So . . . This Is New

Welcome to an experiment that I've been thinking about trying for a while. It's not like I don't have an outlet. I get to do quite a lot at The Saturday Evening Post. But, obviously, there are things that I wouldn't do there or things that aren't within the mission.

If you just found your way here or you "know" me on social (but not very well, or not IRL), then please allow me to (re?)introduce myself. I'm Troy Brownfield. I'm a writer. On any given day, that includes journalism, comics, short stories, at least one novel, trading cards, and more. I also spent a lot of years teaching, which includes college, high school, and the correctional system (from the outside, not the inside). A few of you might remember me from several years at Newsarama, or Newtype USA, or maybe even ShotgunReviews.com (we can refer to that as The Day).

At any rate, I started a newsletter to catch people up on things in the Pre-COVID days. That was called City of Troy, but I let it slide in the quarantine period. But as time went on, I wanted to put together a place where I could write at length about things like music or comics that aren't mine or other stuff. Maybe new short stories. Maybe old short stories. Maybe some favorite Shotgun bits. I just wanted a place to hang my metaphorical hat.

Turns out, however, that City of Troy is a bitch of a domain to get. Damn Ohio. Since I had already used the play on mythical Troy once, I figured I'd do it again. Besides, "Siege" has more than one meaning. Yes, there's pulling engines of destructions up outside city walls, but "Siege" can also mean "Seat," like the Siege Perilous, the empty seat at the Round Table that Chris Claremont also wove in the X-Men mythos. At least I have a place to sit.

If you're wondering about the picture, that was taken by my friend Chris Wakefield on the banks of the White River while we were working on a (award-winning) story for The Post in 2019. I call it "Unsolved Mysteries Troy," partially because the story was a mystery of sorts, and partially because it looks like I could be on either side of the law in some Midwestern neo-noir. Either way I'm good.

So here we are. I hope you stick around.