Bret Wright's Page

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Added a post Mar 2

Bret Wright left a comment for Rick Mofina Mar 18

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Bret Wright replied to the discussion Any Pride & Prejudice Fans?? Mar 2

About Me:: I'm an author, school teacher, and retired Navy guy. I write a lot of things, but detective mysteries are my fave. I also run the Writer's Digest top site for writers, Apollo's Lyre.

Books And Authors I Like:: Jhumpa Lahiri, Stephen King, Carl Hiaasen, Robert Jordan, Sinclair Lewis, Sue Grafton, Robert Browning, Rex Stout, Anne Sexton, Isaac Asimov, Tom Robbins, Seamus Heaney.

Movies And TV Shows I Like:: O, Brother, Where Art Thou?, Sideways, Tombstone, Apocalypse Now, Monty Python's Life of Brian, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Departed, The Thin Man, Napoleon Dynamite, The Maltese Falcon (OK, anything Bogart or Spencer Tracy!)

At 2:27am on March 4th, 2008, Michael W. Sherer said…: Thanks for the add. Best, M

At 1:42pm on March 3rd, 2008, L.J. Sellers said…: You're the third mystery writer from Colorado Springs I've met in the last month. Is it something in the water?
Should I move there?

Hang in there with your writing. It sounds like you have talent. Have you tried Capital Crime Press?

At 1:34pm on March 3rd, 2008, Bret Wright said…: No, not really. Since the excerpts are down, I've drifted away from it. I was glued to it for several weeks, though. Now . . . eh. Penguin doesn't want what I write, so I have to concentrate on finding a publisher that does. I've started sending out queries to agents again. I got a very nice rejection from Hard Case Crime today -- the book's too long for them at 86k words (they like 50-60k, and it appears to be a little too cheeky for them.) But now I can add this to my query letters: manuscript reviewed by Publishers Weekly, an independent organization "Nate Jepson (a.k.a. "Nasty") is a solid entry into the P.I. hall of fame. . . ."

That ought to be worth at least some requests for pages.

I do check in over at the ABNA site, but I'm not posting much.

Oh! And I had Valya pegged to take it all the way, too! I was completely floored when she didn't even make the top 100.

At 1:11pm on March 3rd, 2008, Gerrie said…: Curious Bret, are you obsessing about what's going on over at ABNA?

At 2:53am on March 3rd, 2008, Gerrie said…: I was surprised NASTY didn't make the final cut. I thought you and Valya were a dead cert. Didn't think Billie Nikkel was quite ready - the PW reviewer "damned with faint priase" although I liked it when he/she said the unlovely characters wouldn't be out of place in a vintage Ross McDonald. Seeing my entry, it was obvious it needed another edit - too wordy (and this for a former newspaper writer).

Funny isn't it, Beth doesn't make the cut on ABNA, but is in the running for an Agatha. This business can drive you nuts. Go Beth :)

At 2:02am on March 3rd, 2008, Bret Wright said…: Sooooo . . . I guess Penguin wasn't looking for first person, hardboiled, tongue-in-cheek PI stories. I got knocked out of the semi-finals on the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA). So be it, I guess. Disappointing, but not entirely surprising. Back to the drawing board for me, as far as queries and whatnot. It was rewarding, fun, and I got a lot of great feedback . . . and an incredible Publisher's Weekly review that will definitely make it to the blurbs on the published novel, once the Nasty makes it to that happy state.

Congrats to Beth Groundwater, another ABNA alumnus who got passed over in the last cut. She's getting an Agatha!!!! Way to go, Beth!

At 11:08pm on February 3rd, 2008, Mark Stevens said…: Bret,

Yes, I posted a review of Beth's too. I thought her start was fantastic. Just loved it. By the way, Book Sleuth in Old Colorado City has a few copies of AD. Liman loved it and I was down there a few weeks ago for a signing. Thanks for the support and, of course, I'd love your thoughts as well. I hope to see Beth today in Aurora.

At 8:58am on February 3rd, 2008, Mark Stevens said…: Loved "Nasty" -- fantastic. Review posted. Great stuff.

At 10:24pm on January 28th, 2008, Mark Stevens said…: I'll be glad to check out the entry and do what I can....I know there are quite a few locals with entries in that contest. I live in Denver....