Another @kclibrary.bsky.social creative writing class, another amazing cohort. So honored to teach these incredible writers in our community! ❤️

A pair of songs that made me weep (in the best way) this morning. This world is a disaster in so many ways, and an unmitigated miracle in so many others. I cannot shake the belief love holds it all together, and that is enough for now. 🌎

Free creative writing classes begin again at @kclibrary.bsky.social next week, some taught by yours truly. I hope you can join me! You can find the full lineup here: kclibrary.org/news/2025-12...

Visited the stellar folks at The Story House Bookstore in Springfield today, and added 2 books to my collection I’ve been after for a while. Brian and A.J. tell me there are some exciting plans in store for this space: a theater, workshops, partnerships with local universities & more!

Honored to be participating in this reading on January 10 at ArtsKC - Regional Arts Council . I’ll be reading a short fiction piece on grief but the main event is a book release by Brian Bulger. If you’re in the KC area come support this bevy of incredible artists! Tix at brianbulgermusic.com

I read 39 books this year (a record for me). 🍾 Some classics I’d never gotten to, some stellar nonfiction, and much literary love. ❤️ I’ve got some amazing books queued up for 2026 as well! Plus, I got to meet one of my literary heroes, the inimitable Karen Russell, courtesy of Rainy Day Books!

Beauty everywhere ❄️

A year ago I wrote a story that ended up in The Saturday Evening Post about my childhood memories of Christmas caroling. www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/03/divi... Leo and Margaret Porter were two of the kindest people I met as a child… Read the rest here: brandallen.substack.com/p/divinity

Count me with the castoffs. New Substack post about the Nativity, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and outsiders. Happy holidays! brandallen.substack.com/p/count-me-w...

Y’all, the writers in KC are the best. 🌟 Yesterday I taught another roomful at @kclibrary.bsky.social and they once again showed me why stories and the hard work of creating them matters. ✍🏻 Happiest of holidays as you all continue your projects! 🎄

Tonight at 6 pm! This Writers for Readers benefit with @candicemillard.bsky.social funds the free creative writing classes I help teach at the @kclibrary.bsky.social It’s always a good time. If you’re in the KC metro join us! kclibrary.org/donate/wfr

Fantastic time—as always—teaching writing at @kclibrary.bsky.social today! Forgive the panoramic angle; there were too many students to fit in!

A day trip to Hermann, MO for story research on a cloudless autumn day. 🍁 Bonus points for Oktoberfest! 🍺

An absolutely jam-packed writer’s room at my workshop today at @kclibrary.bsky.social . 🔥 The energy of other authors lights me up. 📚 Honored to take part in this year’s Heartland Book Fest and can’t wait for next year!

THE END 🖋️ Wrote those lines at the end of the latest draft of my novel yesterday in preparation for my final year at @umkc.bsky.social . Feels good, feels right. Even the weather cooled off to congratulate me. 😄 Bring it on, fall. 🍁

Once again, the authors at my @kclibrary.bsky.social writing class knocked me out with their talent and insight. Grateful to be teaching here. ❤️ Visit kclibrary.org/wfr for full class list.

Honored to appear in @pleiadesmag.bsky.social this spring. This story has alternately bewitched and disturbed me. I hope you enjoy. 🙏🏻

I received the Crystal Field Poetry Scholarship from The Writer’s Place of KC. Part of that honor was a reading at their venue last week. 🙏 Thx to Dr. Bar’s grad workshop for the assist to my poetry skills. 😁 📸: @maritza4770.bsky.social @alextretbar.bsky.social @mrscboogie.bsky.social

Last writing class of the semester at @kclibrary.bsky.social , and it was amazing! These writers inspired me with their stories. ✍🏻

Writing fun @kclibrary.bsky.social this afternoon! Love helping others tell their stories! 📖

If you’re in KC on 4/17, don’t miss! (Free) RSVP required at link in OP.

Creative writing class at the @kclibrary.bsky.social with these amazing writers: the perfect way to spend Saturday afternoon. Join us next time! linktr.ee/writersforreaders

✏️Grateful for the chance to collaborate with these wonderful souls at KC Public Library & UMKC’s Writers for Readers classes today. You guys, there is almost no greater thrill for me than being in a room with 17 other writers and talking about narrative. Charges my creative batteries every time. ⚡️

My story “Divinity” appears in @satevepost.bsky.social today! Link in bio.

It’s a little Christmas in March with our latest #NewFictionFriday story, Brandon Allen’s “Divinity,” in which a young boy searches for a truth he believes his family is keeping from him.

An unexpected surprise coming here this Friday, 3/7/25.

Aaaand, we’re back! Free creative writing classes at @kclibrary.bsky.social all this semester (full schedule at link in bio). Love teaching others ways to tell their story. 📚

Tucson, southern Arizona, and Sonora, Mexico, you stole part of my heart. Until next time… 🌵

Past, present, and future. 🚂 Reading Steinbeck’s East of Eden in a Bisbee, AZ coffee shop. Bookmark from Commonplace Books in Edmond, OK, (our former hometown). Researching/dreaming of the novel I’m working on set in the borderlands. It’s good to be alive. ☀️ #bisbeeAZ #novelwriting

Writing fiction is strange. You start with an idea, which leads to all kinds of unexpected places. I didn’t think a story about the runaway son of a Tucson dentist would lead me to a Love’s truck stop in Benson, AZ., but it did. #novel #novelwriting #novelresearch #tucson #southwest

¡Buenas tardes desde Nogales, Sonora, México! 🇲🇽 My friend Angel met me for a few hours across the border. Beautiful city, amazing food and people.

Chilly layover in Denver. Good thing I’m headed to Tucson. #novelresearch #novelwriting

My sister-in-law got me a scavenger hunt at a local bookstore for Christmas. My reward for finding all the books on this list was 2 books. Happiness can be bought! 😁📚

Spent some quality literary (& feline) time at Ernest Hemingway‘s home. 🐾 The cats are descendants of a 6-toed cat Hemingway was given by a ship’s captain and some today have 6 toes.

My short story, “Jordan,” has been accepted for publication by @pleiadesmag.bsky.social ! I couldn’t be more excited to debut in this superb literary journal. (Also 📸: Over-The-Rhine in Cincinnati, one of the story’s settings, which I had the privilege to visit a few weeks ago when it snowed.)