Brad Barkley
@bradbarkley.bsky.social
Novels, short story collections, and YA fiction published by Norton, St. Martin’s, and Penguin/Dutton. New work forthcoming from Regal House. NEA Fellowship. Repped by @jennaschmenna.bsky.social Bradbarkley.com
Check out this fabulous article by @bradbarkley.bsky.social in @writersdigest.bsky.social #NewRelease www.writersdigest.com/the-stories-...
The Stories Inside Your Setting
Author Brad Barkley discusses the challenge and opportunity of sharing the stories inside your setting in fiction.
writersdigest.com
So stoked! 🔥🔥🔥
Regal House Publishing@regalhouse.bsky.social · 3w agoWe are delighted to announce that we have signed with Brad Barkley for a second novel! AmericaLand will be releasing as part of our fabulous Summer 28 frontlist season! We're so excited to work with @bradbarkley.bsky.social again! regalhousepublishing.com/brad-barkley/
We're celebrating the release today of Brad Barkley's THE REEL LIFE OF ZARA KEGG. Happy #bookbirthday, @bradbarkley.bsky.social !!! #yabooks #newrelease regal-house-publishing.mybigcommerce.com/the-reel-lif...
We're all in on old movie theaters, Godzilla, and young love today! @bradbarkley.bsky.social THE REEL LIFE OF ZARA KEGG releases today! #pubday www.schoollibraryjournal.com/review/the-r...
The Reel Life of Zara Kegg by Brad Barkley is out in the world tomorrow! #YA #NewRelease regal-house-publishing.mybigcommerce.com/the-reel-lif...
Delighted to see Brad Barkley, Author's The Reel Life of Zara Kegg featured on Kids Bookshelf! www.kidsbookshelf.com/reviews/the-...
A starred review from Kirkus Reviews for @bradbarkley.bsky.social 's THE REEL LIFE OF ZARA KEGG. Congrats, Brad!!!!
Did you know that Godzilla comes to the big screen at the Palace Theater in Frostburg on June 23 to help celebrate the launch of Brad Barkley’s new novel, The Reel Life of Zara Kegg? How cool is that! @bradbarkley.bsky.social www.times-news.com/events/#/det...
Unboxing books! With a little help from my best friend. @regalhouse.bsky.social
2x Frog contributor Brad Barkley has a YA novel forthcoming that looks fantastic! @bradbarkley.bsky.social Pre-order link below! 👇🏼👇🏼 regal-house-publishing.mybigcommerce.com/the-reel-lif...
The Reel Life of Zara Kegg
The Reel Life of Zara Kegg by Brad Barkley
regal-house-publishing.mybigcommerce.com
I am very pleased to learn that my short story, “Glen 2.0” will be in the next issue of the wonderful Blue Mesa Review!
🚨 Cover reveal! The Reel Life of Zara Kegg, coming June 2026 from Regal House. ““Brilliant, funny, moving, unputdownable….I wish I had a zillion adjectives to describe this knockout of a book...” —Lesléa Newman Preorder information coming soon! @regalhouse.bsky.social @jennaschmenna.bsky.social
THE REEL LIFE OF ZARA KEGG, cover reveal tomorrow! Stay tuned…, @regalhouse.bsky.social
Thanks for the shout out!
Turn and Work (Hugh)@turnandwork.com · 10mo agoThe Shortlist for Oct 3: Stories of life & death (& death): Nonfiction: Katrina Ralbag in @reckonreview.bsky.social Fiction: Wade Harris in @turnandwork.com Kara Crawford @kara-c.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute Brad Barkley @bradbarkley.bsky.social in @flashfrog.bsky.social (...cont'd)
Soooo freaking thrilled about this! I could not put Brad's book down... brilliant social commentary, gorgeous writing, layered characters that felt incredibly real... not to mention it has Bots and we all know I'm a sucker for 'em. 😂 Lit fic editors WATCH OUT. 👀 @stormliterary.bsky.social
Brad Barkley@bradbarkley.bsky.social · 12mo agoI’m thrilled to announce that I have signed with @stormliterary.bsky.social and the utterly awesome @jennaschmenna.bsky.social Happy to find such a smart, passionate partner! www.stormliteraryagency.com/brad-barkley...
I’m thrilled to announce that I have signed with @stormliterary.bsky.social and the utterly awesome @jennaschmenna.bsky.social Happy to find such a smart, passionate partner! www.stormliteraryagency.com/brad-barkley...
Brad Barkley
Brad Barkley is the author of Money, Love and Alison’s Automotive Repair Manual , named among the Best Books of the Year by The Washington Post and Library Journal . His short fiction has appeared...
stormliteraryagency.com
I wrote as a birthday celebration this blog post www.bradbarkley.com/post/advice-....
Advice to my younger writing self
We’re said to soften as we age, like bananas.Maybe, but don’t let aging soften you in your writing. Remember that a shift of perspective is not a softening of will.As you grow older, notice that shift...
bradbarkley.com
🎬 Enter the reel life. One year from today, The Reel Life of Zara Kegg hits shelves — a witty, wistful YA novel about grief, love, and 150 inflatable Godzillas. Cover reveal later this summer. 📽️ Coming June 16, 2026, from Regal House Publishing. @regalhouse.bsky.social
“The novel you’re working on right now doesn’t know you’ve written other novels before.” —John Irving
When you write the first draft of a novel, all you’re doing is making clay. After that work is done, you now have a big lump of clay sitting in front of you on your desk. Here’s when the real work begins of sculpting it, shaping it, turning it into something. #amwriting
Writers, you can fix a bad page; you can’t fix a blank one.
New blog post today. I hope you give it a look! www.bradbarkley.com/post/three-n...?
Three Novels, One Brain
I haven't blogged for a while. Here's why.Right now I’m working on three novels at once. Not in a vague, “ideas in the air” kind of way—these are real, active projects, all at different stages. One is...
bradbarkley.com
Write what you know” doesn’t mean limit yourself. It means pay attention. To how people talk. To what hurts. To the weird stuff you remember. Write what you know emotionally.
If revising your novel isn’t hard, you’re not doing it right.
Most writing advice is just disguised anxiety. Be OK with bad first drafts and and write often. You’ll be fine.
The main thing a writer needs is practice. Not inspiration, not a special pen, not a cabin in the woods. Just hours. It’s unsexy, hard to romanticize, but it’s how the work gets done—one page, one bad sentence at a time.
