Guest Post with Author Bryan Cohen

Description of Ted Saves the World (Available for just $0.99):

A possessed cheerleader. A cursed gang of criminals. Mysterious telekinetic powers. An angry ex-girlfriend in gym class? One second, sophomore in high school Ted endures his first breakup in his favorite place in town. The next, a mysterious blue light turns him into a worldwide superhero sensation for taking down a posse of grisly murderers. As his views on YouTube increase and his friend Dhiraj tries to capitalize on the marketing potential, his dangers increase as well when a presumed-dead cheerleader begins taking a personal interest. Can Ted survive his first week as a superhero in the public eye? This novella is the first taste in a series of full-length novels about the adventures of Ted Finley and Erica LaPlante. The book is also available on Barnes & Noble and Smashwords for $0.99.

A Carousel of Stories

By Bryan Cohen

As I write this blog post, I am currently on vacation with my girlfriend's family in a gigantic rental house in Corolla, North Carolina in the easy, breezy, beautiful Outer Banks. While I've been a fixture in her family's vacation plans for a while now, this is the first year with a successful book or two to my name. As a comedian, I've been asked countless times to say or do something funny. It comes with the territory. But as a newly christened writer, I've been asked to do something new. They've asked me to tell their family's story.

It's an interesting request. I'm certainly not the kind of person with a lack of my own stories to tell. Heck, my first book was a collection of 1,000 story ideas and my latest, Ted Saves the World, is the first in what I believe will be a long running fiction series. That being said, the story of my girlfriend's family and their attempts to come together for a reunion vacation is certainly an interesting one.

My girlfriend's mother is a successful quilter who sells her patterns worldwide. She has three siblings, a Christian housewife, a California researcher, and a jet-salesman who is subsequently the man of the house. The four of them take care of the matriarch, Mema, who requires an elevator in the house to move between floors. They all have spouses which include a stoic carpenter, a pun-filled doctor, a retired professional with a love for whisky, and an insurance company owner. Add their 11 kids into the mix and some boyfriends and you've got a reality show and series of novels without much of a problem.

It can be interesting to think of your life as a series of stories. In some you are undoubtedly the main character while in others you are only good for a line or two. The more friends you make and relationships you forge, you become a part of more and more interconnected stories. Obviously, if you're a writer and you think about life in this way, there are an unlimited number of stories to write. I can't help but be grateful to be so full of life, family, stories and inspiration.

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Giveaway:

Bryan Cohen is giving away four $25 Amazon gift cards, one for each week of his month long blog tour. To enter, simply comment with your e-mail address (feel free to substitute @ with (at) or other tricks to stop spammers from getting it). Bryan will draw the four names at the end of the tour, picking one entrant at random from each week’s set of blog posts. Entries will be counted through Monday, August 15th, 2011. Enter on as many sites as you want, follow the tour at Build Creative Writing Ideas. If Ted reaches the Top 100 on Amazon at any point during the tour, a fifth $25 card will be added to the giveaway.

Biography:

Bryan Cohen is a writer, actor and comedian from Dresher, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 with degrees in English and Dramatic Art and a minor in Creative Writing. He has written seven books including 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More. Contact Bryan through his Ted Saves the World blog, his Build Creative Writing Ideas site or Twitter