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Meet Brent Green of Xander Studios in Maricopa

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Brent Green.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Brent. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up reading stories that sparked my imagination. The Lord of the Rings series, the Wrinkle in Time book, the dragon riders of Pern series, the Dune series and others took me too far off destinations and different planets. When I was seventeen, I joined the Army and was stationed in Hanau, Germany for about two years. While there, the Battalion Commander’s driver was found drunk the morning of an alert. Everyone knew that I did not drink alcohol, so I was chosen to replace him. I found myself sitting in a Jeep for hours on an end while waiting for the Battalion Commander to perform miscellaneous functions. I started taking a notebook with me and started writing a story initially titled, “The Wizard’s Quest on Mog”. It took me around eight years to finish the book and do all of the 3D artwork. Then a new series about Harry Potter came out and it was too close to some of the words I had chosen and the genre of my book. I set about and rewrote it changing wizards to paragons, making it scientifically based. I updated the name of the book to “Conquest of Vitucia” and updated a lot of my artwork. My side job is being a software developer. After the Army and graduating from college, I worked at Microsoft for five years. We went on vacation to San Diego and fell in love with the area. I quit my job and moved down to San Diego, taking on temporary consulting contracts. We finally made the decision to move to Maricopa, Arizona after realizing that the housing prices in California were ridiculous. Sometimes it is rough to live here with the 100+ degree days. However, the people are friendly and the traffic is a lot more bearable. I work from home as a software developer and write on the side. I love my commute – from the upstairs to my downstairs office. I have eight children, five who live at home. I am a big fan of electric cars and it was my childhood dream to drive an all-electric car across the country. I was finally able to purchase a used Tesla Model S and I took my three youngest with me on a seven-day cross country trip to New York and back. I like to make my stories about people and places that could actually exist. This is why my favorite comic book hero is Batman – he doesn’t have any superpowers, but he still fights crime using technically advanced tools. My next book is about 20% done and I have also dabbled in writing non-fiction pieces as well. I collaborated with my oldest son, Cameron, to write and choose your own adventure titled “The Truth About Roswell”. I hope to do more of that in the future. I also want to eventually do some story based video games. I have another son, Tristan, that will be attending a college in the fall to learn how to do game programming. My books are family oriented – I want all ages to be able to enjoy my stories. My dream is to one day do the author thing full-time.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We used to live in Reseda, California working for Microsoft as a Software Consultant. We bought a very small house that at the time was pretty reasonable due to the Northridge earthquake fallout. We decided to move to the Portland, Oregon area and were gearing up to sell the house. At that time, we were upside down and didn’t know how we were going to be able to come up with the money to pay the difference. Two missionaries stopped by and said they knew a woman that was looking for a rental. We met her and she seemed nice. I was too naïve to do an actual background check on her. After a couple of months, she stopped making the payment. She told us that there were issues with the house. I went down there and looked at the house – there were small things wrong, but nothing that would stop her from living there comfortably. I cried with her as I explained that her rent payment did not even cover my mortgage payment and that I would lose the house to foreclosure if she did not pay her payment. Over a year went by and she never made any payments. During this time, I went on a roller blading outing with some fellow workers. Normally, I go on level streets near my house, so I did not have any safety gear on. We went down a steel bridge with speed bumps that were sitting on top of the bridge connectors. On the way down and up the first time, I stayed near the side and made it over. On the way back, I somehow became in the middle of the bridge and I started going very fast towards a speed bump. I hit it and it caused me to hurtle through the air with my legs forward and my arms flailing at the back. I hit the bridge on my hands and back. I had a basketball sized lump that formed at the base of my back. I tried to use my hands, but I was in a lot of pain. I went to the doctor and they x-rayed my hands. I was told that one of my thumbs was broken in three places and the other one was broken in two places. The surgery was going to take eight hours and I would end up with arthritis and reduced thumb range of motion. Then I was delivered a letter from the IRS stating that I was having my paychecks taken and the amount that I would be given was not enough to cover my living expenses. This was the worst year of my life. In spite of that, I love children and my wife and I decided to get pregnant. We didn’t tell anyone as we imagined they would all say that we should take care of all of the issues first. Within three months of her becoming pregnant, the house in Reseda, California foreclosed. By the time this happened, the market had rebounded and the amount we made on top of the amount we owed was $80,000. The IRS took their $40,000 and we were left with a check for $40,000. This is when I decided to start Xander Studios. That money paid for startup costs such as Maya and a nice computer.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
We specialize in scientific-based fictional stories. We also produce software that allows individuals or companies the ability to generate 3D houses for use in animation. I am very proud of the fact that we are a family friendly business that creates entertainment that uplifts and inspires. I am most proud of the fact that I was able to not only write a book, but also do all of the artwork on my own.

What were you like growing up?
I was an introvert – I would read for at least three hours per day on the weekdays and eight hours per day on the weekends. I loved to ride my BMX bicycle and was taught at an early age how to do my own bicycle repairs. I was also pretty good at speed chess. I was pretty smart and excelled in school. I graduated from high school at sixteen – two years early. I especially loved the science-fiction genre and would dream up my own little stories. Sometimes I would have incredibly realistic dreams. My favorites were the ones where I was able to fly.

Pricing:

  • The Conquest of Vitucia – $9.95 on Amazon
  • 3D Neighborhood – $39.95 on XanderStudios.com

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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