Get My Latest Short Story Heaven and Hell for Free (STORY52 No. 14)

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Won’t stop, can’t stop. Monday is free book day on my site. Here is number 14 of my short story series STORY52. Grab a copy at $0 until Friday right here:

US | https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GN9MLJVV
DE | https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0GN9YC2FB

Synopsis:

Jakob believes he has lived a life that grants him entry into heaven. But God seems to have a very different understanding of what kind of life truly earns that admission.

A philosophical short story by Michael Brig. Approximately 1,000 words long.

Please leave me a review on Amazon after reading, thanks.

The YOU In YouTube Is Gone

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More than 15 years ago, I started watching YouTube regularly. It quickly changed the kind of entertainment I consumed. YouTube felt different — more authentic, more novel, more real.

I remember stumbling across a guy who called himself Durianrider. He might have been the first YouTuber I ever subscribed to. His videos are funny, direct, and thought-provoking.

Soon after, I discovered other interesting creators talking about fitness, nutrition, making money, crypto, politics, and philosophy. Some of their videos genuinely changed the way I thought about life — and even influenced my behavior. The dynamic was great. YouTube felt like a real connection with someone. Some YouTubers made me change careers, helped me make money, improved my health. One YouTuber even made me pick up a Bible and read it for the first time in my life.

Today, YouTube feels different.

There are still real people, authentic videos, and thought-provoking ideas on the platform. But over time, shaped by corporate decisions and executives like Wojcicki, the algorithm has been adjusted in a way that no longer naturally leads you to creators you might genuinely connect with. Instead, it directs you toward corporate-style content to sell you stuff that you don’t need.

Instead of creators simply showcasing themselves, YouTube now pushes content designed to connect viewers to corporations and products — much like TV did in the ’90s, just on demand.

Whenever I discover a new channel, I like to check the creator’s oldest videos. The truly authentic channels often have early uploads that are completely unrelated to their current videos: Someone talking about crypto today might have posted a video about cooking ramen noodles ten years ago. A fitness channel might include random travel vlogs from Bangkok. Those channels still feel real. They still feel human. They still feel like they’re about the YOU.

But many newer channels seem hyper-focused on a single niche from day one. Not because that’s who the creator is — but because they see YouTube as a branding tool. And brands perform best when positioned in a tightly defined niche.

It’s sad to see what YouTube has become — a platform that once felt like it belonged to all of us. It was an entertainment space built by people, for people. And now, increasingly, it’s just optimized TV for corporations and consumers.

A Lesson from the Movie Heretic

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What a great first half this movie had. It was novel, sharp, suspenseful, and all-around compelling. Beautiful storytelling and confident filmmaking. And then… the second half began.

I’ve always liked movies with a limited setting. Constraints often force creativity. Try writing a story in which no one can speak. Imagine a story that takes place entirely inside a car. Or one that features only a single character.

Limitations like these instantly spark curiosity and suggest a strong, focused premise.

Heretic takes a similar approach, limiting its setting to a single house with only three characters. And for about an hour, the filmmakers execute this premise wonderfully. I was genuinely on the edge of my seat, eager to discover where it would all lead. Framing a classic captivity-horror scenario within a theological debate was a refreshing idea. It gave the film a unique identity. Well done.

But after that first hour, everything slowly falls apart. The tension weakens, the focus blurs, and we’re left with a lackluster resolution in the final ten minutes. To bring the story to its conclusion, the film even abandons logic and internal consistency, relying on one deus ex machina after another.

Heretic is a great example of a story built on a strong — perhaps even brilliant — idea that works beautifully for half a film, only to lose its way because the ending can’t live up to the premise.

And that dynamic makes Heretic feel like a let down despite it being one of the best movies of the last couple of years.

Having a great idea is winning half the battle. But if you can’t carry that idea through to a satisfying conclusion, your audience will feel betrayed.

Interestingly, the opposite can also be true. The movie Barbarian, which operates in a similar genre, had the reverse effect on me. During its first half, I was close to losing interest. But then the story took a bold and unexpected turn, delivering a much stronger second half. When the credits rolled, I didn’t feel disappointed — I felt rewarded.

The lesson is simple: Once you’ve found a great idea for a story, don’t fully commit to developing it until you’ve found an ending that is just as strong — or even stronger.

Because in storytelling, how you finish often defines how your audience remembers the whole experience.

Work on the Idea You’re Most Passionate About First

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When you work for yourself, the work never truly ends. There is always something else to do — or you can simply double down on what you’re already doing.

I’ve noticed the same pattern with writing stories.

My swipe file has grown to hundreds of story ideas, and whenever I start working on one, five more pop up. There simply isn’t enough time to turn every idea into a book — not even into short story collections.

In general, days only have 24 hours. Nobody can go beyond that.

Once I realized this, I decided to focus on the idea I feel most passionate about right now to work on. If I’m excited about it, chances are the free market might be too.

At the beginning of the year, I had ambitious plans: write 12 books, produce more YouTube videos, finish my short story project, blog daily, read a book a week, and review a movie every month.

It’s impossible.

I have a full-time job, family responsibilities, and I try to fit in workouts every day. For a while, it felt like my days would need 48 hours to get everything done. It became overwhelming.

So I decided to slow down.

My YouTube channel is a passion project I’ve been building for seven years. I’m not going to abandon it anytime soon — I still want to reach 100,000 subscribers one day.

Beyond that, I focus on writing the story I’m most excited about at the moment.

By the end of the year, I will not have 12 new novels finished. But I will have added some good stories to my body of work — and that’s already something to be proud of.

STORY52 Project Update February

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My short story project is progressing really well. Today, I’ve reached another important milestone that keeps the entire project on track for completion this year.

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve designed all 52 book covers — roughly one cover per day. Today, I officially completed that phase of the process.

Here’s the current status of the project (out of 52 stories):

  • 52 book covers designed
  • 52 stories written
  • 18 stories edited
  • 18 stories translated
  • 13 stories published

If I can maintain the one-story-per-week release schedule, Story No. 52 will be released on November 9, 2026. That gives me a small buffer — about seven weeks until the new year starts — in case I miss a Monday somewhere along the way.

Once the project is complete, it will free up time to focus on something new. I might explore publishing short stories in magazines or e-zines to reach new readers — we’ll see.

The good news is: STORY52 is absolutely doable this year.

If you’ve missed one of the free giveaways, don’t worry. I’ve planned to offer each story as a free download for five days, repeating once per year — indefinitely. So if you follow me here on the website, on X, or sign up for the mailing list, you won’t miss any of them. Within a year, you’ll be able to collect all 52 stories at no cost — guaranteed.

Here’s the list of the stories already published:

  1. Black Market Dreams (US – DE)
  2. The Last Portrait (US – DE)
  3. The Companion (US – DE)
  4. Statues (US – DE)
  5. Those who go to war (US – DE)
  6. The Red Button (US – DE)
  7. The Asylum (US – DE)
  8. Protocol Twilight (US – DE)
  9. Killtime (US – DE)
  10. The Last President (US – DE)
  11. The Wheel (US – DE)
  12. The Equation (US – DE)
  13. Turing-Test (US – DE)