Summer Splash Book Tour: Mysterious Guest Author

Back in July, I promised you'd see a mysterious guest author of mysteriousness. I'll give you a hint. He did a guest post here before. No guesses? Well, today's the day, so here's author Brandon Varnell! 

Brandon Varnell is a writer... the end.
... Just kidding.
Brandon Varnell is the writer of the American Kitsune series. He used to play guitar, but due to laziness, he never went anywhere with it. He also used to play video games, but after suffering this terrible affliction called book addiction, he only plays occasionally these days. Brandon lives mostly within his own imagination, but can occasionally be found in Phoenix, Arizona.
For several years now Brandon has dreamed of becoming a full-time author. He would love it if he could wake up, write several thousand words, and then call it a day. To reach this goal, he writes a lot. He writes fan fiction, he writes original fiction, he writes Erotic fiction... oh, wait. No, he doesn't. He just writes a lot of ecchi and fanservice.
Brandon also likes to cosplay. You can find him at the local Comicon dressed as various characters from movies, video games and anime. His current favorites are Han Solo, Cloud Strife, Dante, and Squall Leonhart. He thought of trying to cosplay Darth Vader or Zero, but has decided to stay away from all black cosplay since it's really hot in Arizona, you know.
He also loves anime, which makes a lot of sense, seeing how the entire American Kitsune series is basically just one big anime parody.

DR- Dancing or singing?
BV- I definitely prefer singing over dancing. I sing all the time in the car, but everyone tells me I dance like a white boy—all spasms and no rhythm.

DR- Beach or woods?
BV- Beach. Definitely beach. Gotta catch them waves.

DR- What book do you recommend the most?
BV- I don't know if I can conceivably answer this unless I'm allowed to give more than one answer. That said, for books, I'd recommend anything from Brandon Sanderson, the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, and A Certain Magical Index by Kazuma Komachi.

DR- Where is the one place you think everyone should go?
BV- Japan. Everyone should go to Japan.

DR- How do you get ideas for stories?
BV- I get my ideas from all of the things I surround myself with. I get them from situations that happen to me, to a friend, or from something I hear about. I'm inspired by other books I read, anime I watch, and video games I've played. Ideas can come from anywhere.

DR- Which genres do you write and what's your favorite one?
BV- I write fantasy, sci-fi, sci-fantasy, and romantic comedy. My favorite genre is to combine sci-fantasy and romantic comedy.

DR- What do you do if you see your idea has already been done?
BV- I try to put an original twist on the idea. There's nothing wrong with continuing to write based on an idea that's been done. You just have to add something that makes it stand out.

DR- What's your best writer's block buster?
BV- I don't get writer's block. I haven't in years. That said, when I don't feel like writing, I'll usually watch anime, which gets the creative juices flowing again.

DR- What's the best advice you've gotten about writing?
BV- Just write. Don't be afraid of putting words to paper, or words to a monitor. Fear is the biggest cause of writer's block, so if you rid yourself of fear and just write, you'll be able to write anything.

DR- Tell me about the biggest surprise your own character, story, or setting has given you.
BV- The biggest surprise? Well, I'm not one for spoilers, but the biggest surprise so far has definitely been how my romantic pairings are shaping up in my American Kitsune series.

Super Bonus Question Round!
DR- What's your favorite parody of all time? It can be a book, a song, visual art, et cetera.
BV- Outside of my own American Kitsune series, which I hold an extremely biased love for, my favorite parody of all time is Gintama. Gintama is a parody anime with it's own unique story-line. Like the American Kitsune series, it drops a lot of references, is funny as heck, and features a lot of really cool characters.

Brandon Varnell is all over the Internet. I mean, seriously. He's got the usual like a website, Author Central, Facebook and Twitter, but he's also boldly gone on Wattpad, YouTube, Pinterest, and G+. Click through the slideshow to find all his links.