I’d never actually heard Elvis or the Duke, or even know who they were, so I was really impersonating the impersonators I heard on TV. I wanted to be an impersonator, or some kind of entertainer. Normal enough, but the whole time I would be playing, I would do things like talk to myself in the voice of John Wayne or Elvis Presley. Odd how? Well, I divided my time btween playing in the woods behind my house, in the creek, catching salamanders. Recommendation by Greg Leitich Smith.īrad Barkley on Brad Barkley: “I grew up in North Carolina as, I guess, a somewhat odd kid, though the great thing about being odd at that age is you have no point of reference. Cal and Eliot feel like people you know even as they face unusual, even surreal, circumstances with humor and aplomb.

Do they have a future? Or will Eliot’s father and Cal’s mother (and her jouster boyfriend) tear them apart? A romantic comedy with an almost classic feel. When Cal and Eliot meet, there’s instantly chemistry–literally and figuratively. Eliot longs for the day when his father used to sell swimming pools–before he “found God,” and subsequently founded the “Jesus fat camp” for Christian kids (“What would Jesus eat?”), thereby also discovering financial success. Calliope is tired of being dragged by her mother cross-country from Renaissance Faire (don’t forget the “e”) after Renaissance Faire. Her writing has also appeared in the Southwest Review and the Cincinnati Review.Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler (Dutton, 2006). The second, The Dream Factory (Dutton) will be released Spring 2007. Her first novel, Scrambled Eggs at Midnight (Dutton) is set for release in May 2006. She works as a reviewer for VOYA, Kirkus Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly, Library Media Connection, and The New York Times. She holds a Master's in Library Science from the University of North Texas and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine.

She has lived in Reno, on the coast of Maine, in the interior of Alaska, and near Death Valley, but she currently is being held against her will in Tyler, Texas. He lives in western Maryland where he teaches fiction writing and raises two children, both too smart for their own good. His short stories have appeared in over thirty magazines. Two of his books have been Booksense 76 selections. Brad Barkley is the author of two adult novels ( Money, Love and Alison's Automotive Repair Manual) and two story collections, the most recent of which is Another Perfect Catastrophe.

Dream factory by brad barkley