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Brian Corley is the praised YA author of Space Throne and Ghost Bully as well as the upcoming new release GILM!. He is also a songwriter and musician in the well-received rock band, The Mars McClanes, who have been recording for twenty-one years and are based in Portland.
Not all authors can say that their novel started out as a song lyric, but for Brian, that’s exactly what happened. GILM!, his contemporary YA magical realism novel, is currently being released in conjunction with a new song of the same name, a collaboration with his band. What began as a writing exercise trying to find a word that rhymes with film, ended as a circuitous creative journey that spawned an energetic rock song and the kernel of an idea to write a thrilling fantasy story about a new kid trying to impress a girl.
Brian believes a great story is a good mixture of emotion and craft, something you can tell someone poured their heart into. For him, there’s nothing like someone telling you what a passage or a lyric means to them. He hopes his stories evoke an emotion in his YA readers that stays with them long after the book is closed.
A member of the SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association), Brian has received high praise from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and BookLife, among others, for his novels. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his amazing dog, Brisket.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Gilm! by Brian Corley revolves around Geoff, a teenage musician. High school is tough, and Geoff tries to balance his daily life with helping at his dad's occult shop, Curio City. Geoff does not share his father's supernatural beliefs but still ends up turning to a mysterious book when his crush, Corinne, dangles a carrot: if Geoff can write a song that rhymes with the word 'film' she'll go on a date with him. The casting of a spell inspires him to write the song GILM!, and it is a hit. Gilm! mania sweeps the community, but as nothing in this world or any other is free, the song's impact goes from being a catchy little tune to something darker. To save everything, Geoff must find a way to break the spell; memory and bullies be damned.
One of the most shocking revelations for me in Gilm! by Brian Corley is that teenagers do not always do as their parents tell them. Crazy, right? I had a lot of fun reading Corley's novel, and Geoff is a kid that you do want to root for. Uprooted in a single-family household with a dad that even the most empathetic of folk might find weird, his targeting by the bully named Will is the icing on top. For all of the language barriers that start to pop up as Geoff's song steamrolls through town, Will's jerkiness still goes from strength to strength. Geoff's insecurities and the overwhelming sensations of Imposter Syndrome feel genuinely authentic, and Corley develops him spectacularly. The writing is intelligent and entertaining with witty lines that turn into an engrossing story, which I have no doubt will please all who pick it up. Very highly recommended.
