[Vexx]

Meh, looking less likely I'm going to have time before the end of the month to sketch out the next chapter of the currently running "Go Go Godzilla".

Volume Two edit/publishing takes precedence over Volume Three rough draft at the moment. I'll put out a couple of videos as compensation if I don't have something by next week.

In the mean time I'll blow my horn a bit - that's probably the toughest thing to get used to, marketing myself.

I picked up a few reviews on Volume One over at Amazon, the most recent one from a published author -

Originally Posted by Deborah A. Stevens

Rocket Science Rocks!, January 21, 2014 By
Deborah A. Stevens "author"
(REAL NAME) Amazon Verified Purchase

Boy! Everything you ever wanted to know about R&R memorabilia! And it spans generations and decades. But that is only secondary to the characters and the story. Tsika, Glycerin, Kpau, and their sexy male mentor Blar come alive on these pages. It will have you wanting to go see them perform, but more than that you want to reach out and heal "The Lost Girls". How so much comedic fun can be blended with such devastating origins is a literary beauty to behold!

"Papa Bear"/Blar has probably bitten off more than he can chew with the goth pixie bassist, the emotionally damaged amazon guitarist, and the blonde firecracker drummer. Poor Blar wants to keep peace between these explosive young female musicians, but is caught up in a sexual revolution where he doesn't know who to touch and who to keep at arm's length. Papa Bear must be taking a lot of cold showers! Can't wait for the sequel to see how poor Blar fairs with his earthy group of band members!

A fun, "zany" (BH Branham's so perfect word) read that jumps off the pages with descriptions of costuming, make-up, and stage performances that leap into your mind and create what I call "word paintings"--but that is such a mild phrase for the visuals BH Branham brings to life in this delicious, energetic novel that leaves you wanting more ... more ... more!

Originally Posted by Crystal Lanham

Awesome first book!, December 21, 2013 By
Crystal Lanham

This review is from: It Really IS Rocket Science: A Rock'n'Roll Fantasy (Kindle Edition)
A rock and roll fantasy is really what it is! Totally refreshing story-line, this series is about a starting out, struggling rock band. I really love the whole idea of a series of books that follows a band, the happiness, the parties, the fights, all the drama that goes with the rock star lifestyle...we can live it first hand, even if we are just reading it.

Originally Posted by Zachary Harshaw

Rock On, Blar!, December 20, 2013 By
Zachary HarshawThis review is from: It Really IS Rocket Science: A Rock'n'Roll Fantasy (Kindle Edition)


Brad H Branham brings us the story of Blar Umlaut, a world-weary underground rocker who wonders if he still has what it takes to keep it real with his music. A chance meeting in the snow with Russian rocker Tsika puts into motion a series of events that might be enough to reignite his passion, both for music and for life. He agrees to help her band The Lost Girls break into the business, and things get complicated quickly. His growing feelings for Tsika, as well as managing the lives of her bandmates, result in a satisfying journey of redemption for everyone. It's a difficult path, for sure, but you're sure to enjoy the journey. Fans of the music business, alternative rock music, and unlikely love stories will have a hard time putting this book down.

Originally Posted by Grady Harp

Exploring the underground music colony, December 19, 2013
Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States)
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: It Really IS Rocket Science: A Rock'n'Roll Fantasy (Kindle Edition)
Author Brad Branham has a definite knack for walking the walk and talking the talk of that dark and seemingly twisted world of underground rock bands. Despite his credentials being well lodged in the world of electrical engineering and software development on NASA projects, defense contracting, and scientific pursuits, his gut level response is for raw life fiction and offering other views and stances on those parts of the population that are esteemed by some, ignored by others, and avoided by most. There has to be a degree of music performer in this man to be able to describe his chosen life set of this novel - the underground rock bands. He observes them well and offers a different more entertaining cadence to this genre of novels than most other writers - a reminder of sorts of `The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test' by Tom Wolfe of 1968, but bounced forward some 45 years and with a hefty does of acid rock/goth/heavy metal et al.

The story opens in snowy Portland, Oregon where we meet Blar Umlaut (great name, cleverly devised!) who has been famous as a rock band musician once but his career is in abeyance at present. He meets Tsika, an exotic appearing Russian goth bass player who after a fall in the snow finds herself in the shower and loft of Blar. They have much in common - both are involved in weird garb and weirder music and both have their own concept of bands (Tsika has The Lost Girls - Tsika, Glycerin and Kpau) and it is this nonchalant coming together that leads the two into a different passage through the unreal fantasy world of underground rock as we follow these strange, volatile but ultimately fun and needy fellow human beings around the strange Dantesque levels of emotional highs and lows.

Branham writes well, able to paint the scenery and costumes of these grungy musicians with great skill. And at the core of his book are life lessons about relationships and dreams and fantasies that rise above the odd stagecraft. It makes us wonder where his next volume will take us. Grady Harp, December 13