About

editor in cheifBRI BRUCE (writing as B. L. Bruce) holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in post-modern literature and creative writing from the University of California at Santa Cruz with post-graduate work with UC Berkeley’s professional editing program.

An award-winning author, photographer, publisher, and freelance graphic designer, Bruce’s work has appeared in dozens of anthologies, magazines, and literary publications, including The Sun Magazine, Tattoo Highway, Ampersand, Red Fez Entertainment, The Cossack, The Avocet Review, Atom Magazine, Northwind Magazine, The Soundings Review, and The Monterey Poetry Review, and is a widely published haikuist with work in the American Haiku Society’s Frogpond Journal, Modern Haiku, seashores, Akitsu Quarterly, folk ku, and many others.

Bruce was named Featured Poet of Homebound Publications’ holiday issue of The Wayfarer (Vol. 2, Issue 4, Dec. 2013) followed by the inclusion of seven of her poems in the Poems from Conflicted Hearts anthology alongside Poet Laureate Alice Shapiro. In addition to receiving the Ina Coolbrith Memorial Poetry Prize, Bruce was also the recipient of PushPen Press’s Pendant Prize for Poetry for her haiku series published in THREE with Poet Laureate Erica Goss. In 2023, she was the winner of the Los Gatos Poetry Contest for her piece “Once Each Year,” awarded by town poet laureate Jen Siriganian.

A two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and three-time award-winning author, Bruce’s debut collection, The Weight of Snow: New & Selected Poems, published February 2014 by Black Swift Press, earned her the nickname “the heiress of Mary Oliver.” Her second book, 28 Days of Solitude (Back Swift Press, August 2015) was written entirely during her four-week residency in the remote forests of Northern California. Also written during this stay, her chapbook, The Starling’s Song, published April 1st, 2016, was selected as the Honorable Mention of the 2017 Pacific Rim Book Festival in the poetry category. Measures, her third collection of poetry, was released in 2021. Blue California Sky, her fifth book, was published in 2024 with glowing reviews and is available from Finishing Line Press.

From 2016 to 2020, Bruce helped produce an award-winning nature adventure documentary film about Baja California called “The Devil’s Road.”

During the coronavirus shelter-in-place implications, she founded and is editor-in-chief of Humana Obscura, an online and print literary magazine publishing poetry, prose, and artwork with a nature theme.

She was featured on the cover of the June 2020 issue of Books & Buzz Magazine where she talks her shameless bibliophilia, her experience in book design, and her current projects: “How graphic designer Bri Bruce brings beauty to books” (Books & Buzz Magazine, June 2020)

Check out her feature at Shepherd, and her list of best contemporary nature poetry books: https://shepherd.com/best-books/contemporary-nature-poetry

See her recent interview with Brummet Media on her writing process, inspiration, and work: “World of Writing: Poet Interview”

Specializing in all things books and print and digital media, Bri’s professional work has given her the opportunity to work with authors, academics, non-profits, and small businesses, offering writing/editing, graphic design, publishing, and photography services.

Connect on LinkedIn, Goodreads, Twitter and Instagram!

AVAILABLE FOR HIRE

I provide graphic design (book covers, advertisements, logos, marketing collateral, etc.), book publishing and consultation, and photography services.

Portfolio available upon request.

Read testimonials here.

Read complete CV here.

639 thoughts on “About”

  2. Thank you for reading my review of “The Village” and deciding to follow my blog. Many more great books to come.

    I am intrigued that you are a professional editor, because I always wanted to see the “before and after” of novels and short stories, to judge the contributions of editors. I previously reviewed Melissa Pritchaird’s book of short stories published by Bellevue Press. I would love to see what the editor contributed to some of those stories.

    Do professional editing programs create templates that impose rigidity on writers, or do publisher’s editors do this on a subjective basis?b

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  3. Thank you for reading my review of “The Village”. It is definitely worth a read. I appreciate you following my blog as there are many other great books to come.

    I am interested to see that you are an editor, as a reader I am interested in seeing the “before and after” product. Melissa Pritchard whose book of short stories published by Bellevue is an example. Some of her stories I imagine would be hard to edit given their imagination.

    Do professional editing programs create a mold that will restrict writers, or do publisher editors’ (and business considerations) subjective views do so (grammar aside)?

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    1. Hi, and thanks for the comment. I always enjoy reading book reviews and seeing the book covers. I’ve been working as an editor and have been in the publishing sphere for a long time. Making the transition to eBooks and ePublishing has been interesting. As an editor, you always come across what I like to call “curve balls.” These can be difficult to edit. I find it most helpful when the author is involved and can always be referenced throughout the editing process. As editors, we always try to respect the author’s voice and vision and strive to stay true to that, but need to stick to certain guidelines for our edits (Chicago Manual of Style, ALA, MLA, etc). We just make sure there are no glaring mistakes, from typos to overall structure, and that everything is as should be. Publishers try not to restrict writers, unless the writer is contracted to work for the publisher on a specific topic or subject. They are usually given a general structure (x amount of chapters, words, etc.). This is really the only instance where writers are restricted. In all other cases, editors edit the work as is for those authors that are not contracted to write for the publisher. I hope this helps!

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  4. I envy you the beauty of the northern California coast and the majestic Redwood Forest.

    Born in the foothills north of L.A. in 1947 I would probably still be living there if it were not for the sorry state of political affairs in California that have gone downhill for the past 40 years.

    I enjoy your writing and wish you good fortune.

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    1. Yes, I am spoiled living where I live but agree with you on other accounts. ‘Tis a shame… I can only hope that things balance out. Thank you for the kind words, and best of luck to you.

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  9. Thank you for following my blog. I have been posting since August and I rarely do reviews. With my blog, I try to offer a variety of entertainments. That includes satire and humor, short stories and poems. With the new year, I plan to give Fridays a focus on the short story, a genre I love. I will be taking a short story as a prompt and writing a second short story. I’m hoping my readers will find them entertaining.

    I thoroughly enjoyed the photography and poems you have posted here. Your poems remind me of one of my favorite poets is another Californian, Gary Snyder. I especially love a poem he published in “No Nature: New and Selected Poems”. It’s called “Off the Trail”.

    I wish you luck with your career as a poet and photographer.

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    1. I enjoy the work of Snyder, so your compliment is much appreciated. Best of luck with your new blog ventures and happy New Year! Hope you stop by again soon.

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  10. Thanks for following my blog! Having just started out on WordPress, I’m looking for good sites to follow, and I’ve certainly found that in yours. The photography is beautiful, thank you for letting us see it!

    Have a great new year, and thanks for following!

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  19. Thanks for visiting and fallowing my blog. I returned the fallow:) Looking forward to reading your posts.

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  22. Thanks Bri for the follow on Aspiring to Inspire. I am grateful. I love your site, the photography, the writing….all beautiful. Definitely an inspiration to me.

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    1. Thank you so much for the kinds words and for stopping by to take a look–it is much appreciated! I wish you the best of luck in the coming year.

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    1. Absolutely! I’d love to help. Mind if I keep your info to follow up in the future? Thanks for stopping by and checking things out.

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  26. Thanks for the follow, I poked around a bit at your blog, and found that your photographs are very cool ^^ keep going strong!

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  29. Hi Bri! Thanks so much for following my blog! I look forward to reading your writings and viewing your photography. I welcome your comments when you visit my blog! Enjoy the day! Robyn

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  32. Thanks for the visit . . . Even old men who sit on park benches feeding ducks can still string together stones on threads . . .

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  33. Thanks for following my blog, I look forward to viewing your site, your profile sounds very interesting. thanks again.

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  38. Hi Bri

    Yes, editing is very important, as I found out to my cost recently with a book written about 20 years ago… and long forgotten about (can I end a sentence with a “preppie”?) And all because of two words!
    Must pay more attention in future.

    All the best

    “rather impulsive” craig

    Best wishes from the first city to see the sun

    Craig Lock

    The various books that Craig “felt inspired to write” are available at:
    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=la_B005GGMAW4_sr?rh=i%3Abooks&field-author=Craig+Lock

    http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005GGMAW4 and http://goo.gl/vTpjk

    Don’t worry about the world ending today…

    it’s already tomorrow in “little scenic and tranquil” New Zealand

    Reply

  39. Hey – just messaging to make you aware of my competition, I really value everyone who decided to follow my blog (there may be one or two I fear who just spilt coffee on themselves and accidentally clicked the button.. but I’m still taking it as a win). I need help deciding which poems to perform in the next month or two and I’d really value your opinion.

    Stay Well – Mart

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  44. Pingback: Bri Bruce Productions | THOUGHTS OF A POET IN THE RAIN

  46. Hi Bri,

    Thank you for the follow and I’m glad you enjoyed my review of McDermott’s Maze. I’m looking forward to getting to know your blog as well. I’m always happy to hear that people are making it as editors these days too. I’ve started doing some freelance in my spare time but don’t have the momentum built yet to do it full time. We’ll see.

    Anyway, I know ‘reviewers’ don’t usually collaborate on posts but it might be fun to try or perhaps share posts about other topics. If this sounds like something fun that you’d be up for please contact me at Jamesweber16@gmail.com.

    Again, I’m glad you enjoyed the review and I look forward to hearing from you more in the future.

    Sincerely,
    James Weber

    Reply

    1. Hey, thanks, James! I’m not usually a reviewer, but I do assist authors in publishing services, including reviews and marketing/publicity for their books. On this blog I will be posting book reviews from time to time. If you’re interested in writing reviews for some of the books I feature, we are actually looking for reviewers for the latest book I’ve posted. Take a look and let me know if this is something you’re interested in. Wr are happy to send a free copy your way.

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  48. Thanks for the follow! Have been blogging for years but never with a direction and never on WordPress until less than a week ago! Needless to say, I’m a bit overwhelmed to have someone following me already but hurray anyway!! Hope 2014 is an outstanding year for you and thanks again!

    Reply

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