2021-09-24 21:19
Hello everyone! You thought you were rid of me, but I'm back. For the last few years I've leaned on the excuse that platform building took too much time away from actual writing as justifica… Read More
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Brian Wright Blog
Briandonaldwright.blogspot.com
The writings of Brian Donald Wright. Poetry, essays, novel excerpts, and more.
2020-06-14 06:13
Life as an artist, in all guises we artists come, is far from easy. What market exists is often concentrated at the top, into those fortunate enough to have "struck it big." Those lucky, tal… Read More
2020-05-09 02:51
What is it about a mountain that so thoroughly ensnares the human imagination? Is it the jagged immensity? The superhuman scale? Or is it the allure of secrets hidden in every fold and creva… Read More
2019-12-02 14:48
As mentioned in a previous post, I have been planning to expand my blog/website to include original music and photography as well. This past week I launched pages for both and I am really ex… Read More
2019-11-27 22:49
Six or seven months ago I remember saying it would take "years to build back up to a Sixmile level." I imagined Alaska's Sixmile Creek to be a whitewater run on the same stature as Colorado'… Read More
2019-11-24 19:43
For those of you who follow me (hi mom!), you all know that my blog efforts stalled out a while ago. It's a lot of work! But I think I've come up with a way to do a little CPR on this dusty… Read More
2019-11-20 18:16
Pick your paradise.
The first time your eyes fell on it, your breath choked backwards in your throat. It was one of those places so effortlessly sublime it felt surreal. It seemed p… Read More
2019-11-07 20:44
Packrafting First Canyon on Sixmile Creek
Awhile back, when I was quite a bit more, ahem, active with my blog, I pondered what it meant to be 'Alaskan'. At the time I had lived in this… Read More
2019-01-06 18:38
Ah yes, I'm back. You thought you were rid of me. You forgot you signed up for my mailing list. You scratched your head and wondered "who the hell is Brian Donald Wright" when I popped up in… Read More
2018-01-24 20:43
A year has passed since I penned my first blog post. For nearly a decade prior I wrote in blissful solitude, convinced that the strength of my manuscript alone would be enough to propel my w… Read More
2017-12-29 20:28
Another year peels off the calendar. As I age, every cycle happens faster and faster.
Seward, Alaska, the place that most epitomizes my 2017
We like to imagine New Year's as some sort of… Read More
2017-12-18 21:02
Heroic. Majestic. Impressively great. So reads one definition of the word “epic.” Simple and concise, these three modifiers together provide a useful frame upon which we can… Read More
2017-12-10 20:06
A bench overlooking Resurrection Bay in my hometown ofSeward, Alaska. Rugged peaks and rugged ocean definelife on the North Gulf Coast of the Last Frontier
Alaska is America's biggest stat… Read More
2017-12-03 01:41
Every writer and every project inevitably finds that cursed plateau. The writer's tunnel-minded approach ceases to enhance the words, the sentences. The story. Hammering through this invisib… Read More
2017-11-28 08:40
You can now read a serialized portion of one of my novels-in-progress on Wattpad. Wattpad users can also vote and comment. The more views and votes I receive, the more exposure and the more… Read More
2017-11-19 19:05
Me with two of my favorite things: a book anda latte
Blog. No blog. Almost any how-to for author platform-building touts the necessity of the almighty blog. It's a chance to build an… Read More
2017-11-12 17:32
Five-hundred feet up a slick rock face with a storm moving in and I was about to die….
McGregor Mountain looms of the Fall River entranceof Rocky Mountain National Park
At least… Read More
2017-11-05 16:56
Can a series of images provide a working avatar for a human life? Could I distill myself like an herb into some piquant essence?
This might seem a little vain. I don't mean it to be… Read More
2017-10-29 19:31
The perfect first page. Everything hinges on it.
Agents and publishers, readers and critics will snap-judge your piece, perhaps not even consciously, by those opening words. Call it unfai… Read More
2017-10-22 16:22
Every year on October 31st, the world (or those in it that recognize such frivolous holidays) tries to frighten itself. Scary movies, ghost stories, spooky costumes, all part of the elaborat… Read More
2017-10-15 19:00
A well-written novel is one that makes you feel something. But what if that something is discomfort? Disgust? Anxiety? Revulsion? Important books never shy away from tackling difficult subje… Read More
2017-10-07 19:46
(Skip the explanation and go straight to the submit page. Or the find a book page)
A few months ago I was on the search for a new book. Call me picky but I knew what I wanted: sci-fi or fan… Read More
2017-09-29 20:28
In a blog post a little while back, Twitter friend A.S. Akkalon discussed being sorted into Ravenclaw by the Pottermore website. In a comment, I proclaimed that I was also part of… Read More
2017-09-22 15:07
As part of my recent effort to support and bring greater illumination to the rapidly expanding demographic of Indie/small press writers, today's post is the third in a planned series of spot… Read More
2017-09-20 15:00
A crisp layer of frost clung to the tent our first morning in Idaho’s Sawtooth Range. It was early September but a cold front had sent the mercury plummeting at our campsite beside Red… Read More
2017-08-28 17:13
Three-hundred and sixty-five little days. Is that all it’s been? It seems like a decade since my wife (Ella), dog (Otis) and I (Brian) left Colorado on this journey.
Brian, E… Read More
2017-08-21 01:48
As a writer how can I possibly condone the theft of intellectual property? Facilitated or not by the digital age, taking advantage of piracy is scarcely different than walking into a store a… Read More
2017-08-07 18:46
This blog post is an encomium to the beauty of the natural world. Too often do I fall into the trap of gloom and doom, the rhetoric of "this world is being ruined and humans are in the drive… Read More
2017-08-02 02:08
As part of my recent effort to support and bring greater light into the rapidly expanding demographic of Indie/small press writers, today's post is the second in a planned series of spotligh… Read More
2017-07-22 20:06
Racers work their way up Mount Marathon with Sewardand Resurrection Bay in the background
Every Fourth of July, thousands of people converge on a tiny Alaska town to participate in one of… Read More
2017-07-12 15:00
by Brian Wright
(Note: The following is a piece of creative non-fiction originally published in Our Backyard (July 2017 issue), a regional, outdoors publication)
The Maroon Bells, Snowma… Read More
2017-07-09 18:28
As part of my recent effort to support and bring greater light into the rapidly expanding demographic of Indie writers/publishers, today's post is the first in a planned series of spotlights… Read More
2017-07-03 19:51
There is something pleasing about merging hip hop with the Colonial times. The juxtaposition between the distinctly modern, inner-city nature of rap and the archaic white-powdered-wigs of Am… Read More
2017-06-25 18:03
Let's face, creatively insulting someone is one of the most important skills a writer (and a human) can possess. There's nothing worse than sinking to an overused, cliche invective to slam y… Read More
2017-06-23 01:07
The civilization of the ancient Mayans is among the most intriguing in history. At once primitive, with their practice of human sacrifice, yet strikingly advanced with their incredible under… Read More
2017-06-13 18:17
Otis, the poster boy of happiness, in his element
My dog Otis, that ear-scratching, butt-sniffing, stomach-with-legs, dander factory is probably the happiest creature I've ever met. Sometim… Read More
2017-06-08 18:14
Massive damage from the Good Friday Earthquakeof 1964 near Anchorage, AK
March 27, 1964. Good Friday. The Aluetian Subduction Zone--where the Pacific tectonic plate collides with the… Read More
2017-05-27 18:08
Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” is an oft-misconstrued exhortation against the notion that an ideal neighbor is one kept behind the safe partition of a wall or fence. The poe… Read More
The Failures Of Social Media Marketing (or You Don't Have To Have A Twitter Presence To Be A Writer)
2017-05-18 22:19
Big Brother is
watching you. No, not Big Brother. Big business. Well, some might suggest Big Brother is too. Not to mention all your friends, family, Twitter pals, Facebook foes,
potential e… Read More
2017-05-15 21:00
A three-week journey up the west coast of North America from Eureka, California to Seward, Alaska, the hamlet of 3,000 people we now call home. By boat and by car, my wife, my dog and myself… Read More
2017-04-19 21:36
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost...."
For seven months now, I've been a lucky man. Since my wife became a travel nurse in August 2016, the two of us, al… Read More
2017-04-10 16:14
Ah yes, moving again (I'll explain why we move so much in an upcoming blog post.) Moving ranks right up there with root canals and bankruptcy for most enjoyable life experiences. Seriously… Read More
2017-04-07 15:40
A few weeks ago the hunt for a new book commenced.
The preceding months I'd been slaying fiction like a mighty dragon hunter, seeking novels and their treasure troves and taking the… Read More
2017-04-02 02:57
Every writer
knows the blessing (or curse, more accurately) of writing. The superpowers of
world creation. The pure joy of instant escapism into a world completely under your control. The ex… Read More
2017-03-29 16:09
Naive and immature protagonist is thrust into strange and dangerous world. Guided by a wise mentor he suffers through innumerable misadventures to return, wiser and transformed.
It… Read More
2017-03-19 15:37
Kids are our future. It’s a terrifying notion really. The modern kid is a smelly, noisy, selfish, fit factory. And the potential for blame could lie with many of societies numerous sho… Read More
2017-03-16 18:58
Everyone loves their own opinion. Recently I've become convinced that this self-obsession, this overbearing lust to bask in our own perceived magnificence, is very reason the internet exists… Read More
2017-03-10 15:32
Some of the most brilliant writing I have ever encountered came in books I couldn't finish.
These books had it all: stunning insight, diamond-sharp imagery, dynamic sentences that seemed to… Read More
2017-03-07 19:12
As I shake the dust of sleep from stiff limbs, I fall into my morning routine: Fire up the coffee, let the dog out to put a little yellow water on the backyard fence, flick on the computer t… Read More
2017-03-03 15:42
Mmm...writer... I love the way you hold your...pen.
And how you wear that...fragmentary sentence.
You are so smooth how you...build your imagery.
I can't quit staring at the size of your...b… Read More
2017-02-28 16:00
And now for something completely different....
It's the greatest rock and roll battle in history! Two super powers collide: The Beatles, led by ace songwriter, John Lennon, pitted against… Read More
2017-02-26 16:06
A week ago I pondered a question and posted a poll. What makes a compelling first paragraph? One that hooks a reader and makes them want to read on? I posted the first paragraphs of four pop… Read More
2017-02-24 23:32
Books are better than friends. You can stuff them in a suitcase and drag them on an airplane against their will and no one will cry "kidnapper!" You can ignore them for months, lock them in… Read More
2017-02-20 07:00
It is a period of un-civil war. Rebel writers, striking from messy desks and dark coffeeshop corners everywhere, have won their first victory against the evil Big 5 publishing Empire. During… Read More
2017-02-19 15:54
There are many reasons why a prehensile tail would be useful. And fun! Especially if I was the only person who had one. Here are a few of them:
For Balance
A long, prehensile tail would b… Read More
2017-02-17 15:57
I'm in a cave, standing over the bones of a murdered baby...
Disturbing? It's not quite as gruesome as it sounds. Well, in some ways it is. Let me explain.
Silhouette in the pyramids… Read More
2017-02-14 19:39
There is something seductive about a ship. The sleek beauty of its streamlined hull. The glistening, water-polished gunwales. The primal scent of the surrounding ocean. They promise adv… Read More
2017-02-12 15:30
Seeing your book finally published the fulfillment of everyauthor's dream
You've conceived it. Gestated it inside you. You nurtured it with all the care you could muster. Now it is time to… Read More
2017-02-08 03:11
“This is a very dangerous time,” he said in
a hushed voice. Between the two men a single wavering candle glowed.
Outside, only the occasional cough or… Read More
2017-02-07 19:44
"The pen is mightier than the sword"
Art is a waste of time. Literature was never art anyway. Books are dead. Writers are cowards. Get a real job. Your life is a waste.
Harsh. Yet, I some… Read More
2017-02-06 00:40
Gear up, writer, you are about to become part machine....
Your book is written. Editing nearly complete. You are now ready to publish that masterpiece destined to top the New York Times Bes… Read More
2017-02-06 00:35
Cut those unnecessary pages and let them fly!
So you've written a novel. Now what? Time to slash and burn....
There once was a photographer who continually submitted the same photo to a ma… Read More
2017-02-05 02:08
THE LETTER
A tunnel of dark trees closed around the rider. This is no night to die, he thought. He
perceived some malice drawing nearer, like cold eyes spying him through the crooked
go… Read More
2017-02-03 16:23
Damn I'm getting old....
Turning 30 was the beginning of the end. I saw it coming like Nell Fenwick tied by Snidely Whiplash to the railroad tracks as a roaring locomotive bore do… Read More
2017-02-02 15:51
You chose to write a novel? You chose pain? Hardship? Agony? Months, maybe years, of thankless hard work almost assuredly doomed to end in heartbreak?
What were you thinking?
Okay, okay. I… Read More
2017-02-02 15:50
This is the second part in a blog series about strategies for writing a novel. Having already established in part one that the very fact you have chosen to write a novel calls into ques… Read More
2017-01-29 15:52
I come from a family rich in ranching history but I'm terrified of getting bucked off a horse.
Or kicked. I've seen the roped muscles of a horse's legs flexing and bulging as it marched alo… Read More
2017-01-28 16:46
Zombie virus. Nuclear war. Asteroid. Post apocalyptic writing has been popular for years and it is a personal favorite genre of mine. Some of my favorite books, like Cormac McCarthy's The Ro… Read More
2017-01-26 17:40
It is Colorado’s most mythical
mountain.
At the head of a gray basin whose old-growth
conifers give way to gumdrop glacial boulders, where a winding crystalline
stream dumps over gra… Read More
2017-01-26 17:39
“But there was in it
one river especially, a mighty river resembling an immense snake uncoiled....
The snake had charmed me.” Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Just below the… Read More
2017-01-26 00:59
Let me start by
sayin’ every word that follows is absolutely true. If anything, it’s been
embellished the opposite direction, so th… Read More
2017-01-24 07:11
Tobacco Caye, Belize
The Comfort Zone. The most life-enhancing
moments always exist outside of it. Inside, there is nothing but a blur of
schedules, deadlines, and routines. But in those m… Read More
2017-01-24 03:52
He was alone.
Mountains across the lake from Harbor, Alaska
Albert
Aldrich looked at the words he’d just written. They were hard, sharp. They
deserved their own paragraph. He flipp… Read More
2017-01-24 03:51
The road snaked
across the desert landscape in broad S-curves, pulling left around a bluff… Read More
2017-01-24 03:51
Crossing the Rhine River in Germany 1945
The story of Albert Aldrich: writer, stoner, caretaker of his broken family, and part-time peeping tom. When Albert discovers a long-forgotten cache… Read More
2017-01-24 03:50
It has been 3,394 days since Paxton Raleigh has seen anyone alive.
After a terrible plague nearly decimates humanity from the face of the world, Paxton has been left alone to deal with the… Read More
2017-01-23 17:23
My synopsis for Denouement hit #2 for the week on Something or Other Publishing, LLC! Great start! Hope it keeps getting votes. Would be a great opportunity to get some exposure, build my au… Read More
2017-01-19 01:53
One of my manuscripts is up for voting on Something or Other Publishing. I discovered this publisher via Twitter and found their idea of "democratic selection" intriguing. If the book synops… Read More
2017-01-17 16:38
Well no one ever thought getting a novel published was easy. Or at least, anyone who did think that had never actually tried.
After a few months trying to seek representation for my fantasy… Read More
2016-12-20 21:25
Independence Monument in western Colorado
On a windy exposed prow high above
the iron-rusted desert floor, I climbed nervously toward the first piton. It is
the infamous runout of pitch fo… Read More
2016-12-20 21:25
In the hidden corners of the world, pebbles
gather for debate. A new leader will be elected. Many years past pebbles marched across burning deserts, Thousands fell to
the might of the sun, c… Read More
2016-12-20 21:24
Map of the post apocalyptic Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Back at the house that night, Paxton
was trying to play the guitar. Just four days earlier, while working in the
south garden, he&rsq&hell…Read More
2016-12-20 21:24
His
father was the last person he’d seen alive and that was 3,394 days ago.
There
was no reason to think about that now, standing alone in a Colorado meadow with
a mattock in his han… Read More
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