Introduction: Jim Bronyaur

My name is Jim and I write stories, books, poetry, and music.

I’m not sure when it happened or actually how it happened. But somewhere between learning how to read those old Dick and Jane books and seeing all those books in the library, I managed to get a copy of a book that would indeed change my life forever… Pet Sematary.

Sure, it’s just a horror novel and sure, it didn’t teach me much about life, like other books such as The Giving Tree by Silverstein or Charlotte’s Web by White. And sure, it’s not a “classic” that will be studied forever… but it was a big book, scary as hell, and had curse words in it. And the best part was that my parents didn’t know these things. And I read it. And read it. And read it. And I saw the movie. For two weeks straight I slept in my parents bed until they finally swore I’d never see the movie again.

Not a chance in hell.

And that’s where my story begins…

Rewind a few years before that and here is Jim, about three years old, walking into my aunt’s house. I walk down the hallway, make a left, walk down another hallway. I open the door to what is the coolest place in the world. My Uncle’s room. At the time, my Uncle is still a teenager–maybe nineteen or so. There’s a waterbed. And a stereo. I walk to the stereo and press a few buttons. A few seconds later Paradise City starts jamming. I then stand on the waterbed, make the devil’s sign with my fingers and yell “P-C-P-C, dude!”–something my Uncle taught me to say.

And that’s where maybe my story really begins… with the magic of music from Guns n’ Roses.

Either way all those small pieces of the puzzle came together and created me. I read books too big for my age, mostly horror. I wrote poetry and stories and printed them and stapled them together. For fun. In 5^th grade I had my first poem published–about a pig with no hair that gets a wig. In high school I was thrown into a creative writing class because I needed a place to sleep during the day because let’s face it… school is so not cool. At that time my hair was to my shoulders, I was in a band, and in my eyes, just a few days away from getting the call from Slash to help him reunite Gn’R. That creative writing class opened so many creative doors for me and the teacher took to me. She encouraged me to write as much as I can… and she let me curse. I remember reading poetry with the super bad f-bomb in it. And she let me. Because it belonged there. And that’s where I learned that words can convey messages, meanings, and have real purpose.

Sometime between then and my 20^th birthday I had two novels written, dozens of notebooks of poetry, and was in a low spot in life. Confused, I gave up the pen for college–the biggest mistake of my life. The three years I feel I wasted in college I was just that myself, a waste. I can’t remember much of those years rather than feeling like I wasn’t alive. And when I graduated college, I got a job and was laid off two months later. By then I had a wife and a son. Then one morning while brushing my teeth I decided to write again.

And that’s where I’ve never looked back.

I’ve added another son since that time and my two boys are my heart and soul for writing. My oldest son loves zombies and I’m sure my youngest will too.

Personally… not that I like talking about “stats” so to say I’ve had over forty pieces of poetry and fiction published and have won a couple of writing contests. My biggest award to date was winning Preditors & Editors Best Horror Short Story 2010. I’ve had the chance to meet thousands of awesome people via social networking and have been able to take part in some fun projects.

As of now I am currently finishing up some major projects involving books, poetry, and music that I hope to see in print and for sale in the near future.

As for what I plan on bringing to Write Anything… I’ll bring my heart. And share it. My love for words and my love for horror. My love for music and art and how it all works together. And maybe I can bring some of those years of regret and silence I spent in college via business skills. As writers, if we plan on making money, we have to be able to look at the art side AND the business side.

And since I’ve been up and down on the roller coaster of life, I can always bring advice to the table. From the days you feel everything you write is garbage to the days where you feel like you’re on top of the world–I’ve been there and I’m not afraid to share it.

I give a huge thank you to Jodi, Paul, and the wonderful gathering of editors and contributors here for welcoming me and giving me a chance to ramble once in a while.

For me, from the acceptances to the rejections, I’m having the time of my life… and I hope you are too.