Brad Barkley grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he could often be found outdoors playing a risky neighborhood game called “Sharks and Minnows” with neighbor kids until well after dusk. They also rode bikes — no helmets — at “The Pit,” a giant hole in the ground where they weren’t supposed to play. Much of the time he was outside exploring creeks or going fishing, or inside practicing magic and juggling. His love of stories began with books (My Side of the Mountain and A Separate Peace were two early favorites), with 8 mm Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Lon Chaney movies brought home from the library and viewed on a projector in his parents’ basement (and viewed alone…the rest of his family were not fans), and with a fanatical devotion to Mad Magazine.
In high school, he played soccer and was co-captain of the varsity team. He left behind magic and juggling, but started getting into cars — a ’72 Camaro, in particular, and later a ’65 Mustang, which he rebuilt in his parents’ garage. Reading remained a passion, especially Eudora Welty and the stories of Flannery O’Connor. When he signed up for college at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, he had no idea what he wanted to be as a grown up.
His dad, a civil engineer, figured Brad would be an engineer, too. His mom said she thought he’d be a brain surgeon, but she was sort of kidding. Nobody wanted him to be an English major. Except Brad. A teacher in an early writing workshop encouraged him after he wrote his first-ever short story about a dying Civil War soldier. Another professor, who taught the class how to analyze Beatles lyrics, helped him realize that teaching English could be cool.
At UNC-G he learned from writers Fred Chappell, Jim Clark, and Lee Zacharias, and he discovered great writers like Don Delillo and J.D. Salinger. Summers he worked odd jobs —at Wendy’s (where he was told he had “management potential”), at a milk bottling plant, as a roofer, and at a warehouse-size ice cream freezer where it was so cold (-32 F) that employees had to leave every 15 minutes and stand under a heat lamp.
The first “real job” he took after college was as a technical editor for a Navy contractor in Annapolis, Maryland, where he had a Top-Secret clearance (Shhhh). It was okay, but not very fulfilling. He wrote short stories on the side and took classes at “The Writers’ Center” in Bethesda. He and one other participant (Hi, Marie!) started a writing group, meeting once a month at the Tastee Diner to swap stories over pie and coffee. The group grew to eight people, and the feedback helped Brad get his first two short stories published in magazines.
So he was off to grad school at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, where he received an MFA, made life-long writing friends, published his first book of short stories (Circle View), and won a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship while still a student. He delivered newspapers and painted houses to support his family — a wife and two toddlers — while applying for college teaching jobs. After a two-year stint at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, N.C., he landed at Frostburg State University in the mountains of Western Maryland, where he’s taught for over 20 years, raised two fine children (Lucas and Alex) and published a number of books:
· The novel, Money, Love (Norton), a Barnes and Noble “Discover Great New Writers” selection and a “BookSense 76” choice. Money, Love was named one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post and Library Journal.
· The novel Alison’s Automotive Repair Manual (St. Martin’s), also a “BookSense 76” selection.
· Two collections of short stories, Circle View (SMU Press) and Another Perfect Catastrophe (St. Martin’s).
· Three YA novels, Scrambled Eggs at Midnight, Dream Factory, and Jars of Glass (Penguin/Dutton).
Brad’s short fiction has appeared in over 40 magazines, including Glimmer Train, the Southern Review, and the Virginia Quarterly Review. He has won four Individual Artist Awards from the Maryland State Arts Council and multiple other awards for his work. When he’s not writing or teaching, he’s taking a cold plunge or drinking coffee with his wife, Kristin, or playing tug of war with their sweet rescue dog, Millie. He’s also a hang glider pilot, a fly fisherman, and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at BC Jiu Jitsu in Cumberland, where he sometimes taps out guys half his age (and always comes home aching and mat-burned, but somehow serene).
Regal House Publishing is proud to bring you Brad Barkley’s The Reel Life of Zara Kegg in 2026.
