed to do. I needed a Mac to get the software to lay out the book. So I got a Mac and I laid out the software. Or I got the software to lay out the books, so I got a Mac and I laid out the software, or I got the software to lay out the books. And three books later, here we are.
Speaker 2:
You made it sound so easy, but I know it's probably a little bit of a knowledge. Behind it's a lot of um, so uh.
Speaker 1:
I was just at a convention this past weekend called author con and I was telling them that I always equate writing the first book to kind of like climbing a mountain, but you can only see five feet ahead of you, uh, where you're like, okay, I'll do this. And then you get another, okay, I'll do this. And then it's like, once you got to the top, you're like, well, I didn't know if it was gonna be all this, I don't know that I would have done it, but you kind of had the, you had the blessing of ignorance going into it. And so then, once I knew I could do it, then I knew ostensibly I could do it again, and then a third time.
Speaker 2:
That's awesome. Now can you tell me a little bit about how you come up with the stories for the books, like what inspires you when you write that?
Speaker 1:
So I've always been attracted to mystery thrillers. I mean, that's the genre I read when I want to read for pleasure. Now I get to write it off as market research or something. But basically I wasn't a huge until probably about late middle school, early high school, and I found one of Robert Crace's books. Robert Crace is a crime novelist Um, he writes Los Angeles based crime novels and I found one of his books in a Costco and it was, you know, talking about heists and stuff and and the teenager teenage.
Speaker 1:
I was like that sounds interesting and he's become one of my favorite authors and his recurring characters are two men named Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. And Elvis Cole is kind of a smart-alecky private eye and Joe Pike is the speak softly and carry a big stick muscle behind him and so in a way, my main character, jackson Clay, and his cohort who he comes to meet in the first book, bear Beauchamp they're kind of my take on that, but it's different. Elvis Cole or, I'm sorry, jackson Clay, is the much more soft-spoken and Bear is the louder, more abrasive, lovable boar.
Speaker 2:
Okay, and then are these a trilogy? Are they a continuous?
Speaker 1:
story. They're in a series. I point out that they are episodic, so each is its own contained story. Um, so if you read, you know what book two is about and and you want to go straight to book two rather than the woodsman. Um, you totally can. It's just. It's just simply the characters that continue. Wherever you start, you'll get a beginning, middle and end, and you won't. It won't jump into a story where you're like what is going on here? You may miss some context of the first few books, but you can pick up wherever you want.
Speaker 2:
OK, that's cool. Did you plan that when you were writing that?
Speaker 1:
No, so I'd written the Woodsman and I was pitching that sort of the traditional route, like I said, going through the pandemic and all that, where I was querying agents and publishers. And in the middle of that my wife and I had talked about I'm definitely doing one book, but didn't really talk beyond that and I think it was like a Saturday morning beyond that, and I think it was like a Saturday morning, I was just having coffee, watching TV and I got this like light bulb moment for a second book and I sat down on the computer and I wrote myself kind of an elevator pitch of what the book would be and my wife got up and I said so I think I want to write a second book. And she was like absolutely. And so I knew I wanted to continue the characters.
Speaker 1:
Obviously the first book had a ending to it, so it couldn't just be a continuing write-off. Where the first book left off. It takes up a few months later or something in terms of a timeline. But yeah, and then, once I did that, I kind of had a format for how I wanted to do these books. And people have asked is it just a trilogy? Is it done? Because, if you, without giving away too much. If you read Chasing Devils, the third book, the ending feels like it could be a conclusion to the overall story. Yeah, I'm not working on a Jackson Clay novel per se right now, but I've always said I would not have written that ending if I did not have ideas of how to continue the story.
Speaker 2:
Okay, yeah, so a little bit of planning does help a little. And now, where do you see yourself in the next five years, like any other projects in the works?
Speaker 1:
So I have a current work in progress. Now it's a departure from this series, it's an arson-based thriller, so it's actually the most research I've done leading up to a novel. I'm very much what writers call a pantser, which means I don't do a lot of brainstorming or charting, I just really write by the seat of my pants. And this was really the first time because I'm not an arsonist and I don't know how arsonist. So I had to do a lot of research into that and I'm sure, based on my search history, the FBI has a file on me now. But you know, it's one of those things where I didn't want the thing. I cannot stand in both whether it's books, movies, arson, but arson investigation where it felt like this could be a real story, realistic Even though it's a work of fiction.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, okay. And then, as far as marketing goes for your books, like, how are you getting new people to find out about your books, or fans who are waiting for more books from you? Like how are you keeping them up with all that?
Speaker 1:
It's a lot of throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks For me. I run Facebook ads where I just basically as simply as boosting posts from my author page. I do a lot of events. I just came back from a convention in Williamsburg called AuthorCon. That's great to connect not only with readers but fellow writers. I do a lot of events around the area.
Speaker 1:
You've talked to Jay Denison Reed on here earlier. You've talked to Jay Denison Reid on here earlier. He's a good colleague of mine and one of those networking relationships I have, and there's several of those where we just one of the things that I could not have been more wrong about in sort of getting into this. My preconceived notion was that the writing world would be maybe a little dog-eat-dog everybody for themselves. My preconceived notion was that the writing world would be maybe a little dog eat dog everybody for themselves.
Speaker 1:
Um, I could not have been more wrong about everybody is gracious, everybody is uh, well, um, there's a number of blurbs, um, or basically authors giving you know, um, praising the books. I've written A lot of them. When they first read my books, did not know me from a stranger and just willingly gave their time and their effort and I thought I got one and I thought, well, she's just amazing and she's an exception to the rule, and it really is. It's the rule rather than the exception that people are really, you know, we all understand there's enough, there's enough pie to go around and we, and we want to make sure everybody gets their piece, if we can help it oh, that's really nice.
Speaker 2:
You guys have built like a nice little friendly community for office.
Speaker 1:
We have we have the, you'll get. I mean literally, we'll send uh an email out. Uh so, and so is looking for local authors. Reach out to them. If we get words of an event or a book fair, we distribute it to our writer friends, awesome.
Speaker 2:
I love that for you guys like having that little community to ask questions to. I love that. And then, what do you like to do outside of writing books, like, what do you do when you're not writing or reading books?
Speaker 1:
That's all sorts of stuff. I enjoy watching movies, TV. I enjoy playing games. Every year in there Probably more casual games. I'm not one of these hardcore types. I enjoy games around, here and there, board games. I'm a self-admitted adult fan of Lego.
Speaker 2:
Legos are cool. They have plant ones, now that you can make it looks pretty.
Speaker 1:
I enjoy building those. It's something to take your mind out of everything else. It's a great little self-meditation thing.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's good for your brain too, like a puzzle it is. Yes, exactly, yeah, it's a, it's great little self meditation thing.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, it's good for your brain too, like just like, like, like a puzzle.
Speaker 2:
It is yes, exactly. Yeah, that's amazing. And now, um, if you could share any piece of advice with any of our listeners who are inquiring about maybe getting started on writing a book, but don't know where to start or how to begin, what advice would you give them?
Speaker 1:
Um. So the biggest thing is you've just got to do it, and even I'm my own hypocrite at times like that. Aren't we all Because I knew it going into it when I wrote my first book. I'm one of these people that really I have to overanalyze things before I come to a decision, and so I really research what goes into writing a novel and this and that, and I came across an essay from the author Stephen Hunter. He wrote the book that the movie I'm blanking on it Shooter with Mark Wahlberg.
Speaker 2:
I don't know.
Speaker 1:
So he wrote the book that that movie is based on. He writes action, thrillers, that sort of thing, and he had written an essay about the day he starts his next book. 10,000 other people are going to start a book probably their first and unlike the vast majority of them, he's going to finish it. Now that's not for malevolent reasons. People, you know, life gets in the way. People get promotions. People get you know they have children, they get married, that sort of thing. His point was that the hard truth is you may not be talented enough to be a writer, but you'll never know unless you write. That's right.
Speaker 1:
And you'll never know unless you finish that book. I mean, it's so easy to start a book, right? You and I could start a book here right now. It's a lot more difficult to finish a book and, like I said, I even find myself being a hypocrite in terms of putting myself out there. I was pursuing an audio book for my first book, the Woodsman, and someone put a project in front of me and said, oh, they're looking for people that are self-published or indie-published, that don't have an audio book and don't immediately have the financial means to produce an audio book. Because it's a considerable investment, especially if you want to hire a professional narrator. And I say, I know it's worthwhile, but I'm sure they'll get a hundred. And one of my friends said well, it costs nothing. It costs nothing after your name in the ring. And they ended up choosing the Woodsman for their production. So it was even I catch myself to this year reminding myself you just gotta one, you gotta do it and one you've gotta be. The worst thing people could say is no, no yeah.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
That is so true, and where can people find your books?
Speaker 1:
So the easiest ways, probably through me. They are widely available on Amazon, barnes, noble books, a million things like that. But I also have an Etsy shop where I offer the books, both paperback and hardcover. It's Etsycom, backslash shop, backslash BCL novels, I think, and that way you could get it personalized. If you want an autograph, I don't charge anything to graffiti your book for you, and then that way you're getting it directly from me rather than someone, and you know where your book's coming from. And if it's for Mother's Day, if it's for Father's Day, you can send a note. Hey, can you write to mom, to Judy? I've gotten all sorts of requests for dedication.
Speaker 2:
That's great that you have that option.
Speaker 1:
Yes, absolutely, and that's really the only way to get that. And then, like I said, I'll have an audio book for the first one, coming out May 21st. So, if you're more of an audiobook person than an actual normal traditional reader, that'll be available on Amazon, audible and iTunes May 21st.
Speaker 2:
Awesome. And now my final question if you could leave our listeners with any piece of advice or anything that's in your heart that you want to share. What would that be?
Speaker 1:
Oh man, I guess I would say just be kind. So, without getting into it, there's been a lot of drama in the microclimate of our little author industry, of people that have not gone about work with the nicest of intentions. And I'd say, like I told you about before, 99% of people are talking, you know, we understand that there's enough pie to go around and we just, well, there's, you know, there's 1% or 2% that don't operate like that and they're bad actors in the industry. And I would say, even if you, you know whether you have all the success or no success, you know, just treat people with kindness and you can be ambitious without you know trying to step over people.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely, that's a good one. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being on the show.