Some people write to escape. I write because I can’t escape.
I’m Anthony Barret Parr — A.B. Parr — a novelist, poet, and memoirist publishing under Red Root Press. My books include the Ada Picou Adventures (Blood Ties, Dead Cold, Showdown), the poetry collections Spilled and A Lonely Cry, the horror novel Lost Souls, Johnny Boy’s Bones, and the travel memoir Rebirth.
When I write, I am spilling my guts — showing you my marrow. I write frontier fiction and horror and poetry that doesn’t look away. Characters shaped by grief and grit who have to decide what surviving is worth.
This Substack is where I write about the writing life — the real one. Not the polished version. The one with the doubt and the day job and the dispatches from the road.
What you’ll get here:
New essays, poems, and fiction excerpts — published every Thursday
Behind-the-scenes dispatches from the writing process
First looks at new books and projects
Occasional notes from the road as I make my way toward New Mexico and a simpler life
Who this is for:
Readers who want writing that earns its keep. Fans of literary fiction, Western frontier stories, dark American history, and poetry that says the thing plainly. People who believe writing is how you stay human.
About me:
I have a Master’s degree in Psychology, twenty years of experience as a special education teacher, and a lifetime of reading that started with The Hobbit and Dracula in a patch of sunlight on my bedroom floor. I write under A.B. Parr. I publish through Red Root Press. I am currently 91% funded on Kickstarter for The Turquoise Trail Book 2.
149 subscribers and growing. Come write with me.
Published weekly, every Thursday (maybe Friday). Free to subscribe.
