September 1, 2026
For immediate release:
Readers' Favorite recognizes "The Junkyard" by Bryan Reilly in its annual international book award contest, currently available at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GXSW13R2.
The Readers' Favorite International Book Award Contest featured thousands of contestants from over a dozen countries, ranging from new independent authors to NYT best-sellers and celebrities.
Readers' Favorite is one of the largest book review and award contest sites on the Internet. They have earned the respect of renowned publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins, and have received the "Best Websites for Authors" and "Honoring Excellence" awards from the Association of Independent Authors. They are also fully accredited by the BBB (A+ rating), which is a rarity among Book Review and Book Award Contest companies.
We receive thousands of entries from all over the world. Because of these large submission numbers, we are able to break down our contest into 140+ genres, and each genre is judged separately, ensuring that books only compete against books of their same genre for a fairer and more accurate competition. We receive submissions from independent authors, small publishers, and publishing giants such as Random House, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, with contestants that range from the first-time, self-published author to New York Times bestsellers like J.A. Jance, James Rollins, and #1 best-selling author Daniel Silva, as well as celebrity authors like Jim Carrey (Bruce Almighty), Henry Winkler (Happy Days), and Eriq La Salle (E.R., Coming to America).
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Readers' Favorite is proud to announce that "The Junkyard" by Bryan Reilly won the Honorable Mention Award in the Children - Action category.
You can learn more about Bryan Reilly and "The Junkyard" at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-junkyard where you can read reviews and the author’s biography, as well as connect with the author directly or through their website and social media pages.
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August 31, 2026: Author Interview featured on Laura's Books and Blogs:
You wrote on your website that this book was inspired by your first viewing of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Are there any nods or Easter eggs to that franchise that are hidden in the book?
Yes, Chapter 7 of The Junkyard is essentially an 18-page Phantom Menace Easter egg! If you recall, the movie begins with two heroes going to a meeting about a trade embargo.
Back in 1999, after seeing the movie, I thought, wouldn’t it have been cool if, when the heroes went off to their meeting, something pivotal happened back in the place they had left unprotected? What if the movie’s underutilized and underdeveloped villain (shout out to Darth Maul) attacked their friends? Would that have given the story more emotional weight? Would it have raised the stakes?
Those thoughts stayed with me until 2005, when I began writing The Junkyard as a short story. In its first pages, two dogs of a peaceful tribe leave home and journey across the junkyard to negotiate with the dogs of a militant tribe. While they are gone, an animal that craves revenge attacks their home. The Junkyard’s opening pages have since changed, but this meeting remains a pivotal moment.
Were you inspired by any other classic or childhood stories?
Telling a story about a group or gang of young friends with unique personalities and real danger to deal with was inspired by stories like The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, and The Goonies, by Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus. Stories about danger and extreme circumstances revealing character really pique my interest and imagination.
Telling a story from an animal’s perspective was definitely inspired by Animal Farm, by George Orwell, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling, and Watership Down, by Richard Adams. As a kid, I loved the rabbits in Watership Down and the adventure they set out on, but more than that, I loved the gritty realism of the story and the way the danger wasn’t sugar-coated.
I read that Richard Adams wrote the story for his children, so it’s for young readers, and I love how he didn’t ‘talk down’ to them or pull any punches with his writing. I was in no way mature beyond my years as a kid, but I appreciated the depiction of an honest, sometimes harsh reality. There are parts of the book and its movie adaptation that have been seared into my imagination for over 40 years.
How did you come up with the setting of the junkyard, the design of the junkyard, and naming the dogs after automotive makes and appliance brands?
The setting of The Junkyard was very much inspired by the movie Stand By Me, which is based on Stephen King’s novella, The Body—most notably when Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern sneak into the junkyard, camp in the shade created by the junk around them, razz each other, strategize about how they’re going to get food, and get chased down a path lined by junk on either side by Chopper the ‘vicious’ dog and the junkyard’s owner.
That scene always made me wonder about all the hidden nooks, rooms, tunnels, and shady areas that these piles of junk must accidentally create. When I knew I wanted to write a story about a secret tribe of dogs, the only setting I could think of where they could hide and have cool places to have an adventure was a junkyard.
I’ve always been a fan of books that present a map and give you a visual to refer back to, if needed, like J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Sketching The Junkyard’s map was maybe the most fun I’ve ever had planning out or outlining a story.
I knew the dogs had to have a place to sleep, eat, hide, and have fun. I also knew there had to be places they shouldn’t go. Coming up with these places was great fun. For example, I knew I wanted the story to feature a race that revealed the character of one or more of the dogs, and it had to take place in a straightaway that was bordered by junk tall enough to hide the racers from human eyes, and that’s how the G.E. Ravine came to be!
And then when I started thinking about all the discarded items you might find in a junkyard, like televisions, cars, hubcaps, and tires… Hmmm, what would a huge stack of tires be called? Why Mt. Goodyear, of course! Wait, no, maybe it should be called Mt. Michelin? I know, let’s put ‘em both in there!
A lot of The Junkyard’s map design came to be like that. And creating the map before writing the bulk of the story may have been the smartest thing I did, too. I knew where there’d be a left or right turn, how far things were from each other, where the dogs would be safe from Mr. Fergusen’s prying eyes—it was great to have that in front of me.
Naming the dogs after automotive makes and appliance brands was an epiphany that took place during the writing process. I had established, at least in my own mind, that the junkyard’s cruel owner always went with a theme when naming his fighting dogs.
One generation had names that ended in “er”, Scrapper and Butcher, while the next generation had names with Japanese roots, like Sumo, Ninja, Shogun, and Kaiju. It wasn’t until I realized the leader of the junkyard’s northern lair should rename the strays and fighting ring survivors he rescues — that these dogs, like him, would want to shed the name given to them by a human who shouted it in anger or with cruelty in his voice — that the brand name idea came to me. And once this epiphany took place, as with the map, I had great fun with it!
Many of the bravest characters in the book are female, yet it’s not something that is blatantly pointed out throughout the book, which felt refreshing and organic. Was that intentional? Did you go about shaping and writing the female characters in any way that differed from the male characters?
I suppose the great thing about writing a story about dogs is that you don’t fall into the trappings of pre- or ill-conceived gender expectations. I wrote every character in The Junkyard with the approach that they needed to have a unique personality and role to play.
I’d hate to say that assigning gender was an afterthought, but it was! This is because I have a female pit-bull mix who can be sweet and lovable, strong and feisty, and is a real heart-warmer and crowd-pleaser. She gave me the knowledge and confidence I needed to make the two protagonists of The Junkyard, Maytag and Ruby, female.
If you could jump into this story, how would you want to interact with the characters?
I would love to befriend the dogs of the northern yard and work out a trade: I bring them each a hearty meal every day in exchange for one or more of them wearing a GoPro camera so I can travel through the junkyard’s hidden nooks and crannies. I definitely would like some time basking (or napping) in Television Tunnel!
Do you have a favorite character?
This changes for me every day! It would be easy for me to say Maytag, since she is a great role model for non-violence, staying true to one’s values, and was inspired by my pit-bull mix, Rosie… But today I’m going to say Ruby, who showed a willingness to take criticism and change, show resourcefulness, and put herself in great danger for the sake of others, and to drive the story home.
What was it like working with the illustrator, Rich Denver? Did you give him any specific direction? Was there anything about the finished product of the illustrations that surprised you?
It was great working with Rich! He and I met at a creative agency back in 2015, where he was a graphic designer and I was a copywriter, and have been creative partners ever since.
More than anyone, Rich knows I like to present copy ideas with kindergarten-level sketches that help me get my visions across. I gave him several of these kinds of sketches as we worked on The Junkyard, and as always, he accepted them with grace and a smile and made them 100 times better with his unique illustrative talents.
As his illustrations came in chapter by chapter, they were great, as I’d expected, but what surprised me was that he hand-painted each one! He didn’t even use graphic design software! Every illustration in The Junkyard was hand-painted in brilliant watercolor on its own canvas. Rich really took the time to pour his heart and soul into each illustration, and the book is better for it.
And here’s some trivia that Laura’s Books and Blogs will be the first to know: In the original version of The Junkyard, the cruel junkyard owner, Mr. Fergusen, has a Golden Retriever that lives in his house and helps the junkyard dogs named Sasha. When Rich agreed to illustrate the book for free, I thought it only fair to change Sasha the Golden Retriever to Ruby the Chocolate Lab, as a tribute to Rich’s dog, Ruby.
The characters in this book are pushed to their limit and tested to retaliate in a very vengeful way that would feel justified. What message did you want to send about revenge, and what tips do you have for keeping your cool when it would be easier to lash out against those who have done you wrong?
Much like the wonderful feelings we put into the world when we express love or perform acts of kindness, the negative feelings that come with taking revenge stick with you, shape you, and are hard to shake. I think many of us can remember a time when we were teased, bullied, or humiliated by our siblings, classmates, or friends and became filled with that “I’ll get you for that!” feeling.
From my experience, acting on that feeling didn’t make me feel better. It didn’t help me sleep better at night. It didn’t take away my angst, frustration, or anger. In fact, it only added guilt, shame, and remorse to the negative vibes I already had inside me. It made me feel worse!
I think it’s extremely admirable to overcome that “I’ll get you for that” feeling and choose peace over perpetuating conflict. I made that achievement a part of The Junkyard because I wanted to write characters that I admire and aspire to be more like.
There’s an old saying that goes, “Before you seek revenge, dig two graves.” One grave is for the person you want to hurt, and the other is for yourself.
I would ask someone considering taking revenge to keep those metaphorical graves in mind, especially the second one, because the feeling of laying down in it can stay with you forever— it will only cause more sleepless nights and raise more questions, doubt, and disappointment in yourself—and the energy you’ll put into the world is the destructive kind that fuels deep-rooted hatred, prejudice, and never-ending wars.
Will we see these characters in any future stories?
Yes, the dogs of The Junkyard will return! But will they have another adventure in the Fergusen’s piles of junked cars and appliances? Or will they find themselves in a different setting? To be honest, I’m having trouble deciding whether or not to leave the world I created. Maybe I’ll sketch a map of a new location and see what happens!
August 20, 2026: Author Interview featured on the Reading Nook book review blog:
1: Tell us a little about yourself and what got you in to writing?
I’m a husband to a beautiful wife who is a rock-star public health official, father to a kind and hilarious son, owner of a friendly and overly-spoiled dog, a long-time rooter for underperforming sports teams, and a lifelong movie buff. Without question, the magic and escapism of the movies got me into storytelling. When I outgrew my action figures (sniff-sniff), I began writing down my stories. I’ve been writing for recreation ever since!
I began writing professionally in 2005, after I was laid off from a corporate collections position and used the severance package to rent a New York City loft for the Unpublished Underground, an art gallery for aspiring writers. Renting and running an ‘underground loft’ was truly a unique experience. I learned how to edit collaboratively, bind and promote materials, and bid a hasty farewell to severance money! I was a hipster gallery owner for 8 short months, but it was time well spent! The time I spent alone with my imagination, watching the door and waiting for people to happen by, brought the ideas for many stories, including The Junkyard.
2: Do you have a favourite time and place where you write?
As much as I’ve tried, I can’t write in public places—so, no coffee shops, food courts, taverns, parks, or libraries. I think one of the most amazing things about the Harry Potter books is that J.K. Rowling was able to write a good portion of the first one in coffee shops and cafés. I suppose I’m easily distracted! I enjoy writing at all times of day, though I definitely need to be alone at my desk, surrounded by movie poster and collectible inspiration, with the occasional movie soundtrack on, like Last of the Mohicans, The Last Starfighter, or anything and everything by John Williams. When inspiration strikes elsewhere, I panic to find a pen and paper to jot down what’s in my head before it disappears!
3: Where do your ideas come from?
Conversations, news stories, books, and movies that make me think, wouldn’t it have been cool if this happened instead? For example, in 1999, Star Wars: Episode I arrived in theatres. After a 16-year wait, this Star Wars fanatic finally got to sink his teeth and imagination into another action-packed space adventure. The movie began with great audience anticipation and musical fanfare and… two heroes going to a meeting about a trade embargo. On my way out of the theatre, I thought, wouldn’t it have been cool if, when the heroes went off to their meeting, something terrible happened back in the place they had left unprotected? What if the movie’s underutilized and underdeveloped villain attacked their friends? Would that have given the story more emotional weight? Would it have raised the stakes? Those thoughts stayed with me until 2005, when, sitting alone in my failing art gallery for writers, I began writing a short story about junkyard dogs. In its first pages, two dogs of a peaceful tribe leave home and journey across the junkyard to meet and negotiate with the dogs of a militant tribe. While they are gone, an animal that craves revenge attacks their home. The story’s beginning has since changed, but this meeting remains a pivotal moment. So again, like many writers, I must thank George Lucas for inspiring me!
4: Do you have a plan in your head of where the story is going before you start writing or do you let it carry you along as you go?
I took a screenwriting class many years ago that featured a logline writing exercise: you establish a protagonist with a unique character trait or flaw, then put him in a situation where he must challenge or overcome that trait or flaw to achieve his goal. The teacher used Jaws as an example, and that has always stuck with me: “A police chief in a beach town must overcome his fear of the water to defeat a killer shark that’s terrorizing the lives and livelihoods of those he’s sworn to protect.”
So, I usually start with a character who must grow, change, or develop to win the day. Writing that logline first really kicks my writing into gear. For The Junkyard, I started with a pacifist pit bull and considered all the ways it would make it hard for her to stay true to her values and morals.
5: What genre are your books and what drew you to that genre?
I’ve written unpublished, book-length, literary-agent-repelling stories in the genres of contemporary fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. I am drawn to sci-fi/fantasy most of all. The other-world, off-world, alternate-world, and hidden-world escapism that those genres offer is definitely my cup of tea.
6: What dream cast would you like to see playing the characters in your latest book?
I would invite the cast of Stranger Things to provide their voice-over talents for the dogs of The Junkyard. Their chemistry and charisma would be a monumental value-add to the movie or TV adaptation! Oh, and if Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, or Sam Rockwell wanted roles—done deal!
7: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?
I love to read. My favorite authors are Stephen King, James Patterson, and Suzanne Collins.
8: What books are you reading at present?
I’m currently reading a book titled Lean the F*ck Out, written by my favorite humor author, Talia Argondezzi. It’s a hilarious read about how it’s okay to “aim lower” and say “no” to things to find your happiness.
9: What is your favourite book and why?
It, by Stephen King, is my favorite book for many reasons. The towering ambition of telling two stories in one, the multi-character and multi-year development and arcs, the friendship and dynamic connections between the main characters, the unique settings, the fear and tension on every page-turn, and the connection the book has to where I live. There’s a library in my town that has a distinct passageway from its youth section to its adult section. Rumor has it that Stephen King used to frequent the library, and the notion of literally passing from one world to another, from the innocence and naiveté of youth to the sometimes harsh (or horrifying) realities of adulthood, served as inspiration for his book about Pennywise the clown.
10: What advice would you give for someone thinking about becoming a writer?
When I think of writing advice, I always think of Ernest Hemingway, who famously said, “The first draft of anything is sh*t.” It’s true. When it comes to your writing, be a revisionist! Don’t be married to your words. Don’t be afraid to kill your darlings—especially if your plan is to submit your story to publishers, agents, friends, and family members. If so, make them the second or third tier of your submission journey. First, invest in the quality of your book. Send it to multiple beta readers—their feedback is invaluable. Then, send it to a professional editor—even if it costs you a pretty penny, it’ll be worth it.
11: What are the best Social Media Sites for people to find out about you and your work?
I update my Facebook page often, www.facebook.com/authorBryanReilly
Continue the cycle, or end it?
Posted by Literary Titan
Bryan Reilly Author Interview
The Junkyard centers around a pit bull trapped in the brutal world of dog fighting who would rather lose than harm another living creature. Where did the idea for this novel come from?
The inspiration for The Junkyard struck from three moments in time, several years apart! In 1999, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace arrived in theaters. After a 16-year wait, this Star Wars fanatic finally got to sink his teeth and imagination into another action-packed space adventure. The movie began with great audience anticipation and musical fanfare and… two heroes going to a meeting about a trade embargo. On my way out of the theatre, I thought, wouldn’t it have been cool if, when the heroes went off to their meeting, something terrible happened back in the place they had left unprotected? What if the movie’s underutilized and underdeveloped villain attacked their friends? Would that have given the story more emotional weight? Would it have raised the stakes? Those thoughts stayed with me until 2005, when I began writing a short story about junkyard dogs. In its first pages, two dogs of a peaceful tribe leave home and journey across the junkyard to meet and negotiate with the dogs of a militant tribe. While they are gone, an animal that craves revenge attacks their home. The story’s beginning has since changed, but this meeting remains a pivotal moment. So again, I must thank George Lucas for inspiring me!
Second, I was in lower Manhattan, NYC, on 9/11/2001. One of my many takeaways from that horrific day is that the attack on the World Trade Center was an act of revenge. So, when the U.S. retaliated, I remember thinking, Who will want revenge next? When does the cycle end? In that moment, I had a theme for The Junkyard—and I knew that somewhere in the story, its hero and supporting characters would be forced to choose: Continue the cycle, or end it?
Finally, as comedian Ricky Gervais once said, “We don’t deserve dogs. They are perfect. I couldn’t invent anything better.” I agree with him and love dogs unreservedly. In 2024, I recalled a 2007 news story about a famous athlete being indicted for running an illegal dog-fighting operation. I thought about the brutality and terrible conditions the dogs of the fighting ring experienced, along with the kind of person who could subject dogs to that kind of treatment, and I remembered the short story I’d written years ago. Suddenly, I had The Junkyard’s villain. And to me, the opposite of an evil human who fights dogs for pleasure had to be a pacifist dog who refuses to fight! I had The Junkyard’s hero. I knew my short story had to evolve into something bigger and deeper—its first pages had to change to better introduce its hero and villain. That’s when The Junkyard became a novel-length story.
The novel explores the idea that kindness is not weakness. Why was that message important for young readers?
In a world that can often feel divided—and in schools and neighborhoods that have developing minds and at times, competing egos—I think it’s important to communicate how kindness can build bridges, imprint positively on the mind, and create happiness; how it can inspire friendship and leadership; and how it can provide affirmation to someone that they are seen, that they matter, and that love and respect are available to them. In my humble opinion, kindness is the world’s most powerful influencer. I think giving young minds more examples of kindness in action, whether they be on the page or in real life, is a very good idea.
I also think it’s a good idea to communicate that it’s okay to be kind to yourself. In the face of peer pressure, bullying, and all the negativity that can creep into a young reader’s life, it’s okay to stay true to your values and stick to what you believe in. The friendships or ‘found families’ that last and are the most rewarding are with people who love us for who we are. In my experience, ‘staying true to you’ inspires people, too.
Many middle-grade novels focus on adventure, but The Junkyard also deals with trauma and recovery. Why did you feel those themes were important to explore?
As adults, we know that not every day is a winning day. We all get knocked down from time to time, whether literally or figuratively. When I think of trauma and recovery, my mind defaults to stories of people far tougher than me—people who have overcome disease and tragedy and survived wars and live every day to the fullest. I often think of Floyd Patterson, a champion boxer who took his share of traumatic blows. A reporter once said to him, “You got knocked down more times than any other heavyweight champion in history.” To this, he famously replied, “Yeah, but I got up more times than anyone.” My hope is that the trauma and recovery aspects of The Junkyard help young readers see resilience as an essential and inevitable part of life—one nearly as essential and inevitable as asking for and accepting help. It’s okay to put pride aside and lean on the people who care about you. That’s what our biological and ‘found’ families are for!
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
I am currently refining an upper-middle-grade / lower YA science-fiction story and outlining the sequel to The Junkyard. I hope both will be available in the near future!
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