Meet Griffin Brady | Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Griffin Brady and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Griffin, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’m an American who was born in Okinawa, Japan. The youngest of three girls, I lived in Southeast Asia until I graduated from high school in Singapore. The US was a cool place to visit once a year during the summer, but it wasn’t home.

My father was an explorer whose passion was traveling the world, so he built his career in the airline industry. He spent the majority of his working life in management for Pan American World Airways, which is how I came to grow up on the other side of the globe.

While I only lived in three places during my youth—Okinawa, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), and Singapore—I had visited almost every continent by the time I was fifteen. My father didn’t let a family slow him down, and nearly every summer, he took us to different parts of the world. Usually we flew, but sometimes he took us on road trips into neighboring countries. I missed South America, but it’s on my bucket list!

From the time I was a small child, I was shown an incredibly broad spectrum of cultures, and my father didn’t shy away from exposing us to the good, the bad, and sometimes the frightening. My upbringing has made me abundantly grateful every day for where I live, what I have, and the endless opportunities I’ve enjoyed. Those opportunities have molded me into someone who’s been a bit of a risk-taker throughout her life as well.

I believe my background has allowed me to look at the world through a unique prism, and as a result, I tend to take things in stride. I would like to think growing up the way I did broadened my frame of reference for the better.

Although I enjoy traveling, I didn’t inherit my father’s wanderlust. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen so much of the world already. I love living in the same community, surrounded by the familiar. I guess that’s one more way my upbringing has impacted me! Although my teenage self found the going difficult at times, I am so thankful for the experience. I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m an independent author who self-published her first book in 2019. I’ve never thought of myself as a storyteller, but I had always wondered if I could write fiction, so I challenged myself to pen 250 pages. I had a kernel of an idea that unfurled into a full-blown historical fiction, and I wound up with 1,400 pages. Then came the hard part.

After putting the story through its paces with a professional editor (who helped me whittle it down to 800 pages split between two books), I began querying agents and publishing houses … and I kept querying until my frustration pushed me in a different direction. I realized that if I was going to get my story out into the world, I needed to learn how to self-publish—something I had originally planned to avoid because of the enormous learning curve. I was working full-time at my day job, and carving out the time to learn the publishing business was beyond daunting.

The desire to publish pushed me on, but I didn’t want to bumble my way through with my historical fiction, which was my baby. So I decided to write a contemporary romance and learn the business with that book, titled Taming Beckett. It became the book I first published in 2019, and it earned several awards. Now nine romance books later, I’m still trying to untangle the publishing business! I’m not sure I’ll ever learn it all because there’s so much to it, and it changes daily.

In the meantime, I did publish my historical fiction duology in 2020, and I’m happy to say it too has won awards. In fact, I’m thrilled and honored to report that the first book in the series, The Heart of a Hussar, was recently selected as a finalist for the 2021 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750s Early Historical Fiction by Chanticleer Book Reviews.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Only a week?! I would start by taking my BF to Rocky Mountain National Park for a picnic, a hike, and a drive over Trail Ridge Road. That view never gets old.

I would also take her to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg and spend time strolling the walkways.

Red Rocks is a must-see, so I’d grab some tickets and take her there for a concert. Also on the list would be a concert at the Botanic Gardens and a Rockies game so she could experience Coors Field. If she were visiting in the colder months, I’d take her to an Avs game! As for food and drink, we’d have to hit some of the local craft breweries and sample their products. The Sushi Den would also be on the list, along with Beckon and Erie’s 24 Carrot Bistro.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Many people have helped me get to this point in my writing career, and they all deserve mention. Since I have to pick one, I’ll give the nod to my editor, Jennifer Quinlan of Historical Editorial. She’s patient, extremely knowledgeable, and always steers me in the right direction. She’s become a collaborator, and I’ve learned so much from her since I started in this business. I’m honored to be among the authors she works with.

Website: https://www.griffin-brady.com/historical-fiction/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/griffbrady1588

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGriffinBrady

Other: https://www.amazon.com/author/griffinbrady