Sean Patrick Bridges graduated from Schiller International University in Heidelberg, Germany. He’s been a Finalist and Semi-Finalist for the A.M.P.A.S. Nicholl Fellowship. Had a project invited to the Sundance Institute. He’s produced and directed two documentary short-subjects in the Caribbean.
He’s published novels, written screenplays, short stories and produced audio books. He’s appeared as some form of Law Enforcement in a few TV episodes and film. And he’s worked on various projects with Robert Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios. He lives and works in the Texas Hill Country.
Hello Sean, welcome to BrandEducation! Where do you find inspiration for your books?
I’ve always liked to tell stories. I grew up reading books, I was always carrying one around in my backpack in school. I’ll have ideas for stories, and I tend to write them down on note-cards or hotel stationary, whatever I can find. And they sit and stay in a mental waiting room. Every now and then one perks up, to see if I’m ready to see it yet. The ones that stick around the longest, I’ll eventually get to.
I’ve got ideas simmering right now. I know the next book I’ll work on. I’ve had a screenplay idea battling around in my head for a couple years now that I’m ready to finally tackle. I just wrote a short story that may be finished, or I may expand it further down the road. I’m always playing with new ideas or concepts. And even things I’ve completed, if I get the chance, I’ll still tinker with from time to time.
My latest book, GUNBARREL HIGHWAY. It came from a screenplay I tried to write years ago. I was never happy with it (honestly I felt I had a great opening, and it moved along and just crashed and burned about halfway and had a third act that I just through together. It didn’t work at all.). So it went into a drawer and was forgotten for a long time. I found it when I was moving a few years ago, took a fresh look at the material, and thought I might have something. I stripped it down for parts, and salvaged a crude skeleton with no idea how it would end, and I was off into a story that moved like lightning. I was really happy with how it turned out. So I guess it was an idea, but just wasn’t quite ready yet. And I discovered that what I wanted to write wasn’t a script. It was an idea best suited to a novel.
How do you choose the titles for your books?
Trial and error. A good title jumps out at you. It’s short, sweet, and to the point. I always liked HIGH MOON, that’s my Werewolf/Western. ROLL OF THE DIE, I thought that was a good play on words. The role the dice play in the story, and the actual roll of the die is a big part of the book.
SKIPPING STONE was generic, but I liked it because I was jumping back and forth in a man’s past and present as he made he way from prison to his step-father’s funeral, who was a monster to him (it’s my attempt to see if I could write a sad story). WAITING FOR THE DOUGHNUT MAN, got right to the point.
GUNBARREL HIGHWAY hit me in the shower. It was a much better title than the working one I had, ‘Hit & Run’. ON THE BAYOU came from a Hank Williams Jr. song (…son-of-a-gun, we’ll have big fun, on the bayou. – Jambalaya).
11:34 didn’t make sense to a lot of people, until you saw the book cover art. It’s ‘hell’ spelled backwards on a digital clock. That’s my Maryland ghost story. JOURNEYMAN was my Twilight Zone nod and Time Travel/Adventure. It was me; I saw myself as a journeyman in my 30’s, trying everything I could and still trying to figure stuff out.
My latest award-winning screenplay, BEGINNER’S LUCK. It’s a variation on a couple different stories I tried to tell. Took some old things and made something new. I could keep going. I like to toy with titles and find the right ones. Some I’m locked in on immediately. Others may change as time goes on.
Are there books or authors you revisit for inspiration?
Richard Bachman’s THE RUNNING MAN is a book I return to again and again. I like the feel of it. The prose is so lean, and the book moves like lightning, It’s one of my all-time favorite stories. I really like Elmore Leonard’s MR. PARADISE. I’m a huge fan of his but I’ve read this book a couple of times. I really like the way he crafted the characters and the mystery. He’s the gold standard for character development.
Stephen King’s NIGHT SHIFT I’ve probably read dozens of times, those short stories are gold mines for drive and inspiration. And it was my honor to get to play with one of those short stories as a Dollar Baby a few years ago.
It’s like literary comfort food. Richard Matheson and Rod Serling are writers I re-visit often. Just timeless story-telling. It looks easy and it takes a master craftsman to achieve that.
Are there any particular genres or topics you enjoy writing?
When I started writing screenplays I purposefully would jump to different genres, just to see if I could. My first five scripts, I went from a bawdy college-aged comedy to a dark thriller to a sad drama to a werewolf/western to a time travel/adventure.
I wrote a couple historical docu-dramas, centered around real-life incidences. Two I researched in great detail, one I just took the general idea and crafted a story around it.
But my favorite tends to be suspense/thrillers. They’re like a comfortable sweater for me. I can always slip into one and feel right at home.
What advice do you have for aspiring authors looking to publish their first book?
First you have to write it. I don’t mean this flippantly, but I’ve met so many writers who don’t write anything. Or they have a perfect idea but they’re looking around to find a writer who can write it for them. I don’t think it works like that.
Write what you know. It’s an old cliché, but it’s the best writing advice ever. I translate that as, write what you care about. You have to care about the topic first before anybody else will. And if you don’t care about what you’re writing, it leaps off the page. Be passionate about your subject matter, no matter what it is.
Then you have to edit. And edit some more. And do it again. And again. Until you have that manuscript into the best possible shape you can get it in.
And then, you need to engage the services of a professional editor. This is a recent discovery in my writing life, but it lead me to connect with a New York based publishing house and about to launch my first professionally published book. So I’m a true believer.
A professional editor will comb through your manuscript and find things you can’t even imagine. They will get it in the best possible fighting shape. They won’t do the work for you. Or do it for free. And it’s not a short-cut to writing a book. But it’s a necessary step along the way.
Then craft a one-page query letter. No more than one-page. You have seconds at best to catch someone’s attention so take your time with this note. And then find out their proper submission policy. Every agent or publishing house has a policy for submissions, and you have to follow it to the letter.
And then maybe you’ll get a bite. And maybe you’ll be offered a contract. It’s an arduous process, but worth it. And if there’s a shorter way to do this, I haven’t found it yet. It takes a huge amount of work to get a book published. You have to be willing to put in the effort and do it.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing?
I like working outdoors and tending to the property here in the Texas hill country. I’m beholden to my border collie, Finn. So if he wants to go for a walk or play ball, we do it. I enjoy swimming in the pool and soaking up some sun. I’m trying to get my Jeep back in working order. I exercise every day. I work as a bartender at a whiskey distillery.
I don’t go to the movie theater as much as I used to but there’s an outdoor screen set up on the property and I like to relax with a chiminea fire and drive-in movies from the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. I’ll kick back with a good book or graphic novel. I play the occasional PlayStation game my nephews got me hooked on, but I can only find them on an old PS-3. I like outside projects and tending to burn pits and chopping wood and just basic life stuff.
I’m single and I enjoy my life right now and I write when I can.
Do you have any upcoming projects or future writing plans?
I have a new novel coming out on November 20th entitled, GUNBARREL HIGHWAY. I got my latest manuscript back from my first-round editor so I’’ll get ON THE BAYOU into shape and send it onto The Wild Rose Press and see if that will be my second book with this publisher.
For some time, I’ve been working on my next full-length audio project, PARASITE ZERO. Right now it’s over 4+ hours of material with a voice cast of over 50 actors. And I still have two more recording sessions to fully complete this production.
I’ll release the first 10 chapters of the audio story early in 2025. Right now I’m calling it Part One (we’ll see if I come up with a better sub-heading). Then we’ll continue with Part Two which consists of Chapters 11 to 20. That will be released later in 2025. In the future I’ll write a Part Three and have my Parasite Zero trilogy completed.
I know what my next book will be, and I’ve got a new idea for a screenplay. It’s kind of a slasher/thriller thing. Should be fun to write.
I’m working as an actor on a western film production this December (I’ve been cast as a Bank Teller). And maybe something will happen with one of my screenplays in the near future. I’ve been fortunate to have connected with this wonderful powerhouse of a producer. She’s a proven world-builder and wants to help me bring one of my scripts to life. It’s starting to percolate. I’m very excited about that opportunity.
Life is good. And busy. Projects are always churning.
What challenges have you faced as a writer and how have you overcome them?
I have failed more times than I can count. I’m on a first name basis with failure. We get along just fine. But I always pick up the pieces of salvage and move on. I try different things. I started out as a screenwriter and now I write scripts and also novels and audio productions. I try and push them all. I focus on what I can focus on, and I don’t worry about the clock or someone else’s progress. I’m in a competition with myself.
When I was dropped by my agent at CAA, I thought my creative career was finished,. A year and a half later I was producing and directing a documentary in Jamaica. One door closes and another opens. I believe that. My goal is not let bad news get me down. Try to find and hold on to some positivity and move on. There’s always a reason to try again with a new game plan or focus on something else. I’ve never doubted that.
How do you handle writer’s block or periods of low motivation?
I love to write stories, and I live to be a creative being. But there’s more to life than that. And sometimes it gets in the way, or you can’t crack a story. It’s happened to me several times. But I try not to let it get me down. It’s okay if you’re not at your desk, 9 to 5 Monday through Friday. Honestly, if you’re in a writing burn, you’ll find the time at all hours of the day or night. If it’s worth it to you, you’ll make it work. I don’t think there’s a short cut or easy way around it. And it’s a very personal decision. How bad do you want it? You have to answer that question.
My biggest award-winner was at the Nicholl Fellowship, and it took me to Hollywood, and I have a writing award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. That script was called JOURNEYMAN. And I tried to crack it three or four times and just couldn’t make it work. Until I put it aside for a bit and realized I could take bits and pieces from each attempt and cobble it together into something new. Those drafts and my fifth attempt got me that award. It just took some time. I didn’t rush the process. I went along with it.
How do you develop your characters? Do you draw inspiration from real people or experiences?
Yes. I love mixing fact and fiction. I’ve always been an observer of people. I’m always watching. My first attempt at a script was based on a real-life incident that happened to me as a hotel clerk working the graveyard shift at this German Gasthaus outside Heidelberg, Germany. It wasn’t a great script, but it was important. Because without that one, I wouldn’t have gone on to the next one and the one after that.
Write what you know. What inspires you? What subjects and material do you find fascinating. If you don’t find it exciting, do you really think others will? You are the first audience member. You have to be fully engaged in what you’re doing.
I also believe in taking the time to craft realistic and believable characters. If the audience or reader believes in your characters, then they’re bound to go wherever you want to take them. Think of books and films with the craziest plot you can imagine. They probably work because you care about the characters that inhabit them.
Characterization is the most important thing you can do. Nobody is all bad or all good. Everyone is a shade of gray. Make your characters as real as anybody you know.
I work as a bartender and love the job. I keep a book by the bar, and I’ll jot down random strange things various patrons say. I may never use it, but I want to make sure I never forget it. You can’t beat real life. Don’t make a carbon-copy of somebody. But yes, anything that inspires you in life is fair game for a writer.
Find out more at: https://audibleparade.com/